Barrel reaming/extension alignment, extractor shearing, Stag warranty
I own a Stag Arms, Model 2. The gun feeds, fires, and ejects fine as best as a single AR owner can determine. But I am bringing up some issues with my upper as a warranty claim to Stag. They gave me the "run-around" and not being an expert myself, I thought someone here could provide some support. Here are my issues which I emailed to Stag after an unproductive phone call:
ISSUE #1:
When I tried to insert in a 22 conversion kit, it would get stuck on the barrel extension and not go in completely. Upon inspecting my barrel/extension, I've noticed that there is a slight lip where it meets the barrel in the 12 to 3 o'clock positions, directly opposite from where it was hitting my 22 kit. It seems to make logical mechanical sense that the barrel extension is misaligned in that direction. Other have told me that the lip I am seeing is actually a bad barrel reaming job. I also inspected the 22 kit both visually and with calipers and found no defect that might cause it to get stuck.
http://img38.imageshack.us/i/barrelextension.jpg/
ISSUE #2:
I'm encountering case rim damage in the 1 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions due the the edges of the extractor shearing some brass. This is not a post-fire extraction problem like some people have. I can drop an empty case in the chamber, slam the bolt forward, and then extract the now damaged case. Thus, the damage occurs as the bolt slams and the extractor crosses the case.
http://img43.imageshack.us/i/caseshearing.jpg/
ISSUE #3:
The front sight post may be slightly canted or suffers from some other alignment problem. I cannot tell visually where the problem is, but the rear sight requires excessive windage adjustments to zero to rifle. I've heard that the alignment of the front sight post, gas system, and barrel extension are all tied together.
Am I making a legitimate warranty claim that should be covered under their lifetime warranty from manufacturer defects? I don't want to badmouth Stag until all that can be said is said, but here is their email reply that kind of irked me:
"If our bolt is working with 5.56 ammunition then the rifle is considered to be in specification in regards to the camber. What your seeing is normal for brass as the extractor passes over it and into the lip on the ring. If you are having excessive windage issues I can set up a RMA to have the upper come back here to be inspected and repaired as needed."
Any knowledge that I could use would be most appreciated.
-Dan