AK-47 Issue

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FormerNavy
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AK-47 Issue

Post by FormerNavy »

Took my new AK out for the first time today. Noticed it had issues with two Tapco magazines I have - for both magazines, it would not strip the first round off a 30 rnd mag cleanly - the bolt wouldn't close all the way. After the first or second round, it would feed normally with the bolt closing all the way every time. The problem seems to be limited to stripping the first round off the magazine.

Would this be a recoil spring issue or should I be looking somewhere else? I didn't try it with the steel magazines I had, so I'm not sure if it would have been any different with those. Thanks!
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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by dan dan the XD40 man »

Tapco mags are more than likely the culprit. I won't use anything other than surplus steel mags.

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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by FormerNavy »

dan dan the XD40 man wrote:Tapco mags are more than likely the culprit. I won't use anything other than surplus steel mags.

Are you letting the bolt fly home or babying it?

Letting it fly home and that thought crossed my mind, but they work after the first or second round. My suspicion was that maybe a fully loaded mag has too much tension between the top round and feed lip, so the spring wasn't strong enough to rip the round out of the mag. But I don't know if that's really a possibility or not.
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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by Javelin Man »

Does it misbehave only with 30 rounds in the magazine or might it work fine if you load only 29 or 28?
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FormerNavy
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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by FormerNavy »

Javelin Man wrote:Does it misbehave only with 30 rounds in the magazine or might it work fine if you load only 29 or 28?

Guess I should have been more clear - when I said "30 round magazine" I meant one filled to capacity. So to answer your question, it only has a problem with the first round and seems to work fine with only 28 or 29 in the mag.
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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by Orochimaru »

Silly question -- but what kind of ammo?

Is it steel case stuff that has a coating of some sort on it?
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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by FormerNavy »

Orochimaru wrote:Silly question -- but what kind of ammo?

Is it steel case stuff that has a coating of some sort on it?
Shot both some Wolf steel cased ammo, and some Chinese Norinco ammo that is lacquer coated - same problem with both.
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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by Orochimaru »

I only ask because I've seen a similar issue where lacquer coating will do weird things on the first 2 shots of a full mag.

Good luck --- hope you get it sorted out soon!
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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by FlyinCedar »

FormerNavy wrote:
Javelin Man wrote:Does it misbehave only with 30 rounds in the magazine or might it work fine if you load only 29 or 28?

Guess I should have been more clear - when I said "30 round magazine" I meant one filled to capacity. So to answer your question, it only has a problem with the first round and seems to work fine with only 28 or 29 in the mag.
Seems like you found the problem. With an issue like this, the mag is almost always the issue. Tapco isn't exactly known for high quality, but seems like they work well for you if you dont fill them to capacity.
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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by Lysander »

It's the Tapco mags. Use surplus steel or Black Circle 10s.
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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by GWC »

Or if they are reliable with 28-29 rounds, just download and keep using them until you replace them.
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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by dregan1000 »

I have two ploymer mags, I think they're Tapco, and I literally couldn't give them away. (a friend bought his third or fourth AK, I offered, and he said no thanks, true story.) - they always have problems - either jamming the bolt or not releasing when I want to change mags, or something.

I started buying Chinese stamped surplus, been fine ever since.
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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by im_n2_vws »

It's the crappy Tapco mags, goto AIM surplus.com. They sell east european ak mags for $9.95 each. I just bought 10 myself. And they are local (Ohio). I have always heard as long as you buy commy mags you will be ok. The ones from AIM look to be new, they advertise them as used I think. They just needed to be cleaned (packed with cosmoline) and file down a few sharp spots here and there. I have read on other forums that these are either being made by the Chinese and shipped to a different country and then shipped to the US (due to the restrictions on chinese firearms and gear here).Or someone is using the old chinese tooling. Chinese made ak mags are known for being some of the best.
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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by Fyresq »

I bought a few of the Tapco's and had the same problem with a couple of them, now I just use them for range mags. My go to mags are all steel eastern european mags. After you clean them up a shot of black BBQ paint makes them look like new and is pretty durable.

Stay away from the steel Korean mags, I bought a couple and they are pretty flimsy and have a lot of sharp edges that are hard on the hands.
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Re: AK-47 Issue

Post by painiac »

You've just found two more reasons that they're called "Crapco"!

If you still want polymer mags, about the only worthwhile ones are the Bulgarian waffle mags. Any of the other mags mentioned will also serve you well.
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