[Guest]

I bought a Stag AR-15 a few months ago, and I'm relatively new to the AR platform. I've ran a few hundred rounds through it, the first 60 or so were fine, no hiccups. Then the next time I took it out, after a cleaning, it seemed like every other round would not eject properly. It would still be in the bolt partway and get jammed in the ejection port. It wasn't quite a stovepipe. Am I doing something wrong when cleaning? Is the ejector spring bad? I'd take it apart and check it out but it looks like things will go flying everywhere when I pop the spring out. It does this with different ammo, so I believe it to be an issue with the rifle. I know the AR is a finnicky platform, but I don't think it should be this bad. Any additional comments/suggestions are welcomed. Thanks everyone!

 

[Guest]

This happened to me on my first outing with my AR. My issue was the gas rings. Make sure they are staggered after you clean and put the bolt back together.

 

[Guest]

Thanks! I'm usually pretty careful with this, as I've been forewarned. I might try one of those one piece rings and see if it fairs any different. Then I might move on to the ejector. I just don't think I should have these issues with such a new rifle.

 

[Guest]

Check your gas-key (The little tube on top of the bolt carrier) and see if it is loose. It sounds like you might be loosing gas somewhere in the gas system. Check your front site block to see if it has moved or is loose. Make sure your bolt carrier group is clean and lubed. Keep it all cleaned and Lubed and it should cycle nicely.

 

[Guest]

My problem was similar to your's mine ended up being a bad firing pin retaining pin. Mine wasn't seated all the way so it caused it to grind to a halt halfway through extraction.

 

[Guest]

This happened to me on my first outing with my AR. My issue was the gas rings. Make sure they are staggered after you clean and put the bolt back together.

Could be, I always thought that was a rumor though.

 

[Guest]

if the gas rings lining up were a problem then wouldn't a one piece one cause the same issue?

Anyway, I had this problem with one of my newer AR's, and it turned out the gas key had gotten loose. Once tightened it worked like a champ. Sounds like something got loose.

Is it picking up the next round but leaving it in there? Gas leaks usually show up as not enough to eject the round, and may or may not feed the next one. That is what mine was doing. It would eject the round, but was not far enough back to pick up the new round.

 

[Guest]

Make sure there isn't any excess lube on the extractor.
It should be completely dry.
Compare it to picking up a ball bearing with oily fingers

Good luck!

 

[Guest]

Gas rings lining up do not matter. I've tried it with no issues and have read where others have tried it with no issues too. I read from a few people that they were told during a Colt Armorers course it didn't really matter. Hell, they're going to rotate anyway.

My guess - either you didn't put something back together right, did you completely disassemble the bolt? Check you extractor and it's spring and insert, fatter side of spring does toward extractor. If they're ok maybe you need a O-ring around it. I'm assuming it's a carbine and they can have extraction issues with rifle springs and inserts. - OR more likely Stag does not stake their carrier keys correctly. Check to see if the screws are tight, I forgot the # in-lb, and restake. A leak here will cause short strokes.

I don't know about a properly built AR being finicky. My two Bushmasters, one 20" and one 16", as well as two friends of mine's Bushies will eat anything and everything. They're bone stock internally; and yes that is using Wolf, Academy Monarch (both steel and brass), XM193, Q3131, Q3131A, MK262, .223 Win white box (any kind), Rem UMC, Radway Green, etc.

 

[Guest]

I don't think it is a short stroke issue. I've done a bit of googling for ejection issues, and this was brought up. The bolt is coming back far enough to pick up another round, but the spent casing is not ejecting. It is extracting without a problem. When I took the bolt out and used a spent casing to work the ejector, and shot again, I had better success. So this leads me to believe it's something with the ejector. Either something I did (or didn't do) or the spring inside is weak or something along those lines.

 

[Guest]

Rumor or not, the gas pin alignment is listed as something you need to do in my S&W M&P15, and that being the case, I wouldn't ignore it. It takes only a moment to check & fix it, why would you go out of your want NOT to make sure it was aligned properly.

That being said, I had ejection problems on my Bushmaster, it ended up being a tiny piece of casing brass stuck inside the ejection spring area, I tore the entire thing apart and cleaned it (the piece ended up falling out) and I haven't had a problem since.

clean, clean, clean...

 

[Guest]

ehhhehehe... he said "short stroke"

 

[Guest]

The extractor could be dropping the brass prematurely, kind of like a 1911 with an improperly tensioned extractor. Go over it well and like mentioned above clean it out. I forgot which # o-ring it is (google it) but you could give that a shot.

I suppose the ejector could have grease built up in it. Put a drop of CLP on the pin and work it again with the empty case. There's a small weep hole down the bolt that should allow any 'crap' to flow out. I've never had a problem with this even with a dirty gun (used put away dirty then used again several times) but I do work a drop of CLP in there when I clean.

I would look at your gas key anyway, like I said Stag has a rep for not staking them correctly. That could give you some headaches later on.

Worse case, if nothing works, call Stag and have them fix it under warranty.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. How is the gas key checked to make sure it is staked properly?