AR Sponsor
Posted: 8/21/2010 4:38:22 PM EDT
I have been shooting my AR lately, and have been having a problem. The rifle occasionally will not eject the spent round, if it was a pistol, I would call it a "stove pipe". I built the rifle myself, and all the involved parts are new. In cleaning the rifle, no bits are in the ejector causing a problem there. I would like to know, is it possible that the AR, like a 1911, can stove pipe if you "limp wrist" it? I was target shooting and not really gripping the rifle tight, so could that be it 
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First load a single round into a mag, insert the mag, fire the round and confirm that the bolt is locking back on the catch.
If the bolt locks back, then the rifle is full stroking and not the problem. From there, pull the extractor and buying/using a #60 O-ring around the extractor spring, reinstall it. Now with a spent case, cam it off the ejector and compress the ejector a few times to make sure that the ejector is not binding in the bolt face channel. Now with the rifle back together, pull the charging handle all the way back and confirm that the face of the bolt does not retract back past the back of port edge (should make out about 1/4" to 3/8" in front of the back of port). The stove piping is either coming from the rifle not fully stroking, the ejector not kicking the spent case off the face of the bolt at rearward stall, the spent case not staying glued to the bolt face until rear storke and being drop from the bolt face before end of stroke on the way back, or the bolt face retracting back past the back of port to bounce the spent case back in. |
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Ok, I have talked to another friend of mine, who is the armorer for the local SWAT team. He told me a few things to check:
1. check that the ejector was getting a good grip on the spent case...check 2. make sure that a spent case could easily be removed from the chamber by just holding the upper upside down...check 3. make sure my reloaded brass was not too torn up from previous ejections....check...happened with factory new ammo too. 4. check for proper reload pressure to work the action correctly...check (plus happened with good factory ammo) 5. check for gas leaks.....check 6. check the buffer system, make sure it is not buggered up.....check. Having checked and found all this to be in order, plus my description of how hot the upper seemed to be all leads us to believe it was my fault. I was not lubing the bolt proper. My rifle is brand new, and may just need some extra lube while it "breaks in". I have been using white grease to lube my BCG, but am going to try Mobile 1 for a while. He believes the lighter lube with a little more of it should cure my problem. I will post the results after I can get out to shoot again. |
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