my new adams arms mid tact elite has not worked reliable since i got it. Im not new to ar platform (infantry vet) had alot of ftf.
I sold my ak for this gun,Hoping warranty can fix it only rifle i have

Vague post is Vague

What magazines? What ammo? Are you holding Magazine as a VF? Are you resting gun on mag on bench? Have you cleaned it? Have you changed parts?

FTF = Failure To Feed, not really Failure to Fire.

So is it not firing, not feeding, not extracting, not ejecting, double feeding, stove piping, etc etc

What is it doing or not going.

Bigdog...Adams has some of the finest customer service around.  Edit your post title to include their name and they will be all over it, they have several people watching the piston posts but only when you use their name will it catch their esy.  You can also post in their manufacturer's forum.  Anyway put their name in the title and I'd be surprised if you went 2 hours without a response from Cody or Aro or one of the other great guys over there.

From a personal experience though with my first build I had a bad bolt-bounce problem an H2 buffer fixed.  If this is an Adams piece though you definately want them involved as they will make it right.

Sorry failure to feed,resting on bench no vgrip. Yes i cleaned it many times.Over 400 rds of fed bass 55g ammo
new mags magpul ,gi ,cca& new bcm charging handle. i think it the piston or piston spring. Waiting for CODY to call me back from adams arms

I had the same FTF problems with my AA Mid Evo.

Full gas on.
One round > BANG > clean ejection. Pull the trigger, click! The BCG wouldn't strip the next round and send it to battery. Re-charge. One round, BANG > clean ejection > pull > click.
Occasionally I would be able to get a string of 3/4 off before Bang > Click.

Thought perhaps the gas was in the wrong setting. So I changed the gas knob to Suppressed.
One round > BANG > Failure to eject. The BCG would be 1/3rd back with empty brass sitting halfway out and cockeyed in the chamber - which is what it probably should do without a can on the muzzle.

Still ... <insert grumbles and cursing >

I brought it to the gunsmith two weeks ago. He left me a message Monday stating the symptom was a factor of the gas system being installed incorrectly and put in the wrong setting. He says he was able to run two mags through it now with no FTF/FTEs. I haven't been able to get back with him and find out exactly what he found in his diagnosis. It is a factory fresh upper and the only thing I had done before taking it to the range was run through how to remove and reinstall the op rod.

The system only installs one way. The gas block is pinned not screwed, and the gas settings only have 3 notches (on / suppressed / off) and a removal notch to drop the gas plug and op rod out the front.

So, my suggestion is to thoroughly inspect the gas block and gas system. Roll the op rod on a flat surface and ensure its true and not binding. And, of course, make sure the gas setting is in the right position.

Make sure the gas block didnt get loose, slide forward, and cover the gas port hole in the barrel.

Bolt spring tripped me up once.

Adams Arms will take care of this.........contact them. I would suggest NOT taking it to a local.

For awhile there many people were reporting similar issues with AA uppers and for many including me it seemed that there was a break in period before it finally starts cycling properly.  AA tried to fix mine a couple times but everytime I got it back it would do the same thing.  After fighting my way through about 200 rounds it hasn't had a problem since.  Mine still won't cycle the lighter powered  Russian steel ammo, but works good with everything else.

Wish I would have read this before today. Went back to the shop on Wednesday to pick it up. Took it on the range in the back of the shop - didn't even get three rounds out the front with full load XM193.

Charge.
Boom - CLICK. <disappointment face>
Recharge.
Boom - CLICK. <disgust face>

Dropped the mag and nothing was in the chamber. Put it back in the case, went back inside the shop and told them, "I don't know how the Smith got 2 boxes of ammo - which you charged me for -  with no faults, but I couldn't get two piddly rounds out of it without FTF's on both ... and showed them the video I had my buddy stand behind me and film with his phone to prove it.

Smith wasn't in, only the Armorer, but they genuinely apologized and took it back in.  If it doesn't come back this time with flawless function, I'll send it off to AA.
I understand every firearm needs a bit of break-in time, but FTF's on over 90% of the shots on a 4.5oz buffer is a bit more than anyone should tolerate.

My brother's Ruger SR shot 118 rounds out the box running only its factory lube before it had a hiccup.
Cousin's PWS upper on a no-name lower, and Colt LE haven't fouled up since inception.
I'm the only clown on the line doing chamber checks & tap-rack-bang drills.

Shit happens sometimes.  My dad picked up a brand new PWS 7.62x39 upper recently and after one trip out shooting it the extractor broke and wedged in the receiver to where we couldn't get the bolt back.  Off for repair it went.

just go through the AA customer service route . there top notch . they fix my dust cover issue in a few days , they paid shipping both ways . they have your back sir .

