My Own FTE Problems And More...

[milkmood]

We bought this used Century Golani Sporter from a friend...should have researched it and fired it first, but anyway.

I scoured the thread about the Century Golanis having failure to eject issues, and some of the info was good and useful, but mostly relate to the ejection tab being worn out due to improper heat treating. My ejection tab (pics) seems to be in good condition, clean and square, and actually machined as part of the receiver, but I'm having other ejection issues. I'm going to put up a bunch of pics to help give a bigger picture of what's happening...maybe somebody has a clue about what my problem is. Pics and descriptions of other, less important issues and questions are included too.

* Tried 3 different types of mags (pic)
* Every 2-5 rounds fail to eject (pics)
* When FTE, the next round loads, so bolt carrier is getting back far enough
* Ejector puts a nasty notch in the lip of the casing (pic)
* Upon successful ejection, the casings are hitting the dust cover causing a nasty dent in the side of the case rendering the case un-reloadable. (pics)
* Extractor (pics) can be pushed back with a finger with some effort (new spring needed?)

* Some spring won't stay in position...not sure if it's important or not (pic)
* Some grinding has been done on the hammer (pic)...not sure if that was an attempt to do something illegal...hope not.
* Normal for the spring to be squiggly like this? (pic)
* Flash suppressor won't stay threaded tight. (pic)
* Anybody know what these numbers on the bolt represent? (pic)

 

[milkmood]

More pics, in order.

 

[milkmood]

Pics of damaged shell casings.

 

[milkmood]

The bolt.

 

[Lashlarue]

On some the bolt wont ride smoothly over the trigger group and a small amount of grinding is needed.Pics dont exactly gibe with you questions.Pic of three magazines, no question re: those.Pic of ejector and hammer spring look normal.Not sure what second picture is?

 

[milkmood]

Spring, hammer, and spring.

 

[milkmood]

Markings on bolt.

 

[milkmood]

Lashlarue...

The pics all make perfect sense...they go in order based on the comments and questions I was asking, starting with my comments about tabs and the magazines I tried when troubleshooting the ejection problem. I just hadn't had them all linked when you looked. The forum only lets you post three at a time.

 

[jehu]

[QUOTE=..should have researched it and fired it first, but anyway.


OH the humanity!!:boohoo

 

[milkmood]

Any useful help from somebody with experience with these would be great.

 

[Ed24601]

I would replace the extractor spring and extractor. You're describing a bad one. Check the bullet guide/feed ramp to make sure it's a smooth transition path for the cartridge from the mag well to the chamber. Might have to shim/raise the bullet guide if not. The expended cases are always ruined on extracting unless you can find a buffer for the top cover. I think Valmets had them but haven't seen one in a long time. Don't shoot expensive brass ammo. Brown Bear, Wolf, Silver Bear, Tula are all good. The guide rod/spring look good. Saw a TAPCO mag. They work as well as old beat up and repainted Century mags. Don't overstuff the mags. I know they are 35 rounders but 30 is fine. Too bad we can't put a tracer in as #2 round to let u know when you're empty. You have a mystery spring, pic 084. It should not be there. Grinding on the hammer is typical of CAI. Their tools of choice for assembly are the BFH (big friendly hammer) and the grinding wheel.:moon

 

[31dirty]

I guess ill get the ball rolling...


Ive read a few other posts about golanis with FTE issues, pretty sure others have fixed this problem with a new extractor, though i have no personal experience with this issue.

Also,

these guns are known for beating up brass, like in your pics - thats normal

your squiggly spring looks fine.

I must be missing something about this hammer grinding we keep seeing, im not exactly sure why people do this, but Id consider replacing that too.

If this rifle hasnt been fired much, its still possible it will eventually show peeing on the ejector.

Though in riderboys case, he had an IMI in 308 he was working with...your stories sound pretty similar, so check this thread out for reference.
http://www.uzitalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56783&highlight=mint

 

[milkmood]

Ed, thanks for the good info. All the info I've gathered has been pointing to the extractor and spring as well, so I'll spend the $35 to replace that first.

My ramp is riveted in place...would I have to drill that out to move it...so, thankfully, there is no feed problem at all, I'm fairly sure the ramp is good anyway. Also, rounds slide smoothly in and out of the chamber, just tested that manually.

I have plans to reload, so I really hate that I can't save brass from/for this thing. Guess I can run previously reloaded ammo from ARs that's at end-of-reload-life. Wolf...eww. If you think so, I'll give it a try. Steel casings are hard on the works.

 

[kargo27]

What Ed said about pic 0084. I think that's supposed to be the bent wire retainer but it's supposed to be flush against the side of the receiver if it's anything like the AK's.

The guys will chime in but I think it keeps the safety lever in place as well as the hammer and trigger pins.

I replaced my AK's spring with this..... http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/sid=...187_a_7c745_a_7c997000011_d_997000011_d_11151

ETA: Could that bent wire retainer be causing your carrier to short-stroke? Is it catching or binding the carrier and carrier return spring?

 

[Ed24601]

Look/search the threads regarding steel cased ammo. Lots of folks shoot this stuff in their Golanis. The Russian stuff is much cheaper (most of the time). I've shot Brown Bear, Silver Bear, Wolf, Tula, etc. So long as the ammo is clean, lightly lubed, you won't have a problem. You might want to mirror/ inspect the chamber to make sure it's nice and shiny. Seems CAI doesn't mask the chamber when they parkerize the piece and it makes for a tight chamber. Easy to fix with green or blue (fine) scotchbrite, WD40 and a drill.

 

[kargo27]

+1 again what Ed said. He and others here helped me out with my Golani. I had some case sticking after round 80. The chamber looked a little dull so I used a scotchbrite pad wrapped around a dowel connected to a drill.

 

[Ed24601]

What Ed said about pic 0084. I think that's supposed to be the bent wire retainer but it's supposed to be flush against the side of the receiver if it's anything like the AK's.

The guys will chime in but I think it keeps the safety lever in place.

I replaced my AK's spring with this..... http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/sid=...187_a_7c745_a_7c997000011_d_997000011_d_11151

ETA: Could that bent wire retainer be causing your carrier to short-stroke? Is it catching or binding the carrier and carrier return spring?

MM, could be. Have to pop the top cover on my ARM to see.

 

[milkmood]

ETA: Could that bent wire retainer be causing your carrier to short-stroke? Is it catching or binding the carrier and carrier return spring?

No, I'm getting a full stroke, because I've never missed a feed unless the previous case blocked the slide all the way back. I know it's slamming the red rubber bumper at the back because that's cracked too.

 

[Tom5390]

+1 on getting a new extractor and spring...it should not move that easy. I'd get brand new one - be aware a lot of places sell used surplus ones unless advertised as new which may or may not be any better than the one you have. Got mine here http://www.polygunbag.com/ Get a new one replace it once and be done with it.

The hammer was probably ground down because some of them sit too high in some receivers and can cause the BC to bind. As long as the rounds are lighting off and the BC in not binding I wouldn't worry about it.

You may want to try a tapco galil mag too just to see how it preforms in comparison. They seem to sit just a tad higher closer to the rails, sometimes making a difference.

As suggested polish the chamber to aid in extraction too.

Try a new extractor/spring, polish the chamber, lube it and go from there.

 

[milkmood]

Tom, thanks! polygunbag.com is exactly where I got the $35 price for the extractor kit. Moving forward.