Ar 15 bolt question

[battleship]

Just got a new bolt for my AR 15, and was curious as to how the extraction of a spent casing occurs, reason being i loaded the rifle to purposefully see if it would extract the brass cased bullet without a problem.

Note this is a manuel extraction, and not by fireing the weapon.

Well the extraction did not always occur which left me running a rod down the barrel to release it.

For some un-kown reason the bolt would not take hold of the casing, and i didn't want to slam the bolt carrier back into it, to many times to attempt an extraction, i tried that a few times and it did not work.

So im thinking that the extraction process on an AR occurs with the ignition of the primer, resulting in the gas pushing the spent casing and bolt carrier group back against the spring, is this true. If this is the case then what real purpose does the extractor on the end of the bolt perform.

And if not, do i have a problem, note the rifle has not been fired yet with this new bolt to see if a problem will occur, that will happen probably tomorrow.

But for now im concerned so please help.

[Mute]

Make sure extractor is clean. Crud could prevent it from properly grabbing onto the brass. If it's clean, pull the extractor and push on the spring to check the tension. It should be stiff and not real easy to push in by hand. If it pushes in easily, you should check the extractor spring. It may need to be replaced. The bolt should not need pressure from the fired round to properly extract a case.

[Army]

Slam it. It needs force to pop over the rim and catch.

[Vinz]

I assume it is a new bolt from your post.

Lube it up and go to the range and fire it. No gasses involved, just a spring pressured mechanical operation.



PLEASE be carefull cold cycling ammo in your weapon when not at the range. There are plenty of horror stories of ND at home.

vinz

[battleship]

Thanks for your comments, yes its a new bolt, and lubricated the extractor is extremely stiff, cannot push down on it. Very stupidly this exercise was performed at home, i was checking 2 different brands of ammo with it the first ammo cycled back out but i was slamming the the carrier group hard.

What i found when examining the casings after was a pin size indentation in the center of each primer which has to be from the firing pin being jarred out a fraction of its real travel. This curbed me somewhat from performing the test with the other brand of ammo with the same amount of force when slamming the bolt carrier group forward.

which is when the problem occurred.

In the back of my mind i was thinking about ND occurring, it only takes one time so i gave up on the test.

Even with the safety on , looking back this was a dumb thing to do so i understand your concern.

Fingers crossed she performs tomorrow.

Ill be sure to wear my idiot cap.

[Army]

Itty bitty primer dent is normal, and ammo will get one during regular operation. As you surmised, it is the firing pin going forwrd under inertia. However, there is not enough force generated to fully crush the primer as required to ignite.

[Josh3239]

Just take out the firing pin

[gewgaw]

Um, ever heard of dummy rounds, buddy?

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=476690

I just hate to think people are doing this kind of stuff at home, without regard to safety. Just spend a little money and do it with inert rounds.