Hey Guys,

I'm a new AR owner and yesterday I finally had an opportunity to try the gun out at the range. I purchased 3 different rounds to see which will work better with my rifle...

Federal American Eagle .223 Rem. Full Metal Jacket Boat Tail, 55 Grain
Brown Bear .223 Rem. Full Metal Jacket Steel Cased
Federal Lake City XM193 .223/5.56 NATO Full Metal Jacket Boat Tail

Before I even get to try all three the AR starting to jam right after the first round. I loaded 3 magazines but never got to try them all as it kept jamming. It would fire but not extract the round. I would undo the jam by releasing the mag and cock it again to extract the empty round in the chamber. Since the gun is new, is lubricate/oil nesserry before taking it out the range? Btw, i never got to try FLC .223/5.56. I was fedup and just shot my friends 22. I know you guys here have a lot on knowledge, so any pointer/help in this matter will be greatly appreciated. TIA

Mike

The barrel and chamber should have been cleaned and BCG should have been lubed well. What ammo were you have the jamming issues with? If it was the Brown Bear, throw it away. That is cheap crappy ammo.

Here are some great instructions as to which parts of your rifle need to be lubed:
http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b=3&f=7&t=548967

Oh and here's an amazing video regarding maintenance. If you don't already know:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW4DQ5QlwrA

Definitely clean down your whole upper receiver. Barrel, chamber, BCG with Hoppe's or some other solvent.
Then wipe dry and make sure there's no factory grease anywhere. Then lube as above.
I use Frog Lube and I find it works really well. Yes, it's really important that you clean and lube a factory rifle out of the box before shooting.

You don't need to do anything to the lower. Keep it dry.

Barrel: Get a good one piece cleaning rod, brushes and jags if you don't have one. You want a good copper solvent like KG-12, as well as a powder solvent like Hoppe's No.9, and any gun oil. I run a wet patch of KG-12 through my barrel, let it sit for a bit, wet a nylon brush with KG-12 and run it through the barrel several times. Then I run a few dry patches. Next, run a copper brush wet with Hoppe's a few times, and dry patch. Barrel should be perfectly clean. Then run a oily patch through the barrel and you're done.

For light shooting and regular maintenance, use a boresnake. But nothing replaces a good rod and cleaning products for a good regular "monthly" (depends how much you shoot) cleaning.

As for ammunition, I personally don't shoot steel through my AR's, I shoot brass exclusively. Try to get some decent ammunition like Federal or PMC .223 bulk.

What brand of AR do you own? If you're running a decent quality American made rifle, then I reckon your main issue is the fact that the rifle may be dirty. Guns need to be well maintained for good results. :)

At minimum.... you should disassemble, wipe down, and relube a new firearm.

You need to make sure there are no problems with the parts or stray chaff from machining stuck in places, and that there is proper lube on the firearm so it can function.

this is a great place to start

Thanks guys for all your respond. :)

The rifle is factory new. I was having jamming issues with Federal American Eagle and then Brown Bear but never got around to using Federal Lake. I have purchased an Otis cleaning kit and a Bore snake. A friend had suggest to run the snake through the barrel first before firing and do light cleaning. So, I took out the bolt and cleaned it but I was thinking I might have not oiled it enough.

Dom, Marine, thanks for the pointers. Dom, those are very helpful links. Thank you :)

Where in CA are you? Where are you shooting...well, trying to shoot? Follow the advice of the guys here and you'll have that thing running in no time.

No problem bud! Happy to help.

Don't do a "light" cleaning. make sure you throughly clean it and lube the hell out of it.

I would definitely clean the chamber well with a chamber brush and inspect it. It is possible that it has a chamber that is too tight. I've heard of M&P 15's that had to be sent back to S&W due to this and the factory reams the chamber and all is well. And yes, oil is your friend on a new rifle .

Cxwrench, I'm in Yuba City which is 45min north of Sacramento. Sacramento has a indoor range (The Gun Range) which is open 9:00AAm to 10:00PM 7 days. If your close then let's get together and have some fun!

I have been looking at several youtube clips on cleaning AR and some say lube/oil the chamber while others say not so much because all it will do is attract more carbon gunk. I know I can't go wrong with advice here. So, I'll be lubing/oiling it good. Thanks guys!

Mike

I've checked out that range online, if I come up I'll shoot you a message. I'm down in Marin County. If you haven't seen it yet, check out http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_128/638178_AR15_Basics_forum_FAQ.html , there's some great information inside.

Oh so your by north of San Fransico. If I'm down that way I'll bring my rifle but if your ever down this way just let me know Btw, thanks for the link as it does have good info.