New AR556 trouble

[hittman]

Need your advice please.

Took a brand new AR556 to the range this morning. It fires twice then fails to feed the 3rd round. Pull the charging handle .... a round loads and you can shoot one or two again then ..... fail to feed.

Tried this with the factory mag, 2 different Colt mags and an off-brand which all work in my 2 other AR's. Two different types of ammo, factory and re-loads.

Would you thoroughly clean the gun and try again or leave it "as is" and ship it off to Ruger?

 

[Enigma]

If this was the first time out with the gun, yes, you should definitely have cleaned and lubed it before firing.

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Lube up the bolt carrier and the bolt cam,clean the buffer and spring,try again.
My AR's like to run best wet, at least untill they are fired enough to loosen up a bit.

 

[hittman]

This rifle was pretty wet right out of the box. You could see the oil on the bolt and it had even splashed enough to wet the inside of the ejection port door. But ...... maybe I'll take it apart myself, lube it up again and give her another try next weekend.

 

[Aqualung]

This rifle was pretty wet right out of the box. You could see the oil on the bolt and it had even splashed enough to wet the inside of the ejection port door. But ...... maybe I'll take it apart myself, lube it up again and give her another try next weekend.

Hittman,

The oil in which the AR556 is slathered upon being put in the box is more of a preservative, than lube. Heck, it may still be machining oil.

I would say to field strip it down and do everything to get all that oil out of it (buffer spring, everything). Then coat everything with a good lube like CLP. Then try the rifle again.

Aqualung

 

[hittman]

Gotcha, I understand now.

I gave it a bath with Hoppe's followed by CLP and put it back together. Went back to the range. First 20 round mag had no issues, 2nd and 3rd 20 round mags each had 1 or 2 fail to feed. Looked like the nose of the bullet got hung up, wouldn't enter the barrel all the way and the bolt of course stayed half way open. Cleared those and had no problems. Then I loaded the factory P-Mag 30 rounder and it fired all 30 of those without fail.

So, I'll give it another bath and make another range trip ASAP. Thanks again for your help gentlemen. I should have been more patient and cleaned it right out of the box.

And Agualung it seems to me you were right. When I took out the bolt and moved the piston in and out, it was not "gritty" but by no means did it simply slide easily in and out.

 

[Aqualung]

Glad our advice seemed to work.

Keep shooting it, it'll work itself in.

Aqualung

 

[Carry_Up]

Expletive deleted, no gun with a problem will magically fix itself after a certain number of rounds. I don't know why the public is willing to put up with that fairy tale. Let's have more information about the malfunction. Ammo, magazine, bolt, carrier, barrel extension/feed ramps, etc. One or all of these things could be involved. If the round is jamming right as it hits the feed ramps, then I would say the barrel extension isn't right

CU

 

[Aqualung]

Expletive deleted, no gun with a problem will magically fix itself after a certain number of rounds. I don't know why the public is willing to put up with that fairy tale. Let's have more information about the malfunction. Ammo, magazine, bolt, carrier, barrel extension/feed ramps, etc. One or all of these things could be involved. If the round is jamming right as it hits the feed ramps, then I would say the barrel extension isn't right

CU

Let's be nice...no need for expletives, even deleted ones...

I disagree and have known it to be true.

I think the cleaning did more to assist, but there are instances where a firearm needs to "shoot in". My Kahr MK9 took the prescribed 250 rounds (as it's noted in the manual) to work itself into 100% reliability.

I have also heard of others requiring the same and figure his AR556 may be the same. Mine has been 100% reliable both times I've taken it out so far.

Aqualung

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Many people feel that a 1911 needs to fire as many as 500 rounds to " brake it in"
Before it can be considered dependable. AR's are not precision but mass produced machines that may or may not run well without some fiddling. One of mine would,on occasion, go full auto untill I installed a Timney match trigger.

 

[Mobuck]

Before I ever fire a shot from an AR(mine anyway), I lube the bolt lugs, cam pin, and gas rings liberally. Then I hand cycle(open with my finger in the back of the BCG) the BCG 50-100 times. I want to see the
BCG slide into battery and lock by it's own weight with the upper held muzzle down at a 45* angle. If that doesn't happen, I keep cycling until it does. Saves a lot of ammo and ensures the bolt operates as designed. My opinion is a new AR should create quite a bit of smoke on the first 4-5 shots as it burns/ejects the excess oil from the BCG.

 

[George]

To the OP. Factory thick goo oil soked guns need to be cleaned. Any new gun needs to be cleaned before running it.. Not to say some will run fine without cleaning first. Ar's like CLP type of oil it very light and thin lube,Oh whne it drys it's still there it will leave behind a dry lube. That's how it's made to wotk. Rem oil works fine too.. Yes many new AR's like to run wet but with a clip type oil, or rem oil in a spray can..This will also reduce drag.. George

 

[Precision32]

What mags are you using? If they feed low the rounds will catch on the feed ramps of the barrel.

 

[hittman]

Precision32 .... I used 2 older Colt brand mags, the new P-Mag that came with the gun and another "aftermarket / generic" mag that all work fine in my Colt SP1 and another AR.

I believe the entire problem was ME ....... not understanding the grease or oil used when shipping the gun was for protection and not a lubricant. Haven't shot it again yet but hope to tomorrow. The 2nd time out after my cleaning and lube cured 99% of the problem. That being said, I've still only got about 120 rounds through it.