my friend messed up my ar15. now what.

ftballgod · October 11, 2011, 09:04 PM

i have an colt ar15 that i let my friend use over the weekend. from what he says it was working fine. he and others shot about 700 rounds through it till it jammed. he said they tried to fix it and failed. so this is what i got.

the barrel has what looks like a spent shell stuck in the chamber. it looks spent, but he says he does not think it shot. this is where they got dumb. one of them said he could get the shell out by sticking a wooden dowel down the barrel to knock the shell out. in the process of this the wooden dowel broke. getting jammed in the barrel. it looks like they tried to stick something else in to knock out the dowel and the shell but only crammed it all in further. so now i have a gun with a shell (possibly live) stuck in the chamber and a barrel crammed full of wood. how do i fix this.

Eghad · October 11, 2011, 09:08 PM

An experienced gunsmith. They can tell you some interesting stories. If they didnt use red permatex it can probably be fixed.

pvt.Long · October 11, 2011, 09:11 PM

dont let friends use your weapons. Go pay$ a visit to your gunsmilth.

Is the primer spent? Treat it as i it were loaded and volitile.

checkmyswag · October 11, 2011, 09:17 PM

I always questioned the safety of doing so, but in the military, we ran brass rods down the barrels to clear such failures or pulled them out with pliers.

I protested about running the rod down the barrel with my hand two inches from the muzzle. I felt glad when I was backed up by an SF guy (I wasn't in SF, but they were on the range with us and were cool to us) who agreed with me on pulling them out with pliers instead. However, there must be a better way than either of these?

pvt.Long · October 11, 2011, 09:50 PM

I remove the bolt and actualy let go and clear my body of the brass rod before it hits the questionable cartridge.

checkmyswag · October 11, 2011, 09:52 PM

re: brass rod use, absolutely! I wouldn't put anything in front of the loud end of an M4 or M249. I was often a range safety and had to deal with jams of various types often.

Charlie98 · October 12, 2011, 08:03 AM

'Now what?'

Find a new friend... or at least don't loan that one any more of your firearms.

I would do the gunsmith thing... and have him check for a bulged barrel while he's at it.

ftballgod · October 12, 2011, 09:53 PM

yeah. i will not be letting my friends use my guns anytime soon. and depending on how much this costs to fix. he might be getting the bill too.

the primer looks spent so i thought it was fired. but he said he does not think it went off. so its hard to say.

does anyone have any idea how much this will cost to fix?

warbirdlover · October 12, 2011, 10:10 PM

I'm wondering how hot they got that barrel shooting 700 rounds through it. That's where the REAL damage will be from. I'd consider a new barrel.... or have the gunsmith check the hardness on it.

Friend (?) messes up rifle. Mess up friend.. (JUST KIDDING!

)

HKFan9 · October 12, 2011, 10:33 PM

Chances are your rifle is fine.

Remove the upper from the lower, take the BCG out. Like someone else stated, try prying the casing loose from the rear with pliers.

ftballgod · October 12, 2011, 10:41 PM

im sure the barrel got pretty hot. but should i really be worried? i have gone through 500 rounds real fast with no problems and the barrel was really hot.

Achilles11B · October 12, 2011, 10:56 PM

Gunsmith. Worse case scenario, you'll need a new upper. More than likely, the gunsmith will be able to handle it, though. Oh, and never lend your firearms to that particular friend again.

Ridge_Runner_5 · October 12, 2011, 10:58 PM

Worse comes to worse, the gunsmith would probably tear of the rim of the casing and drill out whatever is blocking your bore. Then use a broken shell extractor to pull the casing out.

Quote:

I'm wondering how hot they got that barrel shooting 700 rounds through it. That's where the REAL damage will be from. I'd consider a new barrel.... or have the gunsmith check the hardness on it.

Unlikely. As it is a Colt, the barrel is designed to take probably around 300rds or so of full auto, which would be a lot hotter than 700rds of semi auto fire, unless they were bumpfiring and changing mags as fast as they could.

Charlie98 · October 12, 2011, 11:42 PM

I would have a gunsmith inspect the barrel after he got the obstruction out; I don't know about replacing the barrel, the gunsmith would have to give you that answer.

Darned right the 'friend' would get the bill...

HKFan9 · October 13, 2011, 01:11 AM

Generally a gas tube would fail from being over heated before the barrel would, I would assume, specially on a Colt.

As someone pointed out, it is rated to take full auto fire, semi auto isn't nearly as demanding on the gun.

I trust very few people with any of my firearms, specially something like an AR with out me being there. Lesson learned I suppose. Hope it all works out for you.

**44 AMP** · October 13, 2011, 09:50 PM

Send the gun to a smith and the bill to your "friend".

And if he balks at paying, he's not a good enough friend to use your guns.

Myself, I wouldn't let him near any of my guns, even if he paid the bill! Let him buy and screw up his own stuff from now on!

chack · October 13, 2011, 10:31 PM

If you think that a casual range session that saw 700 rounds through an AR would ruin a barrel, you know nothing about military firearms.

rickyrick · October 14, 2011, 09:49 AM

Well the good news is, At the very worst you can get replacement parts, maybe that new custom upper that you didn't know that you wanted.

but on a serious note, have it looked at...it's hopefully not that bad.

