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Posted: 5/2/2006 6:30:31 AM EDT
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Hi! I'm new to ARs. Recently got an m4. The first time I used it, firing singles, did pretty well. Then came the double feeding problems. Almost every shot after that first 30-round mag, does this double-feed. Researching through the site, I found topics regarding Dfender. I couldn't find it here locally. But I managed to find a similarly sized o-ring from one of my RC helicopter engines. Do you think this will work? My next firing session will be this weekend again. http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62/arnoldb74/gun%20stuff/DSC01367.jpg Thanks in advance ab74 |
Note on D-Fenders. My 11.5 barrel armalite had FTE problems. I was advised to put an o-ring on the extractor like yours pictured above. I did so, less than a dollar for the O-ring and its never had a problem since. I can't believe Fulton charges $12 bucks for what is essentially a $0.50 fix. 
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I have had this happen before on different AR's and it was normally the ammo, but it could easily be the ejector also. I find that a small non-problem (like under-powered ammo), becomes a problem after you add more variables, like the gun getting dirtier as you shoot and heated up, making springs weaker, and so on... So the real experts here can help you... you should add the particulars (describe the firearm, the exact ammo you were using, etc.) |
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A D-Fender will help with dropped extractions, which seems like what you are getting. The O-ring will work for a while, maybe even for quite a while, depending on how lucky you are. Get a bunch of them, so you'll have replacements for when they fail. That's what Crane did. While the O-ring can work in the application, the main problem is related to unpredictable failure rate, due to improper shape for the application involved. The O-rings are oil seals, never intended for the purpose they are being used for. If you are only shooting at the range, where reliability is not paramount, and you have time to replace a broken o-ring, then by all means go ahead use o-rings. Keep a little bag of them in your shooting kit. During the invention and development of the extractor enhancement rings, which Mack Gwinn(MGI) and Jim Sullivan are responsible for, it was determined through long-term testing that the O-ring was not satisfactorily reliable for use in an extractor, and something better needed to be done. This resulted in the development of the D-shaped D-Fender, which has been proven at Crane and in hundreds of thousands of military and commercial weapons to be the most reliable and best performing solution for the problem. Your extraction reliability is not the best place to make a decision to economize a few dollars, and compromise your weapon's reliability. There is nobody on this board, or elsewhere, that knows as much about this subject as the people who invented the concept, developed it, introduced it to Crane and the military, got a military combat certification for reliability, and proved it over many years time now. If there is anybody here who thinks that they know more about it than Gwinn and Sullivan, then please speak up. You can either benefit from their knowledge and expertise, or you can save a few dollars and keep your fingers crossed. |
Exactly! I am always amused when these threads appear. After spending hundreds of dollars for the weapon and whatever accessory du-jour that is attached to it, people will still bitch about a 13 dollar item that works as advertised. Go figure... |
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Thanks for the response and patience. I will be test firing it again this saturday feeding it with at least 5 different brands of ammo. I will try to get my hands on some magazine to see the difference. What's a good reliable place online to buy these dfenders(will ship overseas to manila, philippines)? Regards. ab74 |
Try the o-ring first. It could be more than an extractor problem. But to find out if it is the extractor try a $0.10 #60 o-ring first. If it works it only cost you 10 cents to figure out. If not then it only cost you 10 cents to figure out. No point in spending $13-15 on a D-fender to figure out you just wasted your time and money and you are still s**t out of luck. I spent countless hours on this site, along with many other hours trying to figure out why I had extraction problems, feeding problems, hardly any ammo worked in my gun. On a whim I tried the .10 o-ring. Worth its weight in gold for the crap I went through. Somebody had actually suggested the o-ring literally a year ago, I ingnored em and spent a year bicthin and moaning. |
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I use both the D-Fender and Crane O-Ring on my ARs with M16 BCG. I'm using the D-Fender on my carbine and the Crane O-Ring on my 20" rifle and both run fine. My Crane O-Ring came from ADCO Firearms and my D-Fender came from one of the sellers at the Equipment Exchange of this site. |
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