Shot the end of the year match Saturday using a new 9mm PCC. Have about 200 round through the gun.

Stupid me - checked the gun over before the match and thought things looked fine. Did not check torque on the castle nut - bad mistake.

During the third stage of the four stage match the but pad on the stock gave a little twist to the inside - did not think too much about it - gave it a twist back and moved onto the fourth stage.

Fourth stage had malfunctions all over the place - dropped out due to weapon failure. Totally bummed out. Noticed the stock was felling a little loose and the castle nut was not really tight.

Got home, released the rear takedown pin, broke the gun open and the buffer and buffer spring came out like a snake out of a can.

Found the buffer retainer pin in the bottom of the receiver and the buffer retainer pin spring wedged onto buffer spring.

Castle nut had not been properly torqued, loosened just enough to allow a 1/8th twist on the stock which backed out just far enough to allow the buffer retainer pin to release.

replaced the buffer retainer pin spring and the buffer retainer pin and torqued the castle nut to 40 pounds.

My Bad - reminder - check the castle nut torque - apparently they do loosen up.

Assuming this is an AR pattern, no, the castle nut should never loosen up. If you're using the standard system, it should be tightened to spec and then staked in place correctly. Falling that there are ratcheting systems that also hold the castle nut securely in place.

Thanks Waffles. I am not a black rifle guy and this is my first venture to the "dark" side.

Did not know about the ratchet castle nut. Looks like this might be a worthwhile investment.

Thanks for the heads up

GEC