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Displaced Texan

Crisis averted.

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I wanted to share with you all very stupid mistake I made with one of my AR-15's. Maybe my stupidity will save one of you a little trouble.

 

I am preparing for a trip out to the ranch in Texas...while I'm out there, I'm going to do a little hog hunting. I am taking a couple of friends of mine with me, one of which does not have a suitable firearm. I am loaning him one of my ARs for the trip.

 

I am pretty meticulous about my firearm maintenance, so before the trip, I went through my rifle PM checklist on both AR's I'm bringing. Cleaning, lube, function check, etc.

The loaner rifle, identical to my primary HD rifle (Colt 6944) has not been used in quite awhile. I had cleaned and lubed it last about a year ago, then tucked it into my safe.

 

When I pulled back on the charging handle to check chamber clear on the loaner, I noticed that I could not pull the bolt back all the way.

 

Odd....

 

I found that when I released the charge handle and sent the bolt forward, it didn't fully close either .

 

Really odd.

 

I had to cycle the action gently by hand to get the bolt to fully seat, so I could disassemble the rifle and investigate.

When I pulled the pins and removed the upper, the firing pin fell out onto my lap.

 

Apparently, I was careless when I had last cleaned and lubed the rifle. I had installed the firing pin retainer pin without the firing pin fully seated. In other words, the firing pin retainer was not capturing the firing pin. Not good. Had that been a HD rifle, that could have sucked really bad.

 

I guess I somehow got distracted when I re-assembled that BCG after cleaning it last time, and put the bolt back together incorrectly. Yeah, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

 

The firing pin was not bent that I could tell, but I replaced it, and the retainer pin anyway. I'll inspect it further when I have more time. No sense in taking chances with inexpensive parts.

This prompted me to inspect all my other AR's. No other issues were found, thankfully.

 

I have over 30 years experience with AR-15's, so I'm not exactly a novice. This just shows that if you don't pay attention, even someone with lots of experience can be stupid too.

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Good story, and a reminder to double check everything. When I reassemble my BCG after cleaning, I always manipulate it by hand since it has some small parts requiring alignment. I do the same if I fully disassemble the slide on a pistol.

 

Have fun on your trip and be safe!

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This is why I insist on "fouling" any weapon that is intended for serious use.

Agree...my HD rifle is that way. That one is a backup, and has been cleaned and tucked away in the safe for a year.

 

I'm glad I went through that rifle before the trip!!!

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I was in an EAG class a few years ago. On the morning of T2 a very experienced, and vocal, NCO from a very special unit was having serious rifle issues.

 

Pat strolled up behind him and asked him if he cleaned his rifle the night before. The NCO was quite indignant going an aminutes long tirade stating of course he cleaned his rifle last night, he is a disciplined warrior, he cleaned his rifle before doing anything else, how dare you, blah blah blah.....

 

Pat thenbet him all the cash in his pocket (several thousand dollars following some brisk SWAG and rifle upper sales) that the firing pin was either missing or installed incorrectly.

 

The NCO said impossible, he would never make a mistake like that. They walked off the line and field stripped the rifle. Sure enough, the NCO did exactly what you did. Pat gave him an new firing pin and FP retaining pin, smiled knowingly and returned to the line. Never said another word about it.

 

He was very quiet after that..... I think he got the "That Guy" hat that class.

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Hold on, I've got a good one...

 

I break down a rifle for a more-meticulous-than-usual cleaning and inspection.  I'd have to check my log book to be certain but IIRC, this was a test involving an "enhanced" carrier meant to mitigate carrier tilt with piston uppers.  So I've got the lower in a vise block in my vise with the buffer and action spring removed so I can better inspect the extension.  Satisfied, I begin reassembly when the phone rings.  I field the phone call and go back to my reassembly.  Lower still in the vise block, I put the upper on, push the pins together and rack the charging handle to do a function test.  Except there wasn't any resistance.  And the bolt is still to the rear after I let go of the charging handle.

 

Crap.

