Hi all. While I guess I could post this in trouble shooting section, my gut tells me something w/ this upper was/is defective, and I think those at PSA might want to have a look at this as well.
The carrier that came w/ the rifle kit was the PSA P-tac semi auto version. When I charge the gun (with or without ammo) I'd say a third of the time the bolt does not go 100% into battery (see photo below) It stops about a 1/2" back from closing.
Rifle in question is a PSA P-Tac "Labor Day" sale YHM Diamond complete upper seen here:
http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/labor-day-sale/ptac-16-m4-1-7-5-56-nato-yhm-rifle-length-diamond-rifle-kit.html
I also have a PSA full auto bcg that I've tried. While this bcg is better, it still does the same thing, but with less frequency.
Another odd thing I've noticed w/ this rifle (noob warning here) after I noticed the bolt not going into battery, I took a full mag, and tried to "hand cycle" the rounds to see if it would feed (done this w/ sks w/out issue, be gentile if this is noob mistake) anyway, with that said, I've tried w/ 3-4 different brands of mags, and they all do the same deal. FTE, tries to load fresh round into the occupied chamber :(
First the "noob admisions"
1) first ar. Not first firearm.
2) Dont think this is normal, and am scared to fire this firearm due to safety concerns.
My fear to shoot this thing has motivated me to purchace go-no-go gauges from Midway. I got the No-go 5.56 today, but the go gauge is on backorder... will add no-go results when I have time to test.
I have a frankengun I am building for wife (I told it was for her, but we all know who its for) PSA blem upper, EES barrel, PSA blem full auto profile bcg - and it does not have the above noted concerns.
I took the semi-bcg and lubed it up good, repeatedly moved the bolt in and out by hand to 'break it in" and got rid of alot of the "newness" or stiffness in relation to the bolt to the carrier. I can flick the entire bcg and the bolt now moves freely enough to move normally out of the carrier into the full extended position.
So, I am stumped. Dont want to have to pay shipping (or have to wait on slow PSA return shipping, lol) but I am also afraid to use this rifle in the state I received it. Several arfcommers have asked for reviews on the P-tac stuff... I cant review it, but it kinda feels like I may have got a lemon
EDIT:
I forgot something. Another thing it does. When I tried to "hand cycle" a fair bit of the times, it will ftf. A round is picked up from the mag, but it gets pinched by the bolt and the upper. FTF. Sorry. no pics, but its kinda like a "stove pipe" in a semi pistol. I wrote it off as being caused due to me trying to cycle the gun by hand, and not getting the actual force it would get from the DI system if it had actually been fired. Dont know if this has anything to do w/ anything, but felt I should add it in case it helped trouble shoot the above problem. Thanks, and sorry for the long winded explanation