new AR new prblems

[golfish]

Good afternoon my friends, please forgive my lousy writing skills.

I tested a newly assembled AR today. Its a 10.5" pistol upper with a carbine gas system. The lower is proven but I might have the wrong buffer and or buffer spring (phase 5 pistol) The problems might also have come from the bolt. Its a proven bolt (maybe 1000 rounds) and BCG but I did replace the gas rings with a one piece McFarland and have not used it since.

The completed upper is from Hardened Arm in Washington state. It fit tight into the lower but loosened up real nice after 50 rounds.

1) the first problem I noticed was that the bolt wouldn't stay open all the time after the mag dump, It was an intermittent problem, say 50/50. It ran flawless some mags and then iffy the next. For now I'm ruling out the MOE Mags because they ALL work good on my other guns.

2) It seemed like something was binding and it was kind of hard to pull back on the charging handle. I took it apart a few times, I didn't see anything wrong until I got to the dry bolt..

3) The gun ran pretty good,then after about 70 rounds one of the trigger pins worked its way out a little and I started getting double taps. I fixed that problem then I started getting FTF, on ever round it would jam. It seemed like it was feeding two rounds at a time and jamming. I was running the gun pretty wet so I took it apart again, it seemed like the bolt wasn't moving very well through the carrier. I found that the bolt was pretty dry so I took it apart, cleaned it up, lubed it and ran 30 or so more rounds with out any problems other then the bolt not staying open after the dump..

I don't know if I should be looking at the new gas ring, the buffer or action spring? Is the Phase 5 pistol kit ok for a carbine length gas system?
I kick myself for not bring another BCG on todays outing..

BTW, the shell casings were landing between 3-4 o-clock, It just didn't seem like a gas problem to me. I'm a beginner on this stuff....

[sdfire]

Try a different BCG and see if it fixes the problem. Then you can trouble shoot from there. Is the carrier full auto or semi auto? I have had issues like yours with the semi auto carrier getting hung up on the bolt catch. I switched out that part and it fixed the problem. Different lower parts kits can have out of spec parts.

[golfish]

Try a different BCG and see if it fixes the problem. Then you can trouble shoot from there. Is the carrier full auto or semi auto? I have had issues like yours with the semi auto carrier getting hung up on the bolt catch. I switched out that part and it fixed the problem. Different lower parts kits can have out of spec parts.

Thanks brother, I kick myself for not having another BCG today. It was a Semi Auto BCG that has worked great in my Mid length and rifle length uppers. It just happened to be the first one I grabbed from the safe and I knew that this one had the one piece gas ring that hasn't been used since I installed the ring. I've read that those can take a while to break in, I just don't know what the "break in" draw backs are..

Those double taps I ran today were so fun I'm just lucky I drive 80 miles to go shooting. I never see anybody out where I go

[Munny$hot]

Your ejection pattern is good. Dropping some oil down the bolt carrier exhaust ports is a must for new ars. Lube the rails of the carrier as well as the bolt just till it's wet but not dripping or you will have symptom like you mentioned. I recommend ATF transmission fluid for both cleaning and lubrication.

[golfish]

Your ejection pattern is good. Dropping some oil down the bolt carrier exhaust ports is a must for new ars. Lube the rails of the carrier as well as the bolt just till it's wet but not dripping or you will have symptom like you mentioned. I recommend ATF transmission fluid for both cleaning and lubrication.

ATF!! I used to add a quart to the crankcase on some of my older cars back in the day.

It was over lubed that's for sure. What do you thing about the one piece gas ring? Do ya think that may have added to my problem? Even after I lubed up the bolt it seems a little sticky in the carrier.

Thanks for your help..

[Munny$hot]

Go back to the way it was before it started to fail to diagnose any problem. I never used the 1 piece design, but new rings usually take time to break in. It is easily cured by cycling the bolt by hand a bunch of times or by shooting it.

[golfish]

Go back to the way it was before it started to fail to diagnose any problem. I never used the 1 piece design, but new rings usually take time to break in. It is easily cured by cycling the bolt by hand a bunch of times or by shooting it.

Munny$hot, the compete upper and buffer assembly are all new. I'm going to test out another BCG this weekend and see if that makes a difference.

The guns cool looking and all but after just one day shooting it I can see its kind of silly. Maybe with different optics it might impress me more. Thanks for taking your time to help.

For now, I'd trade it for a good 1911 in a heart beat

[phase1]

[golfish]

Your a good neighbor, thanks for the video. For sure I'm getting double feeds using the carbine buffer.

Can you suggest a new buffer?

[Munny$hot]

What kind of ammo are you running?

[golfish]

What kind of ammo are you running?

Wolf Gold and PPU last Saturday. I have never seen an difference in ammo with my rifle or mid length uppers. They eat up anything I throw at em.

The video phase 1 posted made sense. I'm guessing all the buffers I have are carbine weight since they all came with kits. No problems with mid length and rifle length uppers. This is the only carbine length gas system I have.

I'll take all buffers to work this week and weigh em just to make sure. I'll tell anybody who asks that their butt plugs

[golfish]

FWIW, the buffer spring is really stiff. I know it a new spring and all, I don't recall the others being so stiff..

[Munny$hot]

Wolf is kind f erratic as far as consistency so I'd try some name brand ammo like m193 or m855 to see if that cures your problem. Since your 10.5 is shorter it has a shorter dwell time than a 16" or 20" barrel. Before you go off and invest in different buffers I'd consider getting a adjustable gas block. How long is your recoil spring?

[golfish]

How long is your recoil spring?

10.750"...that's pretty close to 1/2" longer then the springs on my other AR's..

Is the pistol going to be that much more temperamental that I have to worry about the ammo I use in it?

[Munny$hot]

Your spring is the correct length. What brand of BCG are you running?

Usually AR with a 10.5" barrel length are more reliable than shorter barrels due to the longer dwell time. A lot of it depends on who put it together and drilled the gas port to the proper dimension for the length of barrel. I'm not a brand whore who arranges companies by tiers since it's silly because most of the "Reputable" companies use a lot of the same MilSpec manufactures for bolt, carriers, LPKS, barrels etc and just roll mark it with their logo. Although there are a lot of smaller or unknown companies claiming that their parts are MilSpec which most are not. The is a good saying you get what you pay for. With that said I've never heard of the company that assembled your upper and more than likely you also have a no name bolt carrier also. Your spring length is good and trying to swap BCG next time you shot your pistol would be the first thing to try. If you really wanted it to run 110% I'd remove the gas block, measure the diameter of the gas port, check/blow out the gas block/tube/gas key, inspect the gas key for being tight, head space your chamber, make sure your "BOTH" of your hammer spring legs are on top of the trigger pin, if they are file the grove a little deeper so the hammer spring leg will not allow the trigger pin to walk out, and shoot some name brand quality ammo. If you had purchased all your components from a company that does buy from MilSpec manufactures I'd doubt you'd be having problems. Some companies to consider that are budget minded but still have quality parts are: Stag, Spikes Tactical, CMT, and PSA.