Ejection problem on a DPMS upper

[Hallboss]

DPMS upper assembly with 16" bull barrel assembled by DPMS. Only about 100 rounds through it so far.

Problem: When a live round is chambered and I attempt to eject the round manually with the charging lever, it takes every ounce of strength I have to pull the charging lever and eject the shell.

This is my first AR so I have ZERO experience and thought this was somehow normal, mostly because the weapon is new and it acted the same with many different brands of ammo.

The action is very smooth when unloaded and shows no signs of dragging. There is no problems ejecting when the gun is fired.

My BIL looked at it and said it appears the barrel is not seated, but without the proper tools and guages he could not tell for sure.

Don't know if this makes any difference, but the lower is a CMMG with a DMPS lower parts group. No other fitment problems.

Any ideas?
Thanks

[AirmanAtwood]

Are you shooting 5.56 out of a .223 chamber?
or are you shooting reloaded ammo?
If the rounds are getting stuck in the chamber it is probably a tightness problem.

[Hallboss]

All brands of ammo (winchester, wolf, hornady) were all .223 which is what the upper is chambered in. The problem is not evident when it is fired as far as I can tell. The only time the problem becomes evident is when I try to eject an unspent cartirage with the charging handle.

All loads are factory.

[ether]

I bet it's a headspacing problem. I had the same symptoms with a DSA SA58 FAL when they first tried to use the new FN chrome lined barrels (which were crap due to tight headspacing and chamber). The first time I tried to eject an unspent cartridge, it left the bullet in the barrel...it made a good bullet puller. It also had problems extracting spent cases because the chamber was either too tight or headspacing was just too shallow. DSA took care of me, though...after they replaced the first barrel with another one just like it which gave the exact same results, they just replaced that barrel with a chrome lined Argentine or Brazillian barrel they had laying around. Sounds like you might need a new barrel as well.

[Iraqgunz]

Hallboss,

I would have someone ream the chamber with Ned Christiansens' chamber reamer and see if that cures it.

[Hallboss]

Thanks for the help. I was finally able to get ahold of someone at DPMS and he told me there was no problem and "You have a really tight chamber. That is good though, the tighter the chamber the more accurate the gun will be. It will loosen up and get easier to eject the more rounds you put through it."

That doesn't sound right. Does that sound right to anyone else?

[ether]

No...I believe that chamber is either too tight or the headspacing is too shallow...do you have a way to measure the overall length of the cartridge before and after chambering?

[tweakmeister]

It's DPMS, what do you expect?

Suggest the 5.56 reamer that is being talked about can be found here: http://www.m-guns.com/tools.php

[markm]

I'd have the headspace checked by someone who isn't an idiot. (I'm not calling you an idiot, I'm saying don't let an idiot do the checking... Some goofball drilled through his barrel the other day. So I'm a little pissy about retards working on ARs. )

If that checks out, I'd guess it's chamber reaming time. You SHOULD be able to eject a live round with normal effort.

JEEZ!!! DMPS is starting to sound like the Imbeciles at OLYMPIC ARMs.

[Skintop911]

If it's a DPMS, ream it.

[Hallboss]

LOL, I know you are not calling me an idiot, but I am the first to admit that I AM NOT A GUNSMITH and it will be going to a gunsmith if it needs to be reamed.

As far as an OAL checker, I do not have any way to acurately measure the cartirage. I do appreciate the suggestions, however this is beyond my capabilities and I will take it to a professional. I guess this is why I bought a prebuilt upper so I didn't have to deal with someone elses "F" ups.

Thanks again guys

BTW, If I remove the bolt and drop a shell straight into the chamber, should the rim sit flush with the chamber or should it sit up a quarter inch like it does. If that does not make sense, say so and I'll take a pic.

[RWK]

Originally Posted by Hallboss

I was finally able to get ahold of someone at DPMS and he told me there was no problem and "You have a really tight chamber. That is good though, the tighter the chamber the more accurate the gun will be. It will loosen up and get easier to eject the more rounds you put through it."

That doesn't sound right. Does that sound right to anyone else?

I say that's a BS response on the part of DPMS. Like several others have suggested, check the headspacing and ream the chamber. Better yet, RMA it back to DPMS and let them fix it.

BTW, what you've described is an extraction problem, not an ejection problem.

