[Mitchell01]

I’m seeming to have a difficult time getting my M53 to chamber a round. Every time I rack it back the bolt gets stuck in the rear and the round will not chamber. Not exactly sure as to what is causing this issue.

 

[GBYENKO]

I'm assuming this is a semiauto? Are you holding the bolt open when you shut the cover?

 

[sparky7 57]

I'm assuming this is a semiauto? Are you holding the bolt open when you shut the cover?

If you look under the gun where the bolt and the charging handle contact each other you'll see that the bolt has a steel bar welded to the bottom it will be on the left side close to the charging handle . On the charging handle it will have a steel bar that is in contact with the bolts welded bar a lot of times when the gun is converted to semi and the bolt is converted the bolt and the charging handle will jam at the end of the travel when you pull the charging handle to the rear. The charging handle will start to move away from the bolt and jam the two together ,the way to fix it is to ad some weld to both surfaces so they will have more contact and will be less prone to jamming. I built a M53 and had that same problem and thats how I fixed it.

 

[Abominog]

Ever heard of process of elimination?

 

[toolmanm203]

Mitch has a wiselite semi and we all know they have been known to have issues. Mitch I have those two springs set aside for you and will be in the shop all day so feel free to call if you need help with this.

 

[Kentuckyguy]

Oh man thats terrible I hope you can figure it out. Aint nothing worse than being at the range all set up and ready to go on your time off and then this happens. Keep us updated on the issue when you resolve it.

 

[Abominog]

Ditch the drum

Are you loading per instructions? The semi and full are not the same.

Are you aligning the guide rail and lug on the bolt? Failure to do so results in what you report.

What happens without ammo?

Does the bolt slide freely when you tilt the gun up and down?

 

[Mitchell01]

Ditch the drum

Are you loading per instructions? The semi and full are not the same.

Are you aligning the guide rail and lug on the bolt? Failure to do so results in what you report.

What happens without ammo?

Does the bolt slide freely when you tilt the gun up and down?

I watched Wiselites video on how to load it. The guide rod is also aligned with the bolt when closing. Whenever I do it without ammo the bolt does not slide freely. From hearing other people’s stories it sounds like wiselites just do a thing of their own haha.

 

[Sledge303]

I watched Wiselites video on how to load it. The guide rod is also aligned with the bolt when closing. Whenever I do it without ammo the bolt does not slide freely. From hearing other people’s stories it sounds like wiselites just do a thing of their own haha.

Looking at your picture I think you have one of the newer production guns with the milled receiver?
These were made after the production contract with Century Arms had ended.
Cabela's "Gun Library" in DFW area used to always have them in stock.

 

[Mitchell01]

I'm assuming this is a semiauto? Are you holding the bolt open when you shut the cover?

Yes it is a semi auto, I have the bolt closed whenever I close the cover as well.

 

[Sledge303]

Yes it is a semi auto, I have the bolt closed whenever I close the cover as well.

One point I remember, never close the top cover with the bolt forward and a live round setting on top of the bolt.
That will bend the metal piece in the top cover that points the nose of the round downwards when the bolt is stripping the round from the belt and cause a jam.
It happens enough that John Baum was making a gauge to check/adjust that part to the correct angle.
The WLA manual always had you place the loaded belt NEXT to the bolt on the feed tray, close the top cover, draw the bolt to the rear and then run it forward quickly to get a live round loaded into the chamber.

 

[Abominog]

ImWhenever I do it without ammo the bolt does not slide freely.

If that’s not a typo, then that’s where you start. If the bolt doesn’t move freely then don’t bother to try to get it to feed.

 

[Mitchell01]

If that’s not a typo, then that’s where you start. If the bolt doesn’t move freely then don’t bother to try to get it to feed.

Can you explain how the bolt supposed to move freely? Is this when I am racking it’s supposed to be able to freely move if I hold it back? New to this firearm so forgive me if I state some things wrong.

 

[sparky7 57]

Did you check the bolt and charging handle relationship ? With no ammo in the gun you should be able to rack the bolt all the way to the rear and let the charging handle and the bolt go . It should fly forward and the bolt should lock into the barrel extension.One more thing you can look at is the bar that is welded to the bolt somtimes hits the FCG ,take the grip,FCG, off and try racking the slid back and see if that helps.

 

[Mitchell01]

One point I remember, never close the top cover with the bolt forward and a live round setting on top of the bolt.
That will bend the metal piece in the top cover that points the nose of the round downwards when the bolt is stripping the round from the belt and cause a jam.
It happens enough that John Baum was making a gauge to check/adjust that part to the correct angle.
The WLA manual always had you place the loaded belt NEXT to the bolt on the feed tray, close the top cover, draw the bolt to the rear and then run it forward quickly to get a live round loaded into the chamber.

Yea knew that part. Always put the round to the left of the feed Prawl, close the cover then pull the links through the rest of the way till it clicks in place. At Least this is how the videos show how to do it. Any other way to load it or is this pretty standard?

 

[Abominog]

Take the cover off, take the spring out. Charging handle all the way forward. Tilt gun back and forth end to end. Bolt should slide back and forth. That’s step one.

 

[Mitchell01]

Did you check the bolt and charging handle relationship ? With no ammo in the gun you should be able to rack the bolt all the way to the rear and let the charging handle and the bolt go . It should fly forward and the bolt should lock into the barrel extension.One more thing you can look at is the bar that is welded to the bolt somtimes hits the FCG ,take the grip,FCG, off and try racking the slid back and see if that helps.

Yes all works fine without ammo and it locks as should. Talked with Russ on the phone and we believe the issue Is a weak main spring. I’ll be getting some of those soon and will see if that fixes the issue.

 

[Sledge303]

Yes all works fine without ammo and it locks as should. Talked with Russ on the phone and we believe the issue Is a weak main spring. I’ll be getting some of those soon and will see if that fixes the issue.

If these new WLA M-53's (milled receiver) are basically the same design as the old ones (stamped receivers from Global Machine welded onto the original fronts) you will find that the drive spring is cut short.
WLA even made slightly longer receivers so more of the original spring would fit.
The issue is the piece welded onto the rear of the bolt that allows for the hammer to strike the firing pin.
More mass on the bolt, plus the resistance of cocking the hammer, and you also have less spring to apply energy to returning the bolt to battery while it has the resistance of stripping a round off the belt.
It was why WLA used to run a mandrel thru each "loop" of the one included belt to be consistent (test fired and marked them to the gun)
With new and used 8MM and 7.62 NATO belts being used in these guns it sometimes caused cycling issues.
The guns WLA built for Century were tuned and tested for the new 8MM "HOTSHOT" ammo Century sold (it was marked on the receiver too)
WLA tried to find a way to set these up to run all 8MM that was on the market at the time (new and surplus) and found that to set off 50's Yugo surplus ammo the primer strike from the firing pin was so heavy that on new ammo it pierced the primer.
Gas from pierced primers ruined the rebound spring on the firing pin rather quickly.
Century was told to specify the ammo that was to be used in the AJM-53 and they decided on the HotShot 8MM.