does the ammo go boom? does the ammo produce enough force to cycle a firearm?
the answer to both is yes. its not an ammo issue.
It can still be an ammo problem even if the ammo goes "boom" and the ammo produces enough force to cycle a firearm.
For instance, my dad's Advantage Arms conversion kit is practically flawless the majority of the time. But with a specific batch of Federal .22LR he bought, the round goes off, the slide cycles, and the case gets stuck in the chamber everytime. It works 99.99% with everything else we have tried (including other lots of Federal .22LR).
How do you explain that? Bad ammo? Or is it the weapon?
Like I said earlier, it's as much a design "flaw" (if you will) in 5.56 as it is in an AR15. Maybe even moreso a 5.56 issue.
However, it may be partially the "perfect storm".
Still it is a FACT that steel cased ammo in all calibers and by all manufacturers is less reliable.
It is a FACT that Wolf has poor QC compared to many others. I don't even like to shoot it in my AK, SKS, or Makarov because I have had too many issues with Wolf.
Those two factors may also be the "perfect storm" (Wolf QC and Steel cases).
My AR15's run steel cased ammo as good as anything else I have. They also run Wolf as good as anything else I have.
Would it bother me if my AR15 wouldn't cycle Wolf properly? Yes. All of my problems with Wolf can be directly attributed to the ammo (usually primer related), not my weapon.
Funny though, I don't actually think I have ever had a failure with Wolf in my AR15's that I can recall, not even primer or mag related. But then again I don't shoot a whole bunch of it in them either.