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Old 11-17-2013, 01:25 AM
Pivo Pivo is offline
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M&P15 OR 5.56 failure to eject M&P15 OR 5.56 failure to eject M&P15 OR 5.56 failure to eject M&P15 OR 5.56 failure to eject M&P15 OR 5.56 failure to eject  
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Default M&P15 OR 5.56 failure to eject
Occasionally I have some rounds failing to eject. What happens is the ejector arm rips a chunk of brass/rim of the casing, but the case stays in the chamber. Light tap with a cleaning rod takes the spent brass out. Yesterday I had 2 out of 100. See attached picture


What I have observed is that the rifle shoots very well for approx 400 rounds, then I am getting occasional FTE's. I clean my rifle well and it is good for another 400 shots (two sessions of 200 rounds each).
My previous AR in .223, used to eat ammo like peanuts without FTE's and I used to clean it every 1000 rounds.

My suspicion is: (I) tighter chamber, (II) hard extractor, (III) soft brass. Since it is surplus ammo I think I should focus on the extractor and then chamber. I see that the extractor has a spring with a buffer/insert and a ring outside. Perhaps I should remove the ring and see if it makes any diff...

What are your recommendations?


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Old 11-17-2013, 03:32 AM
ohbejuan ohbejuan is offline
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Mine was FTE on 556 (not 223) when I bought it too. However, it wasn't ripping the case rims off, typically that means the extractor is good to go. It might be both a bit of a tight chamber and the brass. I simply upgraded my extractor spring with the BCM version and all was resolved for me. Your mileage may vary

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Old 11-17-2013, 04:08 AM
Pivo Pivo is offline
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M&P15 OR 5.56 failure to eject M&P15 OR 5.56 failure to eject M&P15 OR 5.56 failure to eject M&P15 OR 5.56 failure to eject M&P15 OR 5.56 failure to eject  
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Thanks ohbejuan.

Also, attached is the shape/profile of the extractor. Is this correct profile? There seem to be machined step inside(?)




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Old 11-17-2013, 11:43 AM
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Occasionally I have some rounds failing to eject. What happens is the ejector arm rips a chunk of brass/rim of the casing, but the case stays in the chamber. Light tap with a cleaning rod takes the spent brass out. Yesterday I had 2 out of 100.

What I have observed is that the rifle shoots very well for approx 400 rounds, then I am getting occasional FTE's. I clean my rifle well and it is good for another 400 shots (two sessions of 200 rounds each).
My previous AR in .223, used to eat ammo like peanuts without FTE's and I used to clean it every 1000 rounds.

My suspicion is: (I) tighter chamber, (II) hard extractor, (III) soft brass. Since it is surplus ammo I think I should focus on the extractor and then chamber. I see that the extractor has a spring with a buffer/insert and a ring outside. Perhaps I should remove the ring and see if it makes any diff...

What are your recommendations?


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Check the stamp mark on your barrel and see if it's marked 223 or 5.56.

It more than likely is the surplus ammo. "Some surplus" have a light wax coating and that might be building up in the chamber (being cleaning takes care of the problem for a couple hundred rounds).
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Old 11-17-2013, 01:22 PM
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Check the stamp mark on your barrel and see if it's marked 223 or 5.56.

It more than likely is the surplus ammo. "Some surplus" have a light wax coating and that might be building up in the chamber (being cleaning takes care of the problem for a couple hundred rounds).
The barrel is stamped 5.56 NATO. Does the extractor profile look right?

I will put surplus ammo aside and the next few hundred will be commercial stuff only. Lets see how it goes.

Thanks for the advice.
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Old 11-17-2013, 03:58 PM
ohbejuan ohbejuan is offline
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I don't see anything odd with it, it's clearly doing its job trying to pull the round since it's snapping the edge off the case. Maybe a good thorough chamber brush cleaning and try a box of the federal 556 and see how it goes
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Old 11-17-2013, 04:24 PM
redsox617 redsox617 is offline
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mine is 5,56 and did the same thing ocassionally. I used only factory rounds, and it went away after the weapon wore itself in. Like any nechanical device it takes some time to wear itself in. I learned with pistols to never use any non factory ammo. There is no such thing as a bargain when it comes to function
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Old 11-17-2013, 05:58 PM
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The barrel is stamped 5.56 NATO. Does the extractor profile look right?

