I just recently took my kalifornia legal AR-15 to the range and had ammo cycling problems. I purchased 1000 rounds of 5.56mm Winchester Q3131 and had to constantly clear the chamber and pull the charging handle between each shot. Has anyone else encountered this problem or might have
suggestions on which ammo is the best for a FAB10 receiver?

It may just be a problem with your upper. about the only problem with the fab that I've encountered is with the mag it'self because of the chopped follower causing the rounds to tilt&jam.

My ammo is actually tilted after the first round is fired causing it to jam. Is there anyway to fix or modify the chopped follower so that the rounds cycle properly? Or will I have to send my lower to the manufacturer for modifications?

welcome to the wonderful world of AR's

yeah heres how. drill out the rivet holding the mag in. pull out the mag and put in a pad made of anything form cardboard to metal, whatever works. this "pad" should basically look like the floorplate but just the border of the floorplate. this raises up how high the mag sits in ur fab10. raise it like 1/16 or 1/8th of an ince. replace mag and its internals and everything should feed better. OR you can just buy a regular non-cut green follower. ur rd. capacity goes down to something like 8 but hey at least it wont jam.

Originally Posted By Mak762: welcome to the wonderful world of AR's

The FAB-10 is NOT indicative of AR performance. Do NOT equate the two.

I've never tried the raising the mag method, but I don't think that's a good idea. The magazine is set to the proper height, go too high and your bolt/bolt carrier will slam into the back of the magazine. Even if it doesn't do that, it'll be making a lot more contact with the magazine than it should during cycling.

If you just want the rifle to work for the range, some have suggested cycling the magazine a bunch of times will loosen it up and "fix" it. If you want complete reliability, I'd recommend one of the two:

1. Replace the cut down green follower (has the anti-tilt legs cut off) with a full size green follower. You should be able to fit 7 rounds, but they will be too tight for the bolt carrier to move rearward and push the rounds down a little. So in reality it's a magazine capacity of 6.

2. Replace the cut down green follower with a modified Magpul follower. Slowly cut down the anti-tilt legs of the follower until you can fit 9 rounds and still have a little bit of space for the BC to push the rounds downward on it's rearward stroke. When you have it at the right size, sand the ends of the legs a little (600 grit will work fine) to smooth them out. This is JUST the right length to maintain full anti-tilt capability, do NOT go any shorter or you will be right back at square one. You may even want to make it 8+a little space just to be on the safe side.

It's really helpful to have a real magazine to compare as you go along. The current Bushmaster 10-rounder will do and is attainable in California. If you take a magazine with a full size green follower you'll notice it can still tilt rearward in the magazine -- to a point. This is your goal with the Magpul follower. Normally the Magpul follower allows no tilting whatsoever. When you cut the legs down it will then be able to tilt some. Cut the front leg down until it can tilt the same amount down at the rear as the green follower in the normal magazine does and NO LOWER. Then cut the rear anti-tilt leg to match the front.

Yes, you loose a round of capacity, but for me it's worth it. Hell it was worth the loss of 4 rounds (until the Magpul followers came out, which I quickly began to experiment with a mutilate) to have perfectly reliable feeding. I just can't and won't own a gun that doesn't go bang EVERY time I pull the trigger.

Originally Posted By wyv3rn: Originally Posted By Mak762: welcome to the wonderful world of AR's The FAB-10 is NOT indicative of AR performance. Do NOT equate the two.

+1

The FAB10 unfortunately has been problematic in my experience, something that's not found on my other "real" ARs.

Raising the mag is probably not a good idea as wyv3rn says. I think sacrificing a few rounds for reliability sake is worth it. A couple important things to keep in mind when doing this are:

1) You will have to re-rivet the mag to the lower to stay legal and
2) According to FAB-10 removing/modifying the mag will void the warranty (may be a non-issue depending who you ask)

-just my .02

Originally Posted By eejay: Raising the mag is probably not a good idea as wyv3rn says. I think sacrificing a few rounds for reliability sake is worth it. A couple important things to keep in mind when doing this are: 1) You will have to re-rivet the mag to the lower to stay legal and 2) According to FAB-10 removing/modifying the mag will void the warranty (may be a non-issue depending who you ask) -just my .02

#2 is true.

#1 is somewhat true. You don't have to use a rivet, it is legal to use a screw, etc.

I did use a pop-rivet tool just because I have one, but you don't need to go out and buy one. FYI, the FAB-10 uses a 3/32" rivet.

#1 i could care less about. its already held in by a hex screw. when i first bought it i thought taking out the rivet would be illegal but i later learned it wasnt. besides, how else am i supposed to clean out this dirtyass mag.

Sounds like another case of the dreaded New Fab-10 mag syndrome. I have 2 Fab-10's, and at least one or two other early Fab-10 owners have found this to work: Break in your Fab-10 mag by loading it up with all 10 rounds (without an upper, of course), then strip each round off with a blunt non-metallic object of your choice (pen). Keep doing this (like when watching TV), and after about a week, you'll notice that it gets easier and easier to strip off the rounds. I don't know if any of my previous posts show up in the searches, but this works.

Good luck.

tk

I had the same issue with mine and did just what you suggested tk1971. After about a week of doing that and loading up the mag and leaving it set over night each time, the mag loosened up and started to work correctly. Now I don't have any feeding problems at all. "Knock on wood"

SAME EXACT THING happened to me. 'Cept it happened to a Bushie... Meateater was great enough to help me with it... to dry of a bolt/carrier. Clean it real good and make that bolt real "juicy" with CLP and then try it.

I was getting real nervous.... BTW did I say thanks Meat?

Thanks I've already begun to load and unload my mag to loosen it up.

Originally Posted By wamclk430: Thanks I've already begun to load and unload my mag to loosen it up.

+1 - I have cycled about 200rds with a pen and already I see great improvement.

I've cycled about 150 rounds and also noticed a big improvement. The rounds are actually level in the magazine as they cycle. Unlike at the range the rounds were at an angle causing my AR to jam.

It would be a good idea to call Michael at SLV about your jamming problem. He undoubtably can give you advice. 775-246-3500.

Sorry for your trouble,


Patty McNary