Taming the straight pull on an AKM

[safetyfirst]

So. Have a fabulous time with my AKM But the charging handle is small and hard and the spring difficult to compress. In short, it’s a bit savage to shoot quickly (I’m shooting steel at what’s supposed to be high speed, but actually just looks like a fat block with a broken AK)

Has anyone done any work on easing this straight pull?

I know the back of the hammer and bottom of the bolt can be smoothed out etc but I’m after something more dramatic.

How much spring tension is required to keep that rotating bolt in battery?

All thoughts welcome!

<niet, Rifle is fine Comrade etc...>

[Andy632]

Can u fit a larger charging handle, lots of folk do that with straight pulls. I made one for the M14 & mini 14.

[bnz41]

I bought my AK second hand came fitted with an extension. See here scroll down.

http://www.rusmilitary.com/html/guns_accessories.htm

[safetyfirst]

That’d help a bit yep, I’m more interested in working on the spring tension though, more to grab isn’t going to do the job I don’t think.

Has anyone ever altered theirs and what are the safety considerations?

[snayperskaya]

You could put a spent 7.62x39 case over the cocking handle......or just man up and practice more Tovarisch!

[WelshShooter]

Da, Tovarisch Snayperskaya has the right idea! I'm a wuss and even I can manage to operate one of Snayperskaya's AK's with the spent case charging handle

[snayperskaya]

Da, Tovarisch Snayperskaya has the right idea! I'm a wuss and even I can manage to operate one of Snayperskaya's AK's with the spent case charging handle

To be honest I took that pic off the 'net......my charging handles are as Tovarischi Kalashnikov and Dragunov intended!

[safetyfirst]

Hah. They intended them to be used once every 30 rounds!

It hurts my little snowflake fingers....

[snayperskaya]

The spent case on the charging handle is the cheapest and easiest way to extend it, personally I would be reluctant to mess with the recoil spring as the strength of the spring is what allows the bolt to pick up a round from the mag, feed it and put the bolt into battery.If you were to chop the spring to the point where it made cocking noticeably easier you could possibly experience problems with feeding or the bolt going into battery properly.

[Andy632]

You could always get a spare spring to practice with.
I had to lop some coils off my Walther G22 to get it cycle properly.