I will put surplus ammo aside and the next few hundred will be commercial stuff only. Lets see how it goes.

Thanks for the advice.
Hard to really tell from the photo (is there a sharp lip/burr started on the edge ?), other wise the extractor looks fine. Might not hurt to have a spare in your parts bin for the future though.

Using surplus ammo in the past,I always cleaned the bore with a brush now and then while shooting and a cleaning patch or two. Only takes a couple seconds and it gave me a heads up on how dirty the surplus ammo really was too. Amazing how that would also tighten up the groups now and then too.
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Old 11-17-2013, 08:36 PM
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You might want to get/use a chamber checker cartridge gage to confirm that the cartridges are properly sized.

I ended up with a pack of loose .223 rounds that had several failures to eject, a couple even pulling off chunks of the rims with the extractor. Doing a chamber "drop-in" check later on the rest, I found that over half of the package didn't go all the way into the chamber.

If you have a reloading press, I'm told that it may be possible to re-size an oversize loaded round if you're careful, and if it's just a matter of being the wrong diameter.
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Old 11-18-2013, 08:12 AM
redsox617 redsox617 is offline
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spend the extra $ on factory rounds. I used to Dillon all my weapons- too much time. Often the simplest answer is the one- rather than tear apart your weapon buy good ammo. They warn people against garbage in garbage out .Dont forget once you tear something apart you void warranty's- its no different for weapons. If your really freaked take it to a smith get it done rite
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Old 11-18-2013, 10:46 PM
rojodiablo rojodiablo is offline
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Thanks ohbejuan.

Also, attached is the shape/profile of the extractor. Is this correct profile? There seem to be machined step inside(?)




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Extractor is not the issue. Tight chamber is a possibility.
But the most likely culprit is the bolt is light, and recoiling very quickly from over gassing.
Add weight to the buffer to slow the bolt action down. A heavier spring could be another way to try and do it, but adding weight to the buffer is free, and easy.

The extractor looks good....... and as you can see; it is biting the round just fine.
A tight chamber will need a little polish. It can happen more than people would think.
I had to polish a chamber on one of the Sports' we have here. Melonite does take buffing, as will chrome if need be. Use a bore scope to look the chamber over really well, to identify the area a casing might be sticking. Small marks in the chamber. And, marks on the round. It's easy to figure where the chamber is sticking relative to the brass...... line up the brass with the missing chunk, and see where inside the 'stick' would correlate.
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Old 11-19-2013, 12:25 AM
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Rough chamber. Polish.

Look for bright bands around case.

nitewatchman
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Old 11-19-2013, 01:05 AM
Pivo Pivo is offline
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Thanks all... great insight!


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Old 12-06-2013, 01:22 PM
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First 200 rounds I fired on my M&P15OR had 2 FTE from surplus ammo. I assumed it was the ammo and thought nothing more of it. I'll try some factory ammo next.
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Old 12-06-2013, 03:47 PM
BlueOvalBandit BlueOvalBandit is offline
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I had this problem with my 308 garand. I got some slight corrosion in the chamber and it left witness marks lengthwise on the sides of my brass including ripping the rims off. Give it a polish, JB bore paste should do the trick.
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Old 01-27-2014, 04:33 PM
Pivo Pivo is offline
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I have cleaned the chamber to the best of my abilities, without resorting to removal of the barrel. The chamber is clean a a whistle and no more FTE's encountered. I must have had some gunk inside...


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Old 01-27-2014, 07:54 PM
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Thanks for the follow-up information. It could certainly help the next person that has this kind of problem.

Glad to hear yours is up and running. FWIW, I've been running my own reloads since the '70s. Never had an issue with any handgun, rifle, or shotgun in regards to it not being able to properly handle anything I loaded for it.
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Old 01-30-2014, 09:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ohbejuan View Post
I don't see anything odd with it, it's clearly doing its job trying to pull the round since it's snapping the edge off the case. Maybe a good thorough chamber brush cleaning and try a box of the federal 556 and see how it goes
Definitely need to keep the tight chamber clean, and it does sound like an ammo issue to me. billy
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