Fixing The AK

Over the years I have used quite a few AK-47/AKM and AK-74 rifles and their variants. I find Kalashnikov-type rifles to be serviceable and reliable, though not as well refined as AR-15 rifles. Having spent some time shooting and working on them I know those believing the AK doesn’t jam or give problems have attended a different church than I. Just the same, the rifle is useful and seldom gives trouble. It has a deserved reputation for reliability but isn’t perfect.

I am going to cover a specific fix for the AK rifle, but let’s go over basic field strip and maintenance first. The AK-47 rifle is a model of reliability, ruggedness and hardy combat ability but it also needs proper maintenance and lubrication. Just enough disassembly to clean and lubricate parts is enough. The receiver is three-sided stamped sheet metal. The rear trunnion and forward barrel trunnion are secured by rivets. Bolt rails are welded in place on the interior of the receiver.

The receiver is rigid and strong and the barrel is a hard press fit tied in with a pin. The AK-47 is a model of reliability but I have seen plenty of problematic rifles. Poor maintenance and haphazard manufacture lead to problems. When field stripping the rifle, first remove the magazine and then double check the chamber. Press the button at the rear of the receiver cover to release it. The forward receiver cover fits neatly into a semi-circular slot in the rear sight assembly.

If not properly fitted into this slot, the rear of the cover will not drop to allow the release button to click back into place. When the button is pressed in, the receiver cover comes out rear first. The bolt carrier is retained by the receiver and recoil spring guide. The bolt carrier rides on rails in the top of the receiver. It is well secured. The cover only keeps debris out of the rifle and does not secure the action.

To remove the recoil spring guide, press it forward and compress the recoil spring into the bolt carrier. The spring guide will come out of its slot in the rear trunnion. The Century rifle also features a spring-loaded button that is pressed to release the spring guide. Lift and pull up the recoil spring assembly 56mm rifle. from the bolt carrier. Grasp the bolt handle and pull the bolt to the rear by this handle.

The bolt must travel completely to the rear and into the notches behind the slide rails of the AKM-type receiver. The bolt may then be lifted out of the receiver. The gas piston remains in the gas cylinder at this point and you will not be able to lift the bolt carrier. However, you may lift the bolt carrier off the slide rails and lift it enough to get the bolt from the receiver. Carefully pull the carrier to the rear and the gas piston will slip out of the gas cylinder.

The bolt is rotated until the lug clears its raceway in the bolt carrier, and then the bolt is pressed forward and removed. A latch on the side of the receiver just under the rear sight allows the gas cylinder to be removed. The handguard and gas cylinder are removed in this manner. The maintenance work begins now. Scrub the bolt, gas cylinder, and gas piston, paying close attention to the bolt face. The previous drill will solve most AK rifle problems. A problem that isn’t solved by cleaning is a

Above center: The recoil spring guide was not difficult to remove. tight safety lever. I have encountered various issues with tight levers and it seems to vary among manufacturers. The problem is that the lever is so tight that it is Bottom Bottom difficult to manipulate the safety from low ready or typical firing positions. The Century Arms AK-type rifle I recently worked on is anew production version chambered in 5.56mm and adapted to use AR-15 magazines.

The safety was stiff at first and then seemed to loosened up in the short term. However, during a more extensive firing session the safety became so stiff that the owner had to lower the rifle and actually use a tool to move the safety to the fire position. This isn’t acceptable. Tempted at first to use the field expedient of bending the lever outward, the owner instead elected to have the rifle professionally fixed.

This isn’t a repair as I would normally term it because the rifle wasn’t broken; the rifle had a problem as delivered from the factory.

56mm rifle is well designed and seldom gives trouble. Upon examination, the rifle had what was the tightest AK safety I have yet encountered. Just as bad, the problem was not consistent as the safety sometimes worked properly with a bit of stiffness and other times it was far too tight for use. A firing session seemed to have made the situation worse rather than breaking the rifle in. It isn’t difficult to remove the AK safety lever.

Field strip the rifle with the top cover removed and then twist the safety up and to the rear. The safety lever is then easily removed from the receiver. Doing this made the problem obvious. The opening in the lever that goes over the receiver was too tight. Part of This part of the safety did not bind. Below center: Finally, it seems the small file worked best. It is the skill and elbow grease that seems to matter most. the lever rides on one side of the receiver and part on the other, inside and outside.

The obvious solution is to bend it away, however, bending isn’t acceptable because the geometry of the safety lever is such that bending the lever enough to relieve tightness might cause binding in another area. The proper fix is to enlarge this opening, even though it was difficult to find the proper tool. The goal is to open up the gap between the two sides of the lever to accommodate the receiver, but to do so while maintaining proper tension.

Running sandpaper inside 56mm rifle seems well put together. the gap did not work well. What did work was a thin piece of metal with coarse sandpaper glued to it and used along with a judicious amount of elbow grease. The piece was sanded, reinstalled, and re-sanded until the proper fit was found at about the seventh try. Taken slow and easy, the cut-and-try method is the proper means of doing this type of repair.

Along with the glued coarse sandpaper, I also used the flats of a thin file to carefully open this piece. The rifle was reassembled and proper function of the safety lever checked. The owner is now pleased with the operation of the safety lever. This is the first time I have fixed this problem but the solution was simple enough and will work on any Kalashnikov rifle with a stiff safety lever. AG