My AR isn't cycling

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Bazooka Joe71

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Went to the range today, and after a few mags, my AR turned into a bolt gun...I could only fire one shot, then id have to cycle the gun myself. I went through 5 or 6 different mags, to make sure it wasn't them, before I realized the problem.

I took the bolt assembly apart, and I am not seeing anything wrong.

What should I look for?

thanks
 
Could be anything. Loose carrier key, gas leak, underpowered ammo, etc...

Give us some details. What brand AR is it? How many rounds through it? What ammo were you shooting?
 
RRA CAR 15, I tried 3 different types of ammo, all of which I have fired many rounds of each kind w/o a problem. I've only had the AR for a short period of time, its my first AR as well...All together, right around 1000 rds through it so far(give or take 100).

Also, when I was unscrewing the carrier key, it was definately a bit loose. I must not have tightened it good enough last cleaning...It didnt appear to be loose enough to have a space between it and the BC, but could the key being just slightly loose cause the problem? If so, problem solved...If not, im not sure of what it could be.

This is going to drive me nuts until I get back out to the range.
 
The gas key is NOT supposed to be removed....or removeable. It should be torqued and staked so it stays tight.

See the '34 things...' thread for more details.
 
Do not unscrew the carrier key. It's not necessary to take it apart. Put it back, torque it to spec and then stake the screws so they won't work loose. A properly assembled AR has the carrier key staked down. That is what the spec calls for. Do not believe anyone who tells you to use red locktite or anything else. Torque it down and stake the screws.

Just curious, is it a Bushmaster?

Jeff
 
I staked mine after tightening it right up and having used locktite too. these thing's are not meant to be removed for cleaning, once staked they shouldnt be removeable at all. and if they break you need t get a new bolt carrier.

Toe
 
I have about 10000 rounds through one of my carriers and bolt, and it still functions fine. How many rounds can I expect before I need to replace the bolt rings?
 
Yep, carrier key should remain tight and staked.

In future, to avoid problems:

When you strip down your bolt and bolt carrier, make sure you remove the extractor and ejector. Look into the recesses of both. A little bit of gunky. greasy lube and/or a tiny piece of brass shaving in either spot can shut your gun down. Check the springs for both to make sure they aren't bent or clogged with gunk.

Before you reassemble your bolt/carrier make sure it is surgically clean. I mean spotless. Be sure to soak/scrape the carbon out of the inside of the carrier. Then reassemble using MINIMAL LUBE per the COLT (not U.S. Army) instructions. A thin, light coat of hightemp grease on the carrier rails and bolt lugs, a whisper of oil in the carrier key, and one drop of oil applied to the bolt through the carrier--that's really all you need.

Most of the problems I've seen with properly-built ARs has been caused by over-lubrication combined with small pieces of debris. One little brass shaving in the ejector hole can cause malfunctions.
 
When you strip down your bolt and bolt carrier, make sure you remove the extractor and ejector. Look into the recesses of both. A little bit of gunky. greasy lube and/or a tiny piece of brass shaving in either spot can shut your gun down. Check the springs for both to make sure they aren't bent or clogged with gunk.

Before you reassemble your bolt/carrier make sure it is surgically clean. I mean spotless. Be sure to soak/scrape the carbon out of the inside of the carrier. Then reassemble using MINIMAL LUBE per the COLT (not U.S. Army) instructions. A thin, light coat of hightemp grease on the carrier rails and bolt lugs, a whisper of oil in the carrier key, and one drop of oil applied to the bolt through the carrier--that's really all you need.

Most of the problems I've seen with properly-built ARs has been caused by over-lubrication combined with small pieces of debris. One little brass shaving in the ejector hole can cause malfunctions.
Click to expand...

Every time I clean my gun I go through those steps, EXEPT I probably do use too much lube sometimes.

My other mistake is obviously taking the carrier key off, and will never do that again....Thats a newbie AR owner for you.:D
 
Bah, live and learn, Bazooka.:D Don't be messing with things that don't NEED to be messed with. Also you learned the value of a pegged bolt.:)

Everyone has gun issues, but I carry most of the weight. Just ask me sometime how I reversed a Swedish Mauser to cock on open when I field stripped it.:D (Still haven't figured that one out)!:p
 
Excess lube affected me when I first got me Armalite. I have learned better.
Now I just wipe everything down with an oily rag and then wipe it off with a dry rag. Gun works well.

I also got a brass sliver once that got into the bolt. Really puzzled me until I field stripped it at the range and found the sliver.
 
I'm going to have to disagree and say that AR's run better fairly wet/with lots of lube... at least until broken in. By 1K rounds, your action should be pretty well smoothed out though.

As others have said, never remove the carrier key. If I were you, I'd probably look at buying a carrier with a properly installed/staked carrier key. 99+% chance that that is the cause of your problem, I would guess at this point.
 
