I just bought a new Adams Arms 14.5" Mid Tactical Evo in 5.56. I have owed other AR's but I would not consider myself especially knowledgeable on them. So I say that so maybe you could help me with figuring out what I should be looking at to fix my issues. My issues are with feeding. I have had a couple different feeding issues as well as the bolt does not lock back on the last round. One being that the live round gets stuck pointing towards the left and upward. The other feeding issue is that it will not even take a round out of the magazine but it would blow the bolt back enough to cock the hammer. I made sure that the gas setting is on "semi auto" (which is the 12 o'clock position). I was having these issues just about ever round to every 2-5 round fired. I am hoping that someone can please help explain what I can do or what I can look at that could explain the reason it is doing this. I was having the problems when using the 2 MagPul M3 30 round PMags I have. I was shooting what I have always shot out of my AR's PMC Bronze .223 Remington 55-Grain FMJ BT. I shot 140 rounds total. At first I was shooting with the stock 30 round steel magazine and only shooting 3 rounds at a time to sight in my rifle (yes it took me all 30 rounds I don't have a nack for sighting in iron sights like others lol). I did not have any problems with the stock steel magazine other than it did not lock back on the last round. But I am guessing that I did not have problems with it because I was only shooting 3 rounds at a time then unloading from the chamber, loading back again and shooting. The bolt not locking back I thought was because of the magazine so I put an empty magazine in and tried to see if it will lock it back with me just pulled the charging handle and it did lock back on all three magazines but it will not do so on the last shot. A.A. did tell me that my rifle is rated to shoot 55-79 Grain (I thought maybe 55 Grain is to under powered)
Thank you for any help.

Run it wet, make sure it is well lubricated.  It is breaking in and the parts are mating, so it is acting under gassed due to friction.  I bet that if you also purchase some 5.56 ammo it will start to run w/o a hiccup.

One thing I do when I have issues as you describe is to load one round in the chamber, no mag or an empty mag, fire and see if it will lock open, if not, under gassed.  

After a few hundred 5.56 rounds it ought to be broken in, then go back to your normal lube method and .223, then see if she doesn't run like a "SAA."

If it still does not run call AA or start changing buffer and or buffer spring.

Oh, and make sure you have the piston set wide open per instructions.

"Breaking in" might be part of it.  But from my past experience with new AA piston setups, you need about 100-200 rounds to help seal up around the gas block.  That might even be true for DI guns, as well.

The last time I pulled my gas block off one of my AA uppers and put it back on, the gun would not lock the BCG back on the last round for a while.  That last for about 100 or so rounds and then just stopped and everything was back to working like it should.  The gun was well broken in before that, so that's why I believe it has everything to do with the gas block being sealed up and not much else.

If you shoot a round without a mag, of course it will not lock open

What was I thinking?  You are correct.

Thank you all. I really appreciate all of the help in trying to at least knock out the simple issues. I will have to try all of that when I go to the range next. I will be going Monday. I will lube it up extra this time around and also try what you said and load just one round in a magazine to see if it will lock back then. And I will grab some 5.56 ammo instead of using the .223 like before. Also I have had many DI AR's but never a Piston AR. Am I supposed to lube the piston as well? If so I wonder if that could explain the issues because that is basically the only part I did not lubricate before heading to the range. Anyways, thank you all again I greatly appreciate all of the help on this and I will definitely let y'all know how it turned out on Monday after my trip to the range.

Foreword: And we have yet another tale of an AA rifle that will not run right right out of the box. Adams, I hope someone with Officers / Directors powers is reading this.
You make a very good product at a fair price but please tighten up on quality control before the product ships and give consideration to making it function with commonly available .223 and Steel Case rounds (i.e the inexpensive ammo).

Every firearm deserves a fair bedding and break-in period, but with modern CNC tolerances, precision dies & tooling, manufacturing and QC processes (no one expects ISO9001 but elements of the standard can be put into practice) it is unusual to have as many break-in period hiccups and malfunctions as is reported from owners of Adams' products vs. other Gas Piston manufacturers.

---------------------------
Cowboy, I own the same rifle. The general consensus with AA rifles is if you're having failures out the box, first try full powered ammo (AA's do not function very well with .223 and light loaded rounds). Of course it goes without saying make sure the  plug was on the right Full-Gas setting during the previous malfunctions. If still experiencing issues, go through the following punch list:  

First, field strip the rifle, check for anything that could be binding or unusual nick/wear patterns. If you see something that is out of sorts, contact AA for an RMA and send it back.

If not, next step is to check the gas block.  Inspect the block and make sure it's tight (it should be pinned, not screwed since you have an AA upper not a retrofit kit) and aligned property. If that's off, RMA it.

