AR Sponsor
Posted: 10/15/2014 9:18:57 PM EDT
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Some time ago I bought a complete lower. I finally decided to use it and had some bolt lock back issues. I found the bolt catch was loose like it had no spring in it. I took it apart and the buffer is in the hole and won't come out. I'm guessing the factory missed the spring. Any ideas how to get it out? The thing is stuck in there. TIA |
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Quoted: Just a stupid question. Since you think the spring is missing, aren't you going to have to do a disassembly to replace/install it anyway? I already took the bolt catch off the lower. The buffer is stuck inside the hole in the side of the lower. So the point is I can't disassemble it. Once the buffer is out, I'll replace it. I did get it to move a little so there is hope. |
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Air compressor fan with blow gun tip here,
Since the air will get by the side of the buffer to drive it up from the bottom, but its a 50/50 chance if you find the buffer after it blow out of the channel/receiver. Also, don't forget to clean up the channel with a drill bits, since even without the spring installed first, the buffer should still be gliding freely in the channel. |
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I would try using a can of compressed air and blow right into the buffer to see if it will pop out. If not, grab the same plastic tube for that compressed air can and try to suck it out with your mouth. You can try a bigger straw to suck it out but be careful you don't swallow it.
LOL - I just reread that |
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Had same problem recently on a build and it was jammed so tight NOTHING was getting it loose...I mean NOTHING!
Tried a dot of JB weld and a steel rod. Still wouldn't budge. Finally had to drill a hole in channel from the top and use a dental pick to jam the damn thing out! Was a metal filing I think. Toasted the spring. Took a drill bit and WD 40 to flush channel out - now works fine but have a large drain hole under the bolt catch. You may want to try a less drastic approach but this worked for me. FH |
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Dano's humor leaks out from time to time just to remind us that the dude abides. The bolt catch buffer is often referred to as the bolt catch plunger, same item. I don't have my .gov manuals available to help me here.
If Dano thinks of a toilet plunger I get that. When I think of a buffer, this is what I see. OK, now quick, what's a buffer retainer, and what does it do? OP, the compressed air trick works often. |
| Apparently with the AR15 the plunger is called a 'buffer', going by Dano's graciously supplied information. For the preceding history of springs in guns, where you have a spring in a tube or bore with a moving part at the end of it, the moving part was called a 'plunger'. For example, the 'plunger tube' on the side of a 1911 which contains a spring with a plunger on each end. One controls the slide stop and the other the thumb safety. |
| And in the case of the bolt catch, the solid piece is used as a limiter on top of the spring (so the bolt catch does not over rise), such as in the case as the Buffer in the receiver extension for the B/C so the back of the Key does not crash into the back of the lower receiver;, so the part in question is not a detent, but a limiting buffer instead. |
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