Posted: 9/8/2008 3:32:18 PM EDT
|
I picked up a Ruger MK III and Tactical Solutions upper this summer as a gift for my son. I haven't been too concerned about it thus far because sometimes things just need to be "broken in", but I'm starting to get frustrated. The pistol has seen 500-1,000 rounds thus far. Most of that has been CCI MiniMags. When shooting MiniMags the pistol will start to FTE after about 100 rounds or so. When shooting CCI Standard Velocity the pistol will malf about 50-60% of the time, almost always a failure of the bolt to go fully into battery. A quick tap to the back of the bolt usually gets the pistol running again. While there have also been some FTE issues with the pistol, the failure of the bolt to go fully into battery is really starting to piss me off, as it is detracting from range time with my son. Has anyone heard or or experienced reliability issues with their Pac Lite uppers? For the money I have sunk into this setup so far I could have gotten the boy a Ruger Charger and a shit ton of 25 round mags.  Or his own G19 and been most of the way to an AA conversion kit. Anyone heard of these FTE or bolt issues? |
|
The symptoms you describe fit those of a dirty/fouled chamber. (usually found with long term use of wax coated bullets/ammo, and the symptoms usually arise in colder weather, specifically with semi-auto rimfire rifles and pistols). The fouling can be a real bear to remove too, as it seems that the ignition heat almost welds the buildup on to the front of the chamber walls where the rifling begins, preventing the bolt/slide from making it all the way home depending on the (critical and varying size of) ammo used. Obviously the above doesn't completely fit your situation. But it might help you nail down the problem. If it were me, I'd scrub the hell out of the chamber.... and I do mean vigorously. Then if that didn't fix anything, I'd be suspicious of a tight chamber, perhaps improperly reamed on the production line. But those are just my first guesses. Without the pistol in front of me, it's hard to diagnose. Try the chamber cleaning and then contact Tactical Solutions if that doesn't help. Tom Hines, the owner and operator of Tactical Solutions, is a very hands-on and stand up guy. I mention his name only because he'll take your call personally, and he'll make sure you're happy with his product. Please keep us posted. |
|
ODT: Everything looks to be pretty dang clean on the pistol. There is a very, very minor amount of buildup around 9 o'clock on the breech face. I really doubt that it is enough to cause the bolt to lock up the way that it is...but who knows? Calling TacSol is likely my best bet, as you suggested. I was just hoping to find the "magic answer" (I.E. "you must have done X, dummy!") here first. Calling TacSol now... |
|
Well I just got off the phone with TacSol. The lady that answered the phone was very polite and seemed genuinely concerned that I was having trouble with their product. She's sending me an RMA label for a warranty repair. I told her I knew she didn't have a crystal ball but would appreciate an approximate turnaround time. She told me that it would likely be around a week. The situation is frustrating as the boy will be without a host for the SWR Spectre I just picked up but life goes on. A week or two wait to get the package in tip top shape for future trips to the range won't kill him and will be well worth it, obviously. I knew I should have bought him a threaded TacSol barrel for the 10/22 instead of all those Pmags! 
|
|
Mine acted up the other day as well. Except it started pushing the bullet over the chamber and caused the gun to jam up. I figured it was a mag problem but I think it did it with a couple of them. I was in the middle of a match so I ended up shooting my other gun. Mine has been very reliable for the last year or two and then bam it jams. I am going to take it out and keep track of mags and what not to narrow the problem down. Also look forward to hearing what your problem is and how they fix it |
| Any updates on this? I have put about 500 rounds through my 4" Trail-lite threaded barrel Buckmark with suppressor and it's failing to extract about 75% of the time. The chamber has been cleaned thoroughly, but the cases are sticking tightly in the chamber. I've tried about 6 different types of ammo so far to no avail. Didn't have any problems with this pistol before the barrel swap, so I'm doubting it's an extractor issue. |
|
I bought a well used MKII target model with 6.8 inch tapered target barrel for $175 used at a gun shop couple years ago. Great gun but the barrel was rediculously to long and heavy for a .22 rimfire pistol. So I sold the barreled receiver for $135 i think in april and placed my order same time for my pac-lite. It took a long time to come in, end of august as a matter of fact. They had problems with their subcontractors. I took it to the range and it ran real good at the begining, until it got real dirty after 300 + rounds of copper washed winchester dynapoints. It was failing to extract, i would also get an occasional stove pipe where the rear end of the empty case would get stuck above the next round being fed, and the bolt guide rod. On occasion i would also get a round to fly up and smack its nose into the upper portion of the chamber not seating correctly. That i think is a mag issue. So I took the gun apart only to find about 40 % of my factory extractor missing. It wasn't a chip but more rather a smooth wear on it. Like over the years the shooting just wore it right out. I have since added a volq. exact edge extractor which in addition to having 100% of its gripping edge, also is cut .005 tighter for a more positive lock on empty cases. I have read this fixes most all stove pipes and failures to extract. From what i read online, the extractor gets a real good grip on the rim, and holds on tight until the case smacks the ejector real good and knocks the spent case hard, fast, and clear of the chamber. Previously the old extractor when it did pull the empty case out, would only barely hang onto the case and not position the empty case correctly for the ejector to send it flying. Regardless, i am SOOO happy with the pac-lite. It BY FAR is now my favorite pistol i own, and one of the most fun guns i have in the safe. I have since added a volq. extended bolt release which is almost a requirement. ***************************** I posted the above on another site .. subguns.com a couple weeks ago. No reason not to paste it here. i have since gotten some range time. 1,000 continuous rounds of winchester copper washed dynapoints. My experiences are as follows. Out of a thousand rounds, i only had ONE failure or stove pipe i guess, where the rear end of the empty case would get stuck above the next round being fed, and the bolt guide rod. THAT is a huge improvement. It was probably an underpowered cartridge. Next. I had a few more nose jams again. The bolt would come forward and ride half way over the next round in the mag, then the round would fly up past the chamber and ram into the top of the chamber. I think what is happening is either 1 of 2 things. Either the mags are dirty and the springs arent kicking up the rounds faster than tha bolt is moving forward, or the mag feed lips are off, and are not holding the round strait for proper feeding. I have 6-7 factory mags. i will have to number and monitor the mags to see if its one or more mags causing the problem. However, what i did was take all the mags apart, wash them in parts cleaner, and coat them with a moly dry lube from hoppes. I hope this will solve the occasional nose up issue. Stay tuned. I'll also add for the few that don't know, pac-lite and trail-lite barrels have match chambers in them. They need to be cleaned very well every several hundred rounds, especially if in competition or if you shoot a thousand rounds at a time like i do. |