Vz-58 11.75" .223 Malfunctions

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Meph

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I've had a few stoppages in one of my Vz 58s. I went to the range with MFS 55gr, 60gr TAP and 75gr TAP, and one of my rifles had multiple malfunctions that included failure to fire, failure to feed, failure to lock into battery and stovepipe/failure to eject. When closely examining the action during fire, my buddy and I found it appeared to be short-stroking; the rifle wasn't running the action with enough power, this could easily cause all of the stoppages seen above.

Rifle looks fine, gas tube hole is nice and unobstructed, rifle is clean.

Any Vz gurus out there know what could be going on and how to fix it?

The other (identical rifle, one serial digit away from the problem gun) had zero malfunctions since I've gotten it with any and every ammo.
 
I saw 3 of the Wolverine rifles running at EOHC on Sunday without a hickup. Nice guns! Wish I had scored one!

Cheers
Jay
 
Sounds like the gas bleed off whole needs to be enlarged or maybe something else internaly wrong with either the springs. Could also be a slight chance you were using bad ammo. Lots of varibles like was the piston rod getting hung up in the action? When cycling the action by hand do you notice any binding? Were you using exsive amounts of steel cased 223 ammo? Lots of questions. My best guess would be to call the dealer were you purchased it from and ask if there gun smith could look at it. As this is way to hard to figure out excatly whats wrong with it with out actually being there.
 
Pistolwhiptricks said:
Are your rifles from the Wolverine sale? I have yet to fire mine but will post if I have similar problems. Sorry I can't be of more help.
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Yep. I'll have to deal with the issue myself, I knew that I was buying a rifle without a warranty.

I don't mind it, I like learning and working problems out.

SickTrick said:
Mine seems to be having the same issues, after 75 rounds. I hope things will get better when it gets broke in more.
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I had no issues until about 50-75 rounds, just like you it seems. Jay the Supermod shot the rifles at around 40 rounds in, actually.


Satain said:
Sounds like the gas bleed off whole needs to be enlarged or maybe something else internaly wrong with either the springs. Could also be a slight chance you were using bad ammo. Lots of varibles like was the piston rod getting hung up in the action? When cycling the action by hand do you notice any binding? Were you using exsive amounts of steel cased 223 ammo? Lots of questions. My best guess would be to call the dealer were you purchased it from and ask if there gun smith could look at it. As this is way to hard to figure out excatly whats wrong with it with out actually being there.
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I'll compare the three rifles' gas port holes to each other (I've got access to a full set of pin gages) and see if there's any variation.

Spring tension seems relatively even between all three rifles.

Not sure it's ammo related, to be honest. Had 3 different types of ammo that worked in two other Vz rifles that are all one single digit away in their serial number.

Piston seems to move freely against the piston spring.

Cycling the action by hand, I noticed that it's a little less smooth than the others, the problem rifle has lightly visible machining marks.

Maybe it just needs to break in some more.
 
Hi,

Is your Vz a .223 or a 5.56?

If a 5.56 but firing .223 rounds you may have issues to cycle reliably with barrels shorter than 14.5"

Here goes the theory...

The 5.56 NATO chamber has a 1/8-inch longer throat, allowing approximately one more grain of propellant to be added to the 5.56 NATO cartridge. This produces about 58,000 psi, approximately 5% greater pressure than that of the .223 Remington, and is conducive to better performance.

The differences between the 5.56 NATO and the .223 Remington cartridges can create problems when firing a 5.56 NATO round in a rifle chambered for 223 Remington. Due to the longer throat in the 5.56 NATO chamber, this combination will cause a .223 Remington chambered rifle to run at approximately 65,000 psi or more. This is 10,000 psi higher than the normal functioning pressure of the .223 Remington, which is 55,000 psi. This is not safe. Excessive pressure can cause primers to back out of the cartridge. Even worse, it can injure the shooter, damage the rifle, or both.

The reverse of this situation, firing a .223 Remington cartridge in a 5.56 NATO chambered rifle, is not dangerous, but is not optimal. The throat difference between the two chambers will cause a lack of pressure to be developed in a .223 Remington cartridge fired from a 5.56 NATO chamber. The .223 Remington will not attain its normal pressure of 55,000 psi. Velocity and resulting performance will deteriorate somewhat.

Problems from inadequate .223 Remington pressure may also cause a 5.56 NATO carbine with a short 14.5 inch barrel to cycle unreliably. Rifles chambered in 5.56 NATO that have barrels longer than 14.5 inches should function properly when firing .223 Remington ammunition.

The above info came from the following page:

http://www.internetarmory.com/rifle_ammo.htm

I hope it helps you.
 
how about once fired .223 in a 5.56 chamber? will reloading these have any advantage as they will be fire formed to the new chamber? I guess resizing with a .223 die just bring it back to .223 spec..... are there 5.56 dies??
 
Humm,

That's a good question...

Just keep in mind that brass for .223 can't handle the same pressure as the one for 5.56(which has thicker walls), so when reloading keep using the same .223 recipe as before.
 
I'm having the same things, except right from the get-go. I've tried American Eagle 62 grain, some Canadian ball, and some 55 grain FMJ handloads. All were mostly short-stroking the bolt. I'm finding this frustrating as I have a shoot this Saturday, and it would be nice to not have to run a single-shot through the course! I'm going to try extra-hot loads for the weekend and hope for the best.
 
I talked to Wolfgang at Wolverine this week, and he told me to trim an inch off the main (upper) spring, because they are the rifle springs, therefore too beefy for the short barrel. I trimmed about 1.5" off and went to the range today - much better, but I am going to take anothe inch off as it was still short-stroking about 35% of the time.
 
I had some FTE's as well with my 11.75" VZ using handloads. It chambers the next round but the spent case gets caught by the 'slide'. I'll try loading next batch on a warm side and see if it changes anything.
 
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