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Posted: 11/28/2007 6:59:31 AM EDT
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I amhaving some major problems with double feeds with my AR. I am very new to the AR and bought this one used. I started competing in carbine matches and last month had some repeated problems with double feeds. The new round is 40% in and then the next round is jamming it's nose at the top of the case of the first one. Some background - It has happened with three different magazines in the same day(three different manufacturers, CP products, Brownells, and Stoner) Two are steel and one is AL bodies. The gun is well oiled around the bolt carrier and the bolt. However when I clean the gun the bolt is very tight. Not sure how tight it is suppose to be though. It is just not smooth. I am using factory (Wolf) .223 ammo. Gun is cleaned every time I shoot it at least 100 rounds. It has a chrome bolt carrier and a regular bolt. The lower is DPMS and the upper is a kit from JR Ind. Not sure what else anyone would want to know. Most told me it was the magazines, but all three failed. Two of them (steel ones) have been used maybe 12 times and the AL one was brand new when it failed, so not sure how that can be magazine related. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks |
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If the rifle is trying to feed in 2 LIVE rounds then yes it's 99.999% of the time the magazine. Even new magazines can have problems with feed lips - and is more likely with magazines that are not USGI contract (like yours). If the issue is a live round and a fired round - that is a failure to eject or extract (not a double feed) and it has a different set of causes. |
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How are the feed lips and are they bent or cracked at all? Do they look wider than normal? Do you oil your magazines? How are the feed ramps on the rifle and are they standard or M4, are they good cuts or crappy? It could also be that your bolt is not up to specs and is catching the second round as the first one starts to get chambered. Or the carrier could somehow be catching the second round. Check to see that the bottom of the carrier is really smooth without any defects or protrusions that could be catching the second round. |
If you have 3 bad magazines you can have the same problem.. I'd say get some USGI magazines or use magazines that a buddy has that are known to be good to verify. Like I said 99.999% of the time if you're feeding 2 live rounds it's a bad magazine (matter of fact it's the only reason if you follow the military manuals). It's caused by rounds poping out of the feedlips (either they are the wrong size or have bent). The other rare case is due to a horribly messed up bolt carrier. Again, it's easy to check if you have a buddy with an AR - USE YOUR BOLT, but your buddies carrier and test it. |
That does not matter - magazine can be made wrong - it happens.
No that can't cause 2 live rounds to feed. If it was the buffer spring you'd see a live round and a fired round tring to be loaded - it's called a short stroke (and one of the causes of Failure to Eject). |
| Thanks Forest, great advice. I will get a few magazines from the others I shoot with to borrow. Are there particular followers that are best to use? Does the body of the magazine really make a difference or is the whole thing bad? Thanks for your help, I was getting frustrated enough that I almost runed to an AK. |
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Magpul followers are the best, but a good USGI magazine with the green followers is fine. The failure is usually in the magazine lips. I've seen weak material that held up for a few loadings then would have the problems you've seen, I've had one magazine where one of the lips was a bit short and it would occasionally pop off an extra round causing that problem. There is good news though. If the magazines can be shown to be the issue C-Products will replace those steel magazines. Personally I"ve been happy with their products and I have a bunch of their 20 round aluminum 5.56 mags and their 17 round steel 6.8 magazines. But everyone makes mistakes - look in the Magazine forum a bit further down and check to see if there are known 'bad batches' of the steel C-Products. And if it's the bolt carrier - the fix is a bit more expensive, but it's an easy part swap. |
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