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Posted: 6/25/2007 4:16:38 PM EDT
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I know, I know. Just see if someone can field this for me. I'll say up front that returning it to Century isn't going to cut it 'cause it's been Duracoated and had an M16A1 flash hider welded on. Every so often (maybe 10-20% of the time) the carrier won't go completely into battery and has to be smacked with the palm to seat it. A lesser amount of time it won't extract and I have to kick back on the charging handle with my foot to extract the spent round. WTF is going on? I'm using Wolf 60gr stuff that worked fine out of a Bulgie '74 I had a year ago. Also, who can fix this? I know it'll cost but since I can't return it I might as well. I'll need someone with a decent turnaround time as I want to use this for a Gabe Suarez AK class in October. |
I had a WASR-3 with the same problems. Part of the problem is probably the mag catch was filed down too much so the mag doesn't seat as high in the receiver as it should. My WASR-3 also was not headspaced correctly. Thus accounting for the rest of the problems you are having. If anyone buys a WASR-3 or WASR-2 you are gambling that you might through the grace of God might get a decent one. Send it back to Century to be repaired!!! Explain the improvements made and you want that one repaired and returned to you. If it can't be repaired then you don't want it anyway (dangerous to shoot). I actually went through 3 Wasr-3s to get a decent one. If you like playing Russian roulette then the Wasr-2 and Wasr-3 is a good buy. I wish you the best......
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It may help if the issue is just the carrier binding on the rails. If it were mine I would take my caliper and measure the distance between the top rails and compare that to the grooves in the bolt carrier and adjust as necessary. But being that this is a Century rifle you may have bigger fish to fry. |
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In my case, the chamber stops the round at the front end. Somthing inside the chamber seems to be machined out incorrectly or somthing. Try taking out the bolt and carrier and sticking a round into the chamber. See if it will go all the way in without getting stuck on anything. Then pull it out with your fingers and see if it hangs up. In mine, it hangs up pretty bad. Still trying to get it resolved. I've learned my lesson with WASR guns. |
Should the round drop in flush on it's own or should it take a little pressure to fully seat it? I tried that yesterday and the round does not go flush (of course that may be normal) of it's own weight. You would have to push it in on your own. |
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On my 7.62x39 guns, the round drops in easily up to the point where all that is sticking out is the little lip on the shell casing that the extractor latches onto. It extracts without any resistance on my 7.62 guns, so I figured that it should be the same on a 5.45 AK. But in my WASR2, it goes in and stops short, so that there is some casing sticking out of the chamber between the shells extraction lip and the chamber start. I could be using some wrong terms here, but I think you should get the idea... I am just curious if you have this same issue as I do, since your symptoms of malfunction are similar. Mine actually fails to extract completely, but also has that thing you described where the bolt stops short of the full home position unless you whack it with your hand to close it fully, which I assume is ramming the round into the chamber hole that it dosn't naturally want to fit into. Then once you pop the round, the case may be expanding just a little bit (making it fit even tighter) and we get the failure to extract / casing jammed in the chamber. Sure hope I can get this thing fixed! |
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I had the same problem with a WASR-3 that I purchased. I also had done some work to the gun before finding out the problem. Exact same issue, the gun not going fully into battery without being smacked on the charging handle. I ended up sending it back to Century and got the SAME gun back, make sure you send it in as a REPAIR and get a return authorization/customer number for it. They make you pay the shipping to send it back, but you can fax your receipt in and they will re-imburse you the money. I got mine back in 2-2 1/2 weeks if that's any consolation, and now it DOES work. Good luck... If you were in Texas I'd offer you my SAR-2 for your class so you can send it back.. it could use a good torture run... 
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Okay, I talked to Will Hayden at RedStick today (he currently has a Galil of mine for re-barreling) and here is what he said: The problem, and he's seen it before, is with the rough machining of parts on Romy guns, i.e. the bolt and carrier. It makes sense. The 5.45 is a tapered cartridge so with the FTE the bolt is indeed back just a hair---about the same point as it is when it stops going INTO battery. A fraction of an inch is all that's needed to free a tapered cartridge from the chamber walls. In this case it's maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch back where it stops, and the spent case is still in the grasp of the extractor (if it was binding in the chamber itself the extractor would rip through the rim). Same spot, so something is stopping it there. He suggested I smooth out the back side of the bolt lugs where they make contact during the locking/unlocking process, as well as the carrier where it rides on the rails. The cases weren't bulged when I inspected them nor were there any undo scrape marks as evidence of either improper headspacing or a rough chamber. Will said inconsistencies in Wolf could be sufficient to have an occasional round just underpowered enough to lack the oomph to kick the bolt all the way back past the rough spot when it does so on all the other rounds. Also, I'm going to polish up the hammer to prevent excessive drag on the carrier as it returns forward, thereby slowing it down. He said in theory the problems could be "shot out" of it but it would be quicker (and less expensive ammo-wise) to do it myself. Off to my buddy's shop to give it a whirl. I'll keep you guys posted. |
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Good advice CA_TX-Cop. I called Century, and told them my situation. I had bought the gun less than a month ago, so they told me I could send it in and they'd repair and return my exact gun. They did advise for me to remove all my parts that I had modified just incase they can't repair it and have to send me a replacement. In that case, they will send one that has all the parts I kept, stripped off. I took off the stocks and sent the rest of the gun in today. I polished the hammer, bolt carrier and groove in the bolt that the carrier rides in, but without those components they wouldn't be able to do a function check at all, so I left them. I hope that they will be able to fix it up, or return a better one than the original. Also, when the time comes to return it to me, can they return it to your home or do they have to ship it to a local FFL? I didn't ask on the phone and they didn't ask me for my local FFL, so I assume at this point that it's coming to my house. |
It should be shipped to your home. It's coming from a manufacturer/FFL after repairs. I did as I said I was going to today but will shoot it again tomorrow to see. Yesterday if I slowly rode the bolt forward I could get it to stop at that approximate point where it did going into battery or on extraction. Now today, after removing a few burrs and polishing the lugs up it's smooth as silk---it will not stop where it did previously. I was careful not to take too much off as I didn't want to screw up the headspace, just basically smoothing things up a bit. We shall see.......... |
Went and shot it today and didn't have any FTE but still had it not close on a round a few times. The bolt face is against the rear of the cartridge but the extractor won't slip over the rim and finish locking. Went to my buddy's and put some Dycum on the extractor and put it in the gun and let the carrier come forward. Apparently the bolt has enough play in it inside the carrier that some "bolt shucking" is happening where the extractor (at times) doesn't hit squarely on the rim of the cartridge. If you remove the mag and pull the bolt all the way to the rear it will slap home. Or a rubber mallet will seat it from the forward position. So I beveled the extractor in the area where the Dycum was marked by the cartridge rim to allow it to slide over easier. Back out to shoot a second time and it did it twice out of 30 rounds  Bottom line is that the extractor, on the every-so-often it happens, doesn't hit the rim square as it should and therefore the bolt comes to a dead stop. Force (mallet) or re-charging the carrier will do the trick. But it ain't supposed to work like that. I'm about ready to smash this fucking POS into a million pieces  ETA---IT'S GOING TO REDJACKET. I'M TIRED OF THIS SHIT!!! |
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