Jump to content
Military Firearm Restoration Corner

Feeding Problems In Yugo


mr fixit

Recommended Posts

Well, I put on a new barrel in 6.5x55, cut the chamber and headspaced. Then the feeding problems raised their head. A cartridge would stop or "Hang" about 3/4 of the way in. I"ve worked on it, and I hope you folks are going to tell me I did the right things.

 

First, I polished the bolt face a bit, made it pretty smooth. Still had problems.

 

I took a cartridge and with the bolt in my hand (out of the rifle) just tried to slip the rim under the extractor and onto the bolt face. It was pretty tight, especially at first. I had to really force it to start under the extractor. So I carefully filed the bottom "hook" of the extractor. I just gave it a bit of a chamfer relative to the direction the cartridge would slide up. It is better, but still takes just a bit of force to get it under the extractor.

 

Next, I noticed when I put it back in and tried again (bolt and extractor only, no FP) that it still would hang. The brass had scuff marks badly that had to have come from the edge of the chamber. I remembered I did not break the edge when I barreled it. So, I pulled the barrel, and just chamfered the edge, Then took a cotton polishing bob and rouge and made it smooth as glass. Keep in mind, it's just a very small rounding of the edge.

 

Put it all back together, and it would feed all the way with just a bit of force to "snap" the cartridge in at the end. I decided I didn't want to do anything else, until I did some more research. As best I can tell, there are no more scuff marks from the chamber. It makes me think the issue is now the extractor.

 

How loose/tight should the extractor hold a cartridge?

 

 

 

So, have I done the right stuff so far? What else should I do?

 

Mr Fixit

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like you are using European brass, the rim is slightly larger and slightly thicker than American brass. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but it sounds like you have a bolt and extractor claw that are on the small end of the acceptable tolerances.

 

Before you do anything else, take the bolt from the action and slip a 30-06/308 brass under claw on the bolt face and compare how it fits compared to the 6.5x55. If you notice a difference you might need to shave a little off of the ring of the bolt face or a little off of the inside of the claw, depending on where the brass is binding, if it is binding at all. Or you could just use American brass.

 

If the brass isn't binding, then your feeding problem is with the rails and feedramp. This is usually the culprit.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Jimro

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like you are using European brass, the rim is slightly larger and slightly thicker than American brass. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but it sounds like you have a bolt and extractor claw that are on the small end of the acceptable tolerances.

 

Before you do anything else, take the bolt from the action and slip a 30-06/308 brass under claw on the bolt face and compare how it fits compared to the 6.5x55. If you notice a difference you might need to shave a little off of the ring of the bolt face or a little off of the inside of the claw, depending on where the brass is binding, if it is binding at all. Or you could just use American brass.

 

If the brass isn't binding, then your feeding problem is with the rails and feedramp. This is usually the culprit.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Jimro

 

Sorry, I should have said I am using Remington ammo. And a .308 brass fits about the same as the 6.5 under the claw.

 

Not sure if it makes a difference, but I bought these as barreled actions. They were in really good shape, with matching numbers. The bolt shows just a bit of pitting around the primer area of the bolt face, but otherwise the action looked practically new. Just wondering if these had been re-arsenaled and never made to work before they were sold.

 

Anyway, it looks to me like the brass is binding on the claw. Just wondering how much I can take off, or exactly how it should fit.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You don't want too loose a fit with the Yugo because there is no boltface extension to retain the cartridge as in a stnd M98. Too much metal removal could result in the case dropping off the boltface before ejection. If you take off any metal just stone the edge of the claw a little and try as you go. Check the extractor for fore and aft moment too. It was designed to slide forward and back a bit to accomodate feeding and to grip the rim tighter on extraction. I have a VZ24/52-c that was a bear to chamber rounds. The extractor was extremely tight on the collar. I removed it and polished the mating surfaces till it moved easily back and forth. Feeds like a dream now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I owned a yugo that I bought as a new un-issued 8mm rifle and one of the main complaints with these was poor feeding. These rifles are probably the poorest quality mauser type rifle made. The machining was very rough and extracting a spent cartridge was allmost impossible without a wrench. What I did to smooth up the feeding problems was to remove the magazine well assembly from the reciever and using a dremel tool I polished up and smoothed the feed lip portion of the reciever. Just remeber not to remove too much metal as it cannot be put back on. Just polish and smooth the sharp edges. this will greatly help with the feeding. As you have a new barrel with a good chamber you should not have any extraction problems. Those were due mainly to rough chambers in the original barrel. With a bit of work you should be able to make a great shooter. You might also want to lap the bolt lug surfaces slightly to make extraction more smooth, they were usually pretty rough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Something else to try is swapping out the follower.

 

I had a hard time getting my Yugo to feed 6.5x55 until I swapped in a Swedish Mauser follower. It changed the feeding geometry just enough to allow the cartridge to slip into the chamber smoothly. And, it didn't cost most and was a quick fix. And, I didn't have to grind any steel off the rails to do it.

 

If you give it a try, one tip I'll pass along is you need to grind the upper rear edge of the follower. As it comes from the factory, it has a corner on it that doesn't allow the bolt to slid passed when the magazine is empty. This is just fine for a combat rifle, but kinda annoying for a sporter. So do address that corner with a dremel - just enough to all the bolt to slide passed mind you, and not enough to effect the stacking geometry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...