SB, this has been discussed to death on my AES-10a thread near the end of it here
:
The bolt face is just catching on the hammer sticking up a little higher than the bottom of the bolt (which makes sense, since the bolt needs to push the hammer down far enough to engage the sear as it moves rearward to reset the trigger).
As much as some people disagree with me, I still contend this is normal... as does the gentleman I reference in the aforementioned post that found this to be the case with the Vietnam battlefield pickup he used. I figure if it's meant to be that way on a real AK-47 with the "rock-and-roll" setting, then it's probably correct.
I guess some people prefer to avoid that catching, but I love it. Some ranges
require you to keep the bolt open during cold-range time and this allows you to do just that without having to buy a notched safety lever.
Also, AK-variants are not meant to be babied. You pull the bolt back and
Let It Go; it will fly home into battery... this isn't a bolt-action where you slide it forward, it's a combat rifle.