Quoted:
Will the bolt lock back on the mag catch (catch in front of the bolt holding it back), when a single round is loaded and fired through rifle with the mag still in the well?
Yes, it locks back on an empty mag as designed (with the varmageddon ammo, magazine, etc. that i hunt with)
In the photo's, it has the bolt face behind the rim, so bolt is at least making it that far back, but may not be enough to get a clean run at the case on the strip out of the mag/
Mags, when was the last time they where pulled apart and cleaned.
Never, can't say i've cleaned a mag in my life so it didn't cross my mind on a mag with 200 rounds or less through it.
Mag catch button, is the threaded part of the catch end flush with the face of the button?
yes, no issues with the mag catch problem
Hence all to check if the problem is on a live feed.
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As for problem with the rifle stove piping on ejection the spent case, start with just pulling the charging handle all the way back, and make sure that the face of the bolt stops 1/8" to 1/4" in front of the back edge of the ejection port window. If bolt is stopping too far back, the pull buffer and recoil spring, and use quarters for end of tube spacer to get the bolt to stop in the correct postion in front of the ejection port back window edge.
Next hook a spent case on the ejectors, and cam the ejector into the bolt face a few times to make sure that the ejector is not binding in the bolt channel for it.
From here, pull the extractor to make sure that the ends of grabbing claw do not have burs, preventing the grabbing claw from getting a good bit on the rim (so is not dropping the spent case of the pull), and if you don't know what extractor spring is in the extractor, replace with a Colt M4 extra tension extractor spring.
Note, until the new extractor spring arrives, just use a #60 O ring around the standard tension spring to add tension to it.
Last one, double check your loads to make sure they are not going over pressure, unlocking the bolt too soon, and make sure to chamber brush clean the chamber with CLP by hand each cleaning. Hence dirty chamber, load too hot, or bolt just unlocking too fast, will cause the spent case to be pressure welded/retained to the chamber walls too much on the pull, ending up with the spent case still not in tow on the bolt face at back of stroke.
got it. The current bcg uses an 0-ring on the extractor.
Spent casings appear normal