Help: Bolt Question/Issue

[sharkwatcher]

Greetings,

I have either never noticed this or it's just happened for the first time today, but when I have my bolt locked open and give the end of the rifle a "jolt" my bolt is closing without manually using the bolt release.

The only modification I've made to the rifle was today and it involved the charging handle and NOT the bolt release. So my question is could I have messed that up in a royal fashion and caused the problem myself somehow?

If not, then I'm guessing I need to have a smith take a look or send it all the way back. Your thoughts, please?

Mahalo!

 

[antifederalist22]

What did you do to the charging handle?

Aside from that, I have never had one of my personal AR platforms or an M16/M4 when I was in the Army that had a bolt catch that would hold rock solid. Almost every rifle I can recall using would work the same way--a good "bump" or jolt to the rear of the rifle would allow the spring pressure of the bolt carriage (or buffer spring where applicable) to override the bolt catch and slip the carriage past the catch into battery.

 

[sharkwatcher]

Greetings,

Thanks for the reply, I wasn't 100% sure if the bolt sliding home could be considered normal but I was surprised at how little of a jolt would send it home. For example, simply sliding the stock close with a good thump was doing it today and that's an incident I just don't recall in all the times I've used the rifle.

As far as the mod, I just installed an extended latch. Nothing else inside was touched at all.

Mahalo!

 

[CPTBeaker]

A locked bolt falling from a jar is completely normal. As antifederalist22 said, I've never used an AR or M16/M4 that wouldn't fall if you bumped the stock hard enough and I've used my fair share.

In fact, it was standard practice to turn your M16/M-4 into the arms room with the bolt locked to the rear so the armorer could verify the weapon was clear. Instead of manually pulling the charging handle on 120 turned in weapons, almost every armorer I've ever seen received the weapon, checked the chamber, rapped the butt on the floor and put it in the rack.

 

[Dragon88]

I'll never forget the first time this was shown to me. On the third day of Basic Training, we drew our weapons for the first time and went to the classroom for a safety class. The Drill Sergeant showed various ways guys can be unsafe with their rifles. He locked the bolt of the M-16 he was holding to the rear, then slammed the buttstock against the wall. The bolt slammed forward with what at the time seemed like a deafening clank. Point taken, never assume the bolt will stay back if you are dumb enough to load a magazine and use the bolt lock as a "safety".

 

[tacticool22]

If the empty magazine is still in the rifle, the bolt should never go forward.
If you remove the empty or have a full mag in, then the bolt hold open feature in the rifle is not engaged.
You bump the rifle, the bolt comes away from the stop, the stop is spring loaded to get out of the way, and your bolt closes.

 

[sharkwatcher]

Greetings,

Case (bolt lol) closed! Thanks much for all the feedback on this one. The magazine was not in the rifle at any point which falls in line with all of your experiences. I've owned it a while now and having never noticed this until immediately after I'd done some at home adjustments had me wondering. I appreciate the info, I have a much better understanding of what was happening now.

Mahalo!