If the block checks out and the lower is good to go,  lubricate the rifle appropriately (sopping wet isn't necessary), carefully reassemble, then run full powered loads (no .223, no Bear / Tula / Wolf) until about 200 rounds have been sent down the pipe. This is the usual round count that most people report back as having expended before having reached a level of cycle reliability which they would find acceptable.

If after 200 rounds the rifle is still not functioning correctly, RMA time.


For my other personal opinions and the struggles I experienced with my rifle, you can read the links below at your leisure.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_126/667230_Adams_Arms_Quality_.html&page=1#i6752339

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_126/661003__ARCHIVED_THREAD____ADAMS_ARMS_mid_tact_elite_won_t_go_boom.html&page=1#i6668038

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_126/661003__ARCHIVED_THREAD____ADAMS_ARMS_mid_tact_elite_won_t_go_boom.html&page=1#i6702318

Not to hijack, just piggy back:

Yesterday I took my carbine out with my AA piston newly installed. It felt good and the rifle was still exactly zeroed where I left it with the gas system. But it would not extract a single round. I'd insert a magazine, chamber a round (both with the release and with the charging handle) and after each shot it would reset to 'click.'

Obviously this means the bolt wasn't going back far enough to strip a new round, or I'd have had both FTE and FTF, right? To be fair, I was running Bear. If this sounds like break in period, I'm cool with that. Just wasn't expecting this kind of failure. Underpowered loads or under gassed shouldn't affect ejection though, right?

Suggestions? Thank you!

Mine is similar to OP's:  16" Mid Base Rifle (Blem)
Changed the buttstock to Vltor Emod & replaced the trigger with ALG ACT & BCMGUNFIGHTER Compensator Mod 0.
I have had no problems with any type of mags or any type of ammo (brass, steel, 55gr, 62gr, .223, 5.56).  Less than 500 rounds through it.  I only load 20 rounds in 30 round mags
AA is as reliable as my DI AR.
Did have a primer blowout which jammed up the whole action, bolt wouldn't go into battery.
Also found a piece of the primer wedged into the locking lugs.  ADDCOM M855

Reset to click. Boy does that sound familiar.

Actually the .223 / lower powered loads could and would effect ejection.

If the expelled gasses aren't at high enough pressures, the rod doesn't have enough energy to push the BCG with enough force to overcome the initial spring compression in the buffer tube. It results in the classic 'short stroke' scenario. (Same thing could happen if you're running an extra power spring or too heavy a buffer as well).

Those are always fun. You get a mixed bag of malfunctions. Maybe it's a FTE the first time. Next time it's a clean ejection, but a FTF. Next time it could be a Stovepipe.
Horrayyyy!

(1) Change your ammo. Adams tends to function without fault with 5.56. I've read far too many mix results with the aforementioned lighter loads.

(2) Check your buffer weight. Adam's uppers are designed around a standard 3 oz. buffer, not an H2 as is the most popular upgrade for many AR owners.

(3) Double check your barrel's gas hole and the gas block hole. Ensure they are properly centered and aligned.

Awesome. On it. Thank you so much.

mine is a 16" mid, upgraded to a H2 buffer.

but never had any problems shooting brown and silver bear .223 or any domestic .223 like Remington or American Eagle. i only have Pmags, 1st or 2nd gen.

the port hole might not be fully aligned, not enough gas getting to the piston, or buffer too heavy or spring too strong. might have to send to back to AA and have them check it out.

I've had to break in my AA 5.45 upper 200-400 rounds of 7N6 surplus before it would cycle without a hitch on tula or wolf.  The upper was built for the 7N6, so I never saw an issue.  I bought a BUDS blem AA rifle during the sale and its been flawless until I put a new POF lower under the upper.  The issue only happened when I was standing and braced the handstop against a post or pole while shooting and the rifle would struggle ejecting and fully cycling.  Any other position was no issue and I thought it had to do with cycling inertia and its interaction with me vs a fixed object.  I was baffled until I cleaned the gun and found no lube in the buffer tube.  Problem solved. Ends out there was just enough friction for the cycling to be affected, given the right circumstances.

Well... Unfortunately I was not able to go to the range on Monday seeing how my ammo that was supposed to be here by then never came. (I am pretty sure that I need ammo lol) So I will be going to the range and try and see if I can work out the bugs. I have 62 grain 5.56 and regular 55 grain 5.56 ammo this time around instead of the .223 I was shooting the first time around. I also had lubricated just about everything that moves on that rifle that could have caused the issues. I will also be checking the magazines because I was told by a buddy who had similar issues but in a DI AR. He said that he had to hold and push on the magazines he was using (MagPul Gen3 PMags) for some reason he said that it worked. He said that he did that and the feeding issues stopped also said that it only does that with the Gen3 PMags and not the Gen2 or the steel magazines. (Weird right? Never heard of that before.) Anyways, thank you all for all of the advice and help on this matter. I do greatly appreciate it. I will definitely let y'all know how it all works out once I get back from the range.