Gather up your parts and take to your gunsmith and beg forgiveness. He will torque it, pein the screws and have you working in short order. An AR takes no tools to disassemble, that's why there are none in the cleaning kit. You give tools to the troops, they have problems like this.. Just get down and push. Beg forgiveness and put the tools away until you know what you are doing. Those kind of errors can kill people!
 
Loctite will not work under extreme heat, staking is all you can do that will be effective in keeping it from coming loose.
 
hagar said:
I have about 10000 rounds through one of my carriers and bolt, and it still functions fine. How many rounds can I expect before I need to replace the bolt rings?
Click to expand...

A good test for this is to take the bolt carrier group out of the rifle. Tilt the bolt carrier group about 45 degrees with the bolt pointing down and give it a firm shake. If the bolt comes all the way forward into the locked position, then it is time to change the gas rings. On visual inspection, another way to spot that it is time to change the gas rings is when one or more of them is very thin (just a tiny thread of metal left) or there are extra gaps where it has worn through.

BazookaJoe71 said:
How would one go about "staking" the screws?
Click to expand...

Check out the AR15.com link on properly staked screws in the "34 things" thread. They make a tool that can do this called a MOACKS (Mother Of All Carrier Key Stakers) that is very handy for the task; but you can do it with a vise and chisel just as easily.

Also as others have mentioned, don't remove the carrier key for routine maintenance. In the bolt carrier group, just remove the firing pin retaining pin, firing pin, cam pin and bolt. If you feel you need it, you can remove the extractor from the bolt and clean under there as well; but I wouldn't go beyond that for routine maintenance.
 
+8 on the not removing the carrier key. This is designed to be an armorer operation. I've done this a few times when rebuilding AR's and it's not something you want to do unless you know what you're doing.

I had a problem a while ago, the gun wasn't cycling reliably. It took me a while to figure it out, but I figured I would clean the gun and see if that solved the problem. So I was running a pipe cleaner down the carrier key, and I couldn't push it through. After a minute of trying, I looked down inside, and low and behold a primer cup had come loose from the casing, and gotten jammed between the key and the gas tube, and been jammed down the carrier key by the gas tube.

Jeebus what a mess!
 
No Gas Operation

I rodded an officer off a Qual Range with a non-cycling weapon. Seems he had a Q-Tip wedged into the carrier key and wasn't getting any gas through.

Some peoples children... Not enough NCO's in the world to watch them all.
 
Gas Rings--the One-Piece Solution

Tight, new Gas rings will cause this also. Shoot more it will get better.
Click to expand...

All my ARs have colt bolt assemblies. Have had no problem with new std. gas rings. However, I also prefer to fit my bolts with one-piece (spiral) McFarland gas rings.

One less thing to go wrong (you don't have to worry about the indexing of the rings).

See: http://www.ar15.com/content/products/accessories/gasRings/

"The Problem
In order to install the rings on the bolt, they must be split and thus a "gap" on each ring is unavoidable. The problem arises because these gaps can become aligned, and cause too much gas to escape too early in the cycle. This can result in short-stroking and possibly jamming the rifle, so manuals and instructors enforce the proper alignment of the rings when reassembling the AR-15 rifle.

The Solution
The McFarland one-piece gas rings solves the problem of "aligned" gaps by eliminating the gaps. As a one-piece helical ring, you are guaranteed to never have the problem with the gaps.

Replacement
The 3 individual rings can be removed one at a time starting with the rearmost ring first. Lift one end of the open ring up and over the edge of the ring groove (towards the rear of the bolt) and then work the other end over. Repeat this for the remaining two rings, and you should be able to remove them without damage. As a single piece of metal, the McFarland ring is wound onto the groove on the bolt's rear. Start one end over the edge, and then work the remainder of the ring over that edge; the easiest way to accomplish this is without trying to turn the ring itself.

Ordering
If you're interested in trying these out, the McFarland rings can be ordered from Competition Specialties. New prices of the rings are $1.95 for under a dozen and discounts available for larger quantities."
 
You don't have to worry about indexing the rings anyway. It's a non issue. Go ahead take the time and index your gas rings. Put the bolt back in the carrier, reassemble your rifle and go shoot 50 rounds. Take the weapon back down and look at the gas rings. Most likely they are not properly indexed.

I've seen plenty of AR and M16s work with one gas ring. Last June I broke a gas ring during Pat Rogers Carbine course. I discovered it when I got home and cleaned my weapon. It functioned fine even with the broken gas ring.

Jeff
 
RRA is suppose to be a nice AR (and it is)....personally though, I don't like ANYBODY's staking except for Colt. Colt stakes it, it ain't coming lose unless you have a grinding wheel.

coltstakesxy7.jpg




Here's how to do a military field staking job (it's easy):

From TM 9-1005-319-23&P (click on thumbnails for larger image):








Good luck.
 
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