AK's and Lefties

[zbrod]

I bought an AK (WASR) a couple of weeks ago and think it is the greatest thing in the world.

I'm left handed, and I noticed that when I shoot it my face is very close to opening where all the shit comes out when you shoot. Should be worried about breathing this stuff in? I can definitely feel myself inhaling it, try as I might not to. It doesn't leave me with a great feeling.

 

[drgrant]

You're always going to get some gas, but I don't think it's going to kill you or anything like that. A left-handed friend of mine has an AR and two AKs, and never has had issues.

One possibility is you could change your furniture on your WASR so that you have a longer length of pull to the stock, at least that would get your face slightly further away from the gun. There's not really much you can do on an AK to deal with any excess gas that comes out of the action.

-Mike

 

[chinalfr]

It's an AK. You can use the gangster shooting style to make the spend shell deflected different angle.


Sent from my broken iPhone.

 

[josh2600]

Get a rad bandana with skulls or something on it to wrap around your face. Just don't leave the range.

 

[josh2600]

 

[Gonzo]

Dude. You should be holding your breath when you take a shot with a rifle. Since it's an AK, you should be yelling "WOLVERINES" which would cause all the badness to be blown away from your airways.

 

[william_munny]

Dude. You should be holding your breath when you take a shot with a rifle. Since it's an AK, you should be yelling "WOLVERINES" which would cause all the badness to be blown away from your airways.

This.
The first part is true. I'm not sure if it's a rule or just a technique, but I always hold my breath before I take a shot. This is how I exercise the "breath control" step in shooting.
The second part is just awesome.

 

[chinalfr]

 

[josh2600]

Guys, it's an AK, he's obviously just shooting in the general direction of the target as fast as he can.

 

[zbrod]

I do hold my breath while firing, but I inhale plenty of the stuff between shots. I can feel it in my throat, its kinda gross.

Plus that thing is REAL dirty, I didn't exactly clean it when I got it (used). After I took the first shot, smoke continued to pour out of the, er, "exhaust port" for a good 10 seconds. Not to mention the muzzle flash...

I guess I could just hip fire. EDIT: Also, the sites are questionable enough that I could probably shoot either normal or gangsta.

 

[economist]

If you move and shoot with any pace at all you are going to be breathing. Unless someone shoots you, naturally. That has the potential to slow your respiration quite rapidly. From what I've seen, the classic AK fighting stance involves a low crouch with the gun held over your head and pointed within 45 degrees of the enemy (2,700 MOA for you HSLD types -- stainless barrel and match ammo not required). For safety, some sort of life preserver is preferred. Otherwise, make due with a big scarf and some sunglasses. Scream while firing. This last bit insures airflow away from the face, thus dispersing dangerous gas outwards. It's all part of the "weapons system" with which the fighter should be familiar.

 

[jarhead66]

I bought an AK (WASR) a couple of weeks ago and think it is the greatest thing in the world.

I'm left handed, and I noticed that when I shoot it my face is very close to opening where all the shit comes out when you shoot. Should be worried about breathing this stuff in? I can definitely feel myself inhaling it, try as I might not to. It doesn't leave me with a great feeling.

Stag arms makes left handed models.

 

[william_munny]

It's an AK, it's probably never been cleaned. While it still functions properly, it might not be a bad idea to break it down and do a basic field cleaning. I also have a WASR, and I generally go about 1000 rounds or so before I clean mine, and I've never had 10 seconds of smoke pour out of (what I'm assuming is) the ejection port.

 

[Mike-Mike]

<~~~ Lefty here. In all honesty just suck it up.

 

[zbrod]

<~~~ Lefty here. In all honesty just suck it up.

I mean it doesn't bother me that much, and if it's not an issue then I'll keep doing it. I was just worried it might be a known issue or something, and I'd get a response like "OMG you idiot you are going to have throat cancer by age 30, you're supposed to do such and such...." type of deal.

 

[drgrant]

If that much smoke is pouring out of the action there is probably some lube or cosmoline or some crap in there that is burning up. I would clean the piss out of that gun first, and just lightly lube the bolt, the carrier, etc.

-Mike

 

[chinalfr]

This will helps, though, I don't think I have seen any using it.

 

[Boris]

If you move and shoot with any pace at all you are going to be breathing. Unless someone shoots you, naturally. That has the potential to slow your respiration quite rapidly. From what I've seen, the classic AK fighting stance involves a low crouch with the gun held over your head and pointed within 45 degrees of the enemy (2,700 MOA for you HSLD types -- stainless barrel and match ammo not required). For safety, some sort of life preserver is preferred. Otherwise, make due with a big scarf and some sunglasses. Scream while firing. This last bit insures airflow away from the face, thus dispersing dangerous gas outwards. It's all part of the "weapons system" with which the fighter should be familiar.

you forgot to mention to keep fly open, I'm not sure if it helps with recoil or accuracy.

 

[josh2600]

I mean it doesn't bother me that much, and if it's not an issue then I'll keep doing it. I was just worried it might be a known issue or something, and I'd get a response like "OMG you idiot you are going to have throat cancer by age 30, you're supposed to do such and such...." type of deal.

