bcg getting caught on hammer (wasr 1063)
While shooting at the range yesturday I was having problems with my ak. Out of 120 rounds it got caught on the hammer about 6 times. Is this a problem that corrects itself in time from wear or is there something wrong with the guide rails? If this is normal, does this also happen with top tier ak makers (arsenal and such)? If not, what is your suggestion for a solution?
When did the carrier hang up?
If it was when you were loading the first cartridge from the magazine, that's not unusual for any new AK (or an old one with a new fcg), especially if you were "riding the carrier" forward (don't do that).
That symptom disappears when the carrier and hammer wear in (or when you stop "riding" the operating handle).
If the carrier was not going forward after ejecting the spent case, that's not normal. It's POSSIBLE that you didn't get all the preservative out of the rifle. Clean it throughly, twice, before shooting again.
IT's POSSIBLE that the recoil spring is slightly weak and can't overcome the resistance of the new hammer. Try lubricating the upper AND lower rails, face of the hammer and bottom of the carrier with oil (not grease) before shooting again.
It happened after my first shot. It did eject the first round. When pulling the trigger for the next, I came to find that it didn't fully cycle. It would fire and eject but get stuck on the hammer before it could push the next round into the chamber. When pulling the charging handle back by hand you could easily make it hang up on the hammer. Now with 120 it is not as easy. I did break it down and clean all of the grease out. The rails, hammer and carrier all were lubricated. I am wondering if the height of the rail is too low. Sorry, I'm an AR guy. This is my first AK.
Most all AK's will hang up on the hammer if you ease the bolt forward. This is normal. This is just the tension of the hammer spring pushing up on the bolt carrier and lightly catching on the front of the carrier.
This is NOT a bolt catch, don't use it as such. A bump and the bolt slams shut.
Hanging up when fired is another matter.
One thing to check is whether the carrier is actually hanging on the hammer, OR if the carrier is actually popping up out of the receiver guides.
If the builder filed the top-rear receiver rails too far forward to allow assembling the carrier into the receiver, the carrier can pop up out of engagement and jam.
These cuts are the long cuts in the very top-rear guide rails of the receiver where the carrier grooves are pushed down into during assembly.
To check this, assemble the bolt and carrier and recoil spring assembly in place, and with the cover off, pull the bolt to the rear. If the rear of the carrier pops up out of engagement with the receiver rails, you may have to install a recoil buffer to limit rearward travel of the carrier to prevent disengagement.
When pulling the bolt to the rear, try not to push down on the op handle. You want to see if the carrier can move upward on its own.
Often, if this is not the problem, just shooting the rifle will wear it in and prevent bolt hang. Try using a little grease on the hammer face and bottom of the bolt and carrier.
WARNING: DO NOT start cutting or do much if any polishing of the hammer face. The hammer is designed to be held away from the firing pin by the bolt carrier "tail" until the bolt is locked. Cutting or altering the hammer face can disable this safety function and the rifle can slam fire.
Ok I would like to say thanks for the help. I think I found the problem. The rail on the side of the ejector is shorter than the other. Is this standard or is this the problem?
Which rails?
If you mean the bent-over rails on the top edge of the receiver, and the one on the ejector side is shorter than the one on the other, this may or may not be a problem.
The purpose of the cuts at the rear of the rails is to allow the bolt carrier to be pushed down into the receiver so its grooves will slide into the top rails.
The fact that one is longer "might" be a problem if its allowing the bolt carrier to pop up out of the receiver on the long side.
If both rails were cut too long, the bolt carrier will pop up out of the receiver and cause a stoppage.
If only one rail is too long, the carrier will tilt up on one side.
Over cut rails is a sometime problem with some AK's. You usually only see over-cut rails on home built or less expensive rifles in which someone simply cut the rails too far forward.
Again, what you have to do is assemble everything except the top cover, and pull the bolt to the rear.
Look closely at the bolt carrier to insure that the cuts in the receiver aren't cut so far forward that the front of the carrier grooves aren't fully retained by the receiver rails with the carrier all the way back. Another test is to pull upward on the bolt handle to see if the carrier comes up on one or both sides, while twisting the carrier from side to side.
With the recoil spring assembly in place, the carrier should be prevented from moving far enough to the rear for the carrier to disengage from the receiver rails.
In a properly fitted rifle, the recoil spring assembly will prevent the carrier from moving far enough to the rear to come up out of the rails.
If one or more rails are cut too long, the carrier may come up out of the rails even with the recoil spring assembly in place.
Just because one rail cut is a little longer is not a sure sign the receiver is defective.
What counts is whether the bolt carrier stays engaged with the rails when the recoils spring assembly is in place and limiting rearward movement.
If the carrier is able to pop up on one or both sides, about your only recourse is to install a recoil buffer to further limit rearward carrier travel.
A buffer may itself cause problems with feed or ejection.
Originally Posted By DARKSIDE13:
When pulling the charging handle back by hand you could easily make it hang up on the hammer. Now with 120 it is not as easy. I did break it down and clean all of the grease out.
First, the substance that was in the rifle was preservative, not grease.
Second, it's unlikely you got it all, since it's in all the corners and crevices and weeps out when the rifle heats up. Clean it as throughly as you can again before you shoot the rifle.
Last, it sounds like the problem will resolve itself by firing it some more.
Originally Posted By DARKSIDE13:
Ok I would like to say thanks for the help. I think I found the problem. The rail on the side of the ejector is shorter than the other. Is this standard or is this the problem?
The lower rail on the left (ejector) side is supposed to be shorter than the right side lower rail. That is not the problem.
If you wish to determine if the lower rail height is incorrect, measure yours and post the measurements. I recommend you make the measurement with a combination square, to avoid errors.
If possible, post a picture of the rifle with the carrier hung up when it doesn't go forward all the way. If posting a picture isn't possible, measure the distance from the front of the operating handle to the vertical flange which is ahead of the chamber when the carrier is hung up, and post that measurement.
Yes I was talking about the lower rail on the left (ejetor) and the bolt carrier does not pop up and out of the back of the receiver. So I guessed it just needs to be broken in. Thanks again for everyones help.
I ran into the same exact thing, except it was my fault. When I cut the top of the receiver I followed the template, and the right side cutout for the bolt shouldnt of been done for my setup. Had no problems when firing the rifle, but when at home I would charge it by hand hundred of times to help break in the trigger wear and noticed it would jam up and lock open. After tearing it apart I saw the cutout was ripping apart bigger. Tried to weld it but that didnt work so I had to make another receiver, and left that cut out, bolt and carrier still drops in without it so I dont think I will run into that problem anymore. Some reason this rebuild the trigger rubs even worse so I had to hand file it some and polish it, it still hold the bolt open slightly and if you hit the rifle it slams shut, so now its like how it was before, and I only had 100 rounds through it so im sure it will all wear better with more use.
Mine did this also. I think my BC was hanging up on my hammer. The problem eventually worked itself out. I also spent a night racking the BC about 1000 times, I don't know if that helped but I didn't have this problem after that.
I had this problem on one of my builds. It would hang up pretty heavilly on the hammer. It wouldn't even feed a round off the magazine with more than 5rds in it. After a bit of racking my brain of how to fix the problem, I tried lubing the rails and hammer with some Tetra grease and it took care of the problem. Hopefully as time goes by, it will wear in...
a buffer will aid in the forward motion of the carrier and make it cycle better over the break-in process. never had any cycle problems since i started using them. will also take up a little space in the back to keep the carrier from the over cut slots in the receiver.
Almost all semi-auto AK's will have this to some degree. Not prevalent in full auto AKM's as the "rate reduce" takes more tension in on the hammer.
