Installing a recoil buffer in an AK-47

[hazenoff]

Hey Rusty,
Just wanted to send you a special thanks on this, got one installed in my AK-47 in about 5 minutes, with your help.
Kudos.

[cthulhufan]

Hehe, I just ordered one for my PSL-54C. Had intended to get one a long time ago and completely forgot. Thankfully, someone on one of the ComBloc Sniper forums posted this little gem of a video (can't post links yet, search youtube for PSL 1200) and I remembered that I really need one. :)

I went with the one from BlackJack Buffers.

[waitnc]

Reliability

This is a BayouBlaster question,
Bayou I had a light go off last night and was considering the purchase of my second M4/CAR15 platform and ran across the Golani/Galil. I am aware of the M4 and its functional short comings in a dirty environment. With the AK type system used on the Galil 223 rifle is there anything that really should eliminate it from being a serious contender over the second M4 (exclude interchangeability) Basically is it accruate and as sturdy as the AK platform?

[Bayou Blaster]

This is a BayouBlaster question,
Bayou I had a light go off last night and was considering the purchase of my second M4/CAR15 platform and ran across the Golani/Galil. I am aware of the M4 and its functional short comings in a dirty environment. With the AK type system used on the Galil 223 rifle is there anything that really should eliminate it from being a serious contender over the second M4 (exclude interchangeability) Basically is it accruate and as sturdy as the AK platform?

Waitnc

The IMI (Israeli Military Industries) Galil 5.56 x 45 selective fire assault rifle and it’s 7.62 x 51mm big bother MBR are in my opinion the pinnacle of AK-47 variants. IMI engineers and designers took everything that was both right and wrong with the AKS and totally overhauled it. The end result was a vastly superior AK-47 derivative. Besides the Galil one must also include the South African R-4/R-5 rifles (Galil offshoot) and the Finish Valmet.

The Galil and R-4/5 variants featured quality heat treated forged/milled receivers. Barrels were high quality chrome chambered/lined and threaded into the receiver. This combination in conjunction with the higher velocity 5.56 x 45 mm and 7.62 x 51mm cartridges, offered vastly superior accuracy compared to your run of the mill AKS-47. The barrel also incorporated tritium night sight posts (standard) and typical AR style bird cage flash hider. The folding stocks were of superior quality further adding to the robustness of an already quality firearm. The combination dust cover, safety and fire selector typical of AKs variants was improved by adding a thumb selector lever to the pistol grip. Mag release was also redesigned to facilitate quicker mag swaps. Quality magazines are both expensive and sometimes difficult to find. There is an adapter whereby you can use M-16 mags.

The Galil was designed to replace the IDF FN FAL variant. It was designed to be fielded and utilized by conscripts who really took little if any care of these firearms.

Unfortunately the Century Golani (Galil Clone) is a really poor substitute for the real thing. It is an amalgamation of sometimes worn out parts and poorly manufactured/fitted non-mil-spec replacement parts. To give you an example: I always wanted a Galil, still believing to this day that it is a superior firearm. So I rolled the dice several years ago and while managing the gun shop I worked at, decided to order a Century Golani (Galil Clone) for myself. Upon receiving the Golani one thing became quickly apparent; THIS IS NOT A GALIL! I took the rifle out to an empty private range to put it through its paces. One of the two magazine that came with it was totally useless while the other was functional and in relatively good condition. Century packages all Golani’s this way! I cleaned the firearm and loaded the serviceable mag. I pulled the charging handle and let it go into battery when the rifle fired on its own! I thought maybe it was due to an unseated primer. So I began to manually cycle and eject rounds from the chamber. It went of again! I looked at the non-fired cartridges I had just cycled prior and noticed significant primer hits. Fortunately I practice good gun safety and had the firearm pointed down range when it went off on its own.

I called our distributor who immediately contacted Century. Our distributor said that Century wanted this firearm back immediately! They could not wait to get it back from the distributor and wanted me to mail it directly to them on my dime. I don’t trust Century and sent the firearm back to my distributor on their dime. Century almost immediately issued a recall on all Golani’s for missing firing pin springs! Since then I‘ve handled several other Golani’s of which many an owner has had to return. This is an example of our findings:

Low Feed Ramps/ Poor Feed Ramp Geometry
Soft Receivers
Un-benched receiver barrel faces
Poorly heat treated receivers
Soft/Un-heat treated ejectors
Incorrect Barrel Timing
Old Barrels removed or reinstalled with Monkey/Plumbers Wrench!
Old Worn Out Barrels
New Non-Chrome lined Barrels
Headspace Irregularities (Improper Headspace or Failure to Maintain Headspace after Low Rd Count)
Bolt Lugs not lapped or one lug contacts trunion while opposing lug does not
Poor fit and finish.

Unfortunately these problems are NOT limited to Century Golanis. They have manifested themselves with other manufacturers/assemblers.

I will say this: Sometimes you get lucky and can find a decent deal. Century has recently switched over to a better cast and milled receiver from another supplier. They are using new American made barrels (still not chrome lined) and fit, finish and reliability is improving. If they ever build one with a new chrome lined barrel I may roll the dice again? Real Galils are just too expensive for my blood. Should have purchased one back in the day.

As an alternative I purchased a MOLOT VEPR II in .223. Good luck finding one now. It utilizes a heavier RPK barrel and receiver. It's no light weight for sure. Accuracy/grouping while not quite on par with M-16 platform is still surprisingly very respectable. I also purchased a Siaga AKS-47 in .223; ultra reliable and decent groups for intended range and purpose. One other consideration for you could be the piston operated Sig 556?

As always Good Luck with your decision.

[cthulhufan]

Hey, Rusty, your images from your initial posts in this thread show moved/unavailable from image shack. I can host those if you don't want to worry about silly image shack stuff. Same goes for anyone on this particular board, I have no issue hosting images on my domain so you don't have to worry about views per month or any other nonsense.

Just throwing that out there.

Will post pics of my recoil buffer install on my PSL-54C when I get enough posts to link out...

[Tugaloo]

Was gonna install one of these buffers in my 1911, but I heard they cause reliability issues on the pistol platforms:( Have not heard such things on the rifles ones:)

For a 1911.
There is the "Wilson Combat Shok-Buff Recoil Buffer." 6 of them are $6.95 +S&H or the Wilson Combat Flat Wire Recoil Spring Kit that comes with 1 Wilson Shok-Buffer.
The Wilson Shok-Buff is a 1/10" thick poly fiber buffer. However, adding a 1/10" "shim would increase the force of whatever spring is in the weapon. Based on that, I'd lean towards the flat wire kit as it includes a 17# flat wire spring, 1 recoil buffer and a recoil spring guide rod. At $19.95 +S&H, the kit is a steal.
The 17# flat wire spring has about 10 times the life of the standard round wire springs. The Shok-Buff lasts for about 1000 rounds.
17# is about ideal for the 1911 series.

Any component from Wilson will not cause any reliability issues.

[YourBro]

Can this weapon be improved?

[Tugaloo]

Can this weapon be improved?

Once many claimed the AK-47 could not be improved and the Russians came out with the AK-74.
Better sights would be one enhancement that comes to mind. The Com Block agreed and offered the Kobra sight.