Wow - My AK47 Jammed!

Herman · 01-10-2008, 11:50 AM

Hello all,

Just thought I'd give you a heads up - this is my first post on the forum, and I'm also pretty new to the whole gun scene, so forgive me if I'm mistakenly breaking any unwritten rules or customs that you have on this forum. With that said, I'll get to explaining my problem as best I can given my somewhat limited gun knowledge.

A couple of months ago, I bought my first gun which is an AK47 WASR10. I bought it used at a gun shop - military surplus. I'd only fired a couple magazines through it in the desert and such since the time I bought it, and yesterday I decided to finally bring it to the range. The first thing I noticed was that it seemed to be loading weird. When I'd pull back on the handle and release, the bolt carrier didn't seem to slam forward all the way, but instead left a little gap between the charging handle and the part of the receiver where it would normally rest. I'd have to slam this forward, and then it would fire. I got a couple of magazines through it with no major problems, but on the 3rd or 4th (30 round mags,) it jammed. The casing AND the bullet would be lodged in so tight that I couldn't even pull back on the charging handle. Luckily, with the help of a mallet, and also removing the return spring, I was able to hammer back the charging handle and retrieve the jammed bullet. I switched ammo, switched mags (another 30 round,) tried again, and it jammed again.

I have to admit that it's pretty confusing and frustrating, especially seeing as how it's my first gun, and AK47s are said to be so incredibly reliable. I have taken the thing pretty well apart, and actually had a friend who knows what he's doing help me replace the front and back stock. Is it possible that I messed something up reassembling it? Apart from that, the only other thing I can think of is that it looks like the primer on the spent casings are being hit a lot harder than they should be.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

SilverRun · 01-10-2008, 12:01 PM

Try cleaning the chamber really good - like with a wire bore brush. If person before you had been shooting lots of lacquer coated ammo, the chamber could be really cruded up. Also, make sure you got everything lined up right when you reassembled the rifle. AK's are pretty simple, can't be that much wrong. I wouldn't get too worried. I bet a really good cleaning will fix your problem.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

SwedeSteve · 01-10-2008, 12:08 PM

Welcome Herman! I would also feel around inside the chamber for a bur or such.

Herman · 01-10-2008, 12:19 PM

Thank you for the warm welcome and advice, guys. I actually did clean it pretty thoroughly after I'd shot it the last time, but I'll give it another try. I don't get to the range all that often, so the only thing I had to do with it for a while was take it apart, clean it, stare at it, etc.

What exactly could be aligned wrong on it? The bolt? Those are kind of loose fitting, and it threw me off the first time I took it apart, but I've had my friend look at it and he seemed to think it was ok. In any case, thanks for the advice.

NRAJOE · 01-10-2008, 01:10 PM

I've had 10 AK's...currently have a milled Bulgarian SLR101S that has never jammed in 5,000 rds.

The only AK that I've had jam was a WASR.

billy · 01-10-2008, 01:11 PM

IVE GOT A WASR WITH ABOUT 3500 .
NO JAMS

Delta-3 · 01-10-2008, 01:17 PM

You might check the alignment of your gas piston. WASR's aren't known for their quality. It may be dragging heavily to one side or the other of your gas tube which might explain why it's not going fully into battery or why it is difficult to extract.

toolman · 01-10-2008, 01:42 PM

Welcome to G&G! Take a look at the fired cases and see if there are any drag\scrape marks on the casings. Also, does the bolt close correctly without a round in the chamber?

ArkansasHunter · 01-10-2008, 01:51 PM

HEY Herman WELCOME to GUN and GAME feller I have'nt had any Jams either because I don't own one

Thanks for Joining and hope to see you around ...A.H

Herman · 01-10-2008, 02:34 PM

I had some pictures of it ready for you guys, but my camera decided to crap out (one of those days,) so I'll just have to do my best to explain it. My friend did replace the front stock on the gun, which also required removing the gas tube and putting it back in. When he put the new fore grip (is that the right term?) it was a little bit crooked, but he said that since the gas tube is in correctly, that shouldn't matter. He's pretty smart about guns, so I trust him on that.