Oh and also I forgot to say something else. When I cleaned it after the first trip to the range the whole bolt carrier and BCG was dirty as heck and even the firing pin was black with crap all over it and I had only shot 138 round through it... Also again like I stated in my first posting, I did not shoot steel or aluminum cased rounds and I do not shoot reloads. I was shooting what I have always shot out of my AR's, other rifles, and handguns... PMC Bronze. I was shooting PMC Bronze 55-Grain FMJ. I could not see how with a Piston AR-15 the whole BCG was that nasty after only 138 rounds. I was led to believe with "Piston Driven" AR's Vs. "Direct impingement" AR's the Piston Driven AR's run cleaner since the gas in expelled out of the barrel where the Direct Impingement AR's go through the gas tube back to the bolt. But I know with the piston AR's you will inevitably still get dirty in the BCG but not after 138 rounds... Am I wrong in assuming this? I know I should have cleaned it good before heading to the range the first time and I normally always do so but this time I decided to skip that step and just lubricate it and go. So I cannot tell you how dirty it was before hand. I know I should have cleaned it before I took it out to shoot the first time around but I didn't, call it lazy, call it being overly excited. But either way its clean now and hopefully it will shoot flawlessly this Tuesday or Wednesday!

RE: Your dirty BCG.

The first break-in run tends to burn off gunk and excess lube leftover from the build process. It adds to the fouling output.

As you also know with a GP gun, most, but not all of the carbon fouling and gasses are pushed out the front of the gun through the gas plug.
Of course there is still lingering carbon after each shot that gets moved during the bolt cycle.

If you're using inexpensive ammo, it usually uses powder that burn very dirty and add to a noticeable increase in fouling.

I have 3 AA/Huldra rifles and all of them ran wolf .223 right out of the box.  These were the early rifles though, the ones with unmarked Vodoo barrels.

I bolted an AA kit on my 12.5" SBR 6-7? years ago. Did an overall inspection after assembly. Went to range, ran 3 mags through it open & suppressed. I run a H6 buffer (for suppressed shooting) The only issue i had,  not enough ammo for that trip.
I do have an occasional issue with Tula. Usually the 1st or 2nd round reminds me to run it in the suppressor position mode. Other than that. it's been smooth running.

To be fair nothing is perfect , sometimes it requires a tweak here or there. OR back to the mfg for inspection.
I'm of the mind before one post Issues they have with any item. Why not contact the mfg first.   YMMV

Well I just got back from the range and it shot great (Not like the first time around). I shot 140 rounds of PMC XTAC 5.56 NATO 55-Grain FMJ which shot flawlessly. I also got some Winchester 5.56 NATO 62-Grain HP ammo (The FBI Contracted ammo) and I shot 30 rounds of that. I only had 1 issue with that ammo, I had a FTF and I took the round out of the magazine to examine it and I do not know if it happened before I loaded the magazine or after the FTF but the actual projectile had the tip of the HP broken off. (Again I don't know if it happened before I even loaded the magazine or it it was because of the FTF) I also shot 42 rounds of the PMC Bronze .223 REM 55-Grain FMJ ammo (The same ammo I was shooting the first time around when I was having all of the issues). This time around I had no issues with FTF or anything of the sorts. The only issue I had with that ammo was it again did not lock back on the last round. I believe it is exactly what a couple of y'all said "It is just under powered." compared with the 5.56 NATO ammo. On  both the PMC XTAC 5.56 and the Winchester 5.56 the bolt locked back on the last round, so that tells me that the .223 is not locking back because it is under powered.
Thank you all so very much for all of your help. I greatly appreciate it all.

That could also be a magazine issue. As i mentioned i don't have issues with any 223 (not 5.56) ammo locking the bolt back after last round fired.

I would agree with you if it did not do the same thing with 3 different magazines. I was using MagPul Gen2 & Gen3 PMags and the stock steel magazine. And it only did that when shooting .223. But when I would shoot my 5.56 ammo it would run flawlessly and the bolt would lock back every time with no issues. So in my mind it cannot be the magazines but I also do not think that it is all on the ammo either. I believe simply that the gun needs to still be broken in a little more, the springs are still very tight and need to be broken in by a couple hundred rounds and using a less powered round such as the 223 just does not do it like the 5.56 NATO round does. Some people get a new gun and it is pretty much already broken in or is already broken in from the testing they do at the manufacture. But some people get a new gun and it is not as broken in at all. Every AA Tactical Evo 14.5" is the same when speaking of parts but not all are the same when speaking about how they are broken in. It just comes down to some take longer to break in than others.
Again that is only my opinion on it. And y'all know what they say about opinions lol.