Ptr-91 jams with magtech ammo?

[G3gavin]

Just got a Ptr-91 and i loved it until today. it would not eject these megtech rounds,to the point of getting stuck. I thought the magtech was a step up,but i bought these cheap brown bear rounds and not a single prob. i have only used two types of ammo, the brown bear and the megtech, but my thoughts on that brown bear ammo was it was pretty dirty burning. anywho is it the megtech ammo thats the issue or am i gona have to send back a brand new gun?

 

[Z-Michigan]

I used to have a PTR-91 and actually shot it with both of those brands of ammo with no issues. Did you do reasonable cleaning of the chamber and action and keep the action lubricated? The delayed-blowback design requires that the case not stick to the chamber too much. A really dirty chamber + soft brass cases could cause sticking, but again, I used to fire Magtech .308 without a problem.

Field stripping the PTR is really easy, except that putting the bolt back together can be difficult. But you can remove the complete carrier to inspect it and put it all back together in seconds. I'd take a look at it for extreme fouling or for being dry (no oil).

 

[Maverick223]

G3, Welcome to The High Road!

A PTR-91 jamming? No way. They are typically ultra reliable, make sure its clean, and if all else fails stick to the cheap stuff (only if you have to though). It should kick shells at least 20ft...if not there is a problem.

 

[G3gavin]

thank ya'll for the replys. well this is what i tried just to see, i had one round left of that brown bear ammo so i loaded it first and the megtech ammo in the rest of the mag. well it worked great, first shot cycled to the next, and i think i shot 3 or 4 rounds of that magtech ammo then i stopped. but low and behold i go to shoot again and the bolt is stuck. so this is what ive come to conclusion, looking at the spent rounds they are pretty dirty, meaning lots of powder build up on them, so the bore needs cleaning.

but here is my question, why would it cycle the brown bear ammo and not the megtech? does the megtech has less pressure than the others? what sux is i spent all my money on the gun that i cant really go out and try other brands at the moment.lol and once again thank ya'll for the info, this is a pretty neat site!

 

[Maverick223]

why would it cycle the brown bear ammo and not the megtech?

The steel case on the B. Bear doesn't expand as much, and could (probably is) the cause of the dirty chamber, that in turn causes the Magtech (as well as most other brass cased ammo) to stick in the chamber. FWIW I would clean it and avoid steel cased junk.

 

[lipadj46]

You should not switch between steel cased and brass ammunition without doing a full on bore cleaning. The steal cases do not expand to seal the chamber like brass and leave a thick residue on the chamber walls then when you switch brass which expands you will get FTE and stuck cases almost guaranteed. So shoot steel or shoot brass, shoot brass then steel, but don't shoot steel then brass without a serious cleaning.

 

[Slamfire]

but here is my question, why would it cycle the brown bear ammo and not the megtech? does the megtech has less pressure than the others? what sux is i spent all my money on the gun that i cant really go out and try other brands at the moment.lol and once again thank ya'll for the info, this is a pretty neat site!

I don’t have either Brown Bear or Megtech ammo.

If you want to have a rifle that will consume any ammunition on the market, get a bolt rifle, a single shot, or a lever action.

Semiautomatic military rifles were not designed to shoot anything but the issuing nation’s service ammo. Soldiers were issued ammo by their military organization. The military wrote and controlled the ammunition specification; the operating characteritics of the ammo matched the performance characteristics of the rifle, and every thing was fine.

Until civilians acquired the rifles and expected them to shoot any brand, any bullet weight, any powder, and any old nasty brass.

Your rifle will work reliably within a limited range of ammunition parameters. If you ever reload, I would recommend staying with 150 grain bullets, powders close to IMR 4895 burn rate, and keep velocities at 2600 fps in your 18” barrel (based on the performance of Australian Ball). If you don’t reload, find a brand that works and stick with it.

It is also incumbent on you to keep the chamber and sliding surfaces of the rifle clean.

P.S. Australian ball function perfectly in my rifle.

 

[Maverick223]

^What lipadj46 said.

 

[Onmilo]

South African won't cycle in mine.
Portugese, Australian, British, Chinese steel case, Privi Partisan, all the American stuff I have tried functions fine in the rifle.

 

[lipadj46]

South African won't cycle in mine.

That's surprising is it because of the tar sealant at the neck?

 

[Martyk]

I own a PTR91. Your gun is fine..don't worry. Here's what is most likely happening. As someone mentioned above, the Brown Bear ammo is steel cased and does not expand as much as the Brass Magtech ammo does. Put this in the back of your mind for a minute.

The chamber of the PTR91 is fluted, meaning there are grooves cut into the chamber. You can probably see dirty stripes on your spent cartridges. The way the action works on the PTR is that the fluting allows some gas to pass around the cartridge case to aid in it's contraction as the bolt blows back.

That's why you see your cartridges get so dirty. The down side of this is that if you use that Cheap Russian Crap, it will gum up those flutes. If that happens then the gas will not be able to travel around the outside of the case to shrink it down prior to blowback.

So if you were shooting Brown Bear for a while, you probably have a good build up in your chamber clogging up the fluting. Brown bear used tar sealant and varnishes the outside of their steel cased bullets don't they? This is 2 trouble spots.

