Stovepipe in Mak 90: is a Wolff spring best?

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Ignition Override

New member
A single stovepipe jam, then 60-70 rounds normal. No more ammo used.
The Mak 90 is probably very typical, stamped, all-matching numbers with fairly limited wear. Nice trigger! The recoil spring is somewhat weaker than springs in both "nib" Saiga rifles.

The ammo was the seller's WPA ("Wolf") 7.62x39. The factory round's bullet was angled upwards, pinched by the bolt.

The magazine: a brand-new South Korean 20-rounder, which is difficult to insert into the tight magwell, but made a definite 'click', locked into position.
Is a normal strength Wolff AK 47/74 spring recomended?:)
 
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B

bamaranger

New member
Hmmmm!?!

The expression "Stovepipe" is usually applied to a spent (not live) case that does not eject cleanly and gets trapped by the bolt face against the receiver, resulting in the classic name sake appearance. The classic cause is low bolt/slide speed. Either ammo or lack of lube/lack of maint induced. I suppose could be a worn/loose ejector.

As my interpretation of your problem is a live cartridge so trapped, it is not an instance of failure to eject as it is failure to feed. That may well be a magazine problem. AK mags are plentiful at present, I'd try a new mag and another 100 rds before I worried too much about a single failure to feed.

Mags in all firearms have "personalities". Could be that mag in that AK is one of those instances. Regards recoil springs....no opinion, other than I kinda doubt if it is the cause or the failure.
 
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T. O'Heir

New member
One jam out of 60 or 70 rounds really isn't a cause for alarm. Or for changing springs. Not likely the mag either given that it worked fine for the rest of the ammo. Change ammo first.
Always start with the easy, relatively cheap, fixes before doing anything else.
 
C

Chainsaw.

New member
Clean and lube first. Then try another TYPE of mag/s. Typically, as stated above its a mag or ammo issue first and a gun issue second.

Circle 10 mags are argued to be the best around but the price reflects that.
 
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drobs

New member
Is the Wolf 7.62x39 FMJ, HP, or SP?

AK's were designed around FMJ ammo. I've seen HP (hollow point) and SP (Soft Point) Wolf 7.62x39 cause problems with some AK's as the tip of the projectile catches on the barrel ramp.

1 trick to fix that issue is to ramp the barrel. Some AK manufactures did that at the factory. Some did not.

My recommendation would be to stick to FMJ ammo.

I find Golden Tiger 7.62x39 FMJ BT ammo to be more consistent and more accurate than Wolf ammo. I shot a 2 inch 100yd group with GT a few 5 years ago from the bench.

http://www.sgammo.com/product/golde...39-fmj-bt-golden-tiger-124-grain-russian-ammo

Do a little research on Golden Tiger and you will find I'm not the only person that says so.

I also would recommend you get some good surplus steel combloc 30rd mags.
I don't believe S. Korea ever fielded an 7.62x39 AK rifle.

Lastly when charging the AK, or any semi-auto for that matter, pull the charging handle all the way to the rear and let it sling shot forward under its own spring tension. Don't ride the charging handle when chambering the 1st round.
 
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I

Ignition Override

New member
Ladies/gentlemen, those are excellent points. With the new, metal 20-rounder S. Korean mag. in the Maadi 'ARM', too few rds. have been used to really evaluate the mag. It's been perfect using approx. 150-200 rds.

With a Hungarian 'Tanker' mag., will use this over about 300 rds. in the Mak-90 to better observe feeding results.

drobs: Good review. The bolt is always pulled fully aft then released.
With 10,000 rds. of 7.62x39 for upcoming retirement, it consists mostly of Wolf, with a fraction of Tula.
I normally load fmj, but it's possible that the problem round was jhp.
 
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wingman

New member
Just as a side note, I avoid using steel cased ammo in anything I own, the Wolf brand normally has a lot of wax which builds up in chamber, seen a
lot of failure to feed in pistols, anyway if you use it clean chamber better
then normal.
 
I

Ignition Override

New member
wingman:
"Roger that". The chamber is cleaned after every 40-80 rds. with a quick wet patch right into the bore, but extra scrubbing with a brush could be needed.

The ammo is always the type with the gray coating.
All of the green lacquered ammo was Used up a few years ago (in a prev. SKS).
 
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