View Full Version : New Ar bolt catch and feeding issues!
Hi guys I am new here and was recommended to this forum I recently built a new Ar which I took out to shoot for the first time today and it was having a couple issues.
1) Every couple shots the round would eject and the bolt would go forward without loading the next round in the mag.
2) Bolt would not hold open on the last shot.
When I have an empty magazine bolt catch works perfectly. The gun consists of these parts.
JD machine lower
Palmetto state armory lpk
BCM mid length upper
Bcm BGG
BCM charging handle
magpul 10/30 pmag
carbine buffer and spring
any help would be greatly appreciated
thank you
Brett
How many mags did you have this problem with?
Are you running BAD lever by chance?
If not, check how much play there is in the bolt catch. If it is really loose in the channel, that could be your problem.
C4
I had sorta the same problem recently. It would cycle the rounds but fail to hold the bolt open. I switched out the carbine buffer for a H2 and it cleared up everything. Yours however since it wont cycle sounds undergassed and not pushing the bolt back far enough. Do you remember what the ejection pattern is? Will it hold the bolt open manually? How far can you pull the bolt back past the bolt catch? Just a few questions to make sure things are mechanically ok. It could just be a new gun needing a little extra lube. Or as mentioned earlier, it might just be a bad mag or underpowered ammo.
How many mags did you have this problem with?
I only tried one 10/30 pmag because thats all I took with me
Are you running BAD lever by chance?
If not, check how much play there is in the bolt catch. If it is really loose in the channel, that could be your problem.
C4
no Im not using a bad lever, theres not to much play in the bolt catch it seems to work perfectly
I had sorta the same problem recently. It would cycle the rounds but fail to hold the bolt open. I switched out the carbine buffer for a H2 and it cleared up everything. Yours however since it wont cycle sounds undergassed and not pushing the bolt back far enough. Do you remember what the ejection pattern is? Will it hold the bolt open manually? How far can you pull the bolt back past the bolt catch? Just a few questions to make sure things are mechanically ok. It could just be a new gun needing a little extra lube. Or as mentioned earlier, it might just be a bad mag or underpowered ammo.
it will hold the bolt open manually and it seems to eject fine but must not be cycling back all the way to load the new round
Sounds to me like it's under gassed. What ammo? Try some 5.56 ammo and see if that fixes the problem. Could very well be weak ammo.
Sounds to me like it's under gassed. What ammo? Try some 5.56 ammo and see if that fixes the problem. Could very well be weak ammo.
Tula ammo, ive shot this ammo on an older rifle I used to have with the exact same upper build
Tula ammo, ive shot this ammo on an older rifle I used to have with the exact same upper build
Stop right there. This ammo is pure crap. Buy some decent ammo and report back.
C4
Tula ammo, ive shot this ammo on an older rifle I used to have with the exact same upper build
That is your problem. Run some 5.56 ammo like I said and your problem is very likely to go away. Because it ran in one gun doesn't mean that it will run with the gas system on another rifle.
Also FWIW Tula is shit ammo. ;)
ok ill report back when I can buy decent ammo lol sold out everywhere
Tula is garbage and needs to be binned. BCM uppers are supposed to be fired with 5.56 ammo or a better .223 load.
Tula ammo, ive shot this ammo on an older rifle I used to have with the exact same upper build
Thomas M-4
12-25-12, 01:58
Tula is garbage and needs to be binned. BCM uppers are supposed to be fired with 5.56 ammo or a better .223 load.
Iraqgunz is right if you are trouble shooting a rifle use full power ammunition to test funcanalitly.
Especially with a brand new gun. Once it is broken in well it will probably cycle tula ok. I put a brand new BCM 14.5 on a SOG lower a few years ago. At first it wouldnt shoot the steel stuff but 5K rounds of brass 193 later it will cycle anything I put it in, Good ammo and lots of oil.
Especially with a brand new gun. Once it is broken in well it will probably cycle tula ok. I put a brand new BCM 14.5 on a SOG lower a few years ago. At first it wouldnt shoot the steel stuff but 5K rounds of brass 193 later it will cycle anything I put it in, Good ammo and lots of oil.
I hope so because I dont like having guns that are picky with certain ammo.
apparently this bears repeating:
NEVER consider a gun related problem based on a guns performance with ONE mag or ONE type of ammo.
the major problems with AR's not working fall into the following categories:
1) inadequate or improper lubrication
2) bad mags
3) incompatible ammo
those accout for probably 95+% of ar function issues. they need to be eliminated first before thinking it is the gun.
as far as number 3, some guns will run with russian ammo some won't. (I have even seen this with identical makes and models -one guys model x brand y functions fine with ammo "A" but another shooters identical model rifle will not.)
when a rifle doesn't function properly, the first steps to take should be:
1) lubricate adequately
2) bring several types of ammo and several magazines with you to shoot.
identify if a particular ammo or mag is causing problems.
if so eliminate from inventory.
it has been said many times with target grade 22's and the same thing applies to ar's- with a new gun (or new-to -you) go to the range with a variety of ammo and find out what the gun likes best,buying a couple sample boxes of each type- once you figure out which ammo shoots best, go back and buy a bunch (or for the economy minded reload with the same formula)
tried some american eagle brass case ammo and no issues so it was just the ammo, thank you guys!
I know it's a little late, but I've had the same issues with a BCM mid-length upper. It shoots PMC and federal fine, but short strokes on Wolf and Herters (cabelas brand steel ammo).
I've come to the same conclusion; that these ammo brands are crap and underpowered. Don't know about Brown Bear or Silver Bear though.
Perhaps we should make this some sort of sticky because I predict a flood of newb-ish AR owners in the very near future with problems like these.
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NoveskeFan
01-04-13, 07:29
Both Silver Bear & PMC run fine through my BCM. Never tried Wolf or Tula.
I know it's a little late, but I've had the same issues with a BCM mid-length upper. It shoots PMC and federal fine, but short strokes on Wolf and Herters (cabelas brand steel ammo).
I've come to the same conclusion; that these ammo brands are crap and underpowered. Don't know about Brown Bear or Silver Bear though.
Perhaps we should make this some sort of sticky because I predict a flood of newb-ish AR owners in the very near future with problems like these.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.
Good to know about Silver Bear.
Yeah, PMC is gtg. My BCM eats x-tac xm855's like they're dark chocolate m&m's :)
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BCM 16 middy. Lube dripping wet with Slip 2000. Initial firing (iirc): 300 pmc 55g bronze brass, 300 ae 55g brass, 120 wolf 55g. wma steel, 60 silver bear 62g hp steel, 20 wolf 62g hp steel, 40 tula 55 g steel. Not one issue. Tula was noticably weak.
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