AKs never jam, right?

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1KPerDay

1KPerDay

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This is a Waffen Werks AK-74 serial 4xx so ostensibly one of the early "good ones". Bought "new" during Obamascare I for too much money. Only has 600ish rounds trough it because I mostly shoot indoors and, well, what's the point. Plus I don't like the cleanup after corrosive ammo, which is all I have. Anyway on to the jams.

Getting bolt over case FTF jams about 3 per mag. With Circle 10 and East German orange Bakelite mags or whatever it is. Mags are new. Sometimes I'll get a click on an empty chamber with rounds in the mag but mostly it's nose up, nasty bolt over jams.

Ideas? Could severe overgas cause this because the bolt is going so fast the round can't move up quickly enough? Or short stroking causing the same problem? It SEEMS a little better if I bump fire it or hold it loose rather than really crank it tight against my shoulder but I still get jams either way.
 
All AKs aren't the same, and they have the same build quality or QC. The AK you own has a bad reputation for being unreliable.

Wasrs, Npaps, Veprs, Arsenals, etc don't normally jam, and are the go to AKs. If you don't find any answers here, check out AKFiles.
 
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Could be overgassed, I see that type of jam frequently when a suppressor is installed on a fixed gas system rifle, be it an AR, M1-A, AK, whatever.

Put some thin strips of tape along the receiver to where the bolt handle will rip them as it passes, find out if it's making it's way all the way to the rear. If it is, then you know it's not short stroking.
 
Sounds like the rear of the mag may be setting a little low. The guys over on the akfiles forum are very knowledgeable, many guys build their own. There are asshats there, but lots of knowledge and plenty of good guys and gals also. Detailed images would help a knowledgeable ak guy. They have a subforum for ak-74's. Need to get it running. Good luck.
 
Try some different ammunition. I don't know how old the stuff you are using is, but it may be too hot due to age. Or, it may be garbage. What you describe sounds like the bolt mechanism is being accelerated too fast.
 
1KPerDay said:
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This is a Waffen Werks AK-74 serial 4xx so ostensibly one of the early "good ones". Bought "new" during Obamascare I for too much money. Only has 600ish rounds trough it because I mostly shoot indoors and, well, what's the point. Plus I don't like the cleanup after corrosive ammo, which is all I have. Anyway on to the jams.

Getting bolt over case FTF jams about 3 per mag. With Circle 10 and East German orange Bakelite mags or whatever it is. Mags are new. Sometimes I'll get a click on an empty chamber with rounds in the mag but mostly it's nose up, nasty bolt over jams.

Ideas? Could severe overgas cause this because the bolt is going so fast the round can't move up quickly enough? Or short stroking causing the same problem? It SEEMS a little better if I bump fire it or hold it loose rather than really crank it tight against my shoulder but I still get jams either way.
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"Waffen works" name says it all. I prefer names like "Arsenal" "Molot" "Izhevsk"
 
Whoever says AKs never malfunction doesnt get around much.

Check how well the rear of the mag fits at the catch. if its loose up and down, try shooting it holding the mag up or rocked rearwards and see if it helps. I had one that had the catch ground too far in fitting and was loose, it did exactly what you describe. A new mag catch, and not a ground down ban compliant low cap import one may do it.

I messed with a few AKs in the past, Ive had more malfunctions with various Aks than I have with ARs. Some of that is due to poor conversion work on compliant guns modified to normal configuration, though nolt all. One was an undersized US made cheapo gas piston. When comparing it to others, it was somewhat undersized, the gas piston to gas block bore seems to be one of the few AK parts that needs to be close to a snug spec. All the gas blocks I could get measurements on or info on were within a thou or two of identical, and all the pistons were also. the faulty piston was about .005" smaller IIRC. It was not ejecting very far and had a few stovepipes I believe. The replacement piston with correct dimensions corrected it.

When disabled and watching scads of videos of fighting in iraq and Syria when the kurds were pushing iS out, I saw a number of AK malfunctions, so its not just poor commercial guns. They are machines, and theres nothing magic about them.
 
Malamute said:
Whoever says AKs never malfunction doesnt get around much.

Check how well the rear of the mag fits at the catch. if its loose up and down, try shooting it holding the mag up or rocked rearwards and see if it helps. I had one that had the catch ground too far in fitting and was loose, it did exactly what you describe. A new mag catch, and not a ground down ban compliant low cap import one may do it.

I messed with a few AKs in the past, Ive had more malfunctions with various Aks than I have with ARs. Some of that is due to poor conversion work on compliant guns modified to normal configuration, though nolt all. One was an undersized US made cheapo gas piston. When comparing it to others, it was somewhat undersized, the gas piston to gas block bore seems to be one of the few AK parts that needs to be close to a snug spec. All the gas blocks I could get measurements on or info on were within a thou or two of identical, and all the pistons were also. the faulty piston was about .005" smaller IIRC. It was not ejecting very far and had a few stovepipes I believe. The replacement piston with correct dimensions corrected it.

When disabled and watching scads of videos of fighting in iraq and Syria when the kurds were pushing iS out, I saw a number of AK malfunctions, so its not just poor commercial guns. They are machines, and theres nothing magic about them.
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To be fair, those videos show plenty of M4 and SAW jams as well.
 
I doubt the AK is over gassed.. If memory serves me correctly doesn't the AK vent off excess gas right up by the front sight / gas block, via the tube and its holes ?
If it does...

I would make sure the chamber is clean,( it might be using some of the recoil energy there unlikely with a tapered case , but ... ) make sure the mags followers are freely sliding, and as others have mentioned .. the mag itself is properly locking in place.
 
Make sure nothing is interfering in the movement front and back of the bolt. Had a WASR with a messes up trigger spring that was rubbing on the bolt. How these things happen? Who knows.
 
I own a number of guns that have never malfunctioned in any way.

A bunch more that I have shot and when properly maintained and fed are very reliable. The AK is a reliable design but every AK is not the same.
 
jmorris said:
I own a number of guns that have never malfunctioned in any way.

A bunch more that I have shot and when properly maintained and fed are very reliable. The AK is a reliable design but every AK is not the same.
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Yes I didn't mean to imply that somehow my problems translate to all AKs or that the platform itself is somehow suspect. I have a Vepr that has been 100%. I'm just Looking for ideas as to what might be causing my problem to determine whether I can potentially remedy them.


Does anyone know how much it costs to have an AK converted to fire 5.56 and use AR mags? If it is determined that there is too much wrong with this rifle.
 
1KPerDay said:
Yes I didn't mean to imply that somehow my problems translate to all AKs or that the platform itself is somehow suspect. I have a Vepr that has been 100%. I'm just Looking for ideas as to what might be causing my problem to determine whether I can potentially remedy them.


Does anyone know how much it costs to have an AK converted to fire 5.56 and use AR mags? If it is determined that there is too much wrong with this rifle.
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Ugh, probably more effort than its worth, IMO. Might as well sell it and get a factory built 5.56 AK.

Galil anyone?:)
 
Waffen AKs can be great.

All my AK issues are normally mag and ammo related.

Try some shorter ammo like 55gr. If I run tapco garbage mags, that's the only ammo that it will feed. I have had good luck with Bulgarian mags... CDNN still may have some
 
JeeperCreeper said:
Waffen AKs can be great.

All my AK issues are normally mag and ammo related.

Try some shorter ammo like 55gr. If I run tapco garbage mags, that's the only ammo that it will feed. I have had good luck with Bulgarian mags... CDNN still may have some
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55 gr 5.45? Bulgarian are Circle 10 right? I have two of those.
 
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