"Cugir" Rifle

[alvin]

Experienced a problem on Kalash. Here is the story.

Carried this AK to range. First shot is normal. 2nd time pushing the trigger, it fired 2 rounds out, slam fire. 3rd time pushing the trigger, it fired 4-5 rounds.... and I felt the trigger was moving,,, moving horizontally. Something was seriously wrong.

Then, I checked it -- the trigger pivot pin had dropped to the ground, and the trigger was totally out of place.

I had disassembled this rifle a few days ago. So, I must installed something wrongly when I put it back?? There was a thin stainless steel wire spring on the left side of the receiver, which I did not think its function while putting it back. It went in anyway. Probably that spring was installed wrong!

Returned to home, I disassembled it again, and inspected the function of that wire spring carefully -- it turned out that wire spring does not do anything except holding the hammer pivot pin and trigger pivot pin in place. And the worst part -- even with hammer and trigger out, I could not install this spring to perform its function properly. It must be deformed a little bit when I disassembled the gun a few days ago.

Study on internet messages showed this is a common problem on Kalash type of rifle. A design issue. There is a formal name for this wire spring, called "Shephard's Crook". It's a nightmare.

Fortunately, US gunsmith designed a pin retainer plate to replace this wire clip, which solves this issue. Ordered one. Waiting its arrival.

[sheepherder]

The hammer pin, trigger pin, and sear pin (which your AK should not have) all have a groove cut near the head. The 'full auto' spring fits in these three grooves. When it is assembled semi-auto, you do not have the sear pin so full-auto spring does not work. The spring you have is a band-aid to try to fix this.

I use C-clips on my pins, available at pretty much any hardware store. Pin does not walk out.

For a better fix, some owners drill for a small Cotter pin. Much safer.