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Posted: 4/12/2004 5:05:22 AM EDT
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Hey everyone, Just purchased 100 rds of the new polymer cased PCA spectrum ammo to try out. My AR is a Eagle Arms carbine. When using the factory 10 rd mags, I would go through the first 9 rounds of ammo without a problem. Then on firing the 9th round I'd get that familiar sound of the bolt being locked back as it usually does after the 10th round. To my suprise the 10th round is floating around on top of the magazine (not chambered). The case appeared undamaged. I ejected the mag, loaded the one round and fired the shot. Fine. I would have chalked this up to a fluke, but it happened on every one of the 10 mags I went through. Anyone else have this "problem"? Anyone know what might be causing it? As for the range report, every round cycled with no other problems than mentioned above. From a prone position the average spread at 100 yds is around 2-2.5 inches. This is on a par from what I get with the Winny white box (R1s) and just a tad wider of a spread than I get from Black Hills Blue Box. No case separations were observed as someone else had reported. Although I did not cycle quickly through the ammo, so the chamber never became terribly hot. The cases are somewhat translucent, and whatever powder they are using leaves almost zero residue in the expended case. Not a scientific comparison, but I would swear it was easier to clean (I typically go through 200 rounds in a shooting session, and clean the rifle before putting it away). Cheers, Michael |
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Suspect the magazine spring has TOO MUCH tension on it and is kicking the round out of the magazine as the bolt grazes the top 10th round on it's way back w/ the follower then tripping the bolt release before it can return. And then again I have no experience w/ this ammo your referring to, prhaps ya should try some standard brass cased ammo. FWIW, while unfamiliar w/ EA factory 10 rounders, I have had experience w/ Colts and Bushmaster PC mags. Those experiences generally followed this pattern, FTF, FTE, intermittent cycling problems all leading me to toss that crap in the trash and use my USGI 20 and 30 round mags, which WORK. Mike |
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I've seen this happen with normal brass-cased ammo a few times before, and in every case, the culprit was a HEAVILY worn 20-round mag that had thin, "sharpened" feedlips from so much use. We're talking 30 years of heavy military use here. The problem was that the feedlips were so thin and so spread apart that the rounds would not stay tucked under the feedlip, and the last round in the mag would eject itself and either the bolt stop would trip or there would be a doublefeed. I'd be very surprised if this was anything other than a mag problem. -Troy |
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Thanks for the replies. I'm intending to buy some Colt 20 rd mags. I shoot prone and from the bench often, so the 30s are a little long. Most of my shooting is target, so I don't need the 30 rd load. The EA mags (which I believe are identical to Armalites) are steel with thick lips. They are listed as blocked-off 20 rders. This may indicate an overly strong spring as they are next to new. The brass base does come in contact fully with the feed lips, and I have never seen this problem with regular brass ammo (before this, the factory mags were my most reliable). I'll switch mags and see what happens, Thanks again, Michael |
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