Wasr 3 FTE

[Woodmizer]

Just bought a Wasr 3 and took it to the range today. First shot with mag in it the gun did not eject the chambered round and pulled one out of the mag and jammed it up against the spent casing in the chamber. I took the mag out and slide a round in the chamber without the mag in and it still failed to eject the round after firing it. I was using brass cased Federal 223 55 grain ammo. I could easily pull the spent round out of the chamber and tried this about 10 times with the same result. Whats going on? I have 2 other AKs and never had this happen. The gun is used so I cant send it back to CIA.

[blobman]

century strikes again...........................

[imanaknut]

Welcome to the group !!! :welcome:

It sounds like the extractor is either broken or the spring is weak. Since the rounds are not tight, I would be the extractor is the problem. There also might be some dirt under it or in it's pocket. Try cleaning it thoroughly unless it is obviously broken.

Rereading your post, is the round extracting but not ejecting, or is it being left in the chamber as per my first thought?

[Woodmizer]

it is being left in the chamber once fired, then I can pull the bolt back and slide the spent casing out with my finger. If a round has not been fired I can eject it as normal by working the bolt. Why is it leaving a spent round in the Chamber?

[imanaknut]

Yep, what I first said, check the extractor on the bolt. Usually the AK has a huge extractor to make sure it functions in the worst conditions, but in your case it sounds like either the extractor spring is weak, the extractor broken, or dirt under it or in it's pocket causing it to not lock over the rim of the case.

[Woodmizer]

Thanks for the welcome. I got frustrated with this thing today. Why does the gun only do this when it is fired. It will throw the unspent rounds out ten feet away from you by manually working the bolt. When fired the spent round stays in the barrel. I hope I was clear with my previous post. Thanks again for the help.

[imanaknut]

You can't cycle it by hand as fast as it cycles when fired, so a weak spring on the extractor might be strong enough to pull out the round when cycled by hand, but not strong enough when fired.

You would think that the firing impulse would help start the shell moving, but with the way the gas system works and the way the bolt locks up, it isn't.

[Woodmizer]

Thanks for the help. I hope that it is an easy fix. Where would be a good place to look for parts for the 223 wasr 3?

[imanaknut]

I am not sure about parts for the WASR-3 because it was never a rifle that interested this AK-nut. I guess it was because of the way ATF cut off the imports of the SAR-3 that rubbed me wrong.

I do know that the SAR-3 had a special bolt that was shorter than the standard AK/AKM/AK-74 bolt. I believe that the WASR-3 bolt is standard length, and it is possible that an extractor from an AK-74 variant would work. If it is a spring problem, I believe any AK extractor spring should work.

Hopefully someone with more WASR-3 parts experience than me will be along soon.

Actually hopefully it is just dirt or a carbon build up under the extractor causing your problems and a good cleaning will fix it.

[Woodmizer]

going to give it a good scrubbing and hope that helps. If not then Ive never seen anything that couldnt be fixed with a little patience, maybe I will have enough.

[Schuetzenman]

All the adivise given is what I would of said. Week spring or the Extractor is dirty / broken / chipped. Step one clean like crazy. Next step if that didn't work, replace spring. Next step, replace extractor.

[Woodmizer]

Well today I went by Wally world and bought 2 boxes of Tulammo 223 and tried it in the wasr before cleaning. The thing worked like a charm and extracted and ejected, heck it was throwing the steel 20 feet from me when firing. Whats up with steel working and not brass? I shot 20 rounds with one FTF which the mag is a Promag and I know I have read to stick with the German mags with this gun. I cleaned her head to toes and hopefully everything will be OK. I have lots of brass cased stuff I shoot in my AR and hate to buy steel just for the wasr, although is cheaper. Ever heard of this?

[imanaknut]

Hopefully it was the cleaning you did that fixed it and not the ammo, but how about this for a funny but sad story.

I have an SAR-3 that has fired well over 8000 rounds of mostly lacquer coated steel case stuff and had not had any issues until I tried the new polymer coated steel case rounds. I am lucky to get one full mag off before one round bonds itself in the chamber and has to be driven out. The polymer coating melts as the chamber gets hot and eventually enough is smeared in the chamber to cause a round to stick.

Not only have I had this problem with polymer coated ammo in my SAR-3, but also a Norinco 84S-1 and a friend has an M4 that he is lucky to get more than one round fired before a polymer coated round sticks.

Just goes to show you how ammo sensitive some firearms are.

[Woodmizer]

Hate to say it but the steel worked in the gun without the cleaning. Go figure. I do have a german mag ordered for the WASR3. Maybe this one likes steel, it is an AK but looks to be a finiky one, unlike most AKs .I have read that this 223 AK is a diffrent breed. I like the gun so I am going to stick with it.

[Schuetzenman]

Hate to say it but the steel worked in the gun without the cleaning. Go figure. I do have a german mag ordered for the WASR3. Maybe this one likes steel, it is an AK but looks to be a finiky one, unlike most AKs .I have read that this 223 AK is a diffrent breed. I like the gun so I am going to stick with it.

I am no suspecting rim thickness or depth. Compare the rims of the Federal to the Steel Tulammo. There must be a visible difference. Oddly I've had the same effect but the opposite way. .22 LR Russian ammo that wouldn't extract for crap but US that worked fine.

[Woodmizer]

The tulammo appears to be slightly longer than the federal 55 grain. Could expansion of the brass vs the steel cause this when the ammo is shot? I would think that the brass would expand a little more on the neck of the cartridge. The extractor seemed to be fine when I cleaned and the spring did also, but I am no expert and certainly not a gunsmith. The bolt seemed to open easier with the tulammo in the chamber than the federal brass cased.