I’m a little concerned about my AK chamber and a bulge near case head.

[Sixgun_Symphony]

So recently I decided to “modernize” my AK, rails, light etc. I was looking around and found that I still have 4 to 5k of 7.62x39 just laying around and I’ve been wanting to update my AK now for a few years.

About two weeks I pulled the AK which is a Romanian SAR1 out of mothballs and shot it for the first time in nearly two years.

And something I noticed was that the cases are coming out with a slight bulge at the head of the case. I’ve never had any serious issues with the gun whatsoever and I’ve personally fired quite a bit of ammo thru it in the years past, it was actually my first semi-auto rifle like 15 years ago.

I examined the chamber to find that its wearing down slightly which I believe is causing the bulge on the case. My question is…How serious is this? I understand some bulging of cases can be considered normal?

I really don’t want to and cant afford to swap out barrels right now if this is going to be a serious issue now or later on.

I do feel like the bulge appears bigger in photo than real life. And I've also shot some brass cased Winchester recently that did not bulge nearly as much as the Wolf MC did.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9609[/ATTACH

[Luke]

That looks kinda dangerous to me. To close to the case head

[5pins]

I agree, that chamber is jacked up.

[Sixgun_Symphony]

So I know a significant amount more about ARs than I do AKs. Whats a good barrel that I should be looking for that would work in a SAR1, as I'm guessing that is the best option vs continuing to shoot it?

[LittleLebowski]

Paging Jay Cunningham.

[Sixgun_Symphony]

http://ak-builder.com/index.php?disp...oduct_id=30801 ?

I dont know. I'm kinda more into a chrome lined barrel ... http://ak-builder.com/index.php?disp...oduct_id=30882 anything like this that will fit the Romanian?

[Jay Cunningham]

Replacing a barrel on an AK isn't exactly a breeze. You may want to strip and salvage everything possible and get yourself another gun.

[BWT]

I'd agree with Jay.

Basically, it takes the ability to press the barrel into the trunion and install the rivets properly.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=1...r-October-2014

Getting the gun straight from trunion to trunion will be difficult and it takes experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seY9ZZxMFIQ

Jim Fuller talks about how precise the barrel and/or stock needs to be before riveted from 0:55-1:10.

I'd say it's not likely you have the mechanical inclination (I don't and I doubt I know too many that do) or tooling, and by the time you can afford to have a barrel installed. It may make sense to get another gun and especially if you're seeing case expansion like that; I'd hate to see you or someone else get injured.

That's just my $.02

God Bless,

Brandon

[drummer]

When spare Romanian barrels were $100 a piece it would have probably been less costly. Only US made barrels are that price now.

Id find a reputable AK smiff and have them quote you the price to swap it out. Add in the cost of a barrel and then decide how much its worth.

You may want to ask this question on an AK centric forum as theyll have a better idea of what your rifle is worth now and depending on where you are, there might even be a local AK enthusiast setup with a press willing to do it for a few boxes of ammo or a bottle of small batch.