I recently bought a new D.P.M.S. rifle. I shot the rifle approx. 100 times, then went back out to shoot it the other day. After the first shot, the bolt carrier would not go all the way foward. After looking at the rifle, I noticed that the buffer retainer and spring had tried to launch themselves in to the gun. This caused the carrier not to go all the way foward. I have taken the rifle apart and put it back together, but every time you cycle the gun, the spring and retainer come into the gun. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.  

The buffer retainer and spring are held in place by the buffer tube.  The buffer tube extends over the lip of the buffer retainer and unless the buffer retainer has been damaged or broken causing it to slide out from under the lip of the tube, the first thing to do is check that your buffer tube isn't coming loose...

[img]www.ar15.com/content/parts/lowerReceiver.gif[/img]

Thank you very much. I had just put a new stock on the rifle, and did not think about the tube holding the spring down. Thanks guys.


Sav308

I agree with the other comments above.

I had the buffer retainer sheer off at the post.  The whole retainer then came loose into the receiver and locked up my trigger.   It's a $1 part, but it sucks when it put the rifle temp out of commission.  

So check your post on the retainer and make sure it's not worn.  

BTW - I know a guy that runs his AR without the buffer retainer or spring for the reason that I stated above.  He says that he has no problems and he's a highly regarded smith that builds AR's for competition.  

I still use mine however.  

No magic there, the buffer retainer is only there to retain the buffer when the receiver is opened.  When it's closed, the carrier will hold the buffer back.  You friend may avoid a failure that has an incredibly small chance of happening, but in doing so, makes it a PITA to open the AR for cleaning - NOT WORTH IT.

Ok, probably going to be a  stupid question on a questionable action, and long to boot, but...

I had the same problem.  Have a pre-ban OA, and was having several problems.  Collapsible stock was malfing (shitty stock, would adjust regularly during firing) and the gun was slam firing frequently enough for me to stop shooting it.

A previous owner had apparently "worked" the trigger as it looked like a dremel had been applied to it.  Reading on the forums, a worked or worn trigger came up as the most likely culprit for doubling, so I picked up a RRA two-stage at a gunshow and popped that in, as well as a sturdier M4-style collapsible stock.  And a new 16" upper to replace the 14.5" with the long flash hider.

Re-assembled everything, was going through basic trigger/safety safety checks, and ran into the same problem the parent poster did after several cycles of the action.  Cocking the gun with the charging lever was resulting in the buffer retainer pin going into the bolt carrier.  It wasn't "launched" in, just stuck.  Thus the carrier would not go forward, and it made the upper receiver a PITA to get off (I had to unscrew the buttstock first and attack it from that side with a 1/8" punch).  Re-assembled several times, ran through the same safety checks, same result each time after a variable number of tests (it wouldn't lock up the bolt assembly the first time, more like after 5-10 times).

My solution: lightly loctite the buffer retainer in place so that the base is flush with the buttstock threads on the lower, and the "retaining portion" of the retaining pin is still in place to hold in the buffer spring.  As far as I can tell from non-firing tests, the action cycles normally, and from mechanical observation, it doesn't impede functioning of the gun.

So, the stupid questions are: am I going to blow up my face / my fingers / my gun with the buffer retainer pin glued in place?  I know you can not have it in at all and the gun will function just fine, just want to make sure if it's in you don't need to have it all springy for some hidden reason.

Quoted: Ok, probably going to be a  stupid question on a questionable action, and long to boot, but... I had the same problem.  Have a pre-ban OA, and was having several problems.  Collapsible stock was malfing (shitty stock, would adjust regularly during firing) and the gun was slam firing frequently enough for me to stop shooting it. A previous owner had apparently "worked" the trigger as it looked like a dremel had been applied to it.  Reading on the forums, a worked or worn trigger came up as the most likely culprit for doubling, so I picked up a RRA two-stage at a gunshow and popped that in, as well as a sturdier M4-style collapsible stock.  And a new 16" upper to replace the 14.5" with the long flash hider. Re-assembled everything, was going through basic trigger/safety safety checks, and ran into the same problem the parent poster did after several cycles of the action.  Cocking the gun with the charging lever was resulting in the buffer retainer pin going into the bolt carrier.  It wasn't "launched" in, just stuck.  Thus the carrier would not go forward, and it made the upper receiver a PITA to get off (I had to unscrew the buttstock first and attack it from that side with a 1/8" punch).  Re-assembled several times, ran through the same safety checks, same result each time after a variable number of tests (it wouldn't lock up the bolt assembly the first time, more like after 5-10 times). My solution: lightly loctite the buffer retainer in place so that the base is flush with the buttstock threads on the lower, and the "retaining portion" of the retaining pin is still in place to hold in the buffer spring.  As far as I can tell from non-firing tests, the action cycles normally, and from mechanical observation, it doesn't impede functioning of the gun. So, the stupid questions are: am I going to blow up my face / my fingers / my gun with the buffer retainer pin glued in place?  I know you can not have it in at all and the gun will function just fine, just want to make sure if it's in you don't need to have it all springy for some hidden reason.

The tube should go right up ti the 'nipple" of the retainer.  Sounds like you need to tighten the tube a few turns.  Also get rid of the locktite ASAP.  You'll never be able to get the buffer/buffer spring out if you have the retainer set (If I'm reading your post correctly).