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AR repairs...

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Kickboxer View Drop Down
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    Posted: April/26/2021 at 20:31
My wife and I drove to Douglasville, Ga today to visit Brandon... and to get him to help me with a problem I've been having with my AR-47.  Short stroking, failure to eject... it's been going on for weeks.  I tore the gun down completely, twice, cleaned EVERYTHING, polished feed ramps/chamber, twice, polished the bolt with only Dremel polishing soft cotton buff wheel, twice... replaced the extractor spring and insert with the BCM upgrade kit, replaced the extractor...all to no avail.  So, today I went to see Brandon to get some help... help he DID.  He kept shaking the gun and finally loosened up a small screw...that has no relation to anything on the AR, in the AR, nothing I have ever used... that finally fell out.  Everything began to work.  I brought it home, took it to my range and fired off several rounds... then several more... then several more.  Obviously, no jams, no failures to eject, no short stroking.  How the screw got there, I may never know... as stated, it's not a type I've used, especially around any of my guns.  A mystery.  
With all the cleaning, it is running better than it ever has...kind of sucks, because now I'm going to do the heavy cleaning and polishing to all my ARs.  
Anyway, it was a great day... use WAZE for traffic avoidance and had an absolutely beautiful drive to Douglasville, then took a different route home and had an even more beautiful drive back.  Spent a few hours with Brando and got to look at his new rifle build... which is absolutely awesome... he has a custom stock on the way (the colors are going to be EYE POPPING) and it will be ever MORE awesome.  Got to play around with an Element scope... danged impressive... great glass, mechanicals are a little light, but not excessively so, zero tunneling, excellent reticle, good price point...again, danged impressive... plus it's on Brandon's rifle and it still works...THAT'S impressive...
BTW... nobody wore any masks...




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Urimaginaryfrnd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/27/2021 at 01:21
"....to all my ARs. "       addictive aren't they. 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bigdaddy0381 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/27/2021 at 05:48
Dan, 
 It was a good day. I'm glad we all got to hang out, fun as always.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SVT_Tactical Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/27/2021 at 07:03
Sounds like fun.  

Dan maybe do a post on what parts you are polishing internally.  I'm interested to see you did to make it run better than normal. 
"Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be" - Abraham Lincoln
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kickboxer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/27/2021 at 08:38
Originally posted by Urimaginaryfrnd Urimaginaryfrnd wrote:

"....to all my ARs. "       addictive aren't they. 

Wes, if not for you, the only AR-type rifle I own would probably be the NEMO Omen Recon...it is one I love.
AR's have some advantages, no doubt...you can go from caliber to caliber with virtually no trouble and at moderate cost.  Reasonably accurate in most cases and can be, with only a little extra effort, be made to compete with a bolt rifle but with far superior firepower.  But... there are, shall we say "intricacies" of keeping ARs operating efficiently.  Parts that fail fairly regularly... in this exercise, my research teaches me that the AR-47 (7.62x39) extractor fails pretty regularly(not well designed for the pressures exerted on it by the 7.62 round)... some suggest changing it out around every 900 rounds.  There are pieces, designed for ease of takedown/repairs that also have the irritating habit of wearing out regularly... now, they may not cause failure until extremely worn, but every bit of wear causes a change and reduction in accuracy.  When in the Army, I cleaned my M16 (and other rifles) every day... my roommate for most of the time I had a roommate was the Battery armorer and I had access to any and all of the armorer's tools I wanted and needed at any time of day or night.  Not having all that is a detriment.  I still hate ARs, trust them little...yet, enjoy shooting them greatly.  It's a love/hate relationship, focused around hate...
Would I intentionally take one to a gunfight? Sure, if I knew it's current status... and I'll admit that that is something I've not kept up with on the ones I have, except the NEMO.  Failure on my part as well, complacency.  Won't happen again.  I've decided to find and attend an armorer's course to get fully reacquainted with the "fun" of AR maintenance and repair.  Didn't want to, but I guess they can no longer be treated as "just toys".  Thanks Wes... I owe all to you...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kickboxer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/27/2021 at 09:29
Originally posted by SVT_Tactical SVT_Tactical wrote:

Sounds like fun.  

Dan maybe do a post on what parts you are polishing internally.  I'm interested to see you did to make it run better than normal. 

I polished the feed ramps and the entire chamber, then cleaned.  I polished the guide rails on the bolt carrier, the bolt face, the firing pin and all surfaces inside the receiver.  Cleaned again.  Used a light coat of Clenzoil Field and Range over everything, inside the barrel, and ran a clean cleaning patch through the barrel to remove any excess oil.  I used a Dremel with plain cotton polishing wheels.  On the chamber and feed ramps I used a very small amount of polishing cream and then a thorough cleaning.  
It's probably cleaner than it has ever been, even when new... everything is smooth.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BeltFed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/27/2021 at 19:03
From your discription, I was going to say it sounded like a gas problem, and to check the two allen screws that hold the gas key to the bolt carrier to make sure they were tight (50 inch pounds).
Life's concerns should be about the 120lb pack your trying to get to the top of the mountain, and not the rock in your boot.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kickboxer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/28/2021 at 12:17
First things I checked...
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