Too stiff recoil spring in my Golani ??

[Roelfsmit]

I've been trying all kinds of different ammo 223 and 556. My receiver is stamped 556.
I replaced my extractor and spring already with a new set.
The problem is failing to eject every 5 rounds or so and this causes double feeds and other problems.
I have been avoiding russian Tula ammo due to the coatings, but the orher day i tried a few boxes and NO problems!!
It ejected perfectly to the right and forward no jams in 100 rounds.
Why?
Is the cycling too fast?
Is my recoil spring too stiff?
If so, where can I get a weaker spring?
Seems the rifle wants the under powered rounds.
Looks like it cycles too quick for the casing to clear the mechanism with higher powered ammo.
Can anyone help ??

 

[Mr Folgers]

Can you be more specific? Are you getting stovepipes or is the bolt carrier failing to extract the round even though it travels far enough backwards?

 

[Steamroller]

Are you using the mags that came with the Golani? The two steel mags that came with mine were finicky. Try some Orlites or if you know anyone local to you that has a known good mag try it. I had some similar issues that ended up being the mags. If I load just thirty rounds in one of them it runs fine, but if I go to thirty five it will do something similar to what yours is doing. Like the follower gets off at the bottom and keeps sticking back and forth. Make sure the mags that came with it are clean inside, mine were filthy.

 

[Roelfsmit]

Steamroller, no I am not using the mags that came with my rifle. I am using South African R4 plastic mags and other Galil mags bought elsewhere. These are the mags that gave me the least amount of trouble.
Mr Folgers, to this day I am not sure what a 'stovepipe' is, but there are no problem extracting, ejecting is the problem. It does strip another round off the mag and feeds that with the non-ejected case, or it smashes sometimes the case into the breach and mangles it.
Most of the times when it does eject when not firing Tula, it ejects to 5 o clock or to 3 o clock.

 

[Steamroller]

Got ya, out of those mags I'm sure there are some good ones. Some Golanis have had trouble with feed ramps and mangling the tips of bullets. But from what you're explaining the carrier isn't moving far enough back to fully kick the spent casing out. But it is stripping a new round and feeding it and the spent casing together and jamming.
Stove piping is when the spent casing sticks out of the action like a "stove pipe". It's hard to say what it is without seeing it, could you post some pics up with the cover off and the bolt carrier out? Maybe some of the more knowledgable can point you in the right direction. I am limited to the issues my own guns have had.
Good luck and I hope you get it running. After a little work my Golani has become a reliable gun, and one of my favorites though it is a little heavy.

 

[Mr Folgers]

"Stovepipes" are where a round is chambered, fired, and extracted but gets caught when the rifle cycles and is wedged in between the receiver and bolt carrier.

Here's an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8oxzr48c04

From what it sounds like, your recoil spring and rifle may not be lubricated properly, or your carrier may not be fitted correctly and is generating friction against your receiver. Check the hammer and Fire control group for any wear from the the carrier rubbing against it.

 

[lcastillo]

do you notice any play up & down when you have your set of better magazines inserted in the Golani? especially the steel ones? When you are firing the rifle do you have your hand on the magazine? It seems like you have the extractor covered with a new one. How does the ejector look? I have a Golani also and my ejector is pretty rounded for a new rifle My brass ejects at a 1 oclock angle. How does you ejected brass look? Is is mangeled at all in the rear?

 

[Steamroller]

Hey there Roelfsmit, I was pondering your problem over my lunch and something hit me. Your rifle is stamped 5.56, but knowing Century Arms the way I do, you could very likely have a 223 Remington chamber/barrel. Is the Tula ammo marked 5.56 or 223? You may want to have a gunsmith check the chamber just to be sure. It's really hard to tell the difference in the two chambers but a reputable smith should be able to give you an idea. Just a thought I had, since the lower powered ammo is functioning better than the hotter stuff. Sounds like the FTE problems some others have had due to this chambering issue. Here's a link to a discussion on it directly relating to our Golanis:
http://www.uzitalk.com/forums/showthread.php?40190-Century-Galil-5.56-or-.223
FWIW, I have a 223 marked Golani and it's chamber is identical to my ARs chambered in 5.56. It's hard to say for sure, but I have ran some SS109 through mine with no extraction problems or signs of overpressure, like pierced primers and such. Hope this helps, let us know if you get it going.