         


   dagg . . . .

why are you still messing around with a local smith when AA will take care of you ?

Only time i had issues with my AA carbine system is using wolf. It's the only time i ever had issues with wolf. Stopped loading mags for the AA with wolf, issue resolved.

My AA Mid Evo Blemish runs like a charm.  About 200 rounds of XM193 and 855 2 weeks ago and no problems what so ever.  Couldn't even find a blemish mark on it at all.

I am having the same problem with my AA 14.5" MID TACTICAL EVO UPPER.
Charge, pull, bang, pull, click. Will NOT load the next round.
The only thing I have seen with the complete upper that I bought, is the Drive Rod/Piston looks to be bent.
Not bad, just slightly, if I roll it in a V block with a dial indicator, its about .015" to .020" out of round.
But it just looks bent to me, I cant find any other problems.
I've tried different mags, ammo and lowers.
I'm in the process of ordering a new Drive Rod/Piston from Cody at AA.
I'm hoping when I get my new DR/Piston in, this takes care of the problem.
I had high hopes for this AA 14.5" MID TACTICAL EVO UPPER.
BUT so far.......I'm not impressed.  

I had the same problem on the piston carbine I bought from buds. They took it and sent it off to Adams Arms, had the gun back within 2 weeks and it works great now.

Here is the latest update:

So the last gunsmith that touched it, wasn't "THE" smith I wanted for the task. This was someone new'ish. This time I got who I wanted and he's well regarded in this region when it comes to AR's having worked with PWS years ago when they turned to him to assist in re-design and testing of the gas block for their MK series, which was failing test.
In the past he also consulted with <cough> a  persona nan grata individual <cough> with the initials PLW  <cough>.
His shop also does a fairly healthy volume in gas piston sales, as such he's one of the most versed gunsmiths  in this region as it related to GP ARs.

This is one of the reasons why I put it in his hands before sending it off to Adams. Assurance and just a little bit insurance. As the maxim goes, trust but verify.

We started the re-evaluation. I let him know that Adams' contacted me and said they designed their upper to run on a 3.0oz buffer. I was currently running a 4.5oz. Gunsmith tried the lightest buffer he had in the shop - basically an empty tube - and it still hiccuped and FTF'd. No bueno.

It was time to do a complete tear down. He removed the barrel, unstaked the gas block, and performed a thorough examination of everything to ensure nothing was binding, out of spec, blocked up, or broken.
Sidenote: This is one of those moments you're thankful that your gas block can slip over the muzzle device even though it is pinned and welded to the barrel!
After measurements were taken, he found nothing tolerance wise or mechanically that would immediately point to why it wouldn't cycle properly. He dialed up Adams for further consultation.

To Adams' credit, as always, they were immediately responsive and put him on the phone with one of their armorers to diagnosis and troubleshoot. Regrettably, no solution was found. Adams' offered to take receipt of  the upper for further evaluation, but my Gunsmith held over on the offer based on a few comments that came up during the conversation.

Disclaimer: The following is arguably hearsay. I was not on the call and cannot verify these anecdotes. What I write next is in no way designed to take a jab at, impugn or disparage Adams. Their customer service has thus far been exemplary. I'm only writing in the interest of full disclosure.

During the back and forth, it was articulated that Adams Q/C's its guns with handloads/reloads. The individual also mentioned (or was of the belief) that gas-pistons are not meant to shoot light load ammunition, that's for DI guns. A comment was also made that Adams' uppers may not always be cooperative with certain lowers (I'm using a Spikes ST btw).

These are the anecdotes my gunsmith had umbrage with. He's of the fundamental belief that any upper that uses "mil spec" in its marketing copy should be able to fire and cycle any commonly available generally accepted OEM ammunition in its respective caliber,  irrespective of operation type. The lower ought not play a role so long as it  is within design spec and not a proprietary design.


SOLUTION:
As I mentioned earlier, he measured all components and found the barrel port registered as .073" on the gauge. That's a little on the large side for a carbine length barrel, but this is a midgas system. Still within tolerance if you're benchmarking  the Colt M4. (.063-.079").
He opened the port up to .079". FTF'd.

Disassembled and stepped up to a .084". Still sporadic FTF's(!).

The final solution was to open the port up to .090" which would be about the size on a 20" barrel rifle. The first 6-8 shots had a few FTF hiccups, but after that EUREKA! it ran as intended. No more single shot madness. Now it cycles everything from  full charged military loads to the lightest, steel cased Russian ammo even on the 4.5oz buffer.

