AK Mag Well Help

[BogWalker]

Just to give some background my AK started life as a WASR single stack. I "converted" it to double stack.

To those interested in such a conversion it would be wise to know a pneumatic die grinder is a bit more powerful than the dremel recommended in tutorials. You stand a pretty good chance of removing more metal than you intended. My mistake.

So anyways, I'm not sure if this or my technique is the cause of the problem while removing magazines from my AK. They go in just fine most of the time, except every now and then due to an entirely too large magazine well they need to be given a bit of a turn to allow them to lock in. That is most definitely due to the hogged out magazine well. Doesn't cause much of a problem often.

The problem when removing magazines is a bit more complicated. So, to remove magazine you depress mag catch, and then rock/roll it out, right? Well with mine it's more like depress catch, rock forward, pull down a bit, mag won't pull free, rock back again, pull down again, magazine is removed. It goes from a two step to a four step motion to remove a magazine.

Is this due to a too large mag well or poor technique? Every now and then it works just fine, but it messes up often enough to be a serious bother. Doesn't matter in range use, but what good is an AK if you get messed up during your mag dumps?

Any way to fix this? JB weld additional metal onto mag well opening? Get a new reciever? Learn to live with it? If it's just my technique that would be good news, but I imagine it's not.

What's interesting is there actually isn't much wobble. The forward and rear catch are all in spec, it's just all the rest of the magazine wells diameter is too far bored out leading to a very noticeable gap in all areas besides the forward and rear catch.

 

[243rem700]

Do you have pictures with and without a mag inserted? It would be much easier to help if we could see what the bottom and inside of the receiver looked like.
It sounds like the mag is catching on something when trying to remove it.

 

[tradertator]

My guess is it's due to the mag well being hogged out, thus making you fish the magazine around in the well and catching on stuff it shouldn't. If it's bad enough that it's making manipulation of the rifle unreliable and you want it fixed, do it right. I really don't like to half ass gun repairs, so using some sort of compound like JB Weld doesn't sound like the route I would go. Good news is if you fix it right, receivers are cheap. Bad news is it's rather labor intensive to do. Might watch for the next INGO AK build day. Then buy a lower (Spud Nodak probably being the best), and demill your rifle into what's basically a parts kit. I doubt you would have much trouble finding a friendly INGO'er to help you then, once you had a good heat treated receiver ready to go and the rivets removed from parts kit.

 

[Clay]

I can't make any guesses into why the mag is difficult to get out with out looking at the rifle. There are any number of things that could contribute to it, but its most likely something to do with the hogged out opening.

Only 2 ways to fix it IMO. Add metal somehow, or replace the receiver. Problem is the receivers aren't all that thick and welding on the lip then making it look good will be a pain. If you knew someone who was good with a tig, they could probably add some material to the opening more easily than a guy with a mig could. or you could even cut some pieces to stack on the bottom of the receiver and tack or spot weld to the receiver. Ugly, but functional

odds are if its really bad though, buy an NDS receiver and replacing it will be the best functional/durable/astetic fix for most people.

If you were close to Terre Haute, I would be happy to look at it and make some suggestions. OR post up some good pics and maybe even a video of whats going on?

 

[peberly400]

Take a little bit of metal and add too the reciever. Use jb weld to get the correct size you need then get it tack welder. also look at your mag release and make sure nothing funky is going on there

 

[223 Gunner]

I recently got rid of all my AK's, partially due to "mag" issues. The only AK's I owned that would accept any mags were pre-ban Norinco's.
Anything I have owned with a U.S. receiver has been picky on mags. I got tired of trying to keep track of which mags would work in which rifles.
I'm talking surplus mags here, that should work in anything. Any polymer mag I tried were always way to tight.

 

[BogWalker]

These are old pictures. It's had some cosmetic touch ups, but the mag well is the same as it was when the pictures were taken. Sorry no good pictures of the front locking area; I hadn't had time to get out with the cameras for some new pictures. It's not all bad if I have to replace the receiver. It also needs a very slight front sight straightening, the front muzzle nut removed, and I'm thinking about putting in a new gas chamber that has the bayonet lug intact. Oh, how I despise the Clinton AWB. My 922r is all in order just in case anyone was wondering about that. Guess I'm looking somewhere around $150 in materials.