[decodeddiesel]

Originally Posted by Hallboss

Thanks for the help. I was finally able to get ahold of someone at DPMS and he told me there was no problem and "You have a really tight chamber. That is good though, the tighter the chamber the more accurate the gun will be. It will loosen up and get easier to eject the more rounds you put through it."

That doesn't sound right. Does that sound right to anyone else?

That is the biggest crock of shit (non political related) I have read in a long time. They machined the chamber incorrectly, end of story. They just don't want to fess up and deal with it now.

Hallboss, have a reputable gunsmith who KNOWS AR-15s check it out. From an armorers standpoint I would agree it's an extraction issue, but I think it's probably an incorrect chamber dimensions causing it. Look at the recent thread Iraqgunz started on DPMS, I think it got locked but it's still a good reference on DPMS.

I don't want to beat a dead horse here but it's crap like this which prompts users of this forum to not recommend DPMS.

[Hallboss]

double post

[scottryan]

I would try to get this fixed then sell off this upper and buy something quality.

[Iraqgunz]

Thread hijack in progress. BTW- There is a guy in Pennsylvania by the name of William (Bill) Ricca I think the website is BillRicca.com. He has original U.S military M16 Field headspace gages on his site. They are they drop in version that do not require removing the extractor. I promptly bought 2 of them. The wife said they were still sealed in the foil packet when they arrived at the house.

[Hallboss]

That is what ticks me off, is the reason I bought a DPMS was because I thought they were a reputable company.

I guess what I need to do, is have a smith look at it-tell me it is a manufacturing problem and then send it back to DPMS with that info. Otherwise, I don't know how I can send it back to DPMS when they're stating it's not their problem, unless another porfessional is willing to state DPMS screwed up.

Which brings me to another question that DPMS answered. They told me that a 20" bull barreled .223 is easily a 600 meter prairie dog gun and that configuration could easily take a coyote at 400 meters.

I searched that question out and was bombarded with results that really didn't answer my question. I want to build another AR (I have a second lower) and want a 500 meter target round that will also take small game at 300-400 meters. Is that possible or am I freebasing?

Edit: I just read Iraqgunz post on DPMS and agree that what he saw was substandard. There is no way I would take this thing anywhere but to the range, I know it does not have the quality. That is why we have Colt, Noveske and companies alike. They are responsible for producing fine pieces of art that function 100% everytime. DPMS, Oly and others make items for people like me. Not professionals who rely on that firearm for protaction of their life. For me AR's are too damn hard to get in CA for me to use it in some type of defense scenario and have my friends in LE take it from me and tie it up for years as "evidence." This is why I have a Mossy 590, if it gets taken-I'll go buy another.

I guess my question is, who makes an upper that is in the price range of an Oly or DPMS that has quality.

Thanks again guys for the great advice and answers. I appreciate you listening to the ramblings of a "wannabe" newb.

[Hallboss]

Originally Posted by scottryan

I would try to get this fixed then sell off this upper and buy something quality.

If you can find me a carbine upper, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

Originally Posted by Iraqgunz

Thread hijack in progress. BTW- There is a guy in Pennsylvania by the name of William (Bill) Ricca I think the website is BillRicca.com. He has original U.S military M16 Field headspace gages on his site. They are they drop in version that do not require removing the extractor. I promptly bought 2 of them. The wife said they were still sealed in the foil packet when they arrived at the house.

I know my limits, and working on a firearm (anything beyond cleaning it) is way out of my league.

Thanks

[Iraqgunz]

HB,


It's so simple a caveman can do it. Insert gage into chamber, place BCG into upper and push it forward using light finger pressure. If it locks into place then you have excessive headspace, if it doesn't then you are GTG.

In your case I am 99% certain that hedspace isn't a factor here. But, you do more than likely have a tight chamber and you should either get the barrel replaced, ream it or buy a complete upper as Scottryan mentioned. If you are looking for DPMS to help good luck. Getting them to admit that their guns are crap is like getting a crackhead to admitting he has a problem.

Originally Posted by Hallboss

If you can find me a carbine upper, I would buy it in a heartbeat.



I know my limits, and working on a firearm (anything beyond cleaning it) is way out of my league.

Thanks

[decodeddiesel]

Originally Posted by Iraqgunz

Getting them to admit that their guns are crap is like getting a crackhead to admitting he has a problem.

LOL, that was a good laugh.