Slvr Surfr
Member
On the 12th my awesome Fiance brought home my Les Baer Police Special that I had on lay away for about 6 months. At the rate I was paying on it, it would have been home in about a year !
Needles to say it was an incredible surprise when my beautiful woman had it home for me (paid off in full). A small treasure hunt later this is what I found waiting for me in the attic! she custom made the barrel support!
Here is my dilemma. While cleaning the rifle, I took apart all that should for basic field cleaning. When I took the bolt apart the spring simply fell out of the extractor. To my surprise I found absolutely no rubber insert, and it looked as though someone had drilled out the hole for the extractor to a too large of a diameter. The spring can simply fall out now.
I was a bit blown away as it looked too shoddy to be a custom job as Les Baer is highly regarded as a quality semi custom gun builder.
I called today and spoke with one of their very nice customer service folks. Turns out the whole AR building crew is away at the SHOT show in Vegas.
When I told the lady about the extractor issue she stated that this is how they choose to assemble their rifles, sans the rubber insert. I asked why this is done this way and she wasn't able to answer me. She did say that she would get back with me when she spoke to one of her AR builders.
I know that LB tends to build their AR's a little differently, such as the Castle nut being backwards. Knowing this I still figured that with all the good media and user reviews I would still get a high end quality rifle:
1. My question to other LB AR owners: Is this the norm for Les Baer's rifles ?
2. Is it dangerous to fire the rifle without the colored rubber insert. Dangerous as in could it cause damage to the bolt?
I have never seen any other AR's without a colored insert for the extractor spring. My research has shown that it is an important piece as it keeps proper tension on the extractor, and also prevents metal on metal bottoming out on the back end of the extractor with the bolt.
I'm pretty sure that I can go to the local shop and buy a replacement extractor complete with spring and insert. Would it be wise to do so ? I have not yet fired the rifle, but I am sure it has been fired already from the evidence I saw while cleaning it.
I know that AR15 forum may have more users, but I prefer this forum more.
Thanks for any and all input!
Below are pics of my LB extractor.
Needles to say it was an incredible surprise when my beautiful woman had it home for me (paid off in full). A small treasure hunt later this is what I found waiting for me in the attic! she custom made the barrel support!
Here is my dilemma. While cleaning the rifle, I took apart all that should for basic field cleaning. When I took the bolt apart the spring simply fell out of the extractor. To my surprise I found absolutely no rubber insert, and it looked as though someone had drilled out the hole for the extractor to a too large of a diameter. The spring can simply fall out now.
I was a bit blown away as it looked too shoddy to be a custom job as Les Baer is highly regarded as a quality semi custom gun builder.
I called today and spoke with one of their very nice customer service folks. Turns out the whole AR building crew is away at the SHOT show in Vegas.
When I told the lady about the extractor issue she stated that this is how they choose to assemble their rifles, sans the rubber insert. I asked why this is done this way and she wasn't able to answer me. She did say that she would get back with me when she spoke to one of her AR builders.
I know that LB tends to build their AR's a little differently, such as the Castle nut being backwards. Knowing this I still figured that with all the good media and user reviews I would still get a high end quality rifle:
1. My question to other LB AR owners: Is this the norm for Les Baer's rifles ?
2. Is it dangerous to fire the rifle without the colored rubber insert. Dangerous as in could it cause damage to the bolt?
I have never seen any other AR's without a colored insert for the extractor spring. My research has shown that it is an important piece as it keeps proper tension on the extractor, and also prevents metal on metal bottoming out on the back end of the extractor with the bolt.
I'm pretty sure that I can go to the local shop and buy a replacement extractor complete with spring and insert. Would it be wise to do so ? I have not yet fired the rifle, but I am sure it has been fired already from the evidence I saw while cleaning it.
I know that AR15 forum may have more users, but I prefer this forum more.
Thanks for any and all input!
Below are pics of my LB extractor.
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