So my buddy and I built a new AR this weekend for his dad, and they took it out today to test it and get it dialed in.
Problem is, he said about 30 rounds in, it started getting lots of light strikes. He said probably 1 out of 3, then about 2 out of 3. He took the BCG out of his own rifle (which we also built and functions flawlessly) and it seemed to have a few less lightstrikes, but still having problems.
Ammo was plain ol' .223, not military 5.56 with hard primers, which was my first thought.
He took it all apart and soaked it with CLP, ran it super wet, no real improvement.
So...
I am sure cutting the hammer down would probably fix the problem, but I'm trying to figure out what the problem IS? I mean... if it were a problem with the firing pin or BCG, swapping in the other one from the alternate rifle should have fixed the problem. If it were a problem with the upper being gunked (most all of the parts have sat in my safe or closet for probably a year), cleaning it all out should have made a difference. He said the BCG was seating properly, using the forward assist made no difference. Mag was run through the other gun with normal function, no failures.
So the only thing I can think of is a weak hammer spring? I mean, cutting the hammer down should allow it to accelerate faster and strike harder, even with less mass. Sort of like you often have to do with the JP Low Power spring kit. But I've never really run into an underpowered hammer spring. I suppose we could have overtorque or stretched the hammer spring when applying it on the hammer, but... I dunno, that doesn't seem likely. It is applied properly with the more forceful direction of the legs pressing down on the trigger pin, not backwards like can result in walking of the trigger pin and malalignment of the FCG. I made a point to check this when we installed it.
I don't know, just looking for some ideas. I've been kind of wracking my brain since he called me earlier today to let me know about it.
<edit> Oh, components. Standard poverty pony lower, enclosed trigger guard. Same Anderson LPK. Generic buffer tube and spring, Bear Creek 16" nitrided barrel, mid-length gas, non-adjustable gas block, Primary Arms (I think) nitrided BCG, etc. I mean, I just can't see how anything other than the hammer or spring could have anything to do with this, can it? I'm no expert by any means, and failure to cycle, failure to eject, all those I could see being related to BCG, gas system, buffer system, etc. But not light strikes.
Problem is, he said about 30 rounds in, it started getting lots of light strikes. He said probably 1 out of 3, then about 2 out of 3. He took the BCG out of his own rifle (which we also built and functions flawlessly) and it seemed to have a few less lightstrikes, but still having problems.
Ammo was plain ol' .223, not military 5.56 with hard primers, which was my first thought.
He took it all apart and soaked it with CLP, ran it super wet, no real improvement.
So...
I am sure cutting the hammer down would probably fix the problem, but I'm trying to figure out what the problem IS? I mean... if it were a problem with the firing pin or BCG, swapping in the other one from the alternate rifle should have fixed the problem. If it were a problem with the upper being gunked (most all of the parts have sat in my safe or closet for probably a year), cleaning it all out should have made a difference. He said the BCG was seating properly, using the forward assist made no difference. Mag was run through the other gun with normal function, no failures.
So the only thing I can think of is a weak hammer spring? I mean, cutting the hammer down should allow it to accelerate faster and strike harder, even with less mass. Sort of like you often have to do with the JP Low Power spring kit. But I've never really run into an underpowered hammer spring. I suppose we could have overtorque or stretched the hammer spring when applying it on the hammer, but... I dunno, that doesn't seem likely. It is applied properly with the more forceful direction of the legs pressing down on the trigger pin, not backwards like can result in walking of the trigger pin and malalignment of the FCG. I made a point to check this when we installed it.
I don't know, just looking for some ideas. I've been kind of wracking my brain since he called me earlier today to let me know about it.
<edit> Oh, components. Standard poverty pony lower, enclosed trigger guard. Same Anderson LPK. Generic buffer tube and spring, Bear Creek 16" nitrided barrel, mid-length gas, non-adjustable gas block, Primary Arms (I think) nitrided BCG, etc. I mean, I just can't see how anything other than the hammer or spring could have anything to do with this, can it? I'm no expert by any means, and failure to cycle, failure to eject, all those I could see being related to BCG, gas system, buffer system, etc. But not light strikes.