 

Without looking, I know exactly what's wrong.  I forgot to reinstall the buffer and action spring.  So what I've got is my carrier sticking halfway into the extension but pretty inaccessible from the ejection port.  I can't separate the two halves either because of the carrier being stuck.  I try whacking the stock with a rubber mallet to dislodge it but when I rack a charging handle, I jerk on it like I'm separating shopping carts which is usually a good thing.  In this case though, I've basically created a friction fit between parts where there shouldn't be a friction fit.  I consider dropping the rifle on the muzzle because it's just an A2 flash hider but I don't because if I mess something up, it's probably a more expensive solution than necessary.

 

At this point, I'm cursing loudly at the rifle and at myself (mostly at myself).  I'm thinking about ways to get at the carrier that doesn't involve destroying something but can't think of a clever solution so now I'm thinking, "What's the cheapest, least destructive way to fix this cluster?"  I pull the stock off and look at the extension.  Yep, a beloved (and not cheap) LMT extension is on there.  Shit.  I say a quick prayer apologizing for what I'm about to do and I grab my drill.  I chuck up a 3/8" bit and proceed to enlarge the hole in the rear of the extension.  I slip a 1/4" Delrin rod through the hole and push it against the carrier.  Now that I know where it is, I mark the rod and cut it down so it's only an inch-ish longer than necessary.  Keeping a firm grip on the stub that protrudes, I grab my rubber mallet again and give the rod a solid strike.  

 

The sound of the BCG flying forward and locking into battery was the sweetest thing I heard that week.  I'd have to look for it but to this day, that extension is in my "you broke this, you idiot" bin.

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Hold on, I've got a good one...

 

I break down a rifle for a more-meticulous-than-usual cleaning and inspection.  I'd have to check my log book to be certain but IIRC, this was a test involving an "enhanced" carrier meant to mitigate carrier tilt with piston uppers.  So I've got the lower in a vise block in my vise with the buffer and action spring removed so I can better inspect the extension.  Satisfied, I begin reassembly when the phone rings.  I field the phone call and go back to my reassembly.  Lower still in the vise block, I put the upper on, push the pins together and rack the charging handle to do a function test.  Except there wasn't any resistance.  And the bolt is still to the rear after I let go of the charging handle.

 

Crap.

 

Without looking, I know exactly what's wrong.  I forgot to reinstall the buffer and action spring.  So what I've got is my carrier sticking halfway into the extension but pretty inaccessible from the ejection port.  I can't separate the two halves either because of the carrier being stuck.  I try whacking the stock with a rubber mallet to dislodge it but when I rack a charging handle, I jerk on it like I'm separating shopping carts which is usually a good thing.  In this case though, I've basically created a friction fit between parts where there shouldn't be a friction fit.  I consider dropping the rifle on the muzzle because it's just an A2 flash hider but I don't because if I mess something up, it's probably a more expensive solution than necessary.

 

At this point, I'm cursing loudly at the rifle and at myself (mostly at myself).  I'm thinking about ways to get at the carrier that doesn't involve destroying something but can't think of a clever solution so now I'm thinking, "What's the cheapest, least destructive way to fix this cluster?"  I pull the stock off and look at the extension.  Yep, a beloved (and not cheap) LMT extension is on there.  Shit.  I say a quick prayer apologizing for what I'm about to do and I grab my drill.  I chuck up a 3/8" bit and proceed to enlarge the hole in the rear of the extension.  I slip a 1/4" Delrin rod through the hole and push it against the carrier.  Now that I know where it is, I mark the rod and cut it down so it's only an inch-ish longer than necessary.  Keeping a firm grip on the stub that protrudes, I grab my rubber mallet again and give the rod a solid strike.  

 

The sound of the BCG flying forward and locking into battery was the sweetest thing I heard that week.  I'd have to look for it but to this day, that extension is in my "you broke this, you idiot" bin.

I do this ALL THE GODDAMN TIME when I disassemble/assemble ARs. I always take a pair of needlenose and grabbing one of the bolt teeth through the ejection port and pulling toward the chamber. As long as I don't throw that charging handle back so the carrier goes ALL the way back in the tube, usually I can fish it out.

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