Clean your chamber Really Good and go back to the range with your Magtech ammo.

It's a great rifle. Good luck!

Note - some ammo uses tar sealant to seal their bullets. This is the enemy of the PTR because of it's fluted chamber design. Stay away from it if you can.

 

[FFMedic]

I have only shot mine with German DAG and it was horrible. The only time it cycled it after about 20 "single shots" in a minute or less. At that point I'm guessing the chamber was hot enough to negate the tar/gunk. I'm planning on getting some silverbear, wolf or something along those lines. I want to try and avoid nicer brass ammo in my PTR because it ruins the shells and I don't really shoot long range with it. My PTR is my "cqb" 7.62 carbine and my M1A is for reaching out and touching things.

By the way, any tricks or special tools people are using to clean the flutes on these really well?

FFMedic

 

[Martyk]

None here unfortunately.. it's a PITA. Just time and patience. I do use a chamber brush that I picked up in my travels.

 

[G3gavin]

i know this my ptr hates those magtech rounds. i cleaned it, lubbed it, and tried to shoot it. btw the first time i ever fired this gone, i pulled the trigger and it went click,recocked it and not prob, but it seems the first rounds i ever try to shoot seems to do this. but anywho thats not the issue im most detured with it my like of money to buy differant brand's of ammo. thats the worst part of this, it would solve most of these questions. cause they all have there points and the fact of the matter is ive done all i can do cause im broke and thats weaker than my last pay ck!l lol

 

[HGUNHNTR]

My PTR wil not cylcl magtech at all! It sticks in the chamber and is a bear to get out. I have not had any problem with any other ammo though. I was like you, very worried about buying a lemon, until feedback from this forum.

You bought a great rifle, just don't feed it Magtech.

 

[G3gavin]

JACK POT!!!!!! it was those megtech rounds!!!! I bought some winchester rounds, that gun is frickin badass!! preformed flawlessly! LOVE THAT BEAST!! thank you all for your very valuable info and comments!!!

 

[Maverick223]

Glad you got it fixed...now add a buffer and you can save that brass.

 

[jbsmwd]

Magtech = Bad

I had the same problem with my L1A1. Changed out ammo and I know longer had to step on the bolt handle to eject the case.

 

[stubbicatt]

FFMedic asked.... By the way, any tricks or special tools people are using to clean the flutes on these really well?

Every once in awhile you can find these chamber flute brushes on gunbroker, or Adam has them. Combined with the rod, they work really well on the chambers of these rifles. Most chamber brushes contemplate one rotating the brush around in there, but this one you thrust in and out of the chamber... it doesn't rotate. Cleans those flutes out really well.

I've had good luck with this ammo. They are local guys, and it shoots really good in my rifle.

If you can't find one of these chamber brushes, get you a German cleaning kit, as the brushes on that kit seem to do a passable job. It takes awhile to run them through there maybe 10 times with that pull chain, but that will work too.

 

[SoCalShooter]

What solvents or cleaners are you guys using, I have shot german DAG and CHINESE and Winchester white box and all mine does now is jam, I thoroughly cleaned the chamber using SWEETS 7.62 and Hoppes and hot water and dish detergent like I use on my mosin.

I think its mostly clean but my sweets still comes out blue on the chamber. I use a brass 45 caliber brush and I DO NOT Rotate it in the chamber I have thrust it back and forth to make sure the flutes are clean and the damn thing shines like orions belt now but the only thing I have not done yet is a function test.

I plan to function test it this friday using the recommended ammo from JLD (FEDERAL or REMINGTON).

Please help I have still not found any way to get this thing into a semi automatic weapon.

 

[TexasRifleman]

It's funny that people want to blame second rate garbage ammo malfunctions on the gun.

Happens a lot though. There is some seriously horrible ammo being produced, just be careful.

Crap ammo like this is just as likely to blow something up as to cause a malfunction.

 

[BeltfedMG]

I have one i switched over to full auto and it runs everything i can feed it, never have jams.

 

[Mt.Traverse]

Surplus ammo

I've run 1,500 rounds thru my PTR-91 F.

None of these cycle in my PTR, all fire straight and true, do not eject.
British Radway Green early 80s on JG sales.
South African 1980- 1983.
Portugeese surplus. Samco,

But Norinco China Sport, Sellier & Bellot surplus, all commercial like Remington NUC and American Eagle, cheap commercial, also Lake City and Federal, work great.

Southern Colorado Ammo stuff rocks.

To shop ammo options

www.gun-deals.com/ammo Ammo deals boiled down and shipping figures. Very cool site.

 

[Mt.Traverse]

And... I don't think failure to eject is tar or other gunk. Mine rifle can be super dirty and cycles good ammo fine. Clean as a whistle, no chance of a cycle for "lower power ammo", to quote the guy at PTR who did call me back.

First they sent an email. "PTR only recommends commercial ammo". I think it sucks PTR only states their ammo preference when you ask, not in their promo lit. They first sent me a form letter in response to my inquiry about cycling issues. They seem to be sick of the issue, form letter, brisk on the phone, but fail to address it in their marketing.

 

[33-805]

The only ammo that mine do not like is the South African. And they REALLY do not like it. British and Portugese are smooth as silk in mine. The SA blows a lot of sealant around in there and it stops them up after about a mag or so.