When I built my rifle, I had a 14.5 Model 1 chrome molly barrel on it .  

Specs: M4gery
          14.5 Model 1 chrome molly barrel
          ammo used:  ArmsCorporation (of the Phil. / NOT  A.R.M.S.) 5.56 ball ammo

          [Gun was "brand new" (newly assembled, so no grime or dirt yet).  never been fired. bolt just lightly oiled (then wiped down) to avoid too much friction on new upper.]

When a friend and I took it to the range to fire, the rifle jammed almost immediately. We were barely shooting 20 rounds out of it (not rapid fire, not FA) when a bullet got stuck in the barrel.

I knew there was something wrong when I felt / heard (hope that makes sense) the rifle not feed properly. Upon visual check, we saw that the bolt did not seat properly or was not all the way in.
So no problem I thought to myself..... Maybe a weak buffer spring .... tap the forward assist...and I will be good to go. NOPE! It was too darn tight! It would not budge! Pull the charging handle and still it would not budge! It was really stuck!

We had to remove the upper from the lower, to be extra safe, rest and press on  the upper on a tire, point it downrange, and started puling the charging handle with all the strenth i could! You could imagine how sore my fingers got.

When the bullet finally popped out, we could not see any apparent deformities on the bullet. WT??? We checked the bolt, the upper and the barrel and they were free of any dirt or grime! Just to test our theory of "bad ammo" we loaded it with WCC 5.56 military ammo and tried it out. After 5 to 10 rounds. Same problem.

When I narrated this problem to another friend, he said he too experienced the same problems with his 14.5 Model 1 barrel. He returned his to his dealer.

Any ideas??? Is this a common problem for Model 1 barrels?

Just for my education. I have since given up my Model 1 barrel for DPMS. No problems anymore with whatever ammo i feed it.

I have put many rounds down range through a 16 inch Model 1 bbl and never have I had a problem. This sounds like an ammo problem, squibs, I fail to see how that would be a bbl issue but thats just me. Hope it turns out well for you.

Steve

did you clean out the bore and chamber?



did by any chance you got a .223 chamberred bbl. instead of a 5.56?




try differnt ammo and see if it continues, especially some .223

It could be alot of things, but first of all make sure the chamber is clean.  If it is clean, the chamber could be tight, especially considering that you could not chamber a round and there was no apparent damage to the bullet.

Steve,

Tthanks for sharing your experience. I just traded my M1 soon thereafter. That was the "simplest" solution I could find.

Quoted: did you clean out the bore and chamber?

Yes I did.

did by any chance you got a .223 chamberred bbl. instead of a 5.56?

That DID cross my mind! Excuse my ignorance but, is there a way of telling that a barrel is for a .223? Are there markings on the barrel I should look for? I can't really trust some of the vendors here. Some will  tell you anything just to be able to make a sale.

Thanks.

Quoted: It could be alot of things, but first of all make sure the chamber is clean.  If it is clean, the chamber could be tight, especially considering that you could not chamber a round and there was no apparent damage to the bullet.

Thanks Mongo001. If it were indeed a tight chamber that was causing the problem, what would be the remedy for this? Do those things happen (barrel chambers being initially tight)? Do barrels need to be "broken-in"?

Thank's guys for your insights and comments.

Quoted: Steve, Tthanks for sharing your experience. I just traded my M1 soon thereafter. That was the "simplest" solution I could find. Quoted: did you clean out the bore and chamber? Yes I did. did by any chance you got a .223 chamberred bbl. instead of a 5.56? That DID cross my mind! Excuse my ignorance but, is there a way of telling that a barrel is for a .223? Are there markings on the barrel I should look for? I can't really trust some of the vendors here. Some will  tell you anything just to be able to make a sale. Thanks. Quoted: It could be alot of things, but first of all make sure the chamber is clean.  If it is clean, the chamber could be tight, especially considering that you could not chamber a round and there was no apparent damage to the bullet. Thanks Mongo001. If it were indeed a tight chamber that was causing the problem, what would be the remedy for this? Do those things happen (barrel chambers being initially tight)? Do barrels need to be "broken-in"? Thank's guys for your insights and comments.

Personally, I'd NEVER put a Model 1 Sales barrel on anything I build.  They are far too hit and miss on their barrel quality.  Recently a barrel was shipped without a gas port.  That is simply unacceptable.  It could very well be a number of things, but a tight chamber could cause what you are seeing.  I can't say for sure without putting my hands on it and running it through its paces.

Soon to follow will be a flood of Model 1 Sales owners who have absolutely no problems with theirs.  Good for you and I am honestly happy for you, but that doesn't change the hit and miss quality coming out of that organization.

tagged to hear your upcoming customer-service nightmare story if you send it back to 'em.......

Quoted: Personally, I'd NEVER put a Model 1 Sales barrel on anything I build.  They are far too hit and miss on their barrel quality.

Thanks again Mongo001. I guess that's the long and short of it about Model 1. As they say, you get what you pay for. No disrespect meant for those who use them and are without issue. I'm just saying that maybe the quality of their products sometimes suffer because of their low price. That may be the trade-off.

Quoted: tagged to hear your upcoming customer-service nightmare story if you send it back to 'em.......

Fortunately I will be spared that nightmare. I just returned and traded my M1 barrel to the person I got it from.

Quoted: Did you check your gas tube/key alignment interface?  This can cause failures to go into battery.

Thank's HeavyMetal. Will keep that in mind and check that out the next time i come across  a situation like that. But I really doubt that that's the case here. The failure to go to battery was because the bullet got really stuck! It was as if the chamber was too small for the 5.56 cartridge. I had to give the charging handle a good hard tug before the cartridge disengaged.

Not sure what caused your particular problem but when I've run across these being brought into my shop they were all ammo related. Not that it couldn't be the barrel, but if the chamber were a little tight off of spec it would still take a slightly off case in the bunch if you were able to get a few rounds through without difficulty before the jam. Since you traded out the barrel then no more problem but, check the rest of your ammo.

Suggestions:

Always visually inspect your ammo while you are loading it in the mags. That's why I load mine one at a time, time consuming but I've avoided a lot of potential problems this way.

Two, keep your frickin' hands off the forward assist. It serves no purpose during range time but to make a problem worse.

While I like my Model 1 bbl on my carbine, I have to agree with Mongo that I will never use any Model 1 stuff in the future, it's really just too hit or miss. I got lucky in that all my parts were great, the upper was of the highest quality and my bbl shoots great, but in the future I will go with higher quality parts. their lower parts are not that great, never liked the stock trigger from my Model 1 parts, I got a factory Stag lower and it came with a polished hammer and sear surfaces, from the factory! the trigger is great on that one. I have a DPMS bbl that shoots great and the finish is smoother than the rough Model 1 bbl finish. Besides, you can get better deals for bbl's on the EE than through Model 1.

Steve