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Posted: 2/7/2011 8:29:01 AM EDT
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First of all, forgive my lack of knowledge about part names. I bought my first AK about 2 years ago. I took it out shooting and the bolt would get stuck all the way back after firing a round, I could manually push the bolt forward relatively easy and it would be fine. I took it home, cleaned it and lubed it up and it worked fine after that. Well, I took it out again and it did the same thing after only shooting about 40 rounds. After every round i would have to manually push the bolt forward. I took the magazine out and pulled the bolt back and it would get stuck in the back position. So I took it home and lubed it again. It works fine. So whats the deal? I shouldnt have to lube my rifle for every 60 rounds, especially an AK. Do you think it could be the spring in the recoil spring assembly, maybe it has lost its "springyness"? |
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The AK is a romanian G kit put together by Vector. I did not clean it before shooting it the first time (yes, I know I should have). I only shot maybe 20-40 rounds though that day, and then I cleaned it. The carrier seems to go all the way back and then comes forward about a half inch or so and that is where it gets stuck.
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With the rifle empty pull the trigger and hold it down. Pull the operating handle all the way to the rear and let the carrier go forward slowly. If you feel any binding or roughness note the position of the carreir and bolt.
Check the lower rails (the part of the receiver the bolt rides on) for burrs, paying particular attention to the area where the bolt was when you felt the binding or roughness. Check the upper raills (the top of the receiver) for burrs paying particular attention to the area where the back section of the carrier was located when you felt the binding or roughness. Don't forget to check the underside of the upper rails. Remember that you must pull the trigger and hold it down when performing this test. |
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I did that test and it seems like it gets stuck in two different places. With the trigger pulled, the carrier gets stuck about a quarter inch forward and about 2 inches forward. Without the trigger pulled, the carrier gets stuck at the 2 inches forward mark. However, either way, the carrier seems to be rough the whole way until it is passed that 2 inch mark. I looked and felt for any burrs on the rails and there are not any whatsoever. Thanks for your help by the way, any other recommendations?
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Here is a picture of what the bolt looks like when it is stuck.  Is it normal for the bolt to ride that high above the rail? This is when the bolt is about 2 inches forward. If I pull the bolt back and let it go normally, it seems to function just fine. When I ride it I can get it to stick. I KNOW THIS IS NORMAL, however, when I was shooting it, it would also get stuck. I did a google search and it seems that other people have had this problem, people have said to just shoot it and it will smooth out and be fine. I have probably only shot 150 rounds so far, should I just keep shooting and lubing until it gets better?
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Quoted:
Is it normal for the bolt to ride that high above the rail? This is when the bolt is about 2 inches forward. It looks like the bolt lug is at the forward edge of the cutout for the lugs in the upper rail. At that point the lug will ride above the rail if the trigger isn't held down. If the disconnector isn't holding the hammer, the upward pressure of the hammer will force the bolt up. Check to see if the hammer (EDIT: BOLT LUG not hammer  ) rides above the rail when you hold the trigger down, pull the carrier all the way back and let it go forward slowly.
However, the lug should not be contacting the inside of the upper rail even if it rides above it. Check to make sure the upper rails are parallel and measure the distance between the inside of the rails, especially at that spot. |
| No its not normal for it to pop out that way if you dont have a buffer cusion try that I like the Blue buffers since they are not to thick and dont interfere with the bolt action. I had a similar problem and I have installed buffers on all my guns and the ones I work on since It helps more than it hurts.. More than likley your reciever has spread apart alittle so I would check that also because its not uncommon that the center support has lossen alittle alowing the bolt to pop off upwards... Last check your upper rails for wear.... |
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I did some measuring, and the rails seem to narrow towards the back of the gun. The gap between rails is exactly 1 inch towards the front of the gun, and 15/16ths at the back. I dont know if that is enough to cause the problems I am having. In the picture I posted, the bolt lug is rubbing against the upper rail. However, after playing around with the bolt carrier for a while, I am wondering if it is stopping because the bottom of the bolt carrier is hitting the hammer as it comes forward. I decided to lube both the bottom of the bolt carrier and the top of the hammer. This appears to have smoothed things up quite a bit. Seems like this would have been a no-brainer to do before, but I have honestly never lubed those two parts up before. That is probably why it would get stuck once in a while. Do you guys think that was the problem? or do I need to explore some other things? Thanks again.
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The hammer puts much less pressure on the carrier when the trigger is held down, because the disconnector holds the hammer lower than the "hook" on the trigger.
If when you hold the trigger down (as if you were firing the rifle) pull the operating handle all the way to the rear and release it, the carrier goes forward, then try shooting the rifle. Take your camera with you. If the rifle works reliably, problem solved. 
If not, take some pictures. and post them. |
| I noticed that when I held the trigger, the bolt did slide past the point where it would get stuck on the hammer when not holding the trigger, but it would still get stuck in another spot just a half inch further. I looked at it and could not figure out what it was getting hung up on. Hopefully lubing those parts up did the trick. |
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