AR Troubleshooting (after swapping out uppers)

[Gear]

Calguns,

I need your help. I have an AR15, labeled as a Colt Lightweight:
Chambered in 223
Upper is 16" (carry handle)
Full A2 stock

I traded out the upper with a Radical firearms 18" complete upper. Took it to the range and it wouldn't cycle.

Sent it to Radical Firearms, they tested it, sent it back after an adjustment to the gas block, stating that they tested with 3 different ammunition manufacturers.

Did some research, replaced the buffer and spring with a standard A2 set.
Back the range....cycled a 10 round magazine, no issues. Second magazine, started to have issues with cycling rounds.

issues with cycling = round will fire, but the spent casing won't eject, comes most of the way out of the chamber, but not enough to eject and load the next round.

Any suggestions, recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

Gear

[jimbo74]

Sounds like a timing/gas issue. What are more specific specs on it?


It's possible it is trying to eject too fast and getting stuck

[deckhandmike]

What ammo are you using and have you tried other stuff? Cheap ammo sometimes doesn’t cycle great. It really should work but remove that variable.

[Barang]

feed the same ammo used in testing.

[Gear]

Ammunition used by me is:
American Eagle 55 grain FMJ.

Ammunition used by the team at Radical FireArms was
3 different ammo types .223 55gr wolf, .223 55 gr orr, and 5.56 62gr otm lead free Federal

Stated that it needed more gas, so the "port was opened"

[Gear]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, the Radical FireArms upper is chambered in 223 Wylde.

[deckhandmike]

Try some different ammo first to rule out an ammo issue. Then question the piece of crap rifle you bought. Seriously, Google Radical firearms problems. Pages of terrible reviews!!

[sigstroker]

Did you send them the lower too? Do they know it's a full sized rifle, not a carbine? They use different buffers and springs.

[ar15barrels]

Calguns,

I need your help. I have an AR15, labeled as a Colt Lightweight:
Chambered in 223
Upper is 16" (carry handle)
Full A2 stock

I traded out the upper with a Radical firearms 18" complete upper. Took it to the range and it wouldn't cycle.

Sent it to Radical Firearms, they tested it, sent it back after an adjustment to the gas block, stating that they tested with 3 different ammunition manufacturers.

Did some research, replaced the buffer and spring with a standard A2 set.
Back the range....cycled a 10 round magazine, no issues. Second magazine, started to have issues with cycling rounds.

issues with cycling = round will fire, but the spent casing won't eject, comes most of the way out of the chamber, but not enough to eject and load the next round.

Any suggestions, recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

Gear

Need to know more details about the problematic upper such as the gas system length and the gas port size.
Also need pictures of the fired cases.
Is there an O-ring on the extractor spring?
There are many different things it could be and adding more gas is more often NOT the right solution.

If an AR functions with Wolf or PMC bronze, then it's over-gassed with standard ammo for sure.

[MajorSideburns]

Did you save the brass from when it was having trouble cycling? Did it look normal? Did you send the upper back with the BCG that was in it when it was having problems or did the manufacturer test with their own BCG? I would do whatever Randall suggests, you can always send it to him to fix too.

[Gear]

More info.

I did send the BCG back with their upper as it was part of what I purchased from them and wanted it for consistency. But I did not send my lower with it.

I don't have pictures of the casings, but they appeared normal to me.
I will review the sites provided, thank you MajorSideburns.

Randall, I plan on taking it back to the range and will review sites provided by you as well.

more to come in this saga.

Thank you

[deckhandmike]

It should be fixable so don’t get bummed. Just isolate and adjust. I’m going through a similar issue with a 6.5 build and it’s even more annoying when every round cost a dollar to test.

[racinjason233]

I would look at the gas tube and gas block. I have seen them move due to recoil before. If the holes aren’t lined up perfectly then your cycling issues will get worse with every shot until eventually it won’t even move the bolt.

[gunsnrovers]

Need more info as Randall said above.

Your post said the base carbine had a "full a2 stock" and then you say you "replaced the buffer and spring with a standard A2 set". That makes zero sense.

[Gear]

Gunsnrovers
The stock was a standard A2 buttstock, like this

https://www.aeroprecisionusa.com/a2-fixed-buttstock-black

but the upper was a 16" carbine length.

I had assumed, and later confirmed that the buffer and spring inside the A2 stock was for a carbine length upper.

Hope that helps clarify