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Thread: Learn from my stupidity

  1. #1
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    Learn from my stupidity

    So I tend to handle my rifles on almost a daily basis. Dry firing, fiddling around etc. My safe sits in my home office and I work from home so plenty of opportunity for me to mess stuff up. Anyway, my 7.62 x 39 build starting exhibiting issues with the BCG not going all the way back into battery when racking the charging handle. It was hanging up on the gas key to gas tube interface. Not a ton of rounds through the gun (around 1000) so nothing should have worn out that quickly. So I assumed it was an alignment issue between the gas tube and key. Took the bolt out of the carrier and the CH out of the upper and spent 20 minutes with a light in my mouth and a flat head in one hand trying to see if I could see where the interference was occurring before I either tweaked the gas tube or replaced the gas tube or even the gas key (on which I could find no signs of deformation or rubbing which also confused me somewhat.) Then I put the stripped carrier in one of my other ARs and it dropped freely with no issues, eliminating the gas key as the culprit. Now I am perplexed. Then I notice that as I was contacting the gas tube with the screw driver that it wasn't just fouling built up around the gas tube. There was this filthy muck (Fletch reference) on the tube. After my last range trip I used wipe out to give the bore a good cleaning. I also cleaned out the upper with CLP after doing that. But what I must not have done is gotten all of it off the gas tube. So it had finally gunked up to the point that it was hanging up when trying to enter the gas key. It was lacquer like in consistency. Derp. A good cleaning of the gas key and tube and its back to functioning 100%

    My mistakes were two fold. First was not giving it a proper cleaning after using the wipe out. I know better and could have sworn I did this. Apparently not. Second was that when the problem surfaced, based on past experience, I was 100% sure I knew what the cause was. I was wrong and my bias led me down a specific path and ignore other potential causes. I eventually got there but it was kind of by accident and not intent. Real world example of how bias can prevent you from finding the true cause of an issue. That and sloppy cleaning.

  2. #2
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    Hey Dutch110, thanks for sharing that. It could happen to anyone of us and I have my one stories of experience and bias that have had me chasing ghost issues. It happens, we learn (hopefully), and get to laugh about it once it's fixed.

  3. #3
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    A nice little lesson. Thanks for the reminder, and the Fletch reference (the books are funny as hell by the way).


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by jbjh View Post
    A nice little lesson. Thanks for the reminder, and the Fletch reference (the books are funny as hell by the way).


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    What kind of name is Pune?

    Comanche Indian.

    I'm just glad I didn't tear the gas block and tube off. That is where I was headed next and given how the block is attached to that thing........there would have been a lot of profanity.

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