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Page AR-15 » Troubleshooting
AR Sponsor: bravocompany
Posted: 8/27/2016 1:54:17 PM EDT
heres my dilemma , I have a windham weaponry AR , it had a commercial buffer tube on it originally, it worked perfect, I wanted to change the but stock and it required a mil spec buffer tube, after swapping the tube with a mil spec tube i got inexpensive from amazon, the rifle cycles great and shoots great but the bolt will not lock open on the last round. I have read every post i could find on similar topics but heres where im getting lost.. the folks at windham weaponry had suggested that the buffer tube may not be long enough, going as far as saying that in the past they have found similar issues and the problem was the aftermarket tube was .25 inches too short. I measured both tubes from the inside of the tube to the opening and it was exactly as they indicated. I have no reason to doubt this advice and I have not tried to replace the tube with a different mil spec tube. the problem i have is that no one else seems to have heard about this issue. so id like more feedback.
oh, also, the bolt locks open with an empty magazine with no difficulty when i pull the charging handle back, and it may be my imagination but the buffer spring seems alot noisier than before, could i possibly cure this issue with cutting the spring down a coil? Im not really trying to be cheap on this but I do have a budget to maintain
thanks for any feed back
Link Posted: 8/27/2016 3:19:28 PM EDT
[#1]
Quoted:
heres my dilemma , I have a windham weaponry AR , it had a commercial buffer tube on it originally, it worked perfect, I wanted to change the but stock and it required a mil spec buffer tube, after swapping the tube with a mil spec tube i got inexpensive from amazon, the rifle cycles great and shoots great but the bolt will not lock open on the last round. I have read every post i could find on similar topics but heres where im getting lost.. the folks at windham weaponry had suggested that the buffer tube may not be long enough, going as far as saying that in the past they have found similar issues and the problem was the aftermarket tube was .25 inches too short. I measured both tubes from the inside of the tube to the opening and it was exactly as they indicated. I have no reason to doubt this advice and I have not tried to replace the tube with a different mil spec tube. the problem i have is that no one else seems to have heard about this issue. so id like more feedback.
View Quote


It's not super-common, but it's also not unheard of on no-name parts.

oh, also, the bolt locks open with an empty magazine with no difficulty when i pull the charging handle back, and it may be my imagination but the buffer spring seems alot noisier than before, could i possibly cure this issue with cutting the spring down a coil? Im not really trying to be cheap on this but I do have a budget to maintain
thanks for any feed back
View Quote


Compare the finish inside the receiver extension on your old one and the new one; the extra noise is probably due to a rougher finish on the new one. Try spraying the spring with CLP and reinstall, but don't cut any coils, as that changes spring force and preload, and can effect cycling.
Link Posted: 8/27/2016 6:49:44 PM EDT
[#2]
Link Posted: 8/27/2016 7:45:12 PM EDT
[#3]
thanks to both of you so far, that was exactly the info I was missing,
heres what ive found, the measurement of both springs were different, the spring I had in was just over 11" and the other spring i had was 10.5" , I cleaned the inside of the tube and lightly sprayed some clp and installed the shorter spring, ill do a test fire tomorrow and see what happens,
the question i have left is regarding the buffers, which is which , they are both the same length, one has a slightly larger face, im assuming the larger face will go with the mil spec tube and the shorter spring,
am i missing anything else?
and again thank you for the info
Link Posted: 8/27/2016 7:51:21 PM EDT
[#4]
Link Posted: 8/28/2016 7:59:34 PM EDT
[#5]
hotos/Shared/Aztec/01e67600cfc9346381c7b8c927998b71b71c172892.jpgfile:///C:/Users/User/Pictures/iCloud%20Photos/Shared/Aztec/0185aa46c8fc37b06d4f608d345f6b546b9621a38f.jpg

after test fire, with the shorter spring installed the rifle does cycle smoother and is much quieter, but still will not lock open by itself after last round fired, and again it Will lock open with an empty mag by pulling the charging handle, something else I noticed and i hope may be helpful is that with the bolt locked open i can still pull back slightly with the charging handle and get the bolt to go further back, the two pics are the bolt locked and resting, the second one is charging handle pulled back as far as it will go,
Link Posted: 8/28/2016 8:15:52 PM EDT
[#6]
Link Posted: 8/28/2016 8:20:17 PM EDT
[#7]