 

[Clay]

wow, thats a pretty big gap. BUT you can weld it up, though I think it would be quicker to replace it with an NDS receiver.

 

[BogWalker]

wow, thats a pretty big gap. BUT you can weld it up, though I think it would be quicker to replace it with an NDS receiver.

I might as well. The NDS is a higher quality receiver as is. It's not that expensive anyways, just a fair bit of work. I'll end up with a better gun for it so why not. I got this when they were $300 so I'll still be ahead of the game doing a rebuild instead of buying a new one.

 

[Clay]

The NDS is a higher quality receiver as is.

I wouldn't go that far.

The NDS is the best thing going in the US, but I would still prefer the original receiver if it were me. (but Im kinda weird)

 

[tradertator]

I agree with Clay, I'd prefer the original receiver too. But the Spud stuff is good to go.

Try to look at it positively. $300 is cheap for a Romanian parts kit with a matching barrel anymore. That hole looks really hogged out, and though you could probably build it up with a Tig, replacing it would be much cheaper (if your hiring it done) and aesthetically pleasing. Plus with the additional work your looking to do, rebuilding it makes the most sense to me.

 

[Tombs]

I don't see why that couldn't be opened up a bit further, then fitted with a properly sized and cut magwell made from sheet metal welded in and sanded smooth.

What it looks like in pictures is, unevenness in the mouth of the well is catching on imperfections in the magazine, as well as creating a condition where it can pinch the nose of the magazine.

Also check for wear on the back lug of the magazines. I see something going on with the mouth of the magwell around the magazine catch. Looks like the magazine can shift around enough to get the tail of the magazine lug stuck up inside the receiver.

 

[BogWalker]

Problem happens with all magazines, but curiously it's not very prominent on Albanian flat backs.

So what's the advantage of the original receiver to the NDS receiver? Is it stronger, has better tolerances, or is it just the history of it?

I didn't really think there was much history to them. Weren't they just added by Century here stateside to parts kits, or were they manufactured in Romania? It is numbers matching, not sure where to look on barrel to see if it's original though.

It is a curious WASR. It was single stack but 922r compliant. I thought single stacks weren't built compliant because they didn't fall under the technicalities of the law requiring compliance parts? If only young(er) me had spent the extra $40 for a double stack, but instead I got a small stack of ammo. Ahhh how cheap it was then. I think that was 5 or 6 years ago. Can't quite remember, but I think Bush was still president. And the rifle came with 6 magazines! For some reason back then I was all about mag count.

 

[Clay]

Well, the receiver should be a romanian built receiver. Century imported the rifles during the ban era, and sold them as is. Current WASRs are still imported with a single stack mag well, but Century opens them up.

As for why on the original receiver... Romania has been cranking out AKs for decades, and they should have a pretty good understanding of how to build them, and they do a pretty decent job. I like having original factory built rifles because they are assembled in a factory with the right tools, and they are built right along side of the military versions. So yes, there is also some history there too, and the looks/details of the rifle are correct.

For the most part, I like my AKs like they were built from the factory if I can have them that way

 

[BogWalker]

I'll take some time to consider options then. I know a few guys repair this with gorilla glue and sheet metal, but half-assing it is just asking for more problems in the future. I don't do any welding so I'll have to see if i know anyone with this sort of experience that could help me out. If it comes down to having a gunsmith do it it would be cheaper just to replace the receiver. So may keep it original, may not. Will research what a little more.

 

[indykid]

Forgive me, but as an AK-nut I am going to say that if the only problem you are having is removing the mag is a bear, I would live with it. As long as the mag inserts correctly and the rifle has no issues with fail to feed, and it shoots reliably, I would live with not being able to remove the mag as easily as they should remove. That would be a lot cheaper than welding and recutting the mag well or worse replacing the complete receiver. Unless you expect to use the rifle for self defense and need to make quick mag changes, I would live with it and enjoy the fact that it shoots reliably.

Again, just my 2 cents.

 

[Shootin'IN]

If you have enough metal cut out to make mag loading easy just cover up the mess with one of these.

AK47 MFER MAGAZINE FUNNEL ENHANCED RELOAD