 

[Kalashnikev]

The problem is failing to eject every 5 rounds or so...

Do you think it could be.... the Ejector?????

and this causes double feeds and other problems.

Respectfully, since you don't know what a stovepipe is, I don't think you know what a double feed is. It sounds like your rifle is stovepiping.

Does this look familiar?

Or maybe if it doesn't resemble a stovepipe, it looks like this?

 

[Steamroller]

That's a good point, I've seen some really worn and rounded looking ejectors on some Golanis. Even newer ones.

 

[lcastillo]

Steamroller, Here are some shots of my reciever on my Golani showing the ejector. As you can see the production on my GLN # series Golani is 2010 according to my customer service rep Keith at Century. It sure looks worn and rounded based on the age they say on my Golani is. I also included a shot of my bolt. I did not have any feeding or ejecting issues in this state. My Golani is at Century for repair due to the charging handle knob snapping off during firing.

 

[Steamroller]

Looks like some of the Century monkees got a little over zealous with a grinder while trying to fit the bolt carrier. Or they resold a used rifle as new after it had been returned to them. I went shooting on Monday and ran about 450 rounds of steel cased Tula and some XM193 and SS109 that I had just loose. Prior to that the rifle has had about 90 rds ran through it to get it running. After almost 550 rds and numerous times cycling it to get it feeding, my ejector has no where near the amount of wear that yours has. Mine also has a nice crisp edge at the front and is slightly rounded at the back. Nearly none of the black finish has worn off. What is your round count? Also did you buy it new? I am assuming so since you were able to get Century to repair it under warranty. I hope you don't think I'm knocking your rifle, that's not my intent at all. I'm just comparing mine here on my bench to your pics. I passed on several Golanis until I came across the one I have now, and it is just pure luck that I got a decent one. I hope it comes back to you better than it left, just keep after Century until they get it right. But I do agree that your ejector doesn't match that of a new rifle.

 

[Steamroller]

I'm going to get a new bolt from APEX because the one my rifle came with had been ground to fit. Not as bad as some but enough to bother me. Check your bolt over when you get it back and see how bad they have ground it. You may want to pick one up as well, Jeff actually recommended that to me.

 

[lcastillo]

Here is the expierience I had my rifle. When I bought my Golani it only came with one magazine. It was a steel refurbished IMI mag. I noticed when the magazine was inserted it had play up and down. With the weight a fully loaded magazine it would miss picking up the round when charging the handle. If I took half the rounds out of the magazine it would function better. At first I thought it had something to do with my magazine release knob. But I noticed my bullet tips where binding on the front wall of the magazine. The problem was that the front wall of the magazine was bowed from years usage. I took the magazine apart and hammered out the bent wall straight on a vise. Re-assembled and it was fixed. no more binding and the mag fit tight in the mag well. The pic of the mag on the vise shows the bow on the magazine. Look where the tab is welded on the front top of the mag. the second pic shows the repaired mag. Hope this helps.

 

[utahhandyman]

steel coated tula ammo reduces drag so the chamber could be buggered if the tula works and nothing else does or.... the tula is ejecting slower so it has a bit more time to clear which would be an ejector problem. go to your range and point the barrel down rang and hand cycle the tula through it, then use the brass and see if there is a difference. that may get you in the right direction. you can take the cover off and hand cycle it as well to see what is going on. if you want to be safer use and action proving round or some snap caps, or remove the firing pin. Be careful and safe. good luck.

