firing issues with AR-15

[imsoipy]

so, i go down to the range today with my girlfriend to shoot my ar-15, its a newer weapon that has prob around 500 rounds through it, anyways. the first clip went off fine, then when i popped the second one in it fired the first round, ejected find and loaded another round, pulled the trigger *click*, charged the rifle again and it ejected the unspent round and fired the third time. it alternated like this one on one off through the rest of the mag. i tried another mag, same thing. i took the bcg apart and noticed that i must have forgotten to clean it last time i took it to the range as it was pretty dirty. i put about 150 rounds through it last time.

when i looked at the misfired rounds the primer had been struck but it was not very indented.

my conclusion is that the rifle had been sitting for a few weeks dirty and the carbon had sucked up all the oil and it was not properly lubricated.

am i right in this assumption? if i am is there a higher grade lubricant i can use that will keep the rifle lubricated even when its dirty?

FYI the rifle is an Armalite SPR Mod 0 mid length gas system, its not the one that is the piston system (i kick myself for buying the mid length gas when the piston system version of pretty much the same rifle that i have was $50 cheaper)

any thought or tips would be appreciated, thanks.

[zippy13]

Have you checked for restricted firing pin travel with the bolt out of the gun? A second option is something impeding the hammer's full travel.

[imsoipy]

i took the bolt apart, the residue from the last firing session was covered on the firing pin and as it moved it it felt it "stuck" a lil, but the force of that hammer i thought would punch it through enough to fire a round, wouldnt it?

[Chinny33]

150 rounds should NOT be enough to gum up a firing pin, unless the ammo you are using is particularly filthy.

Torture tests on the AR-15, firing THOUSANDS of rounds without cleaning, and getting consistently a failure-free rifle is normal.

Did you spray lubrication inside the firing pin chamber and dirt & debris and powder gummed up inside of it?


Also its not uncommon to shoot ammo that doesnt go bang because either it is a bad primer or somehow got contaminated and wont go bang.

[imsoipy]

so i shouldnt have lubricated the firing pin?

[Jim243]

It does sound like a dirty firing pin channel. If you have been using the cheap steel cased wolf ammo, they are lacquer coated which will foul up your gun. I use CLP on mine and spray the daylights out of the bolt carrier group each cleaning. Let it soak for 15 min and wipe it down then coat it in gun oil. Seems to work. Don't shoot your gun dry, they do not like that.

Jim

[imsoipy]

but i should not put oil on the pin or in the pin channel right?

[pvt.Long]

oil and lubricate every internal part of the weapon. I have shot 1000s of wolf and bear as well as every other cheap brands I can find, FMJ SP JHP and have not had a single jam or misfire and I bought my weapon brand new. Every time I get done I take the gun down to spare parts and clean everything with good ol' Hopps cleaning cloths and a nylon brush.

[imsoipy]

so whats the deal did i get a bum gun? the chamber was very clogged and i am shooting steel cased ammo, not wolf but prob equivalent, maybe i over oiled the firing pin, im kinda ******, thinking about sending this thing back.

also sometimes when get to about 90 rounds or so, when im shooting the wolf ammo, a spent cartridge wont eject and i have to stick a cleaning rod down the barrel and back it out, is there a way to remedy this?

[wingman]

Poor ammo, dirty chamber = misfiring, gun ok just clean good and find better ammo. I know it's expensive(ammo) but when i hear steel cases and lacquer not good, especially with a new tight gun.

[grumpa72]

Just clean your gun after each session.

[kraigwy]

I wont venture to guess whats wrong without looking at your rifle. I will add I never had problems with any M16 or AR, but I NEVER SHOOT STEEL CASES in any of my rifles.

Brass has two functions, one to hold the components together until you shoot, the second is for form a seal to contain the gas. Brass expands sealing the chamber so the gas goes out the barrel. Steel just doesn't work like brass for that purpose.

I have had problems with improperly sized brass in reloads. Most problems I've seen with ARs is magazine related. Mainly people filling the mags full, and the first round pops out when you slam the mag home.

I've found the 20 round magazines work a lot better then the 30 rounders.

[Ridge_Runner_5]

I had a similar problem when I built my gun. Turned out that the hammer spring wasn't resting right, and the hammer wasn't resetting after each shot. Only pulling the charging handle and ejecting a live round would cock the hammer again.

[SurplusShooter]

I would clean the gun well and if the problem persist take it to the smith.

[wingman]

I know we read and hear how many Ar owners put thousands of rounds down range without cleaning and while it may function long term it will fail,metal to metal requires cleaning and lube more the better, mine runs wet.While those in desert countries may have problems with that the average ranger shooter will have a more pleasant experience with lube.Either that or purchase an old AK with so much slop she will fire in mud...:D

[PRONE2]

Maybe you should try a "mag" instead of a "clip"! :D

[Bartholomew Roberts]

so whats the deal did i get a bum gun? the chamber was very clogged and i am shooting steel cased ammo, not wolf but prob equivalent, maybe i over oiled the firing pin, im kinda ******, thinking about sending this thing back.

also sometimes when get to about 90 rounds or so, when im shooting the wolf ammo, a spent cartridge wont eject and i have to stick a cleaning rod down the barrel and back it out, is there a way to remedy this?

My first suggestion would be to clean the rifle well and then use brass-cased ammo and see how that works. The rifle you purchased is designed for higher-than-normal accuracy standards and likely has a tighter chamber to help accuracy. The flipside of that is it may be less tolerant of ammo/crud build up than a typical NATO chamber.

Second, I would check to see whether the bolt is going fully into battery. If for example, if some of your steel cased ammo is slightly oversized and sticks in the chamber so that the bolt cannot close completely, then the firing prin will not protrude enough to detonate the primer. This is a safety measure to prevent the rifle from firing out of battery.

Right now, there are just too many variables to diagnose the problem; but the first step is clean the rifle well, lubricate it well, and then shoot some quality brass ammo through it. If the problem repeats, pay attention to the small details (and get some pictures for us if you can).

[Palmetto-Pride]

Wow your ready to blame the gun and haven't even tried using brass cased ammo to see if that is the problem...:eek:

I would like to hear that conversation with the dealer you bought the gun from..."Yea I would like to return this gun I am having problems with it firing cheap steel cased ammo" "have you tried any brass cased good ammo in it" "uh no should I have".......the place turns silent then all you hear is laughter:eek::eek:

Let me restate what others have already said..USE BRASS CASED AMMO ONLY!!

[mesabi]

CLP will work fine for cleaning and oiling your rifle.

Disassemble the carrier group. Clean the firing pin, bolt, carrier, and star chamber. Clean the channels in the upper receiver. A q-tip and nylon or brass brush will work best. If you think you think you're using too many q tips you're wrong. To oil the rifle, a few drops of CLP on your fingers is all that is needed to oil the receiver and all internals.

As others have stated, use brass cased ammo. There is plenty of SS109 to be had. I personally don't like the idea of steel cases coming into contact of a chrome lined chamber.

Clean the rifle and try some brass cased ammo before taking it back to the dealer.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Closed - guess why.