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Posted: 6/20/2012 7:18:22 AM EDT
| So after going to the range and running about 200 rounds through my ar, I go home to strip it down and begin cleaning. Nothing looked out of the ordinary until I inspected the bolt and noticed that the gas ring closest to the bolt face was broken and almost half of the ring was missing. I am very surprised the ring was still on the bolt. It is not a clean break and almost looks like when the filament in a hot light bulb breaks. I did not see anything out of the ordinary that would lead me to believe it was the cause so I'm stumped. With a round count of only 600 on the entire rifle I doubt it is normal to have a gas ring break. If anybody has any ideas please chime in so if there is something that caused this I can prevent it from happening again or if it is just a freak incident. The internals are all factory Bushmaster, other than that I don't believe I am leaving anything out but if I am just ask. |
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Gas rings are cheap, and when you go to replace the, make sure to roll glide them out of the bolt channel with your fingernail.
Also, the rings are are stamp cut produced, one side will have a sharp edge (bottom of the cut), while the other side will have a rounded edge (top of the stamp cut). When you go to load the gas rings, make sure to load the sharp edge sides on all three rings towards the back of the bolt (away from the bolt face) in the same direction. |
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I have read different things about how to face the gas rings. I'll leave it up to you as to how to decide to install them. (Re-reading the earlier post came from Dano, I'd go with his suggestion)
Get a flashlight and inspect the inside of the bolt carrier, specifically where the gas rings ride. Sometimes there is a little burr in there that can damage the gas rings. Clean the carrier well and try again. Also scrape the carbon out of it and run it wet. |
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Quoted:
I have read different things about how to face the gas rings. I'll leave it up to you as to how to decide to install them. (Re-reading the earlier post came from Dano, I'd go with his suggestion) Get a flashlight and inspect the inside of the bolt carrier, specifically where the gas rings ride. Sometimes there is a little burr in there that can damage the gas rings. Clean the carrier well and try again. Also scrape the carbon out of it and run it wet. It's installers choice on which way to aim the sharp edges, but here is why I aim them towards the back. The rounded side is going to allow more blow by until the rings mate in, and when it comes to mating in gas rings, would rather have the recoil tension of the spring forcing them back to cut any carbon fouling, instead of the other way around with the gas action trying to force them forward to cut carbon fouling that way instead.. But either way, you do want all the sharp edges/sides pointing in the same direction, hence not a sharp edge against another sharp edge that may not allow one of the rings to compress freely on it's own. |
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