The bolt does close all the way when there are no rounds in it. I don't think extracting the spent shells is the problem, as the bullet never leaves the casing. The whole thing just gets stuck in there and makes it impossible to pull the charging handle. I had a picture of a spent case. Other people were telling me it looks like it's getting hit harder than it needs to, but I can't really back that up seeing as how I'm no expert...yet. Like I said, I tried to get pictures but that unfortunately didn't work out. That's pretty much it, although when I first got to the range and I had the problem with the bolt, I did pull the charging handle more than once, causing it to eject bullets that were still good. I'm not sure that that caused the jam, though, because it did fire fine for a while after that. It jams when there are still bullets in the mag.

Thanks again!

Herman · 01-12-2008, 06:18 PM

Hey,

I thought I'd tell you all that there's a new development in this story. I had my dad take a look at it, and it appears that the piston is bent. There's what looks to be a stress fracture about a quarter of an inch from where the piston goes into the bolt carrier, and it causes the piston to be bent very very slightly to one side. What do you all think - is this the problem?

bored2bhere · 01-12-2008, 06:32 PM

delta 3 says that may be the problem

Herman · 01-12-2008, 07:16 PM

Right...not sure how I missed that. Thanks Delta!

meatloaf · 01-15-2008, 08:38 PM

Go get a yugo or romanian.

billy · 01-15-2008, 08:46 PM

get another piston

jerry · 01-15-2008, 08:48 PM

All semi auto's of anything will fail in some way at some time. Murphy says so.

SilverRun · 01-15-2008, 10:55 PM

Yep, that sounds like yer problem! You should be able to find a piston pretty cheap and easy. The big question is not if it that is the problem - it is. The big question is why and how did it get bent. If your buddy stepped on it while changing out the hand guards, then you are good to go with a new piston. But if a misalignment is causing the piston to torque when fired and caused the piston to bend, then you are wasting money with the new piston. Century is not know for their outstanding quality control!! I would determine the cause before getting further into the gun money wise. Just my 2 cents - Good Luck.

Herman · 01-15-2008, 11:12 PM

Thanks, Silver! I called the store I bought it from and spoke with a gun smith, and he was trying to tell me that the piston probably was not the problem, and he thinks that the chamber is just gunked up. I'm assuming that by the "chamber," he means the gas chamber, right? Anyway, I think I agree with you on this one. It has to be the piston, but I will definitely look into it and see what bent it. I mean, I'm sure it's a very old gun, so it's definitely possible that the person who owned it before me did something to it, but I guess we'll see.

Thanks again for your help.

Mooseman684 · 01-15-2008, 11:20 PM

You can replace the piston pretty easy...The Bolt carrier isnt cracked where the piston threads in is it ???
Rich

Herman · 01-16-2008, 02:34 PM

The bolt carrier is fine - it's just the piston as far as I can tell. And to be honest, it's extremely hard for me to tell even that the piston is bent. I had my dad take a look at it, and he could tell right away, but was a mechanic for a while so I think he's better at spotting these kinds of things than I am.

By the way, does anyone know a good, reliable website I could order a piston from? Somewhere quick as well, as the last site I looked at said 8 - 12 business days for processing, then another 8 - 12 just for it to get here.

Thanks a lot.

