AR556 wow's ....

[stroker87]

hey every one!

picked up a AR556 last week finally had a chance to take it to the range and well it was not good

had fail to feed every round or ever other round for about 1st 50 shots, then i pulled the bolt out and tried oiling it really didnt do any thing? the most rounds i was able to shoot with out a problem was about 10. I was using the factor mag and another pmag i bought that day was the same with either one

i read 100's of positive reviews on this rifle i just dont understad what the problem is with this one? this is my 1st rifle (have a few pistols) i was using Wolfs gold 55gr brass 223. i cam home cleaned the gun fully disassembled the bolt cleaned every thing found a ruger video lightly oiled every thing and put it back together but have not been back out to the range while cleaning it i didnt see any thing that looked to be a problem? only thing i did come up with and not even sure if this is a problem the front sight can be rotated a very very little bit

if any one can tell me what to look for it be appreciated

Thanks!

 

[Aqualung]

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

Had you cleaned your rifle before the first range session?

I know that when I got mine out of the box, it was slathered in and oozing the *protective* oil, which isn't the same as lube oil.

I'm not saying you should go to this extent, but when I got my AR556 home, I immediately had a CAT scan performed on it:











My kids love the smell of gun oil and they really were sniffing out the stuff all over and oozing out of the rifle. While it was wet with the stuff, it didn't feel slick, like a lube should feel. I figured it was a preservative or even a machining oil.

So, I thoroughly pulled mine apart and got all that gunk out of it. Then, I lubed everything up with CLP.

I didn't have any issues on my first outing with it or since. I've got about 500 rounds or so through it...

So, I'd say to give it another chance, now that you've cleaned it up. Or, go back in and clean it up some more if you think it might need it.

 

[stroker87]

the only thing i did clean before i hit the range was the barrel, i seen so many video's and read so many reviews where people claimed to just open the box and shoot it with out a issue i didnt give it a full cleaning. I cleaned it really good after the range visit though ( i keep all my guns clean blame it on OCD lol) this one did have a lot of oil or lube that the factory puts in it mostly around the firing pin area

i hope to go back soon just wanted to know if theirs something i should be checking for before i go?

 

[Aqualung]

One thing I found was that the buffer and spring had a lot of that stuff in them. I have zero experience with AR rifles, except for my AR556, but I would suggest pulling th buffer and spring out and getting all that out of there, too. Then lube buffer and spring with a proper lube.

That and your BCG (Bolt Carrier Group) are the heart of the AR, I've come to believe. Others will correct me if I'm wrong, I'm sure.

Best of luck.

Aqualung

 

[stroker87]

Aqualung, thanks!

i just checked my buffer and spring and they was bone dry, I just lightly oiled the tube spring and buffer with CLP

 

[daveg.inkc]

Your barrel nut is loose!! You should not be able to twist barrel. I fought this for 6 months. Take back to dealer and tighten, or send back to Ruger. And send Mr. Mike Fifer an email. This is an epidemic. I could set mine down while I loaded a mag., may not hit a dinner plate after reloading. It should shoot well after this, but no excuses for this. I called Ruger on mine, lady said to fix it myself.

 

[daveg.inkc]

I dont know if that is a feeding problem. Mine never acted like that, just wouldnt group.

 

[sliclee]

THE BARREL NUT-everything on this rifle is easy to use easy to clean so they say- EXCEPT the BARREL NUT.
You must have a torque wrench, most people do not have one,the tool to tighten the barrel nut and the tool to fit the
torque wrench. a gun dealer might have one -not so simple-wish you good luck Lee

 

[021]

Mine just hiccupped on .223. 5.56, on the other hand, ran flawlessly. So that's what I feed it. After break in, it probably would fire the .223 fine, but I haven't bothered since I have so much 5.56. Shouldn't matter, but it seems it did.

 

[PriseDeFer]

"...i did come up with and not even sure if this is a problem the front sight can be rotated a very very little bit..." Do you mean the whole front sight assembly or just the small front sight post? The front sight assembly is the gas block and the hole in that block has to line up with the hole in the barrel so the magic breath can get into the bolt carrier group to work the gun.