Departed402 · October 14, 2011, 02:54 PM

Get new friends

HKGuns · October 14, 2011, 04:53 PM

I can see a cartridge getting stuck, it could happen to anyone here.

What I don't understand is why your "friend" returned your rifle in that condition. If I had the unfortunate circumstance arise and I'd been so foolish to break wood off in your barrel trying to get it out, I would have explained the situation that happened and had it repaired before returning it to you.

Your friend is a leech, choose more wisley.

Wyosmith · October 14, 2011, 05:06 PM

I can fix that for you.
Where are you?
If you can't get anyone close who is qualified, I can fix about an "AR Problem"
You can mail the upper to me (it's 100% legal) and I can fix it and get it back to you fast if the barrel is not damaged which is unlikely.

trex1310 · October 14, 2011, 06:19 PM

Why isn't your friend taking your rifle to a gunsmith and paying
to have it fixed?

Friends don't let friends borrow their expensive firearms.

warbirdlover · October 14, 2011, 09:29 PM

Quote:

If you think that a casual range session that saw 700 rounds through an AR would ruin a barrel, you know nothing about military firearms.

You're correct. I was thinking in terms of non-military firearms and forgot they (Colt's anyway) are designed to fire fully automatic. My bad...

Edward429451 · October 14, 2011, 10:22 PM

You don't loan out your good guns, but you're supposed to have loaners for friends. By all means he gets the bill. If the friend doesn't have the means to pay for damage then he doesn't get to borrow weapons in the future

Sport45 · October 14, 2011, 10:25 PM

Sounds to me like the obstruction can be removed with some time and effort. In the worst case you'll need a new barrel. Not a whole upper.

October 11, 2011, 09:04 PM	#1
ftballgod Senior Member Join Date: January 14, 2010 Posts: 268	my friend messed up my ar15. now what. i have an colt ar15 that i let my friend use over the weekend. from what he says it was working fine. he and others shot about 700 rounds through it till it jammed. he said they tried to fix it and failed. so this is what i got. the barrel has what looks like a spent shell stuck in the chamber. it looks spent, but he says he does not think it shot. this is where they got dumb. one of them said he could get the shell out by sticking a wooden dowel down the barrel to knock the shell out. in the process of this the wooden dowel broke. getting jammed in the barrel. it looks like they tried to stick something else in to knock out the dowel and the shell but only crammed it all in further. so now i have a gun with a shell (possibly live) stuck in the chamber and a barrel crammed full of wood. how do i fix this. __________________ When I held that gun in my hand, I felt a surge of power - like God must feel when he's holding a gun.

October 11, 2011, 09:08 PM	#2
Eghad Senior Member Join Date: May 28, 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 6,231	An experienced gunsmith. They can tell you some interesting stories. If they didnt use red permatex it can probably be fixed. __________________ Have a nice day at the range NRA Life Member Last edited by Eghad; October 11, 2011 at 09:15 PM.

October 12, 2011, 09:53 PM	#8
ftballgod Senior Member Join Date: January 14, 2010 Posts: 268	yeah. i will not be letting my friends use my guns anytime soon. and depending on how much this costs to fix. he might be getting the bill too. the primer looks spent so i thought it was fired. but he said he does not think it went off. so its hard to say. does anyone have any idea how much this will cost to fix? __________________ When I held that gun in my hand, I felt a surge of power - like God must feel when he's holding a gun.

October 12, 2011, 10:10 PM	#9
warbirdlover Senior Member Join Date: December 13, 2009 Location: central Wisconsin Posts: 2,324	I'm wondering how hot they got that barrel shooting 700 rounds through it. That's where the REAL damage will be from. I'd consider a new barrel.... or have the gunsmith check the hardness on it. Friend (?) messes up rifle. Mess up friend.. (JUST KIDDING! ) Last edited by warbirdlover; October 14, 2011 at 09:24 PM.

October 12, 2011, 10:41 PM	#11
ftballgod Senior Member Join Date: January 14, 2010 Posts: 268	im sure the barrel got pretty hot. but should i really be worried? i have gone through 500 rounds real fast with no problems and the barrel was really hot. __________________ When I held that gun in my hand, I felt a surge of power - like God must feel when he's holding a gun.

October 11, 2011, 09:11 PM	#3
pvt.Long Senior Member Join Date: March 7, 2009 Posts: 433	dont let friends use your weapons. Go pay$ a visit to your gunsmilth. Is the primer spent? Treat it as i it were loaded and volitile.

October 11, 2011, 09:17 PM	#4
checkmyswag Senior Member Join Date: January 29, 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 1,328	I always questioned the safety of doing so, but in the military, we ran brass rods down the barrels to clear such failures or pulled them out with pliers. I protested about running the rod down the barrel with my hand two inches from the muzzle. I felt glad when I was backed up by an SF guy (I wasn't in SF, but they were on the range with us and were cool to us) who agreed with me on pulling them out with pliers instead. However, there must be a better way than either of these?