01-10-2008, 11:50 AM	#1
Herman Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 32	Wow - My AK47 Jammed! Hello all, Just thought I'd give you a heads up - this is my first post on the forum, and I'm also pretty new to the whole gun scene, so forgive me if I'm mistakenly breaking any unwritten rules or customs that you have on this forum. With that said, I'll get to explaining my problem as best I can given my somewhat limited gun knowledge. A couple of months ago, I bought my first gun which is an AK47 WASR10. I bought it used at a gun shop - military surplus. I'd only fired a couple magazines through it in the desert and such since the time I bought it, and yesterday I decided to finally bring it to the range. The first thing I noticed was that it seemed to be loading weird. When I'd pull back on the handle and release, the bolt carrier didn't seem to slam forward all the way, but instead left a little gap between the charging handle and the part of the receiver where it would normally rest. I'd have to slam this forward, and then it would fire. I got a couple of magazines through it with no major problems, but on the 3rd or 4th (30 round mags,) it jammed. The casing AND the bullet would be lodged in so tight that I couldn't even pull back on the charging handle. Luckily, with the help of a mallet, and also removing the return spring, I was able to hammer back the charging handle and retrieve the jammed bullet. I switched ammo, switched mags (another 30 round,) tried again, and it jammed again. I have to admit that it's pretty confusing and frustrating, especially seeing as how it's my first gun, and AK47s are said to be so incredibly reliable. I have taken the thing pretty well apart, and actually had a friend who knows what he's doing help me replace the front and back stock. Is it possible that I messed something up reassembling it? Apart from that, the only other thing I can think of is that it looks like the primer on the spent casings are being hit a lot harder than they should be. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

01-10-2008, 12:08 PM	#3
SwedeSteve Thor's Hammer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Alaska Posts: 10,346 Images: 1	Welcome Herman! I would also feel around inside the chamber for a bur or such. __________________ Thank God we don't get as much Government as we pay for! -Will Rogers

01-10-2008, 01:10 PM	#5
NRAJOE Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Toledo,OH Posts: 19,051 Images: 3	I've had 10 AK's...currently have a milled Bulgarian SLR101S that has never jammed in 5,000 rds. The only AK that I've had jam was a WASR. __________________ U.S. Army 1976-1979 237th Combat Engineers Heilbronn, Germany

01-10-2008, 01:11 PM	#6
billy spiritual counselor Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: a secret lab on the shores of lake titicaca Posts: 12,106 Images: 9 Blog Entries: 146	IVE GOT A WASR WITH ABOUT 3500 . NO JAMS __________________

01-10-2008, 01:17 PM	#7
Delta-3 Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: NW Ohio but Montana is always home Posts: 94	You might check the alignment of your gas piston. WASR's aren't known for their quality. It may be dragging heavily to one side or the other of your gas tube which might explain why it's not going fully into battery or why it is difficult to extract. __________________ Be polite. Be professional but have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

01-10-2008, 12:01 PM	#2
SilverRun Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: AL Posts: 1,661	Try cleaning the chamber really good - like with a wire bore brush. If person before you had been shooting lots of lacquer coated ammo, the chamber could be really cruded up. Also, make sure you got everything lined up right when you reassembled the rifle. AK's are pretty simple, can't be that much wrong. I wouldn't get too worried. I bet a really good cleaning will fix your problem. Oh, and welcome to the forum!

01-10-2008, 12:19 PM	#4
Herman Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 32	Thank you for the warm welcome and advice, guys. I actually did clean it pretty thoroughly after I'd shot it the last time, but I'll give it another try. I don't get to the range all that often, so the only thing I had to do with it for a while was take it apart, clean it, stare at it, etc. What exactly could be aligned wrong on it? The bolt? Those are kind of loose fitting, and it threw me off the first time I took it apart, but I've had my friend look at it and he seemed to think it was ok. In any case, thanks for the advice.

01-10-2008, 01:42 PM	#8
toolman Mr. Fixit Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: abilene,tx Posts: 5,582 Blog Entries: 22	Welcome to G&G! Take a look at the fired cases and see if there are any drag\scrape marks on the casings. Also, does the bolt close correctly without a round in the chamber? __________________ Don't be messin' with my gun!

01-10-2008, 01:51 PM	#9
ArkansasHunter Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: South Arkansas Posts: 10,690	HEY Herman WELCOME to GUN and GAME feller I have'nt had any Jams either because I don't own one Thanks for Joining and hope to see you around ...A.H