 

[stroker87]

hey guys thanks for all the response!

the barrel it self is tight (checked after seeing your post) just the front sight assembly itself has a very little bit of wiggle, when looking down the sights i can rotate the front sight left to right, it less then a milometer though from side to side i noticed this cause when i was at the range there was some oil around the front of it on the barrel witch was not there before my range visit

I called ruger this morning and i spoke to a lady who was really not much help :shock: only thing she told me was try different ammo if it still happens to call them back

every thing i read prior to buying this AR said they eat any thing you can put true them, not one review stated a ammo brand that was a problem? I looked up the wolfs gold .223 55gr it also has pretty good reviews only a few bad

new to the rifle world but my groups at 50 yard was around 3" i didnt think it was so bad being 1st time out? all the problems i never really dialed in my scope i'm sure i could do better with the AR working correctly and the scope dialed in so at this point i feel the groupings is me not the AR

 

[Aqualung]

hey guys thanks for all the response!

the barrel it self is tight (checked after seeing your post) just the front sight assembly itself has a very little bit of wiggle, when looking down the sights i can rotate the front sight left to right, it less then a milometer though from side to side i noticed this cause when i was at the range there was some oil around the front of it on the barrel witch was not there before my range visit

I called ruger this morning and i spoke to a lady who was really not much help :shock: only thing she told me was try different ammo if it still happens to call them back

every thing i read prior to buying this AR said they eat any thing you can put true them, not one review stated a ammo brand that was a problem? I looked up the wolfs gold .223 55gr it also has pretty good reviews only a few bad

new to the rifle world but my groups at 50 yard was around 3" i didnt think it was so bad being 1st time out? all the problems i never really dialed in my scope i'm sure i could do better with the AR working correctly and the scope dialed in so at this point i feel the groupings is me not the AR

PriseDeFer is correct. If you can move the sight assembly laterally across the bore axis (or turned around the barrel, as it were), your gas block is loose. Check the pins that hold the sight/block in place. If they're loose or missing, that's a problem. That sight/block should be tight to the barrel. If it's not, you can see a gunsmith or make another call to Ruger, telling them that it IS NOT an ammo issue, but a gas block issue.

"Magic breath"...I like that...

Aqualung

 

[stroker87]

I just tapped the pins for the front sight in a little more and its not moving any more but noticed some wear marks on the barrel from the sight moving, not sure if it can bee seen that good in the pic (sorry thats the best pic i was able to take) and you can see some oil, is the oil in that area normal?

hopefully i will be going back to the range soon and will see whats up

 

[Aqualung]

I just tapped the pins for the front sight in a little more and its not moving any more but noticed some wear marks on the barrel from the sight moving, not sure if it can bee seen that good in the pic (sorry thats the best pic i was able to take) and you can see some oil, is the oil in that area normal?

hopefully i will be going back to the range soon and will see whats up

The oil residue is probably blow-by from the loose block. I wouldn't worry about it.

I'd shoot it again and then check the pins to see if they came loose again. If they do, I'm not sure what the next step would be. At that point, I'd probably place another call to Ruger to see what they have to say. Maybe Iowegan could make a suggestion to how to find or make bigger pins...maybe a couple cheap drill bits or something.

Aqualung

 

[IslandRuger]

Oy - sorry you're having issues. Mine is back at the factory for a second time. Barrel nut spinningly loose so back it went - and when it came back it wouldn't function.

Loose gas block would certainly give you some grief for cycling and accuracy.

This is a rifle I would love to love - inexpensive, Ruger name, worked well for a few hundred rounds and then...wham.

 

[steelshooterco]

Stoker87,

If any of my 22 LR rim fires grouped like that, "new to the rifle world but my groups at 50 yard was around 3" i didnt think it was so bad being 1st time out? all the problems i never really dialed in my scope i'm sure i could do better" they would deserve to become tomato stakes.... This includes pistols, you have a definite problem.

 

[IslandRuger]

are they California Compliant tomato stakes? Cherry tomatoes only, no more than 10 to a bunch, you have to have a "tomato button" to prune them...

 

[FergusonTO35]

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

Had you cleaned your rifle before the first range session?

I know that when I got mine out of the box, it was slathered in and oozing the *protective* oil, which isn't the same as lube oil.

I'm not saying you should go to this extent, but when I got my AR556 home, I immediately had a CAT scan performed on it:











My kids love the smell of gun oil and they really were sniffing out the stuff all over and oozing out of the rifle. While it was wet with the stuff, it didn't feel slick, like a lube should feel. I figured it was a preservative or even a machining oil.

So, I thoroughly pulled mine apart and got all that gunk out of it. Then, I lubed everything up with CLP.

I didn't have any issues on my first outing with it or since. I've got about 500 rounds or so through it...

