I recently put together a PSA 10.5" upper and standard PSA pistol lower. Added a KAK brace and Magpul MBUS and it's a one deal. I love the fit, feel, look, and accuracy of the build. However, I have never experienced so many malfunctions with a firearm. In some cases I'm having 50% stoppages. Generally the empty is not fully ejected and a new round is being stripped, ending with both smashed together in the action. I have only had it out one time, but so far it seems to only like full house loads. Low to medium loads with W748 and H335 are pretty bad. Max loads in W748 seem to run well. PMC X-TAC 5.56 runs well, and Tula .223 is jam city. Is this typical? I can obviously overcome this, but as a plinker I was hoping to run light loads to save on powder, and attempt to eat away at the mass of Tula .223 that I picked up before the panic. I am no AR armorer, and fooling with the gas port is a last resort.

I should also add I am currently running a basic PSA carpenter bolt cannibalized from another build. Seems Optic Planet thinks a 4-6 week shipping time is normal on a Faxon BCG. Live and learn.

Any tips appreciated.

mine eats anything.  what kind of gas block?  pics?

And what weight buffer?

It is a standard carbine buffer. Is there a way to identify the weight? As it can on a assembled lower and not purchased separately, I have no way to know. The gas block is simply listed as "carbine gas system". The CHF version from PSA is listed as a .70

Is it just a gas block or a standard front sight base.  Also,  how old was the bolt that you robbed from the other rifle?

A standard carbine buffer is 3 oz. but you can take it out and put it on a digital scale to be sure.

You should go down the page to the Troubleshooting Forum, lots of knowledgeable help there.

Is the spent case sticking to the bolt and then trying to pick up the new round?  



My 10.5 was doing that so I took apart the bolt and found that the ejector pin had snapped in two. I replaced it with a spare that I had and replaced the extractor spring with a BCM spring with o-ring.  Since then all rounds have ejected positively.  

I have a PSA 8.5 I bought for like $225 and it's had zero malfunctions.
Brown Bear,Wolf, Winchester white,PMC green tip and some Federal Brown 193.
I really didn't expect much but it's been reliable and acurate with or without a Can on it

I had the same issues with the same stuff.

Replace your ejector and get one of the o-ring kits for your extractor.

Small gas bleed hole.
10.5" Early Rainier Arms SS
It came .064 and immediately had cycling issues. Cases not ejecting and buffer just sounded "soft".
Re drilled to .093 with #42 drill bit. I used .093 for two reasons.
1. My other barrels are sized this at gas bleed
2. I'd rather have over gassing and be adjusting down for suppressor use and hotter loads
Added adjustable gas block after resizing. Never had another issue after proper adjustment.
Tip: start with the valve closed. use a 223 load and adjust the gas pressure UP for proper cycling, then try a 556 load and make sure it's not over
gassing. I've used adjustables from a few different manufacturers and there's usually 2-3 clicks that cycle reliablly for both loads.

PROBLEM SOLVED! The Faxon BCG finally showed up. I dropped it in the upper, and hit the range. I ran 3 different reloads through it, some PMC X-TAC 5.56, and some crap Tula .223. It ate everything! Not a single malfunction. I then also put the problem PSA BCG back in the original 16" PSA Freedom upper, and it too ran perfectly. I guess that BCG and pistol upper just were not compatible. Glad I don't have to fool with the gas block. I never noticed before, but that Tula .223 throws a massive fireball!

First part of AR pistol reliability is honestly not to use PSA parts.

This is why so many people with PSA pistols, and others, are so often installing BCM ejection and extraction kits. I don't know if PSA is just using too weak of springs or what.

Glad you got it running. Too bad you built it yourself, or you could make PSA make it right on their dime.

This could be true, but honestly I couldn't be happier with Palmetto State Armory. Where else can you build quality AR's for $450? This was the first mechanical hiccup I've had with anything they make. I didn't lose anything out of the deal either, as the "problem" BCG came from another PSA build that works just fine in the rifle it came for. I've had 2 problems with orders in the past, missing, damaged items. Both times PSA jumped right on it and made it right. Second time they even sent me a bunch of extra spare parts for free. More than I can say about a lot of other retailers. SG, CTD, even Midway.

I have a 7.5" RF upper that has been 100% relable using 2 different PSA BCG's, reloaded and new .223 and 5.56, and new 5.56 62g ammo.

It's current BCG only has 2 gas rings in it too, haha.
I blew 1/2 of it out on a misfire/short stroke one day in my PSA carbine (didn't know at the time) and that ran great for the other 100+ rounds I shot that day.