WASR-22 question

[bigthaiboy]

I recently picked up a WASR-22 and took it down the range to try out with a selection of .22LR ammo including :

Remington GB 40gr & 36gr HPs
Remington Thunderbolt 40gr
Winchester X-pert HP
Federal Value Pak HP (not Champions)
CCI Blazers 40gr

On firing, the casing will eject and chamber a fresh round, but will not re-cock the hammer. So in effect the bolt would have to be manually re-cocked, ejecting the chambered round and feeding a new one before being able to fire the next shot.

Anyone experience something like this before? I can only deduct that :

a). the recoil driven bolt requires more inertia to fully cock the hammer back, so I just bought some CCI Stingers and some Velocitors to try on my next range visit.

b). the hammer is slipping and dropping back forward following the bolt upon firing.

I'm going to try to also swap out the FCG to a Tapco G2 tomorrow, to see if this improves anything.

Any suggestions on .22 ammo choice and how to get the WASR-22 to feed & function reliably would be apppreciated.

[thefinger]

nothings sucks worse than taking a new toy to the range and finding a problem with it. I don't have any help for you--just wanted to commiserate.

[bigthaiboy]

nothings sucks worse than taking a new toy to the range and finding a problem with it. I don't have any help for you--just wanted to commiserate.

Thanks. you're not wrong, it does suck. Since AK-type rifles are mechanically fairly simple to work on, I'm sure it won't take much to find a cure.

[maxicon]

The 2 things most likely to help:

Try different ammo - lots and lots of ammo. It's not a bad idea to keep a log of it for future reference.

Be sure all the moving parts are clean and lightly lubed. If it's got the factory lube, that's often thick, to protect the gun during shipping and storage. Anything that increases drag and friction in a .22 runs the risk of cycling problem.

With it unloaded, try pulling the trigger and holding it down, they cycling it. If the hammer stays back, it sounds like it's not cycling the bolt far enough with live ammo. If the hammer drops, you've got a FCG problem.

[elroy]

the win expert HP 22 has a soft fragile nose and often has trouble feeding in semi autos

[bigthaiboy]

Thanks Maxicon,

The WASR was cleaned and all moving parts lubricated with Tetra Grease before the range visit. Obviously, this is a factory new rifle, so I suspect it will need a few more hundred rounds to break the action in.

On taking the receiver cover off today, I found a spent .22LR shell casing lodged between the hammer and trigger, so this must have been one of the first casings fired. It is possible the lodged shell casing could have caused the hammer from engaging. I've heard of WASR-22s sometimes failing to eject a spent casing clear of the receiver covers and that some people have changed over to regular 7.62x39 AK receiver covers to solve this problem. Anyone had any success with this?

I will be changing over to the Tapco G2 single hook FCG anyway for the 922(R) compliancy, since I'm changing to a synthetic handguard and folding stock. Maybe this will help improve it's performance a little.

[fred40]

I have one myself and I took the dust cover off and it fires with no problem. I was told to change the dust cover with one from a regular ak. I havent tried it but if you do, let me know.

[Gator Monroe]

Find a Hard rubber plug to seal off the Gas system/tube hole (To keep empties from gettin in there, Remove bolt and adjust the Ecentric adjustment screw on botttom of bolt to tightest setting (It's only a Quarter turn to half turn adjuster so do not turn it like a normal screw to make it tighter, The tightest setting is 12:00 with the larger area of the screw head to the rear of the bolt or to the Right (With FP and ejector to left) but do not try this if gun is ejecting strongly! ditch the PSL stock and get real AK wood furniture (Romanian "Military Takeoff" laminate buttstock, AK pistol Grip & grip screw & nut(PSL does not have those),for mine I like the Yugo M70 black plastic pistol grip, and "Ribbed" East German AKM Topcover which helps the empties eject easier, and practice field stripping the rifle (Remove Top cover, Bolt, recoil Spring & carrier, and clean cosmo out of reciever & FCG and be sure all springs & parts of FCG are in place) Clean the Ejector & Guide & spring (It comes out like 10/22's) ... And use Federal Bulk , Remington Bulk or Blazer (It's all good)

[Gator Monroe]

Thanks Maxicon,

The WASR was cleaned and all moving parts lubricated with Tetra Grease before the range visit. Obviously, this is a factory new rifle, so I suspect it will need a few more hundred rounds to break the action in.

On taking the receiver cover off today, I found a spent .22LR shell casing lodged between the hammer and trigger, so this must have been one of the first casings fired. It is possible the lodged shell casing could have caused the hammer from engaging. I've heard of WASR-22s sometimes failing to eject a spent casing clear of the receiver covers and that some people have changed over to regular 7.62x39 AK receiver covers to solve this problem. Anyone had any success with this?

I will be changing over to the Tapco G2 single hook FCG anyway for the 922(R) compliancy, since I'm changing to a synthetic handguard and folding stock. Maybe this will help improve it's performance a little.

Do not fear European Parts due to 922r (Rimfires are Exempt from Cal AWB) and Armscore AK22/GSG 5 and other Imported .22 Rifles (CZ ...) do not have to comply in PRK ...

[Gator Monroe]

I have one myself and I took the dust cover off and it fires with no problem. I was told to change the dust cover with one from a regular ak. I havent tried it but if you do, let me know.

I like the look of my "Ribbed" Eastern European top cover and with mine no Empties wind up in Reciever anymore (Using the SOG AKT-98 mags) but I blue loctighted my Ejector adjustment screw in the Tightest setting so my rifle would prolly work with my WASR 22 top cover also...

[bigthaiboy]

Thanks Gator for all the info. A Calgunner was kind enough to send me this link to an AK .22LR receiver cover conversion. I think this will help with ejection:

http://www.robertrtg.com/misc.html

It's a shame these WASR-22 don't always work right straight out of the box.

[Gator Monroe]

Try a Ribbed Topcover (Standard Eastern European AKM) ALSO they look nicer ...