So, I'd say to give it another chance, now that you've cleaned it up. Or, go back in and clean it up some more if you think it might need it.

Love those kitties, orange tabbies are the best. You have very good taste in music too!

 

[stroker87]

Stoker87,

If any of my 22 LR rim fires grouped like that, "new to the rifle world but my groups at 50 yard was around 3" i didnt think it was so bad being 1st time out? all the problems i never really dialed in my scope i'm sure i could do better" they would deserve to become tomato stakes.... This includes pistols, you have a definite problem.

i cant blame it all on the rifle, this is my 1st one so i'm learning it and how to hold it and things like that plus i had a strikefire ll on it at the time witch i didnt like, I now have a Burris fullfeild tac30 with fastfire 3 that i think will help next time out

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi, Stroker

This isn't particular to your rifle, but to firearms in general:

It's a good idea to take ANY brand new gun down as far as you can in a normal field stripping drill, clean thoroughly, and lube properly, before the first firing. With Ruger's guns, I'd consider it MANDATORY! I hear these stories about people taking their Ruger rifles out of the box and running thru however many 100s of problem free rounds, but I've yet to see it in person!

OTOH, I've seen way too many that reinforce my old gunsmith boss' comment that "Ruger has no trash cans on the floor, so when the janitors sweep up, they just empty their dust pans into the nearest gun being assembled." He had little good to say about Ruger's QC! I have even less. As in, "Come on, guys, don't you have compressed air in your factory and an air gun on every bench to blow the chips out?"

Good luck getting yours working... and please be sure to share your experiences with Mr. Fifer. He gets paid enough to run a company that turns out a flawless product... if not flawless, at least good enough to come with a WRITTEN warranty, no less! Ruger's customers need to keep his feet to the fire...

Rick C

 

[DGW1949]

Hello Rick C.....

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that no, there aint no "air gun at every bench to blow the chips out". Oh, ya might find one here or there but as a rule, air guns are viewed as a safety hazard these days, and the few which can be found on a modern-day assembly line have been OSHA-ized to the point that they are perty-useless.

As far as Mr Fifer's roll in the company goes, he aint getting paid to produce a flawless product, or even close to it. What he is paid to do is ensure that Ruger turns X-amount of profit, that everyone concerned gets their bonus check, and that the stock holders stay happy.
Very little of that has anything to do with producing a flawless product. On the other hand, it has a lot to do with what management calls "continuous improvement", which in actual practice, can be boiled down to nothing more than a quest for ever-cheaper materials, methods, and seeing how many skilled workers can be eliminated.

I don't suspect that I'll ever have a conversation with "Mr Fifer", but I were to accidentally have such an encounter, I'd tell him perty-quick that he needs to keep his hands off of Ruger's Customer Service Dept because it is the ONLY reason that I even bother with the company's guns any more.

DGW

 

[langenc]

If the scope/mounts are tight it shouldn't matter if it is "dialed in or not", should group. Group may not be where youd like it, but it should group. Scope adjust turrets are to move the group on the target.

 

[stroker87]

well things tool a turn on me! i want a free floater on my rifle so picked one up from a local modded it to fit around the A2 sight since ruger pins the sight on top of the barrel could not fine a low profile gas block that gets pinned the same way (oh well) trying to get the barrel nut off i bent the upper thinking i'm just a goof and didnt know what i was doing :shock: found a local shop that makes upper/lowers and they was willing to install my barrel on there new upper so after a 35 mile drive handed the gun smith my upper 10 minutes later he comes back and tells me HE could not get the nut off either :evil: WTF? called to ruger and told them its bent and even the gun smith for the local AR15 manufacture could not remove it either some thing is seriously wrong. the lady who answered tells me you need a "special" wrench to remove it so i told her its a local manufacture who makes, sells & services AR15's i'm sure they have the "special" wrench and they couldn't remove it either she tells me i'd have to ship the rifle back and repairs is on my dime. i'm very upset with there customer service i'd totally get it if it was my fault but when some one who eat sleeps and breaths AR's could not do it SOMETHINGS wrong and it should not be on my dime

any way once i got home i was so up set and at this point nothing to loose I put the "special" wrench to the side and grabbed my 24" pipe wrench put the upper in a bench vise and still could not get it off! took my heat gun out heated it for about 15 minutes still could not brake it loose so i grabbed 2ft peace of pipe slipped it over the pipe wrench and finally barely broke it loose! 35ft lb MY @ZZ!

today i was finally able to get the new upper and free floater installed so up set with this rifle nothing but fail to feed and now this i'm thinking i am going to sell it and just build one, maybe i'm just not cut out for ruger...

probably take it back to the range Monday, I'll let you guys know who it go's

 

[Aqualung]

Ok, so we give you suggestions to remedy your situation and you try them. However, before you test fire the rifle to see if our suggestions worked, you proceeded to hammer-hand around on the rifle enough to bend the upper. Then, after cranking the barrel off forcefully, you install it onto another upper and wonder why it doesn't work?

