AR-15 not chambering

[GunDoctor]

I know there are many that have no issues with steel casings. There are an equal amount that do. Coming from factory guns from our store front I would say it is about 60-40. The 60% having problems.
It also has to do with what the ammo is coated with. Some with laquer and some with Polymer. I believe it is the Polymer that causes the most problems because it fouls the chamber faster and takes a few hours to remove once there's enough fouling to jam it.

 

[Jeff White]

Check the staking on the carrier key.

Jeff

 

[CBS220]

I know there are many that have no issues with steel casings. There are an equal amount that do.

That's a stretch, don't you think?

Most people who have an AR or Mini or whatnot will never take it to a gunsmith for any reason, most likely, and odds are a significant minority if not a majority of casual .223 owners use steel-case because it is the cheapest.

 

[sarduy]

Last time i run wolf MC in my AR the ammo was NOT coated in fact, it looked just like the black box, but i still find black box more clean. i still have a box that i can take pics

 

[MGshaggy]

Most people who have an AR or Mini or whatnot

That statement sort of proves my point. You have to know your rifle. The Mini-14 has a .223 chamber, not a 5.56. AR15s come in both flavors. The mini also lacks a chrome lined barrel, which some AR15's have and some do not. Know your rifle. If you don't have a chrome lined 5.56 chamber, you're far more likely to have problems. I would fully expect Mini-14 owners to have far more problems with Wolf (on average). I would also expect owners of AR15's with a .223 chamber and/or or a stainless or plain chrome-moly barrel, to have more problems also. I suspect it would be like putting regular unleaded into a Formula 1 race car - it may work, for a while, but you're probably going to have problems sooner or later. If you have a chrome lined 5.56 chamber, or just use the regular unleaded in a Ford pick-up, you're far less likely to have a problem. Know your rifle, and specifically the barrel and chamber, because that will likely determine if Wolf is going to work for you or not.

 

[cracked butt]

I have removed stuck steel cases from numerous AR15 rifles and in every case I noted that the rifle was extremely fouled.
I remove the case, clean the rifle and check for anything broken or misaligned.
Was it the ammo? The owners own neglect? A faulty rifle?
Nobody wants to admit fault, it is always the ammo at fault and the owner pays me his money and walks away swearing at the ammo.

I've never shot steel cased Wolf in my AR (I have my reasons)- but from my experiences with the .45 and 7.62x39, the ammo is extremely dirty. Got to wonder if the case isn't isn't expanding fast enough to seal the chamber and a lot of that sooty crap isn't building up in the chamber as you shoot more ammo.


I just find it interesting that nearly every week there is a thread about wolf ammo jamming up ARs and rarely a complaint is aired about quality brass cased ammo causing jams.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I have removed stuck steel cases from numerous AR15 rifles and in every case I noted that the rifle was extremely fouled.

I noticed the same thing when I took an Intermediate carbine class where someone was using Wolf in a Bushmaster. The chunks of carbon fouling were so big I thought something had broken and I was looking at pieces of metal; but it was just fouling.

The thing is I sat there and watched the guy clean the rifle, hit it with foaming bore cleaner and multiple passes with a chamber brush so that the chamber/upper had to be clean. This would fix the problem but within 100 rounds of relatively rapid fire, the upper would be stuck/fouled horribly again.

So whatever is causing the problem, I don't think it is usually a failure to do proper maintenance (since with brass cased ammo 100 rounds is nothing).

My personal pet theory is that the steel isn't expanding to seal the chamber the way brass does and carbon is blowing back into the upper around the loose seal. This would explain both the typically lower velocity, the common short-stroking, and the massive amount of fouling; but it is still just a SWAG at this point.

 

[Gibbles]

FBMG Smithy Said:
I know there are many that have no issues with steel casings. There are an equal amount that do. Coming from factory guns from our store front I would say it is about 60-40. The 60% having problems.
It also has to do with what the ammo is coated with. Some with laquer and some with Polymer. I believe it is the Polymer that causes the most problems because it fouls the chamber faster and takes a few hours to remove once there's enough fouling to jam it.

I shoot a lot of wolf ammo, I even use it for my Close range ammo in 3gun while I save up for that Dillon 550... I have very little issues with the ammo and it even runs flawless in my 7.5in AR pistol.
That being said, I had several issues with wolf at the last FBMG shoot with the cases getting stuck in the chamber and the gun ripping the rim off trying to get them out, this happens maybe once per thousand and it seems to be an issue with the case being slightly to large.
This happened twice at the shoot and the chambers were spotless.

While wolf runs very dirty and I went through 500 rounds of the stuff recently with 0 issues and no cleaning, I just put a couple drops of CLP in the action between outtings.

To get the stuck case out I have to take a cleaning rod and ram it down the barrel to knock it out, this sucks if you forgot to bring a cleaning rod... :banghead:

I have never had it happen at a 3gun match yet... So far I have done well by loading the ammo up on stripper clips and giving them a quick look over, I have seen wolf ammo with splits at the neck and bulged cases...

Even with the prices going up, it's still my cheapest option.

Remington Bore cleaner does a nice Quick job of removing wolf Crud from the chamber and barrel btw.

