Author Topic: bushmasters or other ar-15 variants (Read 1150 times)

hillbill · « **on:** April 01, 2003, 05:04:32 PM »

hey guys! i have a bushmaster 223 which i really enjoy shooting and is accurate beyond belief with the open sights it is equipped with. anyway my question is that when i clean it if it isnt just dripping with oil (i use marvel mystery oil} it doesnt seem to feed correctly. is this a common prob or am i doing something wrong? i was raised in the school of clean lighly oiled gun {have no mil training}. havent had it long would love to make it reliable in light of current world events. lol anyway any replies from people of experience with this gun would be appreciated! thanks guys, hill boy.

KN · « **Reply #1 on:** April 01, 2003, 07:03:51 PM »

No problems like that with mine. I clean it like most any other rifle. KN

RON KONTOWSKY · « **Reply #2 on:** April 02, 2003, 01:43:20 AM »

No your BUSHMASTER should feed dry, it should not be dripping with oil,2 things should be addressed here the first is Magizine quality,try and stay away from aftermarket mags such as USA brand the cheaper mags always lead to feeding problems.
Stay with military contact brands new or used.

Next consider having the barrel THROATED & POLISHED, M-4 style this a common practice in my shop for reliable feeding of all brands of ammo, combined with quality magizines this makes for smooth feeding weapon.

RON KONTOWSKY
ACTIONS BY R.A.K.
DEANS GUNSHOP II
http://www.deansgunshop.com

John Traveler · « **Reply #3 on:** April 02, 2003, 05:12:33 AM »

Hear, Hear!

I heartily second Ron's statement to inspect your magazines and use only high quality ones.

I've supported US and Canadian small arms workshops, and the most common end user complaints were the magazines.

The weakest point in the excellent M16 series is the cheaply made magazines. The aluminum tube body is easily dented or crushed, the followers tend to stick, and the feed lips are subject to wear and deformation. Bent floorplates tend to fall off during firing. The NATO standard magazines as made by the British, Belgians, Italians, and (heaven forbid) the French, are much better.

Bent feed lips cause the "bolt override" malfunction, where the gun cycles but fails to chamber a round. the next most common feed malfunction is the "stovepipe" where a round is caught between the bolt face and the chamber breech. Both are caused by incorrect positioning of the round coming out of the magazine.

Military users get rid of worn and damaged magazines by crushing them to prevent reuse.

gunnut69 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 02, 2003, 05:19:45 AM »

Ron's correct in that dripping with oil is not correct and in any feed problem we always suspect the magazine first. What type mag do you use? Field strip the weapon and inspect for drag (rub) marks. Oil will collect all manner of cantaminants and actually cause reliability problems. In the ar's I like to clean and very lightly oil. If further lube is needed I use a graphite solution. Found at auto parts suppliers it is used in car door locks and such. It is graphite in solution with a volotile carrier and won't leave a residue other than the graphite lubricant. I do recommend a just a dab of moly bearing grease(synthetic) be applied to the bolt locking lugs. In some of these rifles poor function can relate to difficulty in lug rotation. Also a bit of the same grease applied to the cam pin when the bolt is torn down will help greatly with reliability issues.. Let us know how you fare. Thanks for the post..

Rogue Ram · « **Reply #5 on:** April 02, 2003, 05:29:12 PM »

Greetings,

"We", as in my co-workers and I had the same issue with short barrelled Bushmaster weapons that were issued to us. All but one of the guns jammed repeatedly.......as I recall, it wasn't ejecting the fired case and was trying to feed in a fresh round. Several brands of ammo, several diff magazines, etc etc. After 3 returns to Bushmaster, the great people there simply swapped them for different models.

The culprit? A couple things. A while back they had a run of short barrelled guns with the wrong size diameter gas tubes...too small to make the gun function. In addition, we received word that there may be a "personnel issue" which accounted for the number of returns.

IMHO, the people at Bushmaster are really cool, they will take care of you, call them and they'll have you return it and make it right.

As a side note, you ain't kidding about the accuracy! With ACOGs and Aimpoints on the little Bushy carbines, we are shooting such small groups that the fullsize and M4Colts and DPMS guns look stupid in comparison....its not even a contest.

Good luck!

hillbill · « **Reply #6 on:** April 03, 2003, 07:27:51 AM »

thanks guys for the info. i checked mags they are either brand new or in good shape. i think it may need a dab of grease on the bolt lock lugs or the cam pin. it was working fine before i cleaned it. had same prob when i got it new because they were real dry i think. it ejects and picks up shells manually fine. will take it apart and check everything over shouldnt be a big deal. keep shooting!!

John Traveler · « **Reply #7 on:** April 03, 2003, 07:55:49 AM »

HillBill;

A last thought: when you reassemble your bolt/bolt carrier after cleaning and lubrication, make sure you stagger the gaps on the gas rings. The rifle will give short-recoil malfunctions if you don't do this.

Other than a good cleaning and lubrication, the system is remarkably maintenance-free.

HTH
John