AR-15 Light strike on feed turned extractor upgrade discussion

[Conceyted]

I had my first malfunction on my Stag AR15 today. I had a failure to eject on a round of wolf steel casing ammo. I cycled the bolt a few times but the ejector wouldn't rip the shell out. I ended up having to drive it out with a cleaning rod. I checked the stuck casing after I got it out and it looks like the steel was worn away where the ejector grabbed the casing a few times. No worries. I disassembled and cleaned my rifle when I got home and then I cycled a few rounds of brass through to check that the ejector was working. I picked up the brass and noticed that they all have a very light dimple in the primer. I grabbed a fresh piece of ammo and checked the primer on it and it was clean. Then I cycled it through the rifle and low and behold, another light strike. I believe it is happening when I am letting the bolt go from full battery. Is this okay or should I be concerned?

 

[103M 95G]

Normal, floatin firing pin causes that.

 

[Conceyted]

Glad to hear it. Thanks.

 

[Richard in LA]

Normal, floatin firing pin causes that.

yep. also, mixing steel cased ammo with brass cased ammo causes the stuck case you experienced. use a GI chamber cleaning brush, and scrub out your chamber really good and it is less likely to happen.

Lots of guys have good luck with the D-fender's for the extractor to help keep the extractor from jumping the case rim. Did it actually jump it, or did it rip off that piece of the case?

 

[Conceyted]

From the looks of the case, it appears to have either ripped off or worn down the piece of the case that hit the extractor a number of times.

Thanks for the tip on the chamber brush. I will invest in one of these.

 

[LouisianaCarry]

Shooting Wolf steel-cased Ammo in an AR15

 

[Conceyted]

Did you mean to link that?

 

[LouisianaCarry]

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/edu18.htm

 

[#1bambam]

Had the same problem with my AR.The wolf lacker was building up and made the case get stuck.Clean the built up lacker from inside the chamber and you will be good to go.I clean mine about every 3oo rounds and have had no more problems.

 

[WHEELER]

I use a D-fender (or O ring), M4 extractor spring and M4 extractor buffer, and H buffer in the buffer tube. Have not had a problem since upgrading these things.

 

[Conceyted]

I only had about 120 rounds and the new wolf steel cased ammo is supposed to be poly coated instead of the traditional laquer. /shrug. Oh well.

 

[WHEELER]

the steel cases do not expand as much as brass, which allows cabon to blow back and gunk up the chamber. This is sometimes an issue when shoooting brass after wolf as ther brass will expand and hang up on the built up carbon.

I shoot wolf 80-90% of the time due to price.

 

[Conceyted]

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/edu18.htm

Great link! That pretty much explains what happened, except I did not mix brass and steel. The brass was cycled after I cleaned it all off to check the extractor. The stuck casing was a steel casing. I had read about laquer coated steel gunking up the chamber, but I was not aware of the poly coated stuff doing the same. I will bring a cleaning rod with me for now on. Thanks for the link!

 

[owen502]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gMbu-yvwfw[/ame]

For you new reloaders out there. Be aware of what primers you are using in which gun. This guy shows the differences in hardness between primer cups and what happens in a semi-auto gun. If you look at this guys other videos, he has some good ones.

 

[dantheman]

I knew it wouldn't be long before the " Wolf " demons came out . FWIW , I shoot a buttload of poly coated Wolf in my Bushmaster and it has never failed to feed or eject . The only ammo that ever gave me any problems was some Spanish NATO stuff . The extractor would rip a small peice of the rim off . Shot some South African brass cased ammo with no issues . And I do not clean my Bushie near as often as most of you guys I'm sure .

 

[Conceyted]

I knew it wouldn't be long before the " Wolf " demons came out . FWIW , I shoot a buttload of poly coated Wolf in my Bushmaster and it has never failed to feed or eject . The only ammo that ever gave me any problems was some Spanish NATO stuff . The extractor would rip a small peice of the rim off . Shot some South African brass cased ammo with no issues . And I do not clean my Bushie near as often as most of you guys I'm sure .

Does your bushmaster have the H buffer and/or m4 extractor springs like stated above? I don't really know what else to say. It doesn't seem like anyone has said to stay away from Wolf. Everyone seemed to just warn that it can cause malfunctions while shooting. I have shot about 220 rounds through a brand new rifleand have had one fail to eject with Wolf. Just because it hasn't happened to you doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Your mileage may vary. I won't stop shooting Wolf. I am planning to reload within the next year, though, so I am most definitely going to stop shooting it once I start reloading, not because I fear of malfunctions though.

 

[dantheman]

My Bushie is box stock . No mods at all . Like I said , I'm not a fanatic about cleaning it either . I'm happy with the way it runs , and don't plan on changing ammo or cleaning habits . Why mess with a good thing ?

 

[Conceyted]

My Bushie is box stock . No mods at all . Like I said , I'm not a fanatic about cleaning it either . I'm happy with the way it runs , and don't plan on changing ammo or cleaning habits . Why mess with a good thing ?

I agree, I just don't think calling people who have had trouble with Wolf and are suggesting upgrades "Wolf demons" is the right way to go about things. I am glad your rifle is running flawlessly, and I agree you shouldn't mess with it, but I had my first malfunction and I am trying to adjust my rifle to perform flawlessly as yours does.

 

[dantheman]

I agree, I just don't think calling people who have had trouble with Wolf and are suggesting upgrades "Wolf demons" is the right way to go about things. I am glad your rifle is running flawlessly, and I agree you shouldn't mess with it, but I had my first malfunction and I am trying to adjust my rifle to perform flawlessly as yours does.

Damn bro' . I was just kidding . Didn't you see the " smiley " ?

 

[Conceyted]

Damn bro' . I was just kidding . Didn't you see the " smiley " ?

I should have had a smiley in mine, too. I didn't take it all that serious. It's all good.

My plan is to go buy a chamber brush and make sure my chamber is clean. Then run another 100 rds of Wolf through my rifle in the upcoming week or two and see if I encounter any other extractor problems. If I get another problem I will look into upgrading my extractor spring and the d-fender/o-ring deal. A question, though. The d-fender looks to do exactly what an o-ring will do. Any reason to spend 20 dollars on this over a 3-5 dollar o-ring setup?