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Posted: 3/14/2008 7:10:05 PM EDT
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I went to fire my DPMS 6.8 spc upper for the first time today. I pulled the charging handle back, let it fly, tapped the forward assist, aimed, pulled the trigger, and click - nothing. I go to clear the round and the bolt won't move. The bolt head seems to be stuck in the chamber while the carrier polls pack about half and inch. The bolt head rotates some, but does not seem to unlock. The fins on the bolt face (I can't think of thier proper name, I am too stinking tired) seem to line up properly in the chamber to pull free, but no go. What do I do to clear the chamber and what could the problem be? Right now I have a $550 paper wight right now. |
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Sounds like a not-properly-sized round stuck in the chamber, already having been grabbed by the extractor on the bolt face. The typical first move at this point is to pull back on the charging handle while you whack a solid surface with the butt plate of the rifle, keeping the muzzle pointed upwards. Be aware it may take more than one good whack to pursuade everything rearward. |
| That did the trick. A couple of healthy whacks on the floor and it came out. I tested some other rounds from the same box. Either they get stuck in the chamber or the bullet gets pushed into the case mouth. I am afraid to fire this stuff!! Does Silver State have problems with being out of spec? I bought 100 rds (5 boxes) of Silver State 115gr Xtreme with the upper. I have not tried any rounds out of the other boxes, but what a bunch of garbage!!! |
Don't overlook the chamber especially if chrome plated. I bought a gun show barrel many years ago and had the same problem. At first I thought it was the ammo. I tried a couple different ones but after getting one super stuck and eventually pulled the back of the case off and spent many a day working and figuring out how to get the brass out I brought it to an AR smith who had a barrel reamer and was able to correct it. Fortunately mine was not chrome lined (I bought a cheap but supposedly new barrel) because the AR-smith said chrome linings ruin the barrel reamers and makes them dull quick. I mentioned chrome above because some manufactures have problems applying it evenly and I read on the Internet (famous last words of any self proclaimed guru of a subject matter) that there are more instances of out of spec barrels/chambers that are chrome lined (or it could be there are more chrome lined than not). Moral of the story is I learned to get some head space gages as they are cheap ($85 or less shipped for all three) which is nothing compared to a $600 rifle and shooting safely and not getting into an unsafe position. Now I check anything new I buy real carefully and none of that experimenting with live cartridges crap. |
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