Off-center buffer retainer hole...

[Flintlock Tom]

Okay, I bought 2 Anderson Mfg. stripped lowers before Christmas last year and put them together this week. One I had a Cerakote finish applied, the other one we built for my son was cycling just fine when he took it home.
I was finishing up mine this afternoon and I couldn't get it to cycle. The bolt kept jamming up. The bolt was jammed about half-way back. I couldn't get it to move forward or backward. So, I took off the stock and found that the buffer retainer was hitting the bottom of the bolt carrier. On closer examination it appears that the hole for the retainer is drilled off-center.



Any suggestions for a fix?
I don't want to send it back to the manufacturer because of the Cerakote.

[valley82]

http://www.jprifles.com/1.4.7.2_os.php

With this you do not need the detent

[saki302]

Get the JP spring.

Only other way I could see fixing it is welding up and redrilling the hole, or drilling a big hole and shimming it back down- neither is going to be cheap or easy.

[kcstott]

you wouldn't have to weld it up but a threaded plug would need to be made thread the hole loketite in place then re dill in the correct location. for the cost of the captured spring I think I'd do that as I would charge you about $100 to fix it. as it's going to be a good two hours of work

[Oldmandan]

threaded plug would need to be made thread the hole loketite in place then re dill in the correct location

^^^ I would do this if you don't have access to a welder. Personally, I'd just mig it up. Any trailer repair place is gonna be able to mig weld that hole in 2 seconds. Just open it up with a drill bit prior, so they have fresh uncoated material to work with.

You can also use a HTS2000(brazing rod) rod to fill it and redrill.

Be careful not to get into the buffer tube threads too much, or you'll have to find someone with a tap.

[ar15barrels]

Any suggestions for a fix?
I don't want to send it back to the manufacturer because of the Cerakote.

Mill the slot wider in the bolt carrier to clear the offset detent.

[baih777]

^^^ I would do this if you don't have access to a welder. Personally, I'd just mig it up. Any trailer repair place is gonna be able to mig weld that hole in 2 seconds. Just open it up with a drill bit prior, so they have fresh uncoated material to work with.

You can also use a HTS2000(brazing rod) rod to fill it and redrill.

Be careful not to get into the buffer tube threads too much, or you'll have to find someone with a tap.

Its aluminum. You can't mig weld it. And the heat from welding aluminum with a tig welder will ruin the paint job.

[klewan]

Mill the slot wider in the bolt carrier to clear the offset detent.

That'll work, only issue is the bolt carrier is unique to that gun. I have the tooling to make a plug, glued it in, and redrill.

[kcstott]

Its aluminum. You can't mig weld it. And the heat from welding aluminum with a tig welder will ruin the paint job.

Well actually you can mig weld aluminum it's done all the time. but this is 7075 and welding on 7075 is a no go. You will weaken the material to the point of it cracking most likely right after it's welded. Not to mention the heat ruining the paint job

[baih777]

I know what a aluminum mig welder is. But the ones I have seen are usually for big jobs. Welding huge tanks and trailers. Never seen that could weld up a small hole .

[Flintlock Tom]

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys.
I also considered opening the hole up so it's too big in the right direction, filling it with JB Weld, then drill a new hole in the correct place.
However, Valley82 wins the prize. I looked at the captured buffer at the link he provided, but, I thought I could make something like that myself.

Here's what I did this afternoon:
Went to Lowes hardware, got some stuff. (less than $5 total)



Took the buffer apart.



Drilled through the buffer and slipped it onto some "all-thread", with two nuts and a washer at the end.



Added the spring and put a nut on the other end.



Slipped it into the buffer tube. (had to adjust the length to allow the receiver to close)



Fits just like a custom part. And it cycles just like it should.



I left the weights out of the buffer, so, if it kicks too hard, I'll try adding some lead shot to the buffer.

Okay, just in case that's not "awesome" enough, here's a picture of me wearing the family tartan on the way to shoot black powder near Barrett Junction.

[klewan]

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys.
I also considered opening the hole up so it's too big in the right direction, filling it with JB Weld, then drill a new hole in the correct place.
However, Valley82 wins the prize. I looked at the captured buffer at the link he provided, but, I thought I could make something like that myself.

Here's what I did this afternoon:
Went to Lowes hardware, got some stuff. (less than $5 total)



Took the buffer apart.



Drilled through the buffer and slipped it onto some "all-thread", with two nuts and a washer at the end.



Added the spring and put a nut on the other end.



Slipped it into the buffer tube. (had to adjust the length to allow the receiver to close)



Fits just like a custom part. And it cycles just like it should.



I left the weights out of the buffer, so, if it kicks too hard, I'll try adding some lead shot to the buffer.

Okay, just in case that's not "awesome" enough, here's a picture of me wearing the family tartan on the way to shoot black powder near Barrett Junction.

This is just not allowed; you HAVE to buy the $139.99 mall ninja approved part. Just what kind of cheap f@ck are you? The guy that owns JP is depending on you buying that $139.99 part so he can make his next boat payment. And then flaunting you're a Scotchman; I'm about to blow a gasket.

(This is sarcasm; not sure what emoticon depicts that)

[ar15barrels]

Drilled through the buffer and slipped it onto some "all-thread", with two nuts and a washer at the end.



I left the weights out of the buffer, so, if it kicks too hard, I'll try adding some lead shot to the buffer.

The fail boat has arrived.
Is there even enough carrier travel for the bolt to strip a new round after the buffer bottoms out on the rear nuts?

You need the weights and they have to slide around in there for proper chambering and lock-up.

Put your buffer back how it belongs.
Get rid of your buffer detent.
The buffer detent is not even needed.
All it does is retain the buffer while you split the upper and lower apart.
Once the upper is pinned to the lower, the detent is doing nothing.

[Flintlock Tom]

Randall,
I respect your opinion, however, in this case, I disagree with your assessment.
The "carrier travel" has not been reduce sufficiently to affect operation. The buffer never bottoms out on the end of the buffer tube. It only travels rearward until the spring is completely compressed.
Also, the weights are not needed for reliable operation of the firearm. There are discussions on this forum of people running just fine with an empty buffer.
If I determine that it would run better with the weights I will add lead shot to the buffer.

[ar15barrels]

Randall,
I respect your opinion, however, in this case, I disagree with your assessment.
The "carrier travel" has not been reduce sufficiently to affect operation. The buffer never bottoms out on the end of the buffer tube. It only travels rearward until the spring is completely compressed.
Also, the weights are not needed for reliable operation of the firearm. There are discussions on this forum of people running just fine with an empty buffer.
If I determine that it would run better with the weights I will add lead shot to the buffer.

If your spring is getting fully compressed, you have the WRONG spring installed.
In NORMAL AR operation, the plastic snubber on the tail of the carrier impacts the inside of the receiver extension.
That's the REASON there is a snubber there.

Check your carrier travel in your rifle with your contraption installed.
You need at least 13/16" to 1/4" more travel than it takes for the bolt stop to actuate in order for ammo to reliably feed from the magazine in semi-auto fashion.
Make sure the lead shot or the buffer parts don't bind on the all-thread as that will slow the carrier travel down.
It's also gonna make some really neat noise!

There is something else wrong with your implementation that I just spotted, but I will leave that until you test fire and report back the results.