RRA LAR8 FTE - Need Help
I am a newbie to this forum so bare with me. I recently purchased a new RRA LAR8. The first trip to the range resulted in a FTE/FTF about every 5 shots. The last round being stuck in the chamber with the brass sheared off where the extractor connects. I thoroughly cleaned and lubed the rifle before the trip. I was using some premium 308 ammo i had left over from hunting for this outing. I remove the spent cartridge from the rifle and decided it just needed to be broken in. So I purchased some German .308 FMJ NATO (7.62x51) 200rd Battle Pack ammo for about $100 with the intent of running every bit of it through it to break the rifle in. Went to the range and had the same problem. Numerous FTF, FTE with a final round having the brass sheared off again. I sent the rifle back to RRA and they indicated they polished the chamber and replaced the bolt carrier group. Went to the range today and ran 50 rounds of the German ammo through it flawlessly. Then every 10th shot resulted in the spent round stuck in the chamber with the extractor section of the brass sheared off. The rifle was right on target with my Eotech optic at 100 yards. I was impressed by the accuracy with no magnifier for the Eotech. Any advice? I am going to suck it up and buy some high grade 308 ammo before I send it back to RRA again. I do not think a $1200 rifle should be that picky about the ammo but maybe I am wroing.
Is that 10th round th e last round in the magazine, or anything else unusual about it that would differentiate it from the rounds that are feeding fine?
It isn't being picky about ammo if it's shooting the other nine rounds fine...but there's something peculiar happening that we need to isolate.
Thanks.
Steve/RRA
Thanks Steve,
I cannot be positive but in retrospect, it seemed to happen when the rifle got hot. Say after a rapid 10-12 round burst. It was never the first round in the magazine or the last. It is always somewhere in the middle. A few as 4 but sometimes nearer to 12 or 13. The round has zero extraction from the barrel and the next one fails to feed. I extract the round with a tap from the cleaning rod. The brass is completely sheared off by the extractor. I am going to try to go to the range with some different ammo including some wolf steel cased rounds to try to gather some more data. Any suggestions? Could the weapon be over gassed?
I doubt it's over-gassed, but based on the description so far, just about anything is still a possibility. Please continue to post wth your next round of firing...and I strongly recommend against the steel-cased Wolf ammo....but give a few rounds a try if you already have a box of it. It might help with the diagnosis.
Steve/RRA
Well another day at the range with mixed results but I think I am homing in on the problem. The good news is that I did not have to knock any spent cartridges out of the barrel with my cleaning rod. The bad news is that I had numerous FTFs. I went through about 60 rounds of the German NATO stuff with several FTFs until I found a magazine that worked. I had bought some cheap Korean FAL magazines from "Cheaper Than Dirt" that do not work in my rifle. When I insert these magazines, a round ends up popping out at a 45 degree angle that will not feed. I think I finally found the original magazine that came with the rifle and things improved drastically. I went through another 50 rounds of Federal 308 ammo with not FTFs or FTEs. I just order 2 of the polymer 308 magazines from RRA and plan on giving then a try. I guess I have 4 Korean metal magazines that I need to get rid of.
Thanks fo rth eupdate.
We had tried those mags as well (commentary on it is buried in an LAR-8 mag thread on here somewhere) and had similar results to what you are/were getting from them.
Steve/RRA
Mine arrived with what looks like a brand spanking new L1A1 magazine which the rifle loves. Some times I like to fight for technical excellence and sometimes, I'm content with accepting existing solutions. I would like to have one backup magazine that works as well as the one mine came with, but good luck finding new L1A1 magazines for less than a king's ransom, if at all. I've seen a few used ones, but buying used, you pays your money and you takes your chances. I could kick myself for not holding onto at least one of the half-dozen new L1A1 mags I had when I had my inch pattern FAL. I included them in the deal when I eventually sold it.
I'm hoping RRA comes out with a magazine that allows COLs longer than 2.80 as mentioned in another thread. Heaven knows, the mag well is not the limiting factor.
John "Hoot" Hill
