Tacsol .22 upper HELP !

[UNIT 6639]

Winchester 333's may have issues with uniformity, or maybe they're uniformly large...my Spike's upper had a out of battery kaboom with them.

Federal bulk pack stuff and CCI .22lr loads don't seem to have the same issues.

I broke it in with Federal Bulk pack, it ran great off that stuff, maybe I should stick to that, the 333 ran good too, I don't know what the deal with the 555 was, meh, no big deal, the Federal bulk is cheaper anyway, thanks everyone for responding.

[LastRites]

May have to try a Tac-sol again, sold an older one off a couple of years ago as I grew tried trying to get it to run consistantly, but it was accuate.

[GPalmer]

I have one of the TacSol LT uppers. It's been a mixed experience.

The good
1) God is that thing fun to shoot! I have serious cravings to go shoot it, more so than any firearm I've had in a long time. I get seriously cranky if I don't get to shoot it once a week.

2) Accuracy seems very good, when I do my part the results are there even with the crappy bulk pack ammo. Performance is good enough that it does let me work on my shooting technique. I originally thought it would be more of a help in CQB type drills. It shines there, but it's also good enough to let me work my position drills at 25 yards. Probably 50 also, but I'm old, it has no magnification and my eyes suck.

3) The size of the smile on my face leaving the range is huge when I realize how much I paid to fire that many rounds.

The bad
1) Most common failure mode seems to be jamming a cartridge in between the bolt and the charging handle. Since this upper is for training not just plinking and resolving the issue requires opening the AR-15 up to get the case out, it renders it rather questionable for cheap training.

2) It has a nasty habit of firing out of battery when it isn't happy. I bought every type of 22 LR AmmunitionToGo had in copper coated bullets as well as everything I could find locally, probably around 20 brands of factory fresh ammo. It likes the Win 333/555 36 gr Hollow Point and the Fiochi 38gr Copper Plated Hollow Point Ammo best with the Federal bulk pack coming in close behind. Everything else had serious issues with lots of out of battery incidents.

This last trip to the range really tried my nerves since over 375 rounds, I had 3-5 out of battery incidents and too many of the trapped case issues to really number of the top of my head. I'm guessing it was in the range of 10-15.

I'm wondering if part of the problem might be me running the bolt too wet. I was reading a post where someone mentioned that the Ciener type conversions like being wet so this last time I ran it pretty wet. Since that was the worst performance I've seen out of it with the Win ammo, I'm wondering if I should be running it dry. Any thoughts folks?

[orionz06]

I'm wondering if part of the problem might be me running the bolt too wet. I was reading a post where someone mentioned that the Ciener type conversions like being wet so this last time I ran it pretty wet. Since that was the worst performance I've seen out of it with the Win ammo, I'm wondering if I should be running it dry. Any thoughts folks?

Funny you mention this. I was advised to run mine wet, and after having a few ammo-hammer related issues, I have neglected to lube it, and the dryer it got, the better it has ran. And not so much dry, I just haven't cleaned it after it being torn down a few times.

[Robb Jensen]

Is there any reason you got rid of it?

It was redundant after buying a S&W M&P15-22 MOE. I sold it to a co-worker who loves it. We shot a bunch of rounds through it Saturday evening.

[austinN4]

Funny you mention this. I was advised to run mine wet, and after having a few ammo-hammer related issues, I have neglected to lube it, and the dryer it got, the better it has ran. And not so much dry, I just haven't cleaned it after it being torn down a few times.

Sloppy wet is not good. My CMMG conversion runs great with minimal lube. I use Slide Glide on the rails the bolt rides in and wipe the rest down with an slightly oily patch. No problems at all.

[rman43]

I have a TacSol M4 and an LT. I have had my trials with them also, but both are now accurate and reliable. I run them almost dry and that is what TacSol recommends. If you continue to have problems, call Lon at Tactical Solutions. He will get you fixed up.

See this link: https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=52222

[GPalmer]

I'm waiting for a call back from Lon now. I tried email and that didn't get much of a response so I called today. First blush results are that it looks like I might have an obsolete bolt configuration. I still have to grab the date code off the upper to be sure. If that's all it is, that would make life pretty darn good...

[rman43]

That was my problem on the M4 also and they got it fixed. Good luck with yours - Lon will fix you up.

[GPalmer]

Very impressive response from TacSol. I talked to Lon, the problems didn't seem to fit into any specific mold so the upper is going back to the mother ship for an evaluation. TacSol's stock just shot up in my book, it's great to have a manufacturer who stands behind their product. Of course, with firearms that is the best place to be...