Didn't think I'd like these as much as I do

[ShortyBP]

Thanks guys!   JDA... I'm one to cling to even my most despised, inoperable firearms.   

Still haven't had a chance to hit the range to try any of the fixes... but just messing with the rifle itself, there's no side-to-side play in the trigger, the safety seems properly aligned with the disconnector.  I also cannot replicate the gremlin while manually cycling, with or without the cover.   Manually pull the bolt back, and it catches every time like it should.

One anomaly I did observe, was that my pistol grip screw was protruding pretty far into the receiver.  Not sure if this was getting in the way of the  trigger mechanism feather?   I added a couple washers so the screw would be flush/hidden.

Beh.  So no obvious causes as of yet.

[Forced March]

I hope to never again buy Tula ammo, I have a ton of it and can't get rid of it fast enough, 1 out of 30 rounds sends the bullet a quarter of the way down my barrel, I have to then beat it out with a stick.

To me, it sounds like something is loose, I mean I agree with everyone so far, but it could be so many additional things.  Alot of good answers, if those don't work, try swapping whole components, dust covers, pistons, carrier assemblies.  Make sure to remember which one goes where.    I once had a VZ that literally jammed every other shot, EVERY OTHER SHOT!!!  I fixed it, and it has never jammed again.  Can anyone guess why???

[OLd_Sarge]

thanks guys on the Tula update, I almost bought 1K of Tula ammo, and was still thinking of getting some till this thread. 
my brother in law said he liked Red Army a lot so I just got 1080 round case of it with FMJ bullets, to add to my 1K of brown bear SP and my 1K of wolf military classic HP.
however;
I still would like to pick up a few more K just because it is not that costly now.

[nickndfl]

I was using Tula this past weekend without one problem.  200+ rounds among 4 VZs.

[TJNewton]

As far as the Gremlin, try just letting the trigger all the way back out.  These rifles have exceptionally long resets and if you don't get a bang it may be because you haven't reset the trigger.  It happened to me at first with rapid fire, and even with paced fire a couple of times, until I got used to it.  It could be that the reset on that one rifle is slightly longer than on the others.

The next time you get no bang, stop and instead of reracking as you would with the true Gremlin, let the trigger all the way out and try again.  This may help you narrow down the problem and avoid going in circles.  If it's a lack of resetting the trigger, then you will get a bang, and if it's the true Gremlin, you'll have to rerack it anyway.  It's unusual to have the carrier tabbed and have the Gremlin persist (although I've read one or two accounts).

thanks guys on the Tula update, I almost bought 1K of Tula ammo, and was still thinking of getting some till this thread. 
my brother in law said he liked Red Army a lot so I just got 1080 round case of it with FMJ bullets, to add to my 1K of brown bear SP and my 1K of wolf military classic HP.
however;
I still would like to pick up a few more K just because it is not that costly now.

Please update the Red Army as you shoot it.  I bought 1080 of the unsealed Ukrainian rounds.  Had 6 duds out of the bunch, with heavily dimpled primers, with two different rifles that had no issues before or since.

The only stove pipes I've ever had were with Tula.  Thousands of rounds of Golden Tiger, Wolf, and brown Brown Bear of all flavors have had zero problems.

[muggia59]

Between my ak and my vz I have shot at least 1500 Tula rounds. I even run it in my ar without any issues. I do prefer Wolf.