Vepr 12 stove piping: remington sureshot 1 1/8oz 7 1/2 heavy dove + SG

[Aries144 10]

Two range sessions now and things are running well.

 

I still had a few malfunctions and will have to do more testing to figure out exactly what happened.

The cheap #7 1/2 Estate ammo, that used to deform and get caught on the extractor cut out in the chamber mouth frequently during feeding, has become one of the most reliable loads now. The only malfunction I had with it was an old round, left over from previous testing, that was deformed from being cycled through the shotgun several times before deciding to smooth the chamber face. Even after an attempt to straighten it out on a table, the weakened front lip re-deformed and got caught on the extractor cutout. It was then loaded and fired by retracting the bolt a short distance and releasing.

The green-hulled Remington Shurshot #7 1/2 and #8 seems to be loaded somewhat weaker than the Federal and Estate loads. The spent shells did not eject as far and I experienced a stovepipe with this brand. This was interesting as the #8 Remington Shurshot in 20ga is what cycles best in my Saiga 20.

The only other malfunction was with some old #6 shot of unknown brand that a friend shot. He loaded up a mag with a series of random old shells, including some 2 3/4" buck and a slug, and fired them all. All cycled except for the #6. The #6 round was found holding the bolt open as if trying to be loaded back into the chamber. Unfortunately, the spent shell was cleared before I could further assess to try and determine what had happened. I suspect it was an FTE caused by a short stroke, since the ammunition was old.

Federal #7 1/2 and #8 Target loads functioned well without malfunction and had fairly regular ejection.

Winchester Super X 3" 15 pellet 00 Buck functioned well, but once again, exibited brutal recoil. A single shot of this was also fired with the gas puck removed and a noticable reduction in recoil was noted. The spent shell was extracted but short stroked, failing to eject, and was found trying to load back into the chamber. I think a gas puck modified to allow some gas blow-by would be beneficial for this kind of load in the Vepr 12.

The spread from the Winchest 3" buck was also extreme. At about 20 paces, only 6 pellets out of 15 made holes on a standard size IPSC/IDPA carboard sillouette. The use of an SGM modified choke tightened the pattern considerably, to the point that 14 pellets made holes in the target, though they were widely spread. I'm going to try the full choke, but considering the excessive recoil and poor patterning, I don't think I'm going to be buying any more of this stuff. (I only got it because it was the only buck I've come across since the panic started.)

I've come to the conclusion that a replacement stock with a larger butt plate area, and perhaps a recoil pad, would be beneficial. The recoil is managable as it, but the hard, sharp corners of the wood stock and butt plate, combined with such small surface area, make the shotgun more uncomfortable to shoot over time than is necesarry, which is more of an issue with new shooters I've let try shooting it.

[thebuns1 4,323]

Interesting report.

 

Ive noticed that the cheaper full power winchester loads I have group very large patterns as well. Out of my Vepr, I have the best luck with tight patterns from the Hornady offerings that feature the versatite wad. The superformance and critical defense and zombie loads are all the same except for the hull color. I've gotten on average around 8-12" patterns at roughly 25yds. Thats pretty good for a scattergun with no choke. I even manage to hit targets at 100 yds with buckshot with these loads. lol.

[jackb804 0]

I noticed Aries144 said he used other AK trigger parts and polishing them on his VEPR 12. Do you think the same job might work on the stock trigger parts? I did notice the Remmington Gun Club loads were extremely tight getting into the chamber as well. I'm going to do some edge removal of my own as well. Carefully must be the word here, do not want to over do it. I guess one can get over zealous here. . .

[Aries144 10]

Yes, it could be done to the stock trigger parts.

I'd recommend using hand files, sandpaper, and a dremel bullet-shaped polishing bit with jeweler's rouge only, to round and smooth around the chamber. The files, maybe, to break the sharp corner left around the chamber mouth and the polishing wheel to slowly round and smooth it. Using duct tape or something else thick to mask off surrounding areas is also recommended.

If you must use a stone with the dremel on the feed ramps, I'd advise that you go real slow at low speed and think really, really hard on the ramp angle and what changing it is going to do before you make each stroke. It would be best to use hand tools and polishing as much as possible here, since a mistake can't be easily corrected.

 

Another important consideration are the cutouts for the fixed and moving extractors: don't do anything that will cause shells to be more likely to ride into those channels and end up jamming into the sharp ends at the chamber entry- i.e. don't grind at the hood or on the edges of the lower cutout, allowing rounds to feed into them.

I recommend using a hand tool like a file to carefully dull and smooth the edge formed at the ends of the extractor cutouts. Follow this with sandpaper, working up to around 2000 grit. This will help prevent rolled-crimp shells like the Estates from getting snagged here.

I can now recycle shells without the crimps getting smashed or the sides getting scratched or "peeled."

[jackb804 0]

Thanks for the info. . . I was concerned about filing something off too much. I'll start with smoothing sharp edges and see where it goes from there. it is embarrasing to have a shotgun like this and have to have FTE's, FTF's and trigger reset problems. Gotta get it smoothed out!

[Aries144 10]

If you're not sure you really know what you're doing, don't do this to any stock parts or at least parts you can't replace. It would suck to see your Vepr12 reduced to someone's future partial parts kit.

[jackb804 0]

If you're not sure you really know what you're doing, don't do this to any stock parts or at least parts you can't replace. It would suck to see your Vepr12 reduced to someone's future partial parts kit.

Got it. . . that is the first reason to be extremely carefull. . . thanks again.

[Aries144 10]

For the trigger parts, I used the pics on this site of the Russian factory 'competition' or 'IPSC' trigger group. The areas on the competition trigger group that are changed form the standard group are exactly the areas that you need to modify to reduce resistance. Just work and test until the resistance is reduced.

The extra resistance on the carrier is stemming from the hammer needing to push the disconnector out of the way before it can latch on the trigger. I've never seen another AK FCG that required the disconnector be moved so far by the hammer. The mods, and the Russian competition FCG, are basically all reducing the distance that the hammer has to push the disconnector before it can get past it to latch on the trigger/sear.