Concerns about my Arcus 98 DAC

HistoryJunkie · September 13, 2012, 10:30 PM

Roughly a year ago I bought my Arcus 98 DAC in 9mm, for $350 dollars. I haven't had many problems with it so far, but I've put under 500 rounds through it. So far, the only ammo that has been through it is cheap Federal from Walmart or Winchester White Box. Which leads me to my question.

Do any of you have problems with WWB? I took my Arcus to the range last Sunday and put about 150 rounds through it. Roughly 100 of them were WWB.
After about 50 rounds into the 100 round pack of WWB, I could tell my Arcus was REALLY dirty and it started to have feeding issues and also jammed once.

Does anyone have similar problems induced by this ammo, or is my gun just possibly not broke in yet? Or should I be worried about the reliability of my handgun?

tahunua001 · September 13, 2012, 10:47 PM

I would think that after 500 rounds that it should be properly broken in by then. WWB is notorious for being very dirty, have poor quality control and generally speaking is about the worst american made ammo to date.

I do have a few questions though.
1. how often do you clean your gun? I usually try to clean after every range trip but I recommend a minimum of every 300 rounds or so.

2. it may seem like a stupid question but how thoroughly do you clean and what do you use? you would be surprised with the number of people that think that squirting WD40 down the barrel constitutes cleaning.

3. has your gun had issues while using CCI, Federal, American Eagle, or Speer ammo? those are all very good range ammo and rarely causes issues in most gun models.

4. can you clarify feeding issues?
is it chambering a round but the slide is not closing all the way?
is the front of the next round being pushed too far up/down to properly enter the chamber? ETC ETC.

Arcus pistols. are not very common and are usually held in low regard except by those who have taken the chance and bought one due to their rough appearance, origins and importer stigma so the more information that you can provide the easier it will be for the few Arcus users to help you out.

HistoryJunkie · September 13, 2012, 11:00 PM

Yeah it's more so in the 350 round range as opposed to 500. And yes, WWB has been really the only ammo to date that I've had a problem with. The cheapest $12 Federal I bought at Wally World ran just fine and didn't make my gun look like I dropped it in a coal mine.

As for cleaning, I always clean after I shoot when I get home, and often I will relube the gun from time to time because I dry fire and rack the slide a lot for practice. For cleaning, I have a cleaning kit with brushes and patches, spray in Winchester BreakFree first, and then lube up the rails, barrel, and other internals with CLP. I usually spend about 5 minutes cleaning per gun I bring with me.

Feeding issues were double feed, chamber not closing all the way, round being pushed too far in, as well as 1 failure to eject.

CWKahrFan · September 13, 2012, 11:07 PM

"Search" is my friend:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=480235

http://hipowertalk.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1567

Round pushed too far in?... Hmmm... This is concerning...

WWB isn't the cleanest. I'll be interested in any follow-ups you give us... I find this gun piques my curiosity... Looks good for the price and most internet chatter by owners I've found is positive (though there's not A LOT in general).

tahunua001 · September 13, 2012, 11:13 PM

double feeds and failure to enter battery mixed with fail to ejects often point to dirty gun as the culprit but if it is being pushed too far into the chamber that sounds like a more serious issue that more than likely is going to call for a new barrel, either that or a 380 got mixed in with your 9mm ammo.

HistoryJunkie · September 13, 2012, 11:30 PM

I ended up clearing the round without a problem so I'm going to hope it was just a bad ammo tolerance or something of that nature.

As to my overall satisfaction with my Arcus, I like it quite a bit aside from my WWB experience on Sunday. I'll be more than happy to follow up with a range report or something next time I go shooting. I've only been shooting for a year though, so if I post any targets or anything they won't be that good.

I find the grip to be quite comfortable, recoil is pretty insignificant. It's an all steel pistol, pretty weighty when fully loaded.

Considering I'm quite new to shooting handguns, I consider the pistol to be fairly accurate. After a kind range officer seen me holding my Arcus with a bad grip and he corrected me on that, I kept all my shots probably within 2-3 inches at 20 feet or so. Like I said, I personally am not the best handgun shooter.

For now I suppose I'll just have to put a few more boxes of ammo through it and see if the issues repeat. That won't be until next Sunday because the only decent range with reasonable prices has public shooting days on 2 Sundays a month. Maybe I'll take a few pictures if anyone wants a review of the Arcus.

