NEA Soft Strike

Sniffer

Sniffer

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So I took my NEA 15 to the range for its first trip today and while the gun was super tight (magazine etc) I expected that until it gets a few rounds through it to bed in

After about 20 rounds I started to get FTF`s - when I looked at the unfired round it had been struck but probably had only half the indentation that the fired rounds displayed

I stripped the gun and checked everything, all seemed good (looked clean and new as you`d expect) - built it back up and tried again with pretty much the same result, probably one fire out of every 4 attempts, FTFs had the same soft strike mark as before

Anyone else had any issues like this? I`ve emailed NEA with some pictures and a description of whats going on so hopefully will hear something back at the start of the week

A little disappointed for sure but hopefully NEA can point me to a solution
 
Still alive said:
What kind of ammo are you using?
Some steel cased or surplus stuff have very hard primers.
Also is your firing pin to spec?
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I believe it to be Norinco non corrosive (pretty sure thats what it said on the description in the store where I bought it) but I can't find any writing on the boxes or bullets to confirm that, the whole bullet including the case is brass/copper coloured

The pin is standard for sure and looks (to me at least) as a pin should (straight/shiny/nice rounded end). I measured it with a digital vernier and its 83.78mm, I also measured from the face of the bolt to the far end of the pin and it is 82.54mm so by my calculations the pin sticks out 1.24mm
 
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I don't own a NEA but I assume their bolt is the same as other bolt groups. Your firing pin protrusion sounds about right. Does your firing pin move freely when you shake the BCG? You should be able to hear the pin moving. With the bolt pushed to the retracted position, using gravity, can you see the tip of the firing pin?

If so, I would try American made ammo and see if the same thing happens. All things being equal, it may be the batch of Norc ammo you are using.
 
Still alive said:
I don't own a NEA but I assume their bolt is the same as other bolt groups. Your firing pin protrusion sounds about right. Does your firing pin move freely when you shake the BCG? You should be able to hear the pin moving. With the bolt pushed to the retracted position, using gravity, can you see the tip of the firing pin?

If so, I would try American made ammo and see if the same thing happens. All things being equal, it may be the batch of Norc ammo you are using.
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I think so - I`ll double check the pin tomorrow

Yeah, I suppose different ammo would rule out the actual primers being the issue but the fact that the first 20+ rounds were pretty flawless in that respect and then it all went bad I suspect something else is at fault
 
You said everything was tight. Is the bolt closing fully into battery? Tried lubing it? ARs like it wet.
Is this a new Gen 2+ rifle? I assume you know about the early bolt issues with NEA guns?

My guess is still lube and good ammo.
Let us know how it goes with NEA customer service.
 
I'm going to be the #### here. If the rifle can't fire all relevant ammo in its chambering, find the problem in the rifle. Don't go relying on using softer primed ammunition. Some day all you may have available is the harder primed stuff, and you're still going to need to fix the problem.

-S.
 
Maple Leaf Pilgrim said:
I'm going to be the #### here. If the rifle can't fire all relevant ammo in its chambering, find the problem in the rifle. Don't go relying on using softer primed ammunition. Some day all you may have available is the harder primed stuff, and you're still going to need to fix the problem.

-S.
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I`m interested to hear all views ;-)

It seems I may not be the first to have this issue with an NEA I found the following from this link clicky:

Symptom - when you pull the trigger of your NEA15 7.62x39 rifle the round is struck but it does not ignite. A good portion of 7.62x39 surplus ammo on the market is known for having a hard primer. The NEA15 7.62x39 was designed with this in mind.
 
Still alive said:
You said everything was tight. Is the bolt closing fully into battery? Tried lubing it? ARs like it wet.
Is this a new Gen 2+ rifle? I assume you know about the early bolt issues with NEA guns?

My guess is still lube and good ammo.
Let us know how it goes with NEA customer service.
Click to expand...

Yep - its a Gen 2 for sure - I checked when I purchased it after hearing about the early issues (horror stories) with the Gen 1

I`ll be sure to update when NEA come back to me, I am of the opinion that things do go wrong from time to time - thats life - the important thing is how its dealt with from that point forward and thats what distinguishes the good companies from the bad
 
Norinco have hard primers, but a normal rifle should fire a wide range of ammo. It's also weird that it fired the 20 first rounds without any problem.....
 
Sniffer said:
I believe it to be Norinco non corrosive (pretty sure thats what it said on the description in the store where I bought it) but I can't find any writing on the boxes or bullets to confirm that, the whole bullet including the case is brass/copper coloured

The pin is standard for sure and looks (to me at least) as a pin should (straight/shiny/nice rounded end). I measured it with a digital vernier and its 83.78mm, I also measured from the face of the bolt to the far end of the pin and it is 82.54mm so by my calculations the pin sticks out 1.24mm
Click to expand...

Post a pic of the head stamp. If this is a 7.62x39 rifle and your ammo box has no writing on it assume it's corrosive. That being said corrosive ammo shouldn't damage your NEA so don't shy away from it.

I had the same issue with my x39 NEA, and was solved with installing a Wolff extra power hammer spring.

Hope that helps!
 
GLOCK_PERFECTION said:
Norinco have hard primers, but a normal rifle should fire a wide range of ammo. It's also weird that it fired the 20 first rounds without any problem.....
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Yep, I`m of the same opinion, particularly in a gun that was (by NEAs own admission) built from the ground up to fire that specific ammo
 
TheWhole9Yards said:
Post a pic of the head stamp. If this is a 7.62x39 rifle and your ammo box has no writing on it assume it's corrosive. That being said corrosive ammo shouldn't damage your NEA so don't shy away from it.

I had the same issue with my x39 NEA, and was solved with installing a Wolff extra power hammer spring.

Hope that helps!
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Interesting, about the hammer spring - did NEA suggest this (did you even contact them?) or did you just take the plunge with it? Did it change the trigger at all?

I`m waiting for my paid subscription to kick in then I will update with some pictures
 
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Not sure if you've checked this but make sure the hammer spring is installed correctly...I've seen an incorrectly installed hammer spring cause intermittent light strikes in a 556/223.
 
I had a broken leg on the hammer spring on my NEA and it was giving light strikes like yours...put in a new hammer spring and it is good to go .
 
Sniffer said:
Interesting, about the hammer spring - did NEA suggest this (did you even contact them?) or did you just take the plunge with it? Did it change the trigger at all?

I`m waiting for my paid subscription to kick in then I will update with some pictures
Click to expand...

A member here on CGN had similar issues with his windham x39 AR, so I just took the plunge and haven't looked back. My NEA came with a very heavy trigger this didn't make things any worse.

If I'm reading the headstamps right (61 over 05) it means your ammo is indeed Chinese (state arsenal 61) made in 2005. Being that its newer production I would expect it to be non corrosive. The non corrosive Norinco I have is 311 over 14 and comes in a white box saying its not corrosive.
 
xdmer said:
As others have said check your hammer spring .. if you're having issues with surplus ammo install a heavier one.
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To those that suggested the hammer spring I suspect you were right

I took the bolt out yesterday to check how loose the firing pin was in the bolt (seemed ok), when I was putting it back together I noticed a pin was slightly displaced, on closer inspection it appears the pin was one of two holding the trigger mechanism/spring and had slid out enough to be no longer supported on one side.

I`m guessing this would result in a reduction in hammer power and would explain my light strikes

Crazy thing is that the pin is only held there with the force of the internal hammer spring, and clearly is free to move from side to side resulting in the issue I had. Is there any way to counteract this? Blue thread locker on the pin?
 
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