AK-74 Not Chambering Sometimes, But Only With Some Magazines

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  • ChannelCat

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    I just tried out my AK-74 rifle for the first time after cleaning a thin layer of Cosmoline off of it with mineral spirits, running a brush and patch a few times down the barrel, and hitting it with break free. This cleaning made the action very smooth and deliberate with no hang ups. I have several standard 30 round magazines for it, and they are the real Bulgarian ones and not aftermarket as far as I am aware. The magazines are all the plastic body jobs, which, as far as I know, is standard. Some of the magazines are brown, and some are black.

    The rifle is a Bulgarian model, was purchased at Atlantic Firearms, is one of those jobs where the assembly is done in the US and has, I believe, some US made parts. Is similar to, but is not the same, as this one:

    http://www.atlanticfirearms.com/programming/expand.asp?Prodid=483

    When I was on the line, the rifle would not re-chamber a following round correctly every three to five rounds, but this would only happen with some of the magazines. For some reason, and I wouldn’t think that this would matter, the rifle only misfed when I was using the black magazines. The rifle functioned flawlessly with the brown magazines. Some of the mis chambered rounds ended up scraped up some on the shell casing, and the top part of the black mags looked a little scraped, as though the piece with the firing pin which does the re-chambering was getting caught and not catching the round correctly. I haven’t tested all of the magazines yet, but plan to as soon as I can.

    Has anyone had a similar experience? Can anyone offer any advice? Any good advice is deeply appreciated. Thanks!
     

    Jaybeez

    Ultimate Member
    Industry Partner
    Patriot Picket
    May 30, 2006
    6,392
    Darlington MD
    Check all the mags, and make sure they are clean from grease and cosmo. Also make sure the followers move freely and dont bind on any burrs or rough patches. Disassemble them and smooth any rough spots on the inside. Make sure none of the mags are .223 mags.

    Check the gas port on the rifle to be sure its clean, and providing enough gas to fully stroke the piston.

    Check the center support for rub marks that may indictate its pushing the bolt upwards when the bolt passes, causing the bolt to not contact the next round properly. Also look for excessive wear on the front of the hammer, it may be pushing the bolt up too.

    Another thing to investigate is wheter the misfeeds are all coming from the same side of the mag, is the rifle on misfeeding a round when the round is stripped from the left or right side of the mag, or does it misfeed from both sides.

    With the top cover off and rifle unloaded, cycle the bolt by hand and watch its movement. Does the gas piston enter the rear sight block hole centered and smoothly, or does it come close tp making contact along it side? AT any point does it appear to "jump" upwards even a little bit?

    Does the rifle apper to be well put together, anything seem "off". Is it an arsenal build, or someone else?

    Try these things and let me know, i can tell you what you might want to look for.
     

    guthook

    Grrr.
    Apr 7, 2008
    7,056
    St. Mary's
    This probably isn't any help because it's AR specific.

    My AR-15 was doing something similar to what you're describing due to the feed ramps and magazines. The rounds were being scraped up and dented on the case and the bullet was getting stuck in the feed ramps. I filed a little bevel in the front of my mags to help the round exit upwards and not scrape the mag, and dremelled out some M-4 style feed ramps in the barrel extention. Worked like a charm ever since.

    Try to cycle the action slowly with the cover off and observe to find the problem. It may have an easy fix, but it sounds like a magazine problem.

    Jaybeez beat me to the punch with better info.
     
    Last edited:

    zoostation

    , ,
    Moderator
    Jan 28, 2007
    22,857
    Abingdon
    Are the black mags waffle mags? Just FYI be aware that there are Promag AK mags out there that look exactly like the Bulgarian waffle ones, and are not marked so you can't tell. I had one and it was total crap, the only thing my AK's ever choked on.
     

    ChannelCat

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Thanks!! I appreciate the feedback. The rifle was cleaned, but I'll double check the areas that Jaybeez suggested for wear, and for mis feeding on one side. I'm pretty sure its the mags, because that seems to be the general consensus here, at ar15.com, and at battlerifles. The next time out, I'll bring all the mags, try them, and then weed out the bad ones.
     

    G O B

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 17, 2007
    1,940
    Cen TX
    Number all your mags, so that if one screws up you know wich one. On plastic mags I use silicone spray lube on the followers and inside the mag body, and then wipe dry. On AK's the mag can be seated too high or too low , at the front or at the back, and some mags may not like some mag catches. Take off the dust cover and compare the feed position and angle of the problem mags to that of a good one. Pay particular attention to where the mag seats at the front and rear, the depth is the thing.It sounds like yours is either too deep into the reciever at the rear so the bolt hits the feedlips, or not deep enough for the bolt to catch the rim of the round.
     

    n1111tr0

    Active Member
    Jul 9, 2008
    154
    Belcamp
    I had that happen when i tried out my ak-74 for the first time. Some of the mags are just crap. Trust me its not the gun. just sort out the crap mags and toss em. i bought a couple bakelite mags and they were well worth the 20 bucks i spent on them. I havent had a single problem with feeding since i switched to the bakelites. PLUS THE BAKELITES LOOK AWESOME! gives it that classic ak-74 look.
     

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