Hey everybody, I’m a new M4 owner as well as a new member to this forum.  I’ve had a few problems with my new Bushmaster 16” m4 a3 and was wondering if it was anything I should be worried about?  I regularly clean my rifle after every trip to the range.  I’ve put just under 600 rounds through my rifle with 4 noted malfunctions listed below:
1. First time firing, within the first 100 rounds (shooting wolf) the round jammed between the bolt and the chamber.  It looked like it was starting to slide into the chamber and got stuck for whatever reason.  I was using the standard 30 round bushmaster magazine.
2. I was shooting some brass Adcom 5.56 and the empty casing jammed between the bolt and the front (barrel end) of ejection port.  I was using an unknown 20 round magazine.  After I was done shooting the Adcom stuff my rifle was filthy.
3. Both these last malfunction happened within the last 100 rounds.  I believe both occurred while using the “unknown” 20 round magazine and wolf ammunition.  After firing one magazine I loaded the next and released the bolt catch.  Pulled the trigger and no bang so I pulled back the charging handle and noticed that there was no chambered round.  After I was done shooting I noticed that the bolt catch had caught the bolt carrier and not the bolt itself (which might explain the previous malfunction of no chambered round?)

Like I said, I’m new so I hope my explanation above made sense?  I know some people have a bad impression of wolf but if you read Bushmaster’s list of recommended ammo Wolf is on the list.  That’s good enough for me.  Also, I realize that the magazine can make a big difference but the “unknown” 20 round doesn’t feel like a crappy magazine and the spring pressure feels pretty good.   I’m under the impression that Bushmaster makes a nice rifle; one that you could trust your life with.  I believe these malfunctions are pretty minor but at the same time should a rifle of this quality be having these sorts of problems.  Sorry for the novel but I appreciate your responses.

Did you properly lube the rifle?

I'm fairly confident that I lubed it properly.  I’m using the M –Pro 7 cleaner/oil stuff.

A new rifle should be cleaned and properly lubed before hitting the range. I would go as far as to “over lube” for the first one or two range trips till things start to break in.

As far as “correctly” lubing goes you might want to check out the “Maintenance and Cleaning” forum. I have a tacked thread there on where and how to lube.

Quoted: Hey everybody, I’m a new M4 owner as well as a new member to this forum.  I’ve had a few problems with my new Bushmaster 16” m4 a3 and was wondering if it was anything I should be worried about?  I regularly clean my rifle after every trip to the range.  I’ve put just under 600 rounds through my rifle with 4 noted malfunctions listed below: 1. First time firing, within the first 100 rounds (shooting wolf) the round jammed between the bolt and the chamber.  It looked like it was starting to slide into the chamber and got stuck for whatever reason.  I was using the standard 30 round bushmaster magazine. 2. I was shooting some brass Adcom 5.56 and the empty casing jammed between the bolt and the front (barrel end) of ejection port.  I was using an unknown 20 round magazine.  After I was done shooting the Adcom stuff my rifle was filthy. 3. Both these last malfunction happened within the last 100 rounds.  I believe both occurred while using the “unknown” 20 round magazine and wolf ammunition.  After firing one magazine I loaded the next and released the bolt catch.  Pulled the trigger and no bang so I pulled back the charging handle and noticed that there was no chambered round.  After I was done shooting I noticed that the bolt catch had caught the bolt carrier and not the bolt itself (which might explain the previous malfunction of no chambered round?) Like I said, I’m new so I hope my explanation above made sense?  I know some people have a bad impression of wolf but if you read Bushmaster’s list of recommended ammo Wolf is on the list.  That’s good enough for me.  Also, I realize that the magazine can make a big difference but the “unknown” 20 round doesn’t feel like a crappy magazine and the spring pressure feels pretty good.   I’m under the impression that Bushmaster makes a nice rifle; one that you could trust your life with.  I believe these malfunctions are pretty minor but at the same time should a rifle of this quality be having these sorts of problems.  Sorry for the novel but I appreciate your responses.

My Bushmaster AR will shoot everything under the sun but the minute I try to shoot Wolf it f*cks up. Use different ammo then report back if your still having problems

I had to send my Bushmaster upper back because a problem with the left feedramp thingy.  They polished it all pretty like and reurned it.  I have not had any problems since (5 years now).

My Bushy A3 firing the Monarch cheap stuff yesterday functioned just fine. Although I did strip it down and clean it before hand and lubed it, also pulled the buffer and wiped it down.

I wouldn't mix Wolf and Brass cased ammo. Look here: Box O' Truth

First off the problem in old wolf was not the laqured case it was the sealent used on the bullet and case that was gumming things up if not cleaned after shooting.Second run 2 or 3 thousand rounds of good barass cased ammo through your AR and lube with CLP and once tha parts break in it should eat anything you give it...if a rifle wont do that its useless.If you lube good as lon as an AR is wet it will function even filthy.In a new rifle things are stiff and tight with underpowered wolf the catch catching the carrier instead of the bolt can happen until things break in.

I've heard that Wolf besides shooting dirty can possibly break the extractor or bolt because of the steel casing...any truth to that, that any of you know of?

My other thread asking for advise with a somewhat similar issue (also short-stroking, but I was using SS109) with a brand-new 20" Bushy notwithstansing...

I also have a 16" HBAR Bushy with about 10,000 rounds through it....and NO problems....ever.  I love that rifle.

When it was new, Wolf didn't exist, so the first few thousand rounds were brass.... Now it eats Wolf and loves it.... its the newer gray Wolf with the polymer coating and not so much red sealant...

I'd stay away from the green Wolf (now discontinued) in anything but an AK....

"Unknown" mags have been the source of the vast majority of malfunctions I have seen.  Pick up some top tier mags from the dealers on this site... It'll be WELL worth it!

Wolf ammo is normally loaded to rather underpowered specs.  I've had a new rifle that would not function with it at first.  Just too tight, not enough fire in the wire.  A couple hundred rounds of NATO ammo later, she functioned just fine with it, not a single hiccup.

Hope this helps.
Tex78

height=8

Quoted: "Unknown" mags have been the source of the vast majority of malfunctions I have seen.  Pick up some top tier mags from the dealers on this site... It'll be WELL worth it!

Bad mags were responsible for the vast majority of the malfunctions I've experienced with M16/AR15's.  I'm also a recent convert to the Magpul anti-tilt followers.

Thanks for all the responses guys; keep them coming, I wanna hear of any others with similar problems!  I will have to buy some better mags and just keep shooting to see what happens.  I hope this is just a break-in issue.

Just thought I would throw my 2 cents in.

I can fire Adcom, Federal, Winchester,  Remington, any kinda of brass surplus but when I use Wolf, my gun will experience malfunctions.

I tested this by using brass only for about 6 months, a good 5,000 rounds with only maybe two malfunction and that was due to a crappy magazine.

Then today I go shooting and one of my friends brings me 12 boxes, 20 rounds each Wolf, I have 7 or 8 malfunctions.

As soon as I read "unknown mags" the bells went off... 99% chance that's your problem.

Quoted: As soon as I read "unknown mags" the bells went off... 99% chance that's your problem.

+1

Esepcially the kind of problem that is being described.