As a serious reply, if you're using combloc milsurp ammo, I would think about trying to avoid inhaling that stuff. The sulfur smell in my gas tube is horrific after not too many rounds. i don't think I'd want to make a habit of sucking that air in.

 

[drewh14]

If you move and shoot with any pace at all you are going to be breathing. Unless someone shoots you, naturally. That has the potential to slow your respiration quite rapidly. From what I've seen, the classic AK fighting stance involves a low crouch with the gun held over your head and pointed within 45 degrees of the enemy (2,700 MOA for you HSLD types -- stainless barrel and match ammo not required). For safety, some sort of life preserver is preferred. Otherwise, make due with a big scarf and some sunglasses. Scream while firing. This last bit insures airflow away from the face, thus dispersing dangerous gas outwards. It's all part of the "weapons system" with which the fighter should be familiar.

I believe this is what you were refering to:

 

[Gonzo]

I mean it doesn't bother me that much, and if it's not an issue then I'll keep doing it. I was just worried it might be a known issue or something, and I'd get a response like "OMG you idiot you are going to have throat cancer by age 30, you're supposed to do such and such...." type of deal.

In all seriousness, the state of California has found it to cause cancer, but other than that, every left-handed AK owner in the other 49 states is doing just as well as every right-handed AK owner outside of California. Don't worry about it. Unless you're shooting 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

 

[flintoid]

Give us a little better of an idea as to how much "stuff" you are inhaling after shooting.

If you're gassing yourself out behind an operational AK, you might have headspace issues or you may have a "too long" of a firing pin that is puncturing your primers.

Look at your chamber area after shooting just a few rounds (5-10) on a clean chamber. If it's excessively covered in this "stuff" (carbon, crap, nastyness) you have a bolt-to-chamber locking issue. This could be crappy lugs on the bolt (possibly the front trunnion) or a headspace problem. If that's the case, you may need to check it out with gauges. I am meaning it's gotta look absolutely filthy. You'll also feel a lot of heat behind the gun when you shoot it.

If you look at your spent casings and there are holes where the primer is supposed to be, then you have too long of a firing pin. If you push on the back of the bolt, you should only see 2-3 mm of the firing pin. Not 1/2". This is easy to fix as you buy a new pin. Unless some schmuck ground down the rear or front of your bolt. If you bought it used, this could be the case because there are several retards out there with dremels.

If you see none of these problems, then you're inhaling the same amount of "stuff" as a right handed shooter. These aren't air tight rifles. The same amount of crap gets out on the left side of the gun as the right.

 

[flintoid]

I believe this is what you were refering to:

 

[william_munny]

You can always do a comparison with my WASR at the pumpkin shoot. I bought it new a couple years ago and it's been running great. Put some rounds through it and see if you notice a difference.

 

[CosmicIrony]

If you move and shoot with any pace at all you are going to be breathing. Unless someone shoots you, naturally. That has the potential to slow your respiration quite rapidly. From what I've seen, the classic AK fighting stance involves a low crouch with the gun held over your head and pointed within 45 degrees of the enemy (2,700 MOA for you HSLD types -- stainless barrel and match ammo not required). For safety, some sort of life preserver is preferred. Otherwise, make due with a big scarf and some sunglasses. Scream while firing. This last bit insures airflow away from the face, thus dispersing dangerous gas outwards. It's all part of the "weapons system" with which the fighter should be familiar.

I've noticed this technique is popular with Libyan rebels. YMMV

 

[josh2600]

I can haz?

 

[Boghog1]

And hhere I thought this was going to be a thread about the lefts fear of the evil black rifle. Thank you Flintoid for the great pic

 

[George D]

My WASR used to throw all sorts of trash in my face, one of the reasons I sold it. It would actually burn the lenses of my glasses.

 

[drgrant]

My WASR used to throw all sorts of trash in my face, one of the reasons I sold it. It would actually burn the lenses of my glasses.

That's just weird... None of the AKs I've fired have ever done that. Maybe that's another manufacturing defect with some of them? I've had an Arsenal SAM-7, a MISR-90, and now a MAK-90... and none of them really have pushed gas/debris/crap in my face. I have a close friend who shoots left handed who has a Maadi and a Mak90 and has never complained of debris or gas... and years ago we used to pour tons of ammo downrange with those things.

-Mike

 

[flintoid]

The only AK that ever put hot gas on my face was out of headspace- the lugs weren't fully seating into the front trunnion. This allowed enough of a gap for gas to escape out of the chamber. It felt like my rifle was "spitting" fire on me every now and then. this was a rifle with too little headspace. I imagine too much would have a very similar effect- too much space behind the round to the bolt face where gases can whisp out.

This has also happened to me on a PSL with too long of a firing pin- it was breaking primers and it felt like the same thing: the rifle "spit" fire on my face every now and then. Not always, but every 10 or so rounds it felt like hot acid splashing back...

odds are, George's rifle had worn lugs or had poor headspace. Some of the romanian bolts I've seen makes me question what kind of trunnion they'd ever go into. Being that some WASRs don't have matching number parts (namely- bolt and front trunnion #'s) it's entirely possible that the bolt lugs are too small, or too funky, to properly seat into the front trunnion lug retention slots.

I'd put a video up explaining what a properly seated bolt looks like, but I'm feeling lazy. And it's hard to do that with a hoegarden in one hand.