 

[lcastillo]

Looks like some of the Century monkees got a little over zealous with a grinder while trying to fit the bolt carrier. Or they resold a used rifle as new after it had been returned to them. I went shooting on Monday and ran about 450 rounds of steel cased Tula and some XM193 and SS109 that I had just loose. Prior to that the rifle has had about 90 rds ran through it to get it running. After almost 550 rds and numerous times cycling it to get it feeding, my ejector has no where near the amount of wear that yours has. Mine also has a nice crisp edge at the front and is slightly rounded at the back. Nearly none of the black finish has worn off. What is your round count? Also did you buy it new? I am assuming so since you were able to get Century to repair it under warranty. I hope you don't think I'm knocking your rifle, that's not my intent at all. I'm just comparing mine here on my bench to your pics. I passed on several Golanis until I came across the one I have now, and it is just pure luck that I got a decent one. I hope it comes back to you better than it left, just keep after Century until they get it right. But I do agree that your ejector doesn't match that of a new rifle.

Funny you should point that out. I almost lost a finger cleaning the inside of the reciever when I first disassembled the Golani. You could dice a tomato with the sharp edge on that ejector. I took a fine stone to the ejector and rounded the edge just enough to take out the sharp edge. This is my first Golani/Galil so I am not to up to speed. I will be sure to ask Century Arms about it. Thanks for the intel Steam

 

[lcastillo]

I'm going to get a new bolt from APEX because the one my rifle came with had been ground to fit. Not as bad as some but enough to bother me. Check your bolt over when you get it back and see how bad they have ground it. You may want to pick one up as well, Jeff actually recommended that to me.

Steam, You asked my round count. I shot about 60 rounds and when I was loading my 3rd mag my charging handle was missing I willing to give Century a chance. Even with the ejector in the state it was, I had no malfunctions. I just choose to stop shooting just to be on the safe side. I did buy my Golani used for $450.00 from my local dealer. I did have another member comment that my serial number was older to be made in 2010. I wonder if you are right about Century recycling the reciever for re-sale :thinking
I am content that Century stepped up and offered to fix my charging handle. I'll keep you guys posted on the result. I also bought a AK-47 bolt carrier for my Golani since I added a UTG rail to my Golani it was harder to charge. They are not to bad for the price point. I am having my UTG rail cut to my specs at the machine shop while my Golani is in repair. I am mounting a Aimpoint Comp M2 an I want to be able to take the dust cover off for cleaning without having to re-adjust zero everytime. Thanks Lou

 

[lcastillo]

Roelfsmit, Have you had any luck finding a fix?

 

[mrf2]

Try shooting the rifle with out the dust cover. From time to time the dust cover's ejection port opening needs to be adjusted slightly. When you do this, make sure you wear eye protection... You could also send the rifle to tenngalil. He fixed a similar problem with mine (it was the ejector, fyi).

 

[N4KVE]

Hey there Roelfsmit, I was pondering your problem over my lunch and something hit me. Your rifle is stamped 5.56, but knowing Century Arms the way I do, you could very likely have a 223 Remington chamber/barrel. Is the Tula ammo marked 5.56 or 223? You may want to have a gunsmith check the chamber just to be sure. It's really hard to tell the difference in the two chambers but a reputable smith should be able to give you an idea. Just a thought I had, since the lower powered ammo is functioning better than the hotter stuff. Sounds like the FTE problems some others have had due to this chambering issue. Here's a link to a discussion on it directly relating to our Golanis:
http://www.uzitalk.com/forums/showthread.php?40190-Century-Galil-5.56-or-.223
FWIW, I have a 223 marked Golani and it's chamber is identical to my ARs chambered in 5.56. It's hard to say for sure, but I have ran some SS109 through mine with no extraction problems or signs of overpressure, like pierced primers and such. Hope this helps, let us know if you get it going.

I called Green Mountain, the company that made the barrel for Century, & they told me it's a 5.56 barrel. GARY N4KVE