 

[AR-15 Rep]

Best thing to do is clean the whole rifle. Sounds like the wolf doesn't have enough bang pressure to run the rifle. Could be the steel case allowing pressure to pass the casing or it could be a combination of things. Clean it, make sure he action is smooth, try it again. If your other ammo has no problems then bring plenty of it just in case.

 

[alistaire]

Clean and lube the rifle and mag. If the mag is a aluminum 30 rounder, replace the spring with a Wolff spring and the follower with a Magpul follower.

If the gas block is slightly misaligned , full power ammo may cycle properly while weaker ammo like Wolf may not. Without enough gas flowing into the bolt carrier, the bolt recoils too small a distance and returns back over the magazine BEFORE the mag follower can push the next cartridge into position.

 

[peck1234]

Ah!!!! my recommendation is to only use 1 type of ammo in your gun! People who mix match brass and steel are the ones who always have the problems due to the different expansion rates of the ammo when fired..... so clean out your gun well and pick one!

 

[cracked butt]

People who mix match brass and steel are the ones who always have the problems due to the different expansion rates of the ammo when fired..... so clean out your gun well and pick one!

Good advice. I long ago picked brass ammo and never had a misfeed, jam, failure to extract or any other failure. Looks like I've made a solid choice so far or maybe I'm just using the ammo that the rifle was originally designd to use

 

[elChupacabra!]

I had a similar experience with Wolf - I built my own AR and bought 1k rounds of Wolf Military Classic to shoot through it. It would rarely lock back on an empty mag and would occasionally just fail to feed period. The only way I could get it to feed every time was to pull the rifle uncomfortably into my shoulder, which isn't conducive to accuracy at all.

Turns out it was the ammo being low pressure. I tried several different brands - even laquer-coated, steel cased Monarch .223 from Academy which is clearly of the same type though different manufacture, maybe Brown Bear? - and everything else worked just fine. I thought I had built the rifle wrong, leaks at the gas port / carrier key / bolt / etc. but it was nothing but the ammo.

I called wolf, told them I had 500+ rounds that didn't like my rifle. They mailed me a UPS label, I shipped the ammo back to them on their dime and within 3 weeks I had a check for the value of the ammo I sent back, not at what I had paid for it (per the invoice) but at CURRENT PRICES - which means I actually made a little money on those 500 rounds.

Moral of the story - if Wolf doesn't like your rifle, or your rifle doesn't like Wolf, send it back - the customer service is INCREDIBLE. If it does, then you get to shoot good, accurate, cheap ammo.

Good luck, I hope this helps.

P.S. This was in a 20" chrome-lined 5.56mm chambered barrel.

 

[Organdonor]

I would fully expect Mini-14 owners to have far more problems with Wolf (on average).

Yet they don't. For the most part, Mini's are NOT picky at all about what you feed them. My Mini-14 eats Wolf black box all day long... as does my Mini-30. Nary a problem AT ALL. Never had an FTE or FTF. However, due to the primer difference, my Mini-30 won't fire half of the Wolf MC I put into it. I've never tried MC thru the Mini-14, so I can't comment on that.

My Bushmaster AR hates Wolf, with feeding issues and FTE's consistantly. With regular brass cased ammo I've had 100% reliability.

I just upgraded my extractor on the AR, so we'll see if it will now eject the Wolf.

 

[elChupacabra!]

Also, Bartholomew Roberts,

I think you are exactly right - the steel case doesn't obturate completely which gets the bolt / carrier group especially dirty, in addition to reducing pressures in the chamber overall. Combined with the fact that I was shooting this in a 5.56mm chamber which may have been a touch on the loose end, that may be why I was getting the short strokes.

FWIW

 

[GunDoctor]

And yet thousands and thousands or AR owners use it with no issues whatsoever. How many of the AR's you see that have problems with Wolf have a chrome lined barrel? How many with a 5.56 chamber? How many were parts guns or home builds and not factory assembled guns?

Like I said it's about 60-40 and all factory guns.

 

[rcmodel]

Gas rings aligned or not aligned should make no difference in gun function.

An AR that is working right, with ammo that is working right, should run with the rings aligned or even with one ring missing.

The gas rings are continually moving around as the gun is being shot. They will go through phases of total alignment, then not, then aligned again all the time.

It should make no difference in whether the gun functions or not.

If you don't believe me, do this test.
Align the rings with perfect 120 degree gap spacing, then go shooting.

I'll bet you dollars to donuts they aren't where you put them when you clean the gun the next time.

rcmodel

 

[rino451]

Figure out what your rifle likes. I have three - 2 Bushies, and one delton uppered homebuilt. The Delton and one Bushie has Bushie barrels and the other has a J&T or some such. Both bushies take wolf just fine. But... I run the two bushies on the dry/bone-dry side. The verdict is still out on the Delton whether or not it'll run wolf, but I've had no indications that it won't. I'm still running that one kinda wet and still haven't settled on a barrel configuration yet. All three run ADCOM and blasting reloads just fine.

ETA, I also had a friend who bought an ar that HATED the same wolf mine shot fine. Had him clean and oil, tried running it dry. Nada. By freak chance I had an extra recoil spring and said WTH and replaced his. Ran almost an entire Appleseed on Wolf just fine. Come to think of it, he still owes me a new spring.