Boogered up my AR. [PICS]

[Cheeseybacon]

I was blastin' away with my Bushmaster this past Friday when suddenly it stopped firing. I instantly assumed it had jammed as a result of my new magazines, but amazingly they have been doing their job flawlessly thus far. So I pulled the mag, cleared the chamber, and pulled it apart. This is what came out...






What exactly am I looking at?
Is this a common failure?
What should I order to fix it?
I've just bearly put 500 rounds through this thing, is there a better version of these parts that would be less likely to fail so soon?

Thanks Folks.

[RNB65]

Looks like your buffer retaining spring broke. Call Bushmaster and explain it to them and they'll send you a new spring. Easy fix.

[Arkie]

Looks like maybe the stock wasn't threaded in far enough to hold the buffer pin in place.

Get a new buffer spring and put it back in the hole, put the buffer pin on top of that and make sure the stock is threaded enough to hold the pin in place but not touching the center part of the pin.

It's an easy fix.

[DnPRK]

I would bet the collapsible buttstock wasn't installed correctly. The stock's buffer tube is screwed in to trap the spring-loaded buffer retainer. Obviously, yours wasn't screwed in far enough, the buffer retainer popped out and the retainer spring got mangled by the cycling of the bolt carrier.

The solution is to loosen the buttstock lock ring, install the buffer retainer with a new spring, screw the buttstock/buffer tube in one turn and tighten the lock ring.

[Risasi]

LOL, I've seen this exact thing before. I had a "friend", whom I'd helped assemble a lefty eject stag upper, onto his preban lower. He came to me all mad one day because his gun, "that I built" locked up on him and he had parts all broken. He was so beside himself I was concerned he might actually try to take a swing at me (or worse).

Within about five minutes I'd forced the upper off and found his chewed up retaining pin, when I confronted him about it he finally admitted that he had installed an ambi single-point mount that I didn't remember installing. Turned out he'd taken the collapsible stock off and when he had reattached it didn't screw it in all the way. Fortunately I had spare pin, made him feel even more foolish, and then quickly parted company.

Arkie and DnPRK are right, just install a new pin and spring. Cheap fix.

[kgriggs8@yahoo.com]

When I read the title, I expected to see serious damage. You are lucky because it is about a $0.50 fix. Sometimes, luck depends on your point of view.

You can get this part just about anywhere. I may have an extra in fact. It is an easy fix that you can do yourself with no problem. Let me know if you need someone to talk you through it.

[HuntAndFish]

On this topic...he needs to loosen the buttstock lock ring. There is a tool for this but is there a need to buy this tool?

EDIT: That is; I understand the need to use the right tool for the job, but couldn't a person just loosen the ring with a few taps with a brass punch and ballpen hammer? What is the best way without the "ring wrench"?

[kgriggs8@yahoo.com]

"That is; I understand the need to use the right tool for the job, but couldn't a person just loosen the ring with a few taps with a brass punch and ballpen hammer? What is the best way without the "ring wrench"?"

I wouldn't do it that way. I would take a set of channel locks and a piece of leather and use that. Or, a strap wrench if you have one.

[DnPRK]

EDIT: That is; I understand the need to use the right tool for the job, but couldn't a person just loosen the ring with a few taps with a brass punch and ballpen hammer? What is the best way without the "ring wrench"?

The first CAR stock I ever installed was done with a punch and hammer. It worked just fine. Afterwards, I bought a wrench for the job.

[HuntAndFish]

Ah ha...a cheaper one...

http://www.bushmaster.com/shopping/g...elewrench2.asp

Sorry...should have searched before asking.

[Cheeseybacon]

Thanks for the information, folks. The buffer tube definitely wasn't installed correctly. I was told by one person that this was actually the third time he heard of a bone-stock Bushmaster having trouble with this issue. Anywho, I found a spanner wrench from NAPA of all places, and a fellow gun nut near me was kind enough to send me a spare spring so I am back in business again.

One more question now. My dad just bought an AR lower recently in preparation for building his own, and I also figured that I will probably need to break down my own rifle beyond basic field stripping and do more detailed maintenance after the round count gets up there a bit, so I bought one of those all-in-one combo AR-15 wrenches from cheaperthandirt.com. Anywho, I received my wrench yesterday and noticed that one of the rods on the end the wrench is bent slightly. I was just curious if it was normal, I'm assuming it isn't, but I wanted to make sure. I also sent a picture of it to cheaperthandirt's customer service but they have yet to respond.
Does this look normal?

[Glockster35]

No, that is not normal, all those pins (should be three I think) should be straight. Looks like your got crushed on the one pin during shipping. You might be able to straighten it out a bit.

I have one simliar, and I do not like the coating they used on it, it seems to me to be a bit thick, making it harder to use on barrel installations!

[Cheeseybacon]

Wow, cheaperthandirt is nuts! They're sending me a new wrench and I don't even need to return the old one! Now that's what I call good service!

[Riss]

TAPCO has the little wrench for $5. Other end is a 1911 dissy tool. Is kinda hard to apply leverage but is small enough to put in a range bag and does not weigh a ton like the full size AR assy tool.