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3/9/2020 12:48:24 PM EDT
Hello Gents,

I've had this Norinco NHM-91 for 25 years and it's always performed beautifully, no matter what ammo I put in it, but lately I've noticed some problems. The gun was in storage (temp controlled, no humidity) from the end of 2007 until the end of 2016. Since 2016 I've had it out only two other times, and both of those times it's been having periodic failure to extract issues, both with cheapo steel case (Wolf, Hot Shot) and with brass case (Sellier and Bellot).

Basically, it doesn't fully extract the empty case from the chamber and obviously that leads to a jam when the action tries to close again. When I remove the magazine and close the action, I'm able to manually extract the spent case without much effort at all. The spent cases that have failed to extract do not show signs of stress or odd wear around the lip. In one or two cases the gun has properly ejected the spent case but then fails to feed a fresh cartridge properly, with the new round getting crammed against the inside of the receiver on its way to the breach. As a result, the bullet ends up getting shoved into the case and powder starts escaping around the edges of the bullet. Fun times. Lastly, at one point today the gun fired, ejected the case, grabbed a new round, and then the bolt assembly stopped moving forward about half way home, even though the cartridge was feeding properly into the breach. WTF?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Is my extractor going bad? Are the magazine springs just old and weak? Is the recoil spring old and weak? I've cleaned and lubricated the whole thing, but that didn't seem to make much difference.

Thanks!
Doc Blank
3/9/2020 1:00:44 PM EDT
[#1]
My guess would be since you are using Wolf that there isn't enough gas to fully work the action.

I have had that happen on an AR when shooting wolf.  I put it on a chronograph and it was at least 200 fps slower than other (federal, winchester, etc) 55 grn bullets.
3/9/2020 4:01:44 PM EDT
[#2]
Thanks for the input. I think you could be right, but I've also had the feeding problem with Seller and Bellot, which I believe is better than Wolf.

DB
3/16/2020 12:03:00 AM EDT
[#3]
Originally Posted By DrBlankW30:
Hello Gents,

I've had this Norinco NHM-91 for 25 years and it's always performed beautifully, no matter what ammo I put in it, but lately I've noticed some problems. The gun was in storage (temp controlled, no humidity) from the end of 2007 until the end of 2016. Since 2016 I've had it out only two other times, and both of those times it's been having periodic failure to extract issues, both with cheapo steel case (Wolf, Hot Shot) and with brass case (Sellier and Bellot).

Basically, it doesn't fully extract the empty case from the chamber and obviously that leads to a jam when the action tries to close again. When I remove the magazine and close the action, I'm able to manually extract the spent case without much effort at all. The spent cases that have failed to extract do not show signs of stress or odd wear around the lip. In one or two cases the gun has properly ejected the spent case but then fails to feed a fresh cartridge properly, with the new round getting crammed against the inside of the receiver on its way to the breach. As a result, the bullet ends up getting shoved into the case and powder starts escaping around the edges of the bullet. Fun times. Lastly, at one point today the gun fired, ejected the case, grabbed a new round, and then the bolt assembly stopped moving forward about half way home, even though the cartridge was feeding properly into the breach. WTF?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Is my extractor going bad? Are the magazine springs just old and weak? Is the recoil spring old and weak? I've cleaned and lubricated the whole thing, but that didn't seem to make much difference.

Thanks!
Doc Blank
View Quote
My immediate thought, as with the last poster, is that you're not getting enough gas. But usually gas problems are very consistent.

Could you be a bit more specific about the frequency of the FTEs? i.e. 1-2 times per mag, 1-2 times per hundred rounds? Did switching ammo help? Did it make things worse? Or, was there no change? Did one magazine cause more issues than another? How did your ejection look when the rifle worked? Most AKs I've shot will launch their brass... er steel into low earth orbit. If your brass is landing at your feet, that may mean something.

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