October 11, 2011, 09:50 PM	#5
pvt.Long Senior Member Join Date: March 7, 2009 Posts: 433	I remove the bolt and actualy let go and clear my body of the brass rod before it hits the questionable cartridge.

October 11, 2011, 09:52 PM	#6
checkmyswag Senior Member Join Date: January 29, 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 1,328	re: brass rod use, absolutely! I wouldn't put anything in front of the loud end of an M4 or M249. I was often a range safety and had to deal with jams of various types often.

October 12, 2011, 08:03 AM	#7
Charlie98 Senior Member Join Date: September 6, 2006 Location: Great state of Texas Posts: 1,077	'Now what?' Find a new friend... or at least don't loan that one any more of your firearms. I would do the gunsmith thing... and have him check for a bulged barrel while he's at it.

October 12, 2011, 10:33 PM	#10
HKFan9 Senior Member Join Date: May 3, 2008 Posts: 3,057	Chances are your rifle is fine. Remove the upper from the lower, take the BCG out. Like someone else stated, try prying the casing loose from the rear with pliers.

October 12, 2011, 10:56 PM	#12
Achilles11B Senior Member Join Date: November 18, 2010 Posts: 595	Gunsmith. Worse case scenario, you'll need a new upper. More than likely, the gunsmith will be able to handle it, though. Oh, and never lend your firearms to that particular friend again. __________________ Good equipment will never be a substitute for good training.

October 12, 2011, 11:42 PM	#14
Charlie98 Senior Member Join Date: September 6, 2006 Location: Great state of Texas Posts: 1,077	I would have a gunsmith inspect the barrel after he got the obstruction out; I don't know about replacing the barrel, the gunsmith would have to give you that answer. Darned right the 'friend' would get the bill...

October 13, 2011, 01:11 AM	#15
HKFan9 Senior Member Join Date: May 3, 2008 Posts: 3,057	Generally a gas tube would fail from being over heated before the barrel would, I would assume, specially on a Colt. As someone pointed out, it is rated to take full auto fire, semi auto isn't nearly as demanding on the gun. I trust very few people with any of my firearms, specially something like an AR with out me being there. Lesson learned I suppose. Hope it all works out for you.

October 13, 2011, 09:50 PM	#16
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 28,813	Send the gun to a smith and the bill to your "friend". And if he balks at paying, he's not a good enough friend to use your guns. Myself, I wouldn't let him near any of my guns, even if he paid the bill! Let him buy and screw up his own stuff from now on! __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.

October 13, 2011, 10:31 PM	#17
chack Junior member Join Date: May 24, 2011 Location: dixie Posts: 477	If you think that a casual range session that saw 700 rounds through an AR would ruin a barrel, you know nothing about military firearms.

October 14, 2011, 09:49 AM	#18
rickyrick Senior Member Join Date: March 15, 2010 Posts: 8,236	Well the good news is, At the very worst you can get replacement parts, maybe that new custom upper that you didn't know that you wanted. but on a serious note, have it looked at...it's hopefully not that bad. __________________ Woohoo, I’m back In Texas!!!

October 14, 2011, 02:54 PM	#19
Departed402 Senior Member Join Date: September 25, 2009 Location: Midwest Posts: 884	Get new friends Get new friends __________________ Slow is Smooth. Smooth is Fast.

October 14, 2011, 04:53 PM	#20
HKGuns Senior Member Join Date: March 12, 2005 Location: Bora Bora Posts: 932	I can see a cartridge getting stuck, it could happen to anyone here. What I don't understand is why your "friend" returned your rifle in that condition. If I had the unfortunate circumstance arise and I'd been so foolish to break wood off in your barrel trying to get it out, I would have explained the situation that happened and had it repaired before returning it to you. Your friend is a leech, choose more wisley.

October 14, 2011, 05:06 PM	#21
Wyosmith Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2010 Location: Shoshoni Wyoming Posts: 2,713	I can fix that for you. Where are you? If you can't get anyone close who is qualified, I can fix about an "AR Problem" You can mail the upper to me (it's 100% legal) and I can fix it and get it back to you fast if the barrel is not damaged which is unlikely.

October 14, 2011, 06:19 PM	#22
trex1310 Senior Member Join Date: April 14, 2009 Location: Mobile, AL Posts: 389	Why isn't your friend taking your rifle to a gunsmith and paying to have it fixed? Friends don't let friends borrow their expensive firearms. __________________ NRA Life Member Certified in laziness Certified in watching TV Certified in BBQ on the Green Egg

October 14, 2011, 10:22 PM	#24
Edward429451 Junior member Join Date: November 12, 2000 Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado Posts: 9,494	You don't loan out your good guns, but you're supposed to have loaners for friends. By all means he gets the bill. If the friend doesn't have the means to pay for damage then he doesn't get to borrow weapons in the future

October 14, 2011, 10:25 PM	#25
Sport45 Senior Member Join Date: May 25, 1999 Location: Too close to Houston Posts: 4,196	Sounds to me like the obstruction can be removed with some time and effort. In the worst case you'll need a new barrel. Not a whole upper. __________________ Proud member of the NRA and Texas State Rifle Association. Registered and active voter.