So I pulled the bolt, etc, and the extractor...I see the extractor spring, i see the rubber (insert) inside the extractor spring (per the manual and figures)...I also see a small ruber O ring arond the outside of the ejector spring. Is this suppoae to be there - because I see (no) mention of it in the manual or the pictures? (BTW, I tried "ejecting" a snap cap (before) I disassemble and it didn't eject - which makes me suspecious. At firts I thought maybee the grease was holding it up)....This is a bushmaster carbon 15.

 

thanks

Snap caps are notoriously unreliable in weapons. They aren't made to the same sizing standard as dummy ammunition for practicing drills. The o-ring is supposed to be there. It adds extra force for the extractor to assist in removing cases from the chamber that might otherwise be sticky.

Did you let the bolt drop on the snap cap or gently ride the bolt into battery? The extractor may not have gripped the edge of the round. I use A-Zoom snap caps on all my ARs after a build or clean and they've never gotten stuck or had them not extract.

 

Also, if this is a new rifle, make sure to clean the chamber with a chamber brush really well.

 

There should be no o-ring around the ejector spring. There shouldn't be room for one anyway. You Also shouldn't have to remove the ejector in any case. I have never seen a bad ejector on an AR rifle. The bolt lugs (typically #1 and #7) or the body around the hole for the cam pin typically fail way before an ejector does.

 

An extractor is a different story. You should remove, clean, and inspect your extractor whenever you clean your rifle. For a mil-spec, shot peened and MPI bolt setup your extractor assembly (extractor, extractor spring, and proper insert) should be replaced every 3000-5000 rounds for preventative maintenance. Commercial BCGs I have seen fail at around 1000 rounds so your intervals may need to be adjusted.

 

There may be a small black rubber donut around your extractor spring (5 coils and copper is the current standard) Their should also be an insert in the spring (The insert should be black for a carbine setup and blue if rifle length). That is a part that was developed by Crane for their SOPMOD enhanced reliability kit. You should only need that on an extractor setup that is nearing the end of its usable lifespan or on some SBRs (especially full auto models).

 

Some companies that produce guns that are not milspec add the donut to the extractor to make the gun run.

Thanks for the info folks....

 

Kept the donut on....Lubed the heck out of the bolt group (manual said to do this)...put her together and she is much smother now and ejecting the snap caps.

 

Was a little more intricit than my M1a...The M1a's parts look like they come from a Rail-Road yard - big (relatively speaking of course). I use grease on the M1a...

 

With the smaller parts on the AR - I thought oil would be best....Do you use oil or greae on your ARs?

 

Also, there is one small issue with this C-15/AR...If I press the mag ejector too hard the "lever" (for lack of a better word), oposite the mag release and under the slide lock lever, gets hung up. I have to push it up ever so slightly to "reset" it...Anyone ever hear of an issue like this on an AR? (might be a carbon-15 specific deal).

Either your Mag Release Button itself or the hole in the receiver is out of spec. I ran into this when I put a DPMS LPK into a Defensive Edge lower receiver. The DPMS parts were found to be out of spec and the culprits in my instance. They were quickly sh!tcanned and replaced by mil spec parts.

 

One fix you can try is to either tighten or loosen the mag catch by 1/2 revolution.

 

If that doesnt work, you could buy a new mag release assembly.

 

Note that new parts may fix the problem only if the parts are out of spec.

 

If the lower is out of spec, you may be stuck.

 

 

Either your Mag Release Button itself or the hole in the receiver is out of spec. I ran into this when I put a DPMS LPK into a Defensive Edge lower receiver. The DPMS parts were found to be out of spec and the culprits in my instance. They were quickly sh!tcanned and replaced by mil spec parts.

 

One fix you can try is to either tighten or loosen the mag catch by 1/2 revolution.

 

If that doesnt work, you could buy a new mag release assembly.

 

Note that new parts may fix the problem only if the parts are out of spec.

 

If the lower is out of spec, you may be stuck.

Thanks for the advise!