sorry, the wife just helped me figure it out,
Link Posted: 8/28/2016 8:37:39 PM EDT
[#8]
http://s61.photobucket.com/user/Dan_Bogonis/slideshow/
Link Posted: 8/28/2016 8:45:48 PM EDT
[#9]
ammo is winchester fmj 55 grain, the weight of the buffer i dont know, the mods made were hand guard, mil spec extention to accept a mil spec but stock, the blue plastic thing was 3D printed to snug up the fit of the recievers, i forget the name at the moment, its been easy bolt on stuff except for the tube, and i think i added a target pic in there also, the center grouping was 60 rounds, (the others were a mini14 im learning about as well)
Link Posted: 8/28/2016 10:09:21 PM EDT
[#10]
Link Posted: 8/28/2016 10:35:33 PM EDT
[#11]
Link Posted: 8/29/2016 9:05:23 PM EDT
[#12]
http://s61.photobucket.com/user/Dan_Bogonis/slideshow/second%20set

alright, I understand most of what your saying, here are pics of the hand guard, i never removed loosened the barrel barrel nut gas block, I used a delta ring tool to back the ring and slipped out the guard in two ieces and reinstalled the new one the same way, now, the tube being too far in, i see that now however when i had the tube out further i experienced a failure where the buffer retaining pin and spring came loose and was jammed up in the receiver, , I got a new pin and spring and that was when i thought the tube needed to be turned in a revolution, my fear is that happening again, the bolt removed from the carrier and the carrier slid into pace, it moves freely mating the key and the gas tube, now, how can i gauge (mind you by feel as i have no proper measuring tools to speak of) how much to shave off the bumper and if i do too much will i risk the chance of it bottoming out whether by the rear of the tube or the key going too far to the rear of the lower receiver? and lastly, i was apprehensive to use the brush you recommended for cleaning because i was afraid to score scratch the inside of the barrel, ive been using a bore snake and a large amount of qtips and clp to clean with,
i guess you can tell im new to this and this rifle is very special to me,
thanks for the patients and advice
Link Posted: 8/30/2016 2:42:44 PM EDT
[#13]
Link Posted: 8/30/2016 7:36:30 PM EDT
[#14]
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h54/Dan_Bogonis/image1_zpsedmxeond.jpeg
so the clearance i want between the two white lines is 1/4 to 1/8
the lower lip of the extension tube needs to just kiss the retainer pin post
now with a fully pulled back charging handle, measure the distance from the ejection port to the face of the bolt
shave off the difference from the plastic bumper
,,,
so the spring fully compressed is actually shorter than the buffer itself?  i guess i always thought of the compressed spring being longer and that is what dictated the total compressed length,
so in theory, my bolt sticks out +- 1/8 inch too far and to remedy that ill shave off +-1/8 inch from the bumper and that will allow the buffer to dwell behind the bolt catch far and long enough for the catch to engage
if my understanding is correct, then tomorrow at work (im a wholesale manager of an auto-part store) ill get a caliper take some measurements and perform a buffer bumper circumcision  
may god have mercy on my soul
Link Posted: 8/30/2016 11:18:28 PM EDT
[#15]
Link Posted: 9/3/2016 8:48:46 PM EDT
[#16]
after doing the measuring as instructed working the extension in further and shaving down the buffer stop i think im in good shape, test fire tomorrow and see what happens
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h54/Dan_Bogonis/01354de5fa0a55132d00cc6c0d8d62fdc95090fce9_zpsr0b6hvcj.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h54/Dan_Bogonis/0186741b6fb789deb672f4b7a0f5d077aaadb2a73e_zpsrkp8hirh.jpg
Link Posted: 9/4/2016 1:34:43 AM EDT
[#17]
Link Posted: 9/4/2016 12:14:22 PM EDT
[#18]
success , Fired 3 sets of 5 shots each, and with each round the rifle cycled perfectly, and on each set after the last round fired the bolt locked open on with the empty magazine.
Link Posted: 9/5/2016 9:14:04 PM EDT
[#19]
Yay!
Page AR-15 » Troubleshooting
AR Sponsor: bravocompany
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