AR Sponsor
Posted: 11/23/2009 12:15:14 PM EDT
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I have a Rock River AR-15 that is about 1 year old. It's well kept, kept pretty clean, and isn't fired all that often.
Last night I made sure the weapon was on safety, I pulled back on the charging handle, engaged the bolt catch, and gently slid the charging handle completely forward. Suddenly the bolt slapped forward all on its own (putting a round in the chamber). I removed the mag, expelled the round, and could not for the life of me figure out why this weapon is not reliably holding the bolt open. I put an empty mag in the mag well and the bold appears to reliably stay open. I removed the empty magazine and the tried to get the bolt catch to hold the bolt open (with no mag) and it acts/feels very odd in comparison to all my other ARs. It acts finicky locking the bold open and once it's locked ... I give the weapon a jiggle and the bolt slaps forward. I can post pics if needed. I tried using the search function, but I'm getting nowhere. Sorry if this is a common topic ... if there's a link handy please list it. |
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Once the empty mag is removed, the bolt catch holds the bolt back only by surface tension (empty mag follower raises the catch, and one removed, the spring tension of the catch tries to take effect to lower the catch).
The difference between the surface tension of the catch, and the spring trying to pull the catch back down is just a little more than a equal, and if anything disturbs the surface tension of the catch against the bolt face (even the slightest jiggle), the catch is going to drop back to it's at home position allowing the bolt to charge the mag loaded round. Bottom line here, do not lock the bolt back, insert a live mag and leave the rifle in that state. The slightest bump of the rifle is going to allow the catch to drop out, and you will have a loaded gun unattended. |
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