Saiga AK47 bullets tumbling

[Casey9mm]

Went to a new range today that had both 50 and 100 yard bays, my rifle was leaving normal holes at 50 yards but when I moved to the 100 yard you can see the bullets were hitting sideways. Could this be the rifle or is it the ammo, I was shooting cheap steel cased wolf WPA and Tula. I know the AK's aren't know for great accuracy but tumbling bullets right at 100yards seem wrong. Any input will be appreciated.

[SJgunguy24]

Caliber?
Pics of the target.

[tacgunner530]

Yeah, something is not right. How many rounds have been shot thru the barrel?

[Casey9mm]

It's 7.62X39 and overall the gun has about 2500-3000 rounds through the barrel all of those by me. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the target but you could noticably see they were hitting sideways. I shot about 175 rounds at the 50 yard in about a 90 minute period and about another 30-40 rounds and 100 yards. I'm not sure if having a warm barrel could caused this.

[SJgunguy24]

It's 7.62X39 and overall the gun has about 2500-3000 rounds through the barrel all of those by me. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the target but you could noticably see they were hitting sideways. I shot about 175 rounds at the 50 yard in about a 90 minute period and about another 30-40 rounds and 100 yards. I'm not sure if having a warm barrel could caused this.

I've run Svetlana like a rented mule, I got that thing hot running drums and I've never has keyholes. She's somewhere around 12K-14K rounds through her and accurate as the day I bought her.

[gwgn02]

Went to a new range today that had both 50 and 100 yard bays, my rifle was leaving normal holes at 50 yards but when I moved to the 100 yard you can see the bullets were hitting sideways. Could this be the rifle or is it the ammo, I was shooting cheap steel cased wolf WPA and Tula. I know the AK's aren't know for great accuracy but tumbling bullets right at 100yards seem wrong. Any input will be appreciated.

Do you have a muzzle brake? If so, look to make sure bullets aren't contacting it.

[Casey9mm]

I found one thread on a different forum with someone saying that their saiga 7.62X39 also keyholed with wolf WPA ammo. Is there a possibility it could be the ammo?

[Casey9mm]

No muzzle break. It's frustrating because the rifle is dead on with iron sights at 50yds but having issues at 100yds. I guess all have to get some different brands of ammo and do some testing

[tacgunner530]

That rules out a shot out barrel. I would suggest trying to find ammo from a few different manufacturers, see if you get the same results.

[Casey9mm]

While inspecting the barrel with a flashlight the chrome lined barrel still has a mirror finish and the rifling grooves still look deep and sharp. I've got a mixed bag as far as ammo, I have some brown bear, Tula and the wolf WPA and have never had a problem, and that's all I've ever run through it. Although I usually shoot at 50yds or less so maybe I've had this problem all along and never noticed because I don't ever reach out to 100yds.

[SJgunguy24]

Try different ammo, also get some calipers and measure the bore. Do you know how to check the twist rate of the barrel? It should be 1 full rotation in 10".

[Casey9mm]

How do you check the twist rate? And how would that affect keyholing?

[raven290]

Perhaps you have some ammo loaded with .308 rounds instead of the proper .310-.311. Check it out if you have calipers. Maybe Ivan started in on his vodka a little early that day and messed up which bullets went where.

[russ69]

No muzzle break. It's frustrating because the rifle is dead on with iron sights at 50yds but having issues at 100yds. I guess all have to get some different brands of ammo and do some testing

The bullet is just on the edge of stabilization, try some different ammo.