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5/18/2009 6:48:08 AM EDT
Tried searching for this problem but I  wasn't able to come up with anything, maybe I need to phrase it differently? Regardless, here is the problem:



DPMS Agency maybe 1000 rnds.

Remington UMC 55 grain MC

Cleaned and lubed after every outing



Roughly 8 out of 10 times the first round out of a magazine will not fire. I manually eject the bad round and go to town on the remaining 29 without a hitch. The primer has a nice uniform dent but just not enough oomph. I tear down completely after a day at the range and everything looks fine, firing pin shows no signs of stress or wear. I'm really confused by this, any suggestions or does anyone know of a thread regarding this? I searched 'first round' 'first shot' 'first round misfire' all to no avail.

Thanks in advance.




5/18/2009 6:55:15 AM EDT
[#1]
Next time tap the FA, then see what happens. You may be slightly out-of-battery.
5/18/2009 7:06:14 AM EDT
[#2]
Inclined to agree with M4Builder. Are you pulling the CH all the way back and letting it go, or are you riding it down? Make sure you just let it slam shut. Tap the FA a couple times.
5/18/2009 7:10:32 AM EDT
[#3]
Quoted:
Next time tap the FA, then see what happens. You may be slightly out-of-battery.


This. Everything's not seated quite right...not that uncommon when proper procedure's not followed.



5/18/2009 7:19:28 AM EDT
[#4]
Thanks for the info, I'll definitely try these suggestions.

What doesn't make sense to me is the fact that after I manually remove the first round I then open and close (or let it close) on the second round the same way I did on the first....and BAM! Is it possible to be consistently (or 80%) out of battery only on the first round?
5/18/2009 7:25:41 AM EDT
[#5]
Lock back the bolt and push bolt catch button to load the first round and see if it does the same thing.
5/18/2009 7:36:43 AM EDT
[#6]
Also, try again, starting with only 29 or less rounds in the magazine.  The greater you compress the magazine spring, the greater force it pushes back on the rounds.  NOT that uncommon that a full magazine exerts enough resistance on the BCG, feeding and scraping on the bottom, as it moves forward to slow it down and prevent it from going into full battery.  If this is the case, it can be the magazine as well as the rifle.

On active duty, the blanks would produce less force to cycle the weapon, we typically only loaded 27 blanks into a magazine to prevent the BCG from hanging up on the first couple of rounds.
5/20/2009 5:09:45 PM EDT
[#7]
Thanks again guys.  Arfcom comes thru yet again, first shot fired on 5 different mags. I loaded 29 rounds, tapped the FA and let the bolt carrier fly. One of these three items did the trick but I didn't have the time to narrow it down. I plan to do that this weekend. All in all the problem is fixed, I just have to figure out what the problem was.




While I'm on the subject, let me ask this. A friend of mine who I shoot with taps his FA prior to every magazine, we got to talking about it and it has become second nature to him. He is former Army and explained that it was part of their pre-shoot ritual. I was just curious if any other folks (civilian or mil.) make it a habit to use the FA for every new magazine?
5/20/2009 5:30:01 PM EDT
[#8]
Quoted:
Thanks again guys.  Arfcom comes thru yet again, first shot fired on 5 different mags. I loaded 29 rounds, tapped the FA and let the bolt carrier fly. One of these three items did the trick but I didn't have the time to narrow it down. I plan to do that this weekend. All in all the problem is fixed, I just have to figure out what the problem was.

While I'm on the subject, let me ask this. A friend of mine who I shoot with taps his FA prior to every magazine, we got to talking about it and it has become second nature to him. He is former Army and explained that it was part of their pre-shoot ritual. I was just curious if any other folks (civilian or mil.) make it a habit to use the FA for every new magazine?


I don't, but I think M-4 Builder nailed it - I think that is your problem.

5/20/2009 6:17:17 PM EDT
[#9]
If you pull the trigger and no bang, hit the forward assist. If there still isn't a bang do what Clint Smith says... Tap it and rack it.
5/20/2009 6:20:25 PM EDT
[#10]
Your bolt carrier isn't seating like everyone else says.

Tap the forward assist a couple times, and it will seat.
If you don't have a forward assist, push forward on the little depression on your carrier, this should seat it properly.
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