AR15 Click-no-bang

[raydav]

I have a DPMS AR-15. I got it off-the-rack, already assembled, nothing custom.

I put enough oil in it that it was leaking out of the cracks. I put a few hundred rounds thru it at the local range and then took it to a four day course at Frontsight, NV.

At the local range it would sometimes fail to grab a new round - click no bang. This was most noticeable with steel, thirty round, banana mags. So at Frontsight I used only twenty round plastic mags. I got a few malfunctions. The last half of day four - test time - we got hit by a sand storm.

So I got home with a very dirty gun. I broke it down and submerged everything in solvent. I then went to the local range. Every shot was single shot, never chambered a new round regardless of the magazine. Then I remembered I had forgotten to oil it after cleaning. The only oil I had with me was a gallon of synthetic diesel oil, and no way to be delicate in it's application; I just poured it in. And several hundred rounds later had not had a malfunction regardless of magazine used.

That amount of oil does make it work but is not practical. Should I be considering maybe some honing, or something else?

TY
Ray

[gunderwood]

I have a DPMS AR-15. I got it off-the-rack, already assembled, nothing custom.

I put enough oil in it that it was leaking out of the cracks. I put a few hundred rounds thru it at the local range and then took it to a four day course at Frontsight, NV.

At the local range it would sometimes fail to grab a new round - click no bang. This was most noticeable with steel, thirty round, banana mags. So at Frontsight I used only twenty round plastic mags. I got a few malfunctions. The last half of day four - test time - we got hit by a sand storm.

So I got home with a very dirty gun. I broke it down and submerged everything in solvent. I then went to the local range. Every shot was single shot, never chambered a new round regardless of the magazine. Then I remembered I had forgotten to oil it after cleaning. The only oil I had with me was a gallon of synthetic diesel oil, and no way to be delicate in it's application; I just poured it in. And several hundred rounds later had not had a malfunction regardless of magazine used.

That amount of oil does make it work but is not practical. Should I be considering maybe some honing, or something else?

TY
Ray

AR's should be run very wet, but very wet doesn't mean fill-em up with oil. Where and how you apply the lubricant matters, it's just where you do apply it should be fairly heavy. One of the most common issues is not oiling the direct impingement AR's "piston" which is inside the bolt carrier and is formed with the bolt. Those washers and the cam pin should have a lot of lube.

Sometimes it does take a few rounds to break in the parts. However, it sounds like you're way past that. There are a lot of variables and without more information/seeing it, they're hard to diagnose. Some ideas.

1. Try different ammo. Some of the cheap stuff is waaay underpowered and doesn't like cycling. This isn't just an AR15 problem, the Gen4 9mm Glocks have a whole recoil spring swap-out program because of the light loads that are common with cheap 9mm. Personally I reload to the max pressure, or very close to it, to match my SD ammo.

2. Make sure you're lubing it correctly (read the manual or watch some youtube videos). Also, lubes that gum up rather than burning clean can cause lots of problems. Due to another thread on here I've been trying out FireClean and so far am very impressed. It's not cheap though. Otherwise, just get some good CLP from your local gun shop.

3. Check the rifle for anything out of spec. Bent buffer tube, wrong buffer weight, rifle/carbine buffer installed in the wrong system, etc. The action should be slick and smooth when stroked manually.

4. Check your mags. You said you tried several, but it's possible to have several bad mags or some damage mechanism be common to them all. If the gun is now working fine, mags probably aren't the problem.

5. Check the ejection pattern. Is it consistent, is it under/over gassed? Lot's of videos/articles out there describing what you should look for.

[R3V3N4N7]

You might want to check on the type of ammo you are using and the magazines. My AR shoots everything I put in it. PMC, Wolf, Federal all of it. If it is a magazine problem get rid of the magazine and buy a new one. Invest in some PMAGS things run great. I had a Ruger SR556 and it wouldn't run steel cased ammo reliably. I got rid of it because I want my gun to be able to run everything I put through it. You might want to do the same if you find your gun not shooting certain types of ammo. Good luck.

[widefat]

Take it to a local Caterpillar mechanic and ask them to soak it for a few days in BG44k. It will clean it right up. Then, use BG DFC with Lubricity on a regular basis. It will run like a champ.