brass sticking in AR

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JBrady555

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Took my cheap dpms AR to the range yesterday. I shot 20 rounds of tula steel case flawlessly and then moved on to wichester white box 5.56. After 2 or 3 rounds it started leaving the brass stuck in the barrel. The next round would just slam into the back of the fired case jamming things up bad. Happened 4 times in a row identically so I put it up. Didn't have any more steel to run through it to see if it would run right with it. Anyone have a idea on what problem I'm dealing with? Thanks for any info.
 
My guess is that the chamber is a little on the tight side. DPMS is notorious for having tight chambers even when the barrel is marked 5.56.

Another issue is that the gun could be overgassed. What this means is the the gas port is probably larger than it should be. You could try a heavier buffer (the silver colored piece that sits behind the bolt carrier) but that is only covering up the issue.
 
Steel cases don't expand and seal as well as brass cases. This allows some carbon to build up on the chamber walls. When you switched to brass cases, they expanded and the carbon "glued" the brass to the chamber making it harder to extract.

Either shoot brass before steel cases or clean your chamber between shooting steel and brass.
 
^^^ This is correct. I've had 4 DPMS rifles and a second upper for 1 of them and non of them had a problem ejecting brass only ammo. The above post is correct given the scenario you just described.
 
funklord 12 & yzguy have told you the problem.

And for the record, Colts, BCMs, & you name its are subject to doing the same thing.

.
 
Ok... I re-read his problem: "After 2 or 3 rounds it started leaving the brass stuck in the barrel. The next round would just slam into the back of the fired case jamming things up bad."

It could have been an extractor problem, regardless of steel or brass cases.

It is also the easiest thing to check out of any problem you could have. Just look at the extractor. Then think about the more complicated stuff.

Just my thoughts.
 
I agree that is a slight possibility Rain Dodger,
I decided to not call you on that, but you'd read it before I changed it.
 
As funklord stated, always run brass cartridges first if you intend to shoot steel later. Once you shoot steel the backblast of powder residue forms around the chamber since steel does not expand. When you change to brass, the cartridge expands and the residue from the fired steel ammo grabs the brass cartridge making it difficult to extract from the chamber.
 
Also after clearing the jam I can close the bolt on the spent case and manually eject it by pulling the bolt back. So I think the extractor is still good.
 
AR's were made to shoot brass. that is why my nice AR M4 only gets my brass reloads. you are what you eat. if you want to shoot steel buy a cheap AK. one thing about AR's they take time to clean right.
 
This ammo is coated with an anti-corrosive substance that will make the chamber dirty, and sticky. Clean it, and avoid that ammo.

Geno
 
Hardchromed chamber?

The reason I ask is that I routinely shoot Tula steel for close up practice. I then switch to brass case PMC for checking zero or longer ranged shooting as that's what my rifles are zeroed with.

My reasoning is tht if the rifles extract those first few rounds of brass, that get the most carbon fouled chamber, then they should extract anything, anytime. So far I have had 0 malfunctions after doing this.

If it were me, I'd check the chamber for roughness, the extractor, and extractor spring. I think a well made rifle should be able to switch between steel case and brass w/o having FTExtract.

BSW
 
"...Steel cases don't..." They're hard on extractor too. Some rifles just won't extract 'em. I just wouldn't bother with steel cases. You can't reload it anyway.
 
Sunray said:
"...Steel cases don't..." They're hard on extractor too. Some rifles just won't extract 'em. I just wouldn't bother with steel cases. You can't reload it anyway.
Click to expand...
I'm extracting steel fine, its the brass afterwards that fouling me up. I think I'll just stick to AKs from here on, they aren't picky girl guns lol. If it wasn't for my wife loving to shoot the AR I wouldn't even bother fixing it.
 
JBrady, "I think I'll just stick to AKs from here on, they aren't picky girl guns lol."

For you I agree that is a good idea-lol.

Edit: With some more thought, I got a little silly in my post. What gun someone chooses to shoot and/or make fun of is their opinion and they are entitled to it. I have my particulars as well..... so to each his own.
 
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funklord was right on with it, steel doesn't seal up as well because it doesn't expand as much as brass due to not being quiet as soft. Carbon builds up on chamber walls. Shoot some brass after and it expands a little better and gets stuck. Some people think its the poly or lacquer coating on the steel cases but at least in the case of the lacquer you can't hardly melt that crap off a empty case with a propane torch let alone get the chamber that hot without other major issues.

For the record tho, I have had it happen in one of my AK's too when shooting brass after steel and having failure to extract issues. After knocking it out with the cleaning rod and scrubbing out the chamber issues went away.
 
Robert101 said:
JBrady, "I think I'll just stick to AKs from here on, they aren't picky girl guns lol."

For you I agree that is a good idea-lol.

Edit: With some more thought, I got a little silly in my post. What gun someone chooses to shoot and/or make fun of is their opinion and they are entitled to it. I have my particulars as well..... so to each his own.
Click to expand...
I was just trying to add a little humor to the thread too Robert. No disrespect meant from me.
 
If you shoot an AR, any make or model, I will pay you money if you can shoot 100 rds of wolf or tula ammo then empty a 30 rd mag of brass case ammo. You can even put an extractor in your bolt that can pull a pickup truck, you will just rip the case. Ask me how I know! I carry a cleaning kit when going to the range and know I will be shooting steel case ammo. A stronger extractor is a good idea, but will not stop the problem the OP posted.
 
First hand experience

the carbon build up from the non-expanding steel cases, as well as some laquer buildup (from the older steel case ammo i was shooting) caused my AR chamber to keep brass.
 
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