I was zeroing both uppers yesterday and today. I had a small number of light strikes and no strikes. It appears that some of my cases are a few .000 too long according to a Lyman case length gauge. On it's face you can say "bad reloading" etc. BUT those very same rounds will function fine in a standard ar-15.
Attached File

I've been shooting ar-15s for several decades and have never seen this.  I'm sure an operator, operating, operationally, will tell me I don't get out enough or some such shit.

Kind of curious on this situation. I have had the same issue with both my uppers, and they were purchased months apart with the SBR upper just last week.

I am hoping to use these and depend on them but now I'm kinda concerned. If they won't function reliably with military ammo...

I've added a pic to sorta show the issue.

On a side note the front clip came off the upper and was recovered by a buddy. How can I prevent that from coming off?  We only shot  about 60rds this session. Attached File

That clip came off by itself while shooting?   Maybe tether it with wire on the top looped area.  Another reason these are more for "Range toys" than serious duty use / Self-defense.   But they sure are fun range toys!

Fortunately it still works without the clip. It's just the to keep the "gas cup" (my term) in place.

@TNRonin

In your post, you mention "bad reloading" but then you also say "military ammo."  Is it happening with factory ammo or is it reloads?

I was using what could be said.  The issue to me boils down to it functions in a standard ar-15, but not a BRN-180 and 180s.  As a former quality control engineer I understand some ammo may display variance in the long and short, it's inevitable.  

Can the headspace be checked like an ar-15? Thanks

Right, but you also said "If they won't function reliably with military ammo..." so that's what I'm trying to understand as well.  At this point it looks like you're conflating reliability with military ammo to reloads.  I understand where you're coming from with it functioning just fine in AR15s.  I also have this posed to the engineers and Product Team behind the 180, so they might have some insights.

Gotcha. Sorry. The issue I guess ultimately is why will the ammo function with an ar-15 but not the BRN?

I'm going to cycle some more rounds thru them this weekend to see if this continues.

ETA without a bumpReplaced the clip. There is no way in hell that cup is coming out until you want it to.

Put 50+ of ss109 down range. Had 2 light strikes and they were reset and functioned as expected. Don't know what to say at this point.  Maybe it was/is break in.  Plenty accurate. Attached File

50 meters, 20 rds supported, 3x prism, med speed.

Mine had a problem with not going into battery. Hammer would drop, push the bcg forward, but no bang. Happened pretty frequently. I was trying to figure it out and it decided to go kaboom and save me the trouble. Destroyed a pmag. I sent it back to PWS and they replaced just about everything, and it ran 100%.

When I got it back it had a strange doubling problem. Pull trigger and hold to rear and it fired. Release trigger and it fired again. It was a standard GI trigger, I suspect the hole spacing in the lower was funky so it wasn't catching the disconnect. Not really the fault of the upper, but it never did it before the repair. Now it has a Larue MBT and functions 100% without surprise firing.

Dang I'd hate to have to wait to kb before addressed.  Since both uppers are doing this is not a transitory situation.

They declared it a bad ammo problem and fixed it under warranty. It's worth calling them for tech support. I think I recall seeing several other reports of failure to go fully into battery so it might be a known problem by now with a factory fix.

I'm REALLY not looking forward to sending BOTH uppers back. Ugh!!!

PWS customer service was stellar. I'm interested to hear what you learn. I suspected my upper suffered from bolt bounce and I tried taking video but I could never really prove it.

@TNRonin I got an answer back from PWS.  Please send me your information (address and specific uppers you're having issues with) in an IM and we'll get you squared away.

I've sent an IM

I will acknowledge that the customer service for both Brownells and PWS the stellar! They sent me some parts to replace. That was done. I took out the 16-in yesterday and cycled it. Everything went as planned and I believe that upper is good to go at this point. I've got to get some more ammo, then I'll check the 180S.