Do AR gas rings wear?

[Charlie98]

That's interesting! The fact that it was still running was a testament to the design.

My buddy chewed up his gas rings. He has a no-name AR he bought, and we pulled it apart to clean it... all 3 of the gas rings had been worn down.. .almost ground down... on one side. I don't recall if it was having problems with cycling or not. I replaced the rings... and then a few months later, the bolt sheared about 3 lugs... and that was that. I bought him a whole new BCG, and took the old parts back to the Cave to inspect. I still have the carrier, as a spare. I didn't find any abnormality with the carrier... inspecting the bore of the carrier, so I have no idea why the rings took a dump.

 

[BushMaster-15]

That's interesting! The fact that it was still running was a testament to the design.

My buddy chewed up his gas rings. He has a no-name AR he bought, and we pulled it apart to clean it... all 3 of the gas rings had been worn down.. .almost ground down... on one side. I don't recall if it was having problems with cycling or not. I replaced the rings... and then a few months later, the bolt sheared about 3 lugs... and that was that. I bought him a whole new BCG, and took the old parts back to the Cave to inspect. I still have the carrier, as a spare. I didn't find any abnormality with the carrier... inspecting the bore of the carrier, so I have no idea why the rings took a dump.

Running AR's hard heat is the BIG culprit with O rings and Not every manufacturer runs Viton rings ,although they most certainly should . Tough wear well rings lube or not . Depends how one cleans the BCG also ,solvents aren't any rings friend .

I'm very happy with LU708 Spray On Teflon release ,as I'm using it as a lubricant . Carbon wipes off ,No sticky residue and slick as a wet whistle yet dry and doesn't attract dust or dirt . OH Nothing from the Hide as yet ,a lot of lookers but No suggestions as yet .

 

[Charlie98]

Nothing from the Hide as yet ,a lot of lookers but No suggestions as yet .

Oh, they are probably thinking that... if this blockhead hasn't figured it out on his own, I'm not wasting my time on it.

 

[BushMaster-15]

Oh, they are probably thinking that... if this blockhead hasn't figured it out on his own, I'm not wasting my time on it.

Extractor area dirty spring No good and last resort : check your magazine feed lips to see if you have excessive rubbing of the BCG. Another possibility is that your mag catch is positioning the magazine too high and that the friction from the feed lips applying upwards pressure is slowing your BCG. That's all I could come up with other than , Lower out of spec but seeing as they were mated for 5K rounds seems silly to even mention that .

 

[DustyGmt]

That's interesting! The fact that it was still running was a testament to the design.

It sure is! I was surprised I didn't have any hiccups. The interior of my carrier was chrome lined and I was surprised to see that there were what appeared to be scratches and/or abrasions inside the BCG since chrome lining is so hard and shouldn't have, but even though I could see a scratch, I couldn't feel it. It was a Mil spec carrier and bolt and can't recall the name but it's nice to know that even with a total failure/breakage of a gas ring, the rifle will continue to function.

Even still, if I was going to do a high volume shooting class or competing in a shoot, I'd bring along a spare BCG/Bolt or Some gas rings on the off chance. It had been at least 500 rounds with no lube and during that time I was pumping through alot of magazines of LC 5.56 and the gun got hot, I imagine it was a consequence of running it hard and dry......

 

[Charlie98]

Extractor area dirty spring No good and last resort : check your magazine feed lips to see if you have excessive rubbing of the BCG. Another possibility is that your mag catch is positioning the magazine too high and that the friction from the feed lips applying upwards pressure is slowing your BCG. That's all I could come up with other than , Lower out of spec but seeing as they were mated for 5K rounds seems silly to even mention that .

I use 2 basic magazines... Colt USGI 20rd mags, and Magpuls... both 20 and 30rd, different Gens. I would be surprised if it was the magazines... but it's something to consider. It's a quality lower... LRB (by JPE)... and it's never given me problems prior.

