Interesting AK raddlock problem

[SeanCasey]

Lsst time I went shooting after a couple times of dropping the mag from my AK (raddlock configured) it ran into an issue were it took a lot of force to drop the mag. The raddlock tool and mechanism appear to be working. I finally managed to free the mag and inspected the rifle and couldnt' find anything that looked different. The ping seemed a little lose so I swapped it with the pin from my Raddlock STARR kit. Mags seemed to be able to drop but it is still a bit off. Mags drop really smoothly if I hold the rifle upside down when using the raddlock too, but if I hold the rifle pointing up or in a shouldered position and try dropping the mag they will not drop. Up until last weekend I had no problems. This is with a metal body mag.

It is strange that it works great with the rifle upside down. There does not seem to be anything moving on the mag or receiver that would block it from relasing smoothly. In any position I can successfully manipulate the raddlock tool around its full range of movement so I doubt it is the raddlock itself.

Any thoughts?

(while waiting for responses I am going to drop the pistol grip off and create a featureless setup and install the STARR and see if the problem persist with that installed.)

[chiz]

I have the same problem with mine. It is easier when I turn it upside down. I have no idea why. I was going to try and shave a little bit off of the top and see if that helped.

[Exposed]

Sean, remember at the last show when I told you I wasnt a big fan of the AK Raddlock and preferred the AK bullet button? Well, this is why. My AK with the Raddlock has the same problem. Its just way to tight and wont let go of the mag when I release it. My AK pistol with the bullet button on the other hand, works flawless. Im going to get rid of the raddlock on my AK and make them both with bullet buttons.

[SeanCasey]

Well what has me confused is that it worked flawlessly before. Overall I don't mind the raddlock and converting to completely away from the raddlock looks like a bit of work since it is already converted. If all else fails I can always try and shave a little off the release and see if it fixes it. My concern is that it becomes too loose and allows from pulling the mag out without a tool.

[mydogsmonkey]

im not too sure about the whole raddlock but i wouldn't try shaving anything off until you either talk to raddlock about it. youmay sheave it so that you can actually pull it out upside down, be careful

[SeanCasey]

Figured it out.

The shim that has the spring perch for the raddlock mag release shifts a little and when it shiftsit lifts up and over the catch on the mag body itself. So you can move the raddlock release and the mag is still caught on the top of the shim preventing release. When the rifle is upside down the shim drops to the top of the raddlock body and no longer holds the mag letting you release it.

I found this by removing the pin with a mag in place after I had difficult removing the mag and when I pulled the release out I found the shim over the catch on the mag.

So now I need to figure out how to stop that shim from shifting.