So, for those of you have already been through the 200 round break-in period before reaching smooth, flawless function - which seems to be the prevailing feedback from Adams owners who have had function issues with new guns - I would look into first dropping down to a lower weight buffer, and then provided EVERYTHING else checks out send it down to Adams or punch open the gas port.

WARNING: I bear no responsibility for your rifle. This is for your guidance only. It is incumbent you understand the inherent risks of opening the port too far and possibly over-gassing your gun. There also is the distinct likelihood this will void any expressed or implicit warranty with Adams and they may elect to no longer provide service. Proceed with discretion and at your own risk.  


Happy Holidays!

Not surprised , AA products are 50/50 hit and miss. .

No, I concur. Tolerance stacking is a long known engineering plague. A tenth high on this. A millimeter low on that. Before long the entire system is out of tune.
And yes, "Mil-Spec" is about as thread bare as the word "Tactical" is at this point.

To reiteriate, I absolutely commend your organization on their Customer Service, responsiveness, and willingness to make things right when given the opportunity. I've had to deal with H&K in the past, and while they snap-to for the LEO / Mil / & Professional contract clients, their support and follow-up on the consumer side leaves MUCH to be desired.

I'm still of the belief that Adams makes a value product offered at a fair price point. I could have easily spent 2/3x as much on a competitors product and ran into the same problems.
The halo brands are also not without their occasional faults.

Nonetheless, my contributions to this thread weren't designed to beat up on Adams but rather to document what took place, what procedural steps I took, and what options are available to others who may run across similar troubles.

I had a cycling problem with an AA conversion kit sold with 16" voodoo mid length barrel and determined that the non railed gas block (with set screws underneath going into the bottom of the barrel) was leaking around the barrel and I didnt see how that was going to stop. I suppose with carbon build up over time it eventually would stop. (can you say break in period?) However I purchased the AA railed gas block as I felt the side to side screws underneath would help it draw tighter around the barrel for 360 degrees and that did solve the problem. The gun now cycles fine on full setting but no cycling at the intermediate setting.

Gas blocks should be staked. Screws simply aren't a reliable fastener in that environment, until Loctite is applied and even them Im still of the philosophy that they should be staked.

This might have been said already... Honestly didn't feel like reading every post in this thread...

I have an Adams Arms AR15. I have only ever had failure to feed/cycle issues with .223 ammo. When I use 5.56 ammo never any issues. I have not tried to shoot .223 since the first box I had that gave me issue. I just stick with surplus 5.56.

Rocksett will handle higher temperatures than steel, and can lock the screws tightly enough that loosening them without stripping the heads can be tricky. Technology has advanced quite a bit since the 1950s.

she gtg  now 400rd no problem .piston rod will'not sring out when trying clean it. ohter then that i love this thing
alg trigger +aimpoint pro = very accurate

Can you translate that into English?

Piston rod will not spring out when trying to clean it


  it was missing 1 letter - hardly another language

With the bolt carrier back/removed, use the back end of a shell casing or other tool to push the tip of the op rod forward from inside the upper. It protrudes into the charging handle slot about an inch.

"UPDATE"
New DR/Piston did not correct the problem. emailed Cody at AA and he payed to have AR shipped back to them, they made some adjustments and shipped her back.
Now she runs flawless! Eats up all different types of ammo w/out any hick-ups!
AA has raised the bar in customer service, maybe the company should change their name to A+A1Arms!
My Faith in AA has been restored, and I'm very impressed!
Thanks AA!!!

They tell you what needed to be done to correct the problem ?

Yeah, they...
"Opened the gas port in the barrel slightly, to allow more gas flow to the system and polished the chamber."

That's what I figured would solve it. I had to open my port up to .101 but it runs fine now.

So it looks like general consensus is, in order to make these guns go cycle reliably the gas port needs to be opened up over standard spec.
As I wrote earlier, mine had to opened to .090" before it cycled all loads reliably.
Interesting. I wonder why that is.

Hmm, well that shouldn't necessarily happen either. The rod should drop cleanly out the front when the gas plug is removed.
I'd check to make sure no crude has built up in the gas block and check the rod itself for true. Roll it out on a flat surface.

Just chiming in as I have had similar problems.  Since I purchased my mid tactical upper I have not been able to run a full mag through it.  Failure to feed and failure to eject spent casing.  Have used two different mil-spec lowers with carbine standard weight buffers/springs, two different kinds of mags, full and partial full mags, two different types of ammo.  Cannot get a response from Adams.

Email / PM Cody on here. Go to the Industry sub-forum and you'll find his avatar/screename.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/f_2/293_Adams_Arms.html

I use Rocksett