I'm still trying to get back to the range with it. Busy week at work, coupled with family commitments, and the holiday weekend will probably keep me away until next week... darn it.

 

[BushMaster-15]

I use 2 basic magazines... Colt USGI 20rd mags, and Magpuls... both 20 and 30rd, different Gens. I would be surprised if it was the magazines... but it's something to consider. It's a quality lower... LRB (by JPE)... and it's never given me problems prior.

I'm still trying to get back to the range with it. Busy week at work, coupled with family commitments, and the holiday weekend will probably keep me away until next week... darn it.

Sniper's suggest checking :

Check the condition of the rubber tip on the buffer and the depth of the travel on the carrier into the receiver extension (buffer tube).

If the bolt face goes back much past the rear of the ejection port something is wrong with the above.



This is likely where your backwards fired cases are coming from.
Let Me know when You can

 

[Charlie98]

Sniper's suggest checking :

Check the condition of the rubber tip on the buffer and the depth of the travel on the carrier into the receiver extension (buffer tube).

If the bolt face goes back much past the rear of the ejection port something is wrong with the above.



This is likely where your backwards fired cases are coming from.
Let Me know when You can

That's what Varmit was suggesting... and what I suspect. I'm going to couple that with a little bit of overgassing, I'm guessing, and it finally reared it's ugly head. New buffer, new spring... we will see how it goes. Imma take my spare bolt and carrier with me... which is the old chrome bolt and a park'ed carrier I have as a spare. I'll be prepared this time...

 

[BushMaster-15]

That's what Varmit was suggesting... and what I suspect. I'm going to couple that with a little bit of overgassing, I'm guessing, and it finally reared it's ugly head. New buffer, new spring... we will see how it goes. Imma take my spare bolt and carrier with me... which is the old chrome bolt and a park'ed carrier I have as a spare. I'll be prepared this time...

Varmit knows what he's talking about . There's only so many things which prevent function and we're down to the last nitpicks

 

[Charlie98]

There's only so many things which prevent function and we're down to the last nitpicks

I think so. Given it's reliability track record previously, and not finding anything glaring in the BCG, and that's even after swapping the bolt and having issues. I will be surprised if the buffer/BCG overtravel isn't the issue.

 

[BushMaster-15]

I think so. Given it's reliability track record previously, and not finding anything glaring in the BCG, and that's even after swapping the bolt and having issues. I will be surprised if the buffer/BCG overtravel isn't the issue.

OK what can You tell us now ,as I'll assume You've had an opportunity to run everything down ,including Magazine feed and buffer rebound issue .

 

[Charlie98]

OK what can You tell us now ,as I'll assume You've had an opportunity to run everything down ,including Magazine feed and buffer rebound issue .

Not yet. Easter, busy week at work, family leaving out of town (no, I don't get to go, because of work.) I'm hoping range day will be Thursday or Friday.

 

[BushMaster-15]

Not yet. Easter, busy week at work, family leaving out of town (no, I don't get to go, because of work.) I'm hoping range day will be Thursday or Friday.

Any progress on the AR as yet ?. I'm curious to know WHAT will fix the problem

 

[Charlie98]

Any progress on the AR as yet ?. I'm curious to know WHAT will fix the problem

YES! Just got back from the range, as a matter of fact!

With... the standard Sprinco (white) spring, and the H1 buffer... it ran like the good 'ole days! 120 rounds, not one jam. In fact, I would say the recoil impulse was a little less than what I was used to, but that is subjective, of course. I even ran it with the brass catcher... which was a question I had about the last range session. No muss, no fuss... except one thing. Using my old USGI 20rd Colt magazines, the bolt would not lock back on an empty magazine. This has happened before with the old, abused 20's... so I'm not seriously alarmed by it, but next time out I'll make sure I take a PMag, which have always been 100%

 

[Bcwitt]

Seems like they should be able to machine a bolt like an AK piston & just eliminate the rings. I hate tiny parts like that.