Need help with AR

[-boatman-]

I have a carbine length AR that has never given me any trouble until the last few times I have shot it. After shooting somewhere around a full magazine it extracts the empty, turns it loose without ejecting, and tries to load another round. The empty then keeps the bolt from moving forward. Cleaning and lube clears it up for a while. This has happened the last three times I have shot it.

I have not seen anything when I cleaned it that would point to a problem. There is nothing under the extractor and it still has lube. The extractor seems to have plenty of tension. It really does not appear to need cleaning but this fixes it. I am shooting Federal value pack ammo and it has always shoot well. Any ideas on where to look?

[Rightwinger]

Your going to have to go through the process of narrowing this down. First thought is try other ammo. If it continues it's your rifle. If you have access to another AR, try swaping bolts. If the Federal shoots fine with another bolt, it's your bolt. Then your down to replacing the extractor spring or extractor itself. It may be worn.

[DarrellG]

How many rounds total do you think you've put through the rifle? If it's close or over 2K then you should rebuild your bolt assembly and as cheap as the parts are, I would rebuild it anyway. If you look at the extractor check the spring to see how it's seated. is it mashed all the way in or missing the spring insert? You also might take a look at your gas tube where it enters the upper receiver and see if it's bent.

[Guest redbarron06]

What kind of shape is the ejector in?

[Guest nosnos]

How many rounds total do you think you've put through the rifle? If it's close or over 2K then you should rebuild your bolt assembly and as cheap as the parts are, I would rebuild it anyway.

Seriously?! You should rebuild the bolt completely after 2000 rounds? Man....

Trying any easy to change variable sounds like a plan, like its been said. You might even want to try a different lube if it seems to be gumming up again quickly. Another AR would really help the troubleshooting.

[-boatman-]

No where near 2K rounds through this rifle. The extractor and ejector seems to be fine. I may go ahead and get a spring for the extractor to start with and get my son to bring his over to trouble shoot with.

I noticed something when cleaning it that I have never noticed before and it may be that I have never paid enough attention to see it. I was spraying cleaner into the gas tube and some of it came out of the gas tube roll pin in the gas block. Is this normal or could I be loosing some pressure there that may be causing this?

[raydog1]

Just curious: Were you spraying cleaner in the gas tube for troubleshooting purposes, or is this something you normally do?

[-boatman-]

Just curious: Were you spraying cleaner in the gas tube for troubleshooting purposes, or is this something you normally do?

I do it occasionally when cleaning.

[-boatman-]

I think I got it fixed. I replaced the extractor and spring but I think the spring was what was problem. I could not see any difference in the extractors other than the finish worn on the old one but the new spring was a lot stiffer than the old one. I had to work to get the pin back in compared to the old one. I put sixty rounds through it without any problems. Thanks for the help.

[Kevo]

Just curious if you use a chamber brush when cleaning the lugs. A friend told me to drip CLP all over the brush and then forcefully turn it seven rotations. Although I was hesitant as it seemed like a bad idea scouring my AR, all malfunctions ceased after I started doing this before and after every session. At around 200 rounds was when I started having issues. Unfortunately I would spend more time cleaning my AR than shooting it so I traded it off for a couple of AK's...

Edited June 22, 2010 by Kevo
Grammer

[-boatman-]

Just curious if you use a chamber brush when cleaning the lugs.

Yeah I use a chamber brush but I have not had any luck turning it. My brush came apart from turning so I push in and out. I can see where turning would clean better. Maybe I had a bad brush.

[Kevo]

I REALLY had to push that sucker in and turn it. Probably half of my force concentrated on pushing and the other half on turning. When I get home I believe I might have a chamber brush in my box of odds and ends, if so I'll PM you and gladly PIF. They're not expensive, but only place I could find one locally was at the Army Surplus store. Also the threads are different and it'll only work on a GI rod.

[-boatman-]

Thanks for the offer but I got another one. I'm just not taking any chances breaking this one so I have been pushing in and out instead of turning it.

[Guest ls2tiger]

Sounds like you got it fixed,glad to hear it. I have seen dirt/carbon build up around and under the extractor before. This caused a premature failier of the extractor spring. Taking the bolt assembly appart and giving it a good cleanout is a good idea.

How much wear was on the extractor? These parts are very precise and a small amount of wear can make a big difference.

[-boatman-]

How much wear was on the extractor? These parts are very precise and a small amount of wear can make a big difference.

I really did not see any wear on the extractor. Some of the finish was worn off. I put the new extractor in but I don't think there was anything wrong with the old one. I would not be afraid to put it back in. I feel like the spring was the only problem.

[Guest m24driver]

Glad you got it fixed. One of the most important springs to replace after 1500 or so rounds is the buffer spring. They will start causing short-stroking where the bolt carrier group travels slowly to the rear to extract and partially eject but travel forward too fast for the ejected case to clear the ejection port. Luckily buffer springs are only about 10 bucks and are replaced in about a minute through regular disassembly. It's the long coiled spring that rests inside the stock. Might also want to check that the two bolts that hold the gas key on top of the bolt carrier haven't come loose. Hopefully this explanation is a tad clearer than mud.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Without any photos to see, my bet is on the extractor

or springs. Could you post pics of the bolt?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[-boatman-]

It was the spring. It is working great now. When I saw how much more tension the new spring had when I was putting it back in the bolt I pretty well knew that was going to do it. It was really hard to push it far enough to insert the pin. I don't think it was that strong when new.