Dudes.  My AK has been 100% for about 2000 rounds until my last range trip.  It was ejecting normally, but then it wouldn't strip the round out of the mag and insert it into the chamber.  The round would be mostly out of the mag, but it seemed the bolt wasn't catching and pushing on the round from the rear because it would jam half way up the case of the bullet leaving a nice divot in the case.  I had to drop the mag and pull back the bolt to clear the round each time it happened.  It happened with a couple different mags so I figured it wasn't mag related until I had an aha moment.

In between the last good range trip and the recent epic failure trip, I bought a few mags that had cosmoline on them.  I was cleaning them and decided to clean out all my AK mags while I was at it since I had never opened them up before.  I used CLP and a rag with a screwdriver to clean the insides of the mags and I also cleaned the springs and followers with CLP.  Then I put a light coating of CLP inside the mag walls and on the followers.  I'm wondering if maybe lubing the mags like this could have caused the problem, because racking the bolt feels and looks smooth like normal.  What are your thoughts, and is it bad to lube AK mags?  Should I disassemble them and spray the lube out of them with some brake cleaner?

Thanks!

I would clean the lube out and try again. Lubing mags is generally not a good idea. next time you shoot test the new ones against the old ones that have been reliable for you.

It could just be a few bad mags

Thanks man.  I'm positive it is not an issue with the mags themselves as they were ones I've had already - my favorite Yugo bolt hold open mags.  It had to be my boneheaded lube job.  Haha.

What type of AK is it? Is it from a parts kit, or really old? I highly doubt its the mags even if you did lube them. If it is a parts kit gun I would def look at the recoil spring hard as it could be just over worn, and needs replaced. Also maybe pick up some snap caps so you can test your fixes at home.

Have you been cleaning/lubing the rifle after your range trips? Failure to do so can result in the problem you are experiencing. Otherwise, clean the mags and don't lube them again, and install a new standard recoil spring on your recoil assembly. Not the easiest job on an AK but there are videos posted on You Tube on how-to. 2000 rounds is not extreme on a recoil spring in semi-auto, but maybe your spring was not new when the rifle was assembled, assuming it is a USA re-make.

CLP shouldnt hurt the mags. What kind are they? What kind of rifle? I had a problem almost identical a few years back with my SGL31. The 10 rd mags worked fine, but standard cap mags were not seating high enough for the bolt to strip the rounds and feed them into the chamber reliably. The only thing I could think of was the Mag catch not letting the mags fully seat.  I know it wasnt the mags as it did it with brand new c 10's and Russian surplus mags. I sent it to Arsenal and they fixed it and didnt tell me what it was that was causing it.

Try pulling back on the mag towards your body when your shooting it and see if that helps. Or you could put one in the gun empty and see how much front to back wobble you have.

ETA: put your mags in the oven and get ALL the cosmoline out. It can easily gum shit up fast when things get warm.

I had this exact problem and here is how I fixed it.

Soak bolt assemble over night in a glass jar filled with "brush cleaner'. Next day shake out excess fluid onto a clean paper towel and check for gunk which should be in the glass container. The fluid will most likely be a murky brown or light purple with residue on bottom of jar..

After bolt is dry using a fine stone break the sharp edge of the lower front corner of the bolt by adding a very small radius. Clean bolt again and that should do it.

Every AK ive had over the last several years I dropped a wolff extra power recoil spring into.  Never had any feeding issues after that

Sounds like its short stroking doesnt it? Does it bind up when you pull the bolt back by hand at all. Maybe a rail got out of wack &  the bolt is able to be pushed up and over the top round of the mag or its gummed up? Sounds like an interesting problem.

A stronger recoil spring is not going to solve the issue. He's having bolt over base FTF's. The mags are hanging up, or the mag catch is out of spec not letting them seat fully. A new mag catch is the only thing going to solve this issue. One that holds the mags high enough to let the bolt strip the rounds properly and send them into battery.

Or you could simply strip the bolt, clean the parts using your favorite gun cleaning solvent and then reassemble.

Thanks, dudes.  The gun is a Bulgarian SSR_85c from TGI - all the numbers match and it has run perfectly before this.  The gun was just cleaned before that range trip, which is funny because it went about 1000 rounds before hand before getting a cleaning.  I'm almost 100% sure that its not the spring and nothing is wrong with the bolt. It cycles very smoothly and returns home strongly.  I think the mag seating is the most likely issue from what has been suggested because it is like the bullet wasn't high enough for the bolt to catch the rear of it.  It misses the rear and catches the bullet half way up the case.  Next time I go to the range I'm going to try it out again, and I'll mess with it tomorrow to see if I can check the mags to see if they aren't holding in well.  Thanks for all the suggestions.

Took the AK out again and figured it out.  A couple of my new Yugo BHO mags from SGAmmo were not locking into the mag holder latch.  It seems that the metal tab that sticks out of the back of the mag either needs to be filed on top to allow the mag to seat in the well higher to latch in, or the bottom of the tab needs to be filed to allow the latch to engage.  Thankfully its not the rifle because they won't latch into my friends AK either.  I didn't realize they weren't latched on the previous range trip because the magwell is tight and will hold a full mag in place even if its not latched.  The strangest part is that the mags were definitely surplus and had the normal finish wear to prove it, so they had to be fitting in someone's AK at some point.  Anyway, time to break out the file!

Sometimes when they pack surplus mags in crates, they are crammed in tight, bending the feed lips in.  This presents the rounds lower.  They might  need bent out a smidgen.

I had an Armory USA SSR85C-2 and the mag release spring failed.  One side of the spring popped out leaving the mag release without enough tension to hold properly.  I popped out the pin, installed a new spring and put pin back in.

Do you mean the mag catch will not snap over the magazine rear lug? That's what I think you mean. If you have other mags that work, do not modify any part of the rifle. Do not modify the upper face of the rear lug because that will raise the feed lips which then will be struck by the bolt. The place to file is the lower face of the rear lug. Just take one or two passes with a file and try it until the mag catch snaps over it as you lock it in. Make sure your mag catch spring is strong and the catch is not binding. You might oil it too as its a very neglected part that most owners never oil unless they spray lube over the whole exterior of the rifle.

Correct, those mags will not latch in.  The rifle is perfectly fine, and all my other mags work great. I have to file the mag lugs down a bit and it should be fine.