September 13, 2012, 10:30 PM	#1
HistoryJunkie Member Join Date: September 9, 2009 Posts: 67	Concerns about my Arcus 98 DAC Roughly a year ago I bought my Arcus 98 DAC in 9mm, for $350 dollars. I haven't had many problems with it so far, but I've put under 500 rounds through it. So far, the only ammo that has been through it is cheap Federal from Walmart or Winchester White Box. Which leads me to my question. Do any of you have problems with WWB? I took my Arcus to the range last Sunday and put about 150 rounds through it. Roughly 100 of them were WWB. After about 50 rounds into the 100 round pack of WWB, I could tell my Arcus was REALLY dirty and it started to have feeding issues and also jammed once. Does anyone have similar problems induced by this ammo, or is my gun just possibly not broke in yet? Or should I be worried about the reliability of my handgun?

September 13, 2012, 10:47 PM	#2
tahunua001 Senior Member Join Date: July 21, 2011 Location: Idaho Posts: 7,839	I would think that after 500 rounds that it should be properly broken in by then. WWB is notorious for being very dirty, have poor quality control and generally speaking is about the worst american made ammo to date. I do have a few questions though. 1. how often do you clean your gun? I usually try to clean after every range trip but I recommend a minimum of every 300 rounds or so. 2. it may seem like a stupid question but how thoroughly do you clean and what do you use? you would be surprised with the number of people that think that squirting WD40 down the barrel constitutes cleaning. 3. has your gun had issues while using CCI, Federal, American Eagle, or Speer ammo? those are all very good range ammo and rarely causes issues in most gun models. 4. can you clarify feeding issues? is it chambering a round but the slide is not closing all the way? is the front of the next round being pushed too far up/down to properly enter the chamber? ETC ETC. Arcus pistols. are not very common and are usually held in low regard except by those who have taken the chance and bought one due to their rough appearance, origins and importer stigma so the more information that you can provide the easier it will be for the few Arcus users to help you out. __________________ ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar. I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin

September 13, 2012, 11:07 PM	#4
CWKahrFan Senior Member Join Date: November 3, 2010 Posts: 2,016	"Search" is my friend: http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=480235 http://hipowertalk.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1567 Round pushed too far in?... Hmmm... This is concerning... WWB isn't the cleanest. I'll be interested in any follow-ups you give us... I find this gun piques my curiosity... Looks good for the price and most internet chatter by owners I've found is positive (though there's not A LOT in general). __________________ What did Mrs. Bullet say to Mr. Bullet? ... "We're having a BeeBee!"... IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT!... IF THE GUN FITS, SHOOT IT! "Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it." Last edited by CWKahrFan; September 13, 2012 at 11:13 PM.

September 13, 2012, 11:13 PM	#5
tahunua001 Senior Member Join Date: July 21, 2011 Location: Idaho Posts: 7,839	double feeds and failure to enter battery mixed with fail to ejects often point to dirty gun as the culprit but if it is being pushed too far into the chamber that sounds like a more serious issue that more than likely is going to call for a new barrel, either that or a 380 got mixed in with your 9mm ammo. __________________ ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar. I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin

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September 13, 2012, 11:00 PM	#3
HistoryJunkie Member Join Date: September 9, 2009 Posts: 67	Yeah it's more so in the 350 round range as opposed to 500. And yes, WWB has been really the only ammo to date that I've had a problem with. The cheapest $12 Federal I bought at Wally World ran just fine and didn't make my gun look like I dropped it in a coal mine. As for cleaning, I always clean after I shoot when I get home, and often I will relube the gun from time to time because I dry fire and rack the slide a lot for practice. For cleaning, I have a cleaning kit with brushes and patches, spray in Winchester BreakFree first, and then lube up the rails, barrel, and other internals with CLP. I usually spend about 5 minutes cleaning per gun I bring with me. Feeding issues were double feed, chamber not closing all the way, round being pushed too far in, as well as 1 failure to eject.

September 13, 2012, 11:30 PM	#6
HistoryJunkie Member Join Date: September 9, 2009 Posts: 67	I ended up clearing the round without a problem so I'm going to hope it was just a bad ammo tolerance or something of that nature. As to my overall satisfaction with my Arcus, I like it quite a bit aside from my WWB experience on Sunday. I'll be more than happy to follow up with a range report or something next time I go shooting. I've only been shooting for a year though, so if I post any targets or anything they won't be that good. I find the grip to be quite comfortable, recoil is pretty insignificant. It's an all steel pistol, pretty weighty when fully loaded. Considering I'm quite new to shooting handguns, I consider the pistol to be fairly accurate. After a kind range officer seen me holding my Arcus with a bad grip and he corrected me on that, I kept all my shots probably within 2-3 inches at 20 feet or so. Like I said, I personally am not the best handgun shooter. For now I suppose I'll just have to put a few more boxes of ammo through it and see if the issues repeat. That won't be until next Sunday because the only decent range with reasonable prices has public shooting days on 2 Sundays a month. Maybe I'll take a few pictures if anyone wants a review of the Arcus.