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Posted: 6/26/2016 4:53:04 PM EDT
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My ar15 is a older bushmaster upper. 16inch heavy barrel. Lower is a anderson machine.
My gun was a single shot today. I was shooting wolf military classic. I have had problem with this gun in the past. It will fire and eject the round but not load the next round. Sometimes I get a double feed. If memory serves me correctly it will shoot my reloads just fine. I ways shoot with a buddy. He was shooting a s&w m&p 15T. He shot some of my wmc ammo and it ran just fine. Put my buffer in his gun and it ran good. Put my buffer and buffer spring in his gun and it ran fine. His buffer and my buffer looked just alike. His buffer spring was shorter. Put his buffer and buffer spring in my rifle and I could get 3-4 round. Got a double feed. I was thinking it was the buffer spring but now I am not so sure. Any ideas? |
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When was the last time you cleaned the rifle? Steel cased rounds don't seal the chamber as well as brass, and soot will build up in the front of the chamber. That makes extraction harder, stealing energy from the system. Enough soot means enough energy loss to cause short stroking and "single shot syndrome."
Clean that chamber, and keep it clean. Especially when shooting steel cased rounds. Steel is NOT bad, but with .223, the tolerances are so tight that you have to keep up with cleaning or you will, sooner or later, wind up with this kind of problem. Another problem people report is having the extractor rip the rim off the steel case because the case is so badly stuck. That sucks a lot worse than single shot syndrome. |
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Quoted:
Ok gas rings passed the test. Although the carrier did drop about an 1/8 inch. Going to get some new gas rings for later. The bolt and carrier was quit dirty. Also scrubbed the crab out of the bore. Will keep you posted. Quoted:
Ok gas rings passed the test. Although the carrier did drop about an 1/8 inch. Going to get some new gas rings for later. The bolt and carrier was quit dirty. Also scrubbed the crab out of the bore. Will keep you posted. A lot of people think that "the ring test" means that you stand the BCG on the extended bolt and see if the carrier falls. That's wrong. The proper test is to see if the BOLD slides outward from the carrier from its own weight. Per TM 9-1005-319-23&P, page 3-18: 4. Check bolt assembly (5) for proper fit with bolt cam pin removed. Turn key and bolt carrier assembly (6) and suspend so the bolt assembly is pointed down.
NOTE: The bolt assembly must not drop out. If weight of bolt assembly allows it to drop out of key and bolt carrier assembly, replace bolt rings (p 3-21). |
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It could be a problem with the gas system.
From HERE : Gas System
The gas tubes are supposed to be self cleaning and seldom plug up unless perhaps you are using weak loads that produce a lot of carbon. Using a .22 LR adapter (Ciener or Colt) and firing a lot of rounds can cause the gas system to become clogged. You should run some regular .223 ammo through every hundred rounds or so to keep the gas system clean. You may also find serious carbon build up in and around the carrier key. It is important to know your gas system and where the possible leakage points are: near the front sight, at the carrier key, at the gas rings, and where the bolt extends through the carrier by the firing pin. There will typically be some leakage at the front sight as seen by some black deposits, but if the tube fits tight it is probably OK. The bolt post to carrier hole clearance is typically very tight - less than .005". I have seen a number of "loose" fitting bolts, but the guns ran fine. If the bolt does not fall out of the carrier when you invert it, the gas rings are probably OK. Gas rings will rotate when you fire the gun and are not like car rings that seal into position. I have heard of problems where the ring gaps lined up, but have not seen any. It is a good idea to separate the gaps each time you install the bolt anyway. The biggest source of gas leak trouble is the carrier key to gas tube contact. With the bolt removed from the carrier and the charging handle removed, slide the carrier into the weapon and "feel" for any drag where the carrier key comes into contact with the end of the gas tube. You may have to gently bend the end of the gas tube to the point you feel very little drag when the key engages the tube. |
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Ok when back out.
Took a few different guns with me. Problem upper with reloaded ammo. ran perfect My SBR hardened arms upper, doubled feed with reload ammo and ran good with WMC. Had a little more recoil with reloads. DPMS ran with brown bear but with WMC had a few get stuck in the chamber. So problem gun would not run brown bear. single shot Put BCG from hardened arms sbr no change some double feeds and failure to load next round and lock bolt back. Put BCG from dpms in ran good. BCG from dpms is used gun was one that came back for over sea. contractor service. BCG from hardened arms is new. Also used a EWS, 2 pmags, and 1 usgi. mags did not seem to have any change better or worst. Put BCG from dpms into problem ar and in ran brown bear and WMC fine. i have a spare bolt that I can put on my problem gun bolt carrier and see what happens. I will try to clean the inside of the gas tube. |
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Rifle in question is a bushmaster upper with a2 front sight.
I have a dpms rifle. It also have a a2 front sight. Bought rifle front sight are the pined on sights with bayonet lug. Took my dpms out and it ran about 60-round perfect. Then it was a single shot. I am leaning toward the ammo. dirty and maybe weak. I am going to look more into the gas system on the problem rifle. |
| 22 grains of 3031 is a very light load. I suggest at least 24 grains. You might get by with 23 if you were using AA2015 but I doubt it.. My SWAG is you have a gas leak, a gas tube block, or an issue with lube or a bolt or under loaded ammo. Now is not the time to be cheap with the powder if you want dependability. kwg |
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Quoted:
It will fire and eject the round but not load the next round Short stroking Sometimes I get a double feed Double feed is two live rounds popping out of the magazine. This is strictly a mag issue. If thi is what's hapenning, throw away the mag. Probably not what you have. I bet you're getting a bolt over base with a spent case and a live case jammed in the action. That's an extraction issue, most likely a weak extractor spring. Replace the spring with a Colt copper colored extractor spring with black insert. Don't use an O ring with the Colt spring |
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http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/rifle
BULLET WEIGHT 55 GR. BAR TSX FB Starting Loads Maximum Loads ManufacturerPowderBullet Diam. C.O.L. Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure IMRIMR 3031.224"2.180"20.02,87846,800 PSI21.33,02452,200 PSI BULLET WEIGHT 55 GR. SPR SP Starting Loads Maximum Loads ManufacturerPowderBullet Diam. C.O.L. Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure IMRIMR 3031.224"2.200"21.62,90741,100 PSI24.6C3,23352,500 PSI This did not turn out very good. At first I did not see the second chart. I was going off the first set of numbers. 20gr to 21.3gr. but the other set of number 21.6gr to 24.6c. I did not read that it would be a weak load until I was done loading. LOL I am hoping it will be fine for practice. I am wondering about an extractor issue. Both guns ran the reloads good. I think I will replace the springs. Anyway thinks for the help I will keep you posted. |
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I think your light load is an issue. Until you can shoot something with a little more energy don't draw any more conclusion. I'll bet many of your problems will go away with a more energetic charge. I shoot 23 grains of AA2015 out of my Mini 14 because it is slightly over gassed and really throws the brass but the 23 grains of AA2015 barely ejects from my mid length AR's. 24 grains of AA2015 is nice plinker load in my Ar's. If you are loading the 3031 You are very safe with 24 grains of 3031. Hornady calls for 25.5 grains of 3031 for a 53 grain bullet but calls for 22..8 max of 3031 with a 55 grain bullet. That doesn't make much sense but that's a Hornady load.
Nosler calls for 24.5 grains max load of 3031 for a 55 grain bullet. Sierra calls for 24.6 grains of 3031 as a max for a 55 grain FMJ. Speer has a max load of 3031 with a 55 grain bullet as 26 grains. 22 grains is a real light load. kwg |
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