Regardless of whether there was a real issue with your rifle or not from the outset, Ruger is in no way responsible for any repairs after you started your hack-job on it.

And now, you're going to sell it with known problems? And going to build one?

Don't blame Ruger at this point because you cannot prove that you didn't cause your problems. Suck it up and pay the shipping to get yourself a repaired rifle. It's the cost of a lesson learned.

Aqualung

 

[rattlegun]

All is not lost. The hands on contines and a few tools are needed along with a book or two on the AR-15 and you can be well on your way to mastering the gun.

 

[huntsman22]

maybe i'm just not cut out for ruger...

or minor gunsmithing......

 

[stroker87]

maybe i'm just not cut out for ruger...

or minor gunsmithing......

this really? you have no idea as to what my skills are or what i'm capable of, I have few other fire arms and have modded them with no issues at all in including my KIMBER WARRIOR 1911. Huntsman22 you maybe should of asked "if" i know my way around a firearm before you posted your one liner I personally would have respected that but you just assumed i have no skills

if i didnt take it to a gun smith that works on ar's every single day I would say yeah it was all me but when he tells me I CANT GET IT OFF EITHER you guys are willing to tell me its not a factory defect?? seriously?

 

[Aqualung]

maybe i'm just not cut out for ruger...

or minor gunsmithing......

this really? you have no idea as to what my skills are or what i'm capable of, I have few other fire arms and have modded them with no issues at all in including my KIMBER WARRIOR 1911. Huntsman22 you maybe should of asked "if" i know my way around a firearm before you posted your one liner I personally would have respected that but you just assumed i have no skills

if i didnt take it to a gun smith that works on ar's every single day I would say yeah it was all me but when he tells me I CANT GET IT OFF EITHER you guys are willing to tell me its not a factory defect?? seriously?

First off, we didnt assume anything. In your own words, you're "new to the rifle world", and regardless of whether you've experience with handguns, they're different in their own ways.

I stand by what I said earlier, you may have made changes that may have fixed your problem, but you didn't test them. Then, you damaged your upper by working on the rifle yourself. You only took the rifle to the gunsmith after you cranked around at it...

And as I stated before, whether there was a factory defect or not is beside the point because you didn't prove that the problem continued before you tried to remove the barrel. So, while it may have been Ruger's responsibility before you tried to make your modifications, after you did them, they're not liable.

What you should have done was to stop trying to remove the barrel and send the rifle back to Ruger. At that point it would have been their responsibility and their dime. However, after you performed your alterations, there is no guarantee that you didn't damage the rifle and cause the issues.

Should the barrel nut be that hard to get off? No. Is it likely to be a factory defect? Probably. But, how can you *prove* to Ruger that you didn't put your pipe wrench with the 2' pipe "cheater bar" on the nut and turn it the wrong way first?

Ruger has repeatedly taken responsibility for their proven factory defects and made it right with consumers. However, just as repeatedly, they don't stand by and take responsibility for failures caused by user alterations. This is why any after-market springs, hammers, triggers or other mods are immediately removed at the factory if a modified gun is sent back in for repairs.

What I had an issue with is that you came to the forum asking advice. We took the time and effort to give you sincere advice and you seemed to be taking it. However, you didn't tell us the outcome of our advice. Did you test fire it after tightening the block and cleaning? If so, you never told us.

No, you then talk about how you bent your upper trying to wrench the barrel off.

Remember, all we know about you at this point is "new to the rifle world". We gave you advice and you didn't take it...so yes, we're going to give you flack.

So, spare us your indignation.

Aqualung

 

[langenc]

Stroker-I hope you don't stick another shooter w/ something that wont shoot..

 

[huntsman22]

you have no idea as to what my skills are or what i'm capable of

Sure I do. YOU told us......

trying to get the barrel nut off i bent the upper thinking i'm just a goof and didnt know what i was doing