01-10-2008, 02:34 PM	#10
Herman Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 32	I had some pictures of it ready for you guys, but my camera decided to crap out (one of those days,) so I'll just have to do my best to explain it. My friend did replace the front stock on the gun, which also required removing the gas tube and putting it back in. When he put the new fore grip (is that the right term?) it was a little bit crooked, but he said that since the gas tube is in correctly, that shouldn't matter. He's pretty smart about guns, so I trust him on that. The bolt does close all the way when there are no rounds in it. I don't think extracting the spent shells is the problem, as the bullet never leaves the casing. The whole thing just gets stuck in there and makes it impossible to pull the charging handle. I had a picture of a spent case. Other people were telling me it looks like it's getting hit harder than it needs to, but I can't really back that up seeing as how I'm no expert...yet. Like I said, I tried to get pictures but that unfortunately didn't work out. That's pretty much it, although when I first got to the range and I had the problem with the bolt, I did pull the charging handle more than once, causing it to eject bullets that were still good. I'm not sure that that caused the jam, though, because it did fire fine for a while after that. It jams when there are still bullets in the mag. Thanks again!

01-12-2008, 06:18 PM	#11
Herman Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 32	Hey, I thought I'd tell you all that there's a new development in this story. I had my dad take a look at it, and it appears that the piston is bent. There's what looks to be a stress fracture about a quarter of an inch from where the piston goes into the bolt carrier, and it causes the piston to be bent very very slightly to one side. What do you all think - is this the problem? Last edited by Herman; 01-12-2008 at 06:28 PM.

01-12-2008, 06:32 PM	#12
bored2bhere Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: mississippi Posts: 402 Images: 3 Blog Entries: 3	delta 3 says that may be the problem __________________ "Only the dead have seen the end of war"-Apolos

01-12-2008, 07:16 PM	#13
Herman Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 32	Right...not sure how I missed that. Thanks Delta!

01-15-2008, 08:38 PM	#14
meatloaf Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: lakewood CO Posts: 904 Images: 3	Go get a yugo or romanian.

01-15-2008, 08:46 PM	#15
billy spiritual counselor Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: a secret lab on the shores of lake titicaca Posts: 12,106 Images: 9 Blog Entries: 146	get another piston __________________

01-15-2008, 08:48 PM	#16
jerry Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 10,875 Images: 9 Blog Entries: 1	All semi auto's of anything will fail in some way at some time. Murphy says so. __________________ I'm a down home back woods redneck

01-15-2008, 10:55 PM	#17
SilverRun Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: AL Posts: 1,661	Yep, that sounds like yer problem! You should be able to find a piston pretty cheap and easy. The big question is not if it that is the problem - it is. The big question is why and how did it get bent. If your buddy stepped on it while changing out the hand guards, then you are good to go with a new piston. But if a misalignment is causing the piston to torque when fired and caused the piston to bend, then you are wasting money with the new piston. Century is not know for their outstanding quality control!! I would determine the cause before getting further into the gun money wise. Just my 2 cents - Good Luck.

01-15-2008, 11:12 PM	#18
Herman Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 32	Thanks, Silver! I called the store I bought it from and spoke with a gun smith, and he was trying to tell me that the piston probably was not the problem, and he thinks that the chamber is just gunked up. I'm assuming that by the "chamber," he means the gas chamber, right? Anyway, I think I agree with you on this one. It has to be the piston, but I will definitely look into it and see what bent it. I mean, I'm sure it's a very old gun, so it's definitely possible that the person who owned it before me did something to it, but I guess we'll see. Thanks again for your help.

01-15-2008, 11:20 PM	#19
Mooseman684 Super Moderator Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alaska Wilderness Posts: 9,668 Images: 2	You can replace the piston pretty easy...The Bolt carrier isnt cracked where the piston threads in is it ??? Rich __________________ You know you might be facing your doom,when all you get is a click when you're expecting a BOOM! Last edited by Mooseman684; 01-15-2008 at 11:23 PM.

01-16-2008, 02:34 PM	#20
Herman Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 32	The bolt carrier is fine - it's just the piston as far as I can tell. And to be honest, it's extremely hard for me to tell even that the piston is bent. I had my dad take a look at it, and he could tell right away, but was a mechanic for a while so I think he's better at spotting these kinds of things than I am. By the way, does anyone know a good, reliable website I could order a piston from? Somewhere quick as well, as the last site I looked at said 8 - 12 business days for processing, then another 8 - 12 just for it to get here. Thanks a lot.