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Posted: 7/7/2013 9:03:15 AM EDT
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OK, guys.
Recently purchased the Magpul B.A.D Lever. In theory it's a steal. Not too expensive, and very useful with some practice. I own a Colt 6920, purchased brand new. As of now it has probably 100 rounds through it. But I was having some serious issues. The first mag I fired out of it caused the bolt to lock back on every shot. Every once in a while it'd cycle properly but far more than not, It kept happening. It got to a point to where I had to keep my non firing thumb on the bolt catch portion of the lever and my hand around the magwell. After seeing this problem I feared it was something with the gas system and started looking for some kind of remedial action. I realized even with no mag in the weapon it would sometimes lock to the rear. So I pulled out my handy dandy allen wrench and screwed off the B.A.D. lever. Alas, it works just fine. Does anyone know what the problem is here? |
| It seems to be a hit or miss product. It has worked great for me on 2 different lowers and 2 different uppers. I have heard about weak springs not keeping enough pressure on the bolt catch as well as the lever hitting the upper causing the bolt to randomly lock back and hitting the lower causing the bolt not to lock back. I feel it was design for a damned near perfectly in spec rifle with little wiggle room. |
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Quoted:
Thanks guys. I think I'll find somebody else who has one who doesn't have the same problem and install it on mine. This won't help, it's not YOUR BAD lever, it's just the extra weight of it that is engaging your bolt catch. Like others have said, it has to be a weak bolt catch spring. or it's not properly installed,(if this is even possible) |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Thanks guys. I think I'll find somebody else who has one who doesn't have the same problem and install it on mine. This won't help, it's not YOUR BAD lever, it's just the extra weight of it that is engaging your bolt catch. Like others have said, it has to be a weak bolt catch spring. or it's not properly installed,(if this is even possible) I would argue that it's a weak magazine spring that is not able to overcome the tension from the magazine catch spring to push the bolt catch "up" (or left) enough to catch the bolt. Given the location of the bolt catch spring, a strong bolt catch spring is going to work against the bolt catch locking the bolt to the rear as it pushes the bot catch rightward (or down). Further, the extra weight from the BAD should be pulling the bolt catch leftward (or up), which works toward locking the bolt to the rear. OP, how old are your mags? Do you have new mags you can try? Also, a H2 buffer might slow the cyclic rate down just enough to give the mag follower extra time to push up the bolt catch. This could be due to slight over gassing associated with a carbine-length 16" barrel. Just my $.02. |
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I've had several years experience designing bolt catch extensions for use with my Redi-Mag. (I designed it too.) With any device attached to the bolt catch inertia is critical. The catch has to work very fast in order to lock open the bolt. That is why we use a polymer BCE to go with our current steel Redi-Mags. For our add-on premium units we use 6061 aluminum alloy with the minimum mass and length possible. The lighter and shorter the better!
A fixed extended lever attached to the bolt catch adds problems. One is that it gets in the way of the trigger finger which requires that it be very close to the front of the trigger guard in order to leave adequate space for the trigger finger. If the lever is only slightly loose on the bolt catch it may then rub on the area inside the trigger guard and the resultant friction will slow down its action, causing it to fail to lock back the bolt on the last round. Also, a long lever exacerbates the inertia factor. It takes more force to start in motion the end of a relatively long object as opposed to one closer to the pivot. This is like lifting a long stick from the end rather than the middle. Thus, with a conventional bolt catch lever one has three issues. First is weight, second is a relatively long object that needs to be moved at a mechanical disadvantage, and third is the possibility of the lever rubbing on the inside area of the trigger guard. If the weapon has a stronger than necessary bolt catch spring, that makes the situation even more difficult. Dave |
| I think you'll find that with everybody's uncle building lowers, that the variance in the depth of the hole that the bolt catch spring & buffer fit into is the main problem. If everything is in spec, I doubt if you'll have any problem with the B.A.D. lever, or any of the other levers on the market. There are just too many people running these levers everyday, for them to be faulty in their design. |
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