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Posted: 1/1/2015 5:27:33 PM EDT
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The good news: Is there a better way to start the New Year than spending it with your daughter building her AR lower?
The bad news: bolt catch problems Using my upper, no magazine inserted, the bolt will come back far enough to be manually locked. Inserted a mag with a snap cap to check function. Snap cap fed and extracted as it should. The bolt catch, however, is pushing up in between the backside of bolt and the front of the carrier stopping full rearward motion. Sometimes it won't lock back at all, sometimes it catches on the bolt carrier and then slams home when the empty mag is released. I tried switching upper and lowers and buffers & springs. Only happens on her lower. The lower parts group is from TR Enabling and the lower is a Yankee Hill. Tried 4 steel mags. 3 USGI 30's and one neutered 10. What do you think? Just try a different bolt catch? If so, any particular brand anyone would recommend? Edit: contacted TR Enabling and they express shipped a new bolt catch. No questions, no problems. The lower now runs just fine. TR is good to go. |
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Take the snap cap, and throw it in to the nearest trash can.
Lock the bolt back on the catch (catch in front of the bolt), then hit the bolt release and see if the bolt slams home and locks up. When charging a rifle, do not walk the charging handle back forward. Just pull the charging handle all the way, and release it. |
| The snap cap has nothing to do with it. I only included that as a point of information on what I was doing. Without a magazine in place, the bolt can be drawn back and manually locked as normal. When the catch is tripped, the bolt slams home into battery as normal. With a mag installed, as the bolt is drawn back the bolt catch pops up in between the bolt and the bolt carrier. It hangs up on the back side of the bolt face preventing the bolt from being fully retracted. No matter how hard I pull on the charging handle, I can't get the bolt past the catch with a mag installed. It's almost as if the forward side of the catch is not angled enough or perhaps the catch spring is too strong to let the bolt pass. |
| I had the same thing happen to 2 builds. I tried different bolt hold open catches with no luck. I ended up putting a bolt hold open catch for a 9mm build, Had to shorten the finger that the mag follower pushes up to the correct length. Problem solved. If you can Tig weld make finger longer on the one you have and reshape. Hope this helps. |
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Quoted:
The snap cap has nothing to do with it. I only included that as a point of information on what I was doing. Without a magazine in place, the bolt can be drawn back and manually locked as normal. When the catch is tripped, the bolt slams home into battery as normal. With a mag installed, as the bolt is drawn back the bolt catch pops up in between the bolt and the bolt carrier. It hangs up on the back side of the bolt face preventing the bolt from being fully retracted. No matter how hard I pull on the charging handle, I can't get the bolt past the catch with a mag installed. It's almost as if the forward side of the catch is not angled enough or perhaps the catch spring is too strong to let the bolt pass. Photo of the lower receiver so I can see the catch angle. Also, are you sure that you installed the catch spring first into the channel, then the catch spring detent on top of the spring. Lastly, does the catch move freely in the channel (just the spring tension pulling it back down), or is the catch binding in the slot movement instead. |
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