AR-180B Bolt Catch

trykillthis

trykillthis

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My 180 has been doing this rather annoying thing lately and I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how they fixed it.

When the last round is fired out of the gun the bolt is held open as it should be, but as soon as I drop the mag out the bolt closes. I can't figure out what the deal with this is. Perhaps the hook isn't catching far enough into the bolt? It would be nice if it did this when a new mag was put in, but this is a pain in the butt.

Anybody have this problem?
 
Is it on one magazine only?

It sounds like your magazine isn't lifting the bolt hold open enough. If this happens with all your magazines, a simple fix might be just bending the front tab of the bolt hold open down so the magazine follower will lift it higher. Bending the bolt hold open is a last resort.

If it happens on more than one mag, take pictures of your bolt hold open and the area on the carrier that it contacts then send them to me. Send me a PM for my e-mail.

I used to have times when slapping the side of the rifle was enough to release the bolt. Haven't lately, don't recall doing anything specifically to fix it.
 
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Its doing it with my other mags too. I dropped the bolt head out of the gun to see how much was grabbing. Here are the pics.

bolt1.jpg

bolt2.jpg


It definately looks like it could be higher up. I am a little nervous about bending that little tab down because I don't want it to snap.

Since this tab isn't really a high wear/stress point of the action. Perhaps a little JB weld on the underside to give it a little more lift?

I was thinking that the spring may just be a little stiff so far and is fighting the mags a bit. The gun has maybe 400 rounds through it since I bought it new 6 or so years ago.
 
I had the same problem with my PMags in my 180b. I fixed the problem by building up the back of the magazine follower with some silicone.

What kind of mags are they?
 
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Instead of bending the tab, you could try adding a blob of epoxy or JB weld to the bottom. This would at least be a reversible fix that would help trouble shoot the issue. By looks of it, you mags aren't lifting the bolt catch high enough.

Are all your magazines the same manufacturer?
 
The mags are NHMTG 5/30 with the green follower.

I think I'll give the JB weld a go first. Don't want to do anything too drastic. I can only imagine what finding new parts is like.
 
So I put a bit of epoxy on the finger of the bold catch and that hasn't helped at all. I took it apart today and bent it a bit more, and that didn't help at all either.

I have now noticed that I cannot even push it up high enough with my finger to catch the bolt. The spring seems to bottom out in the reciever before it gets high enough. Time to maybe replace the catch and start from there. Its only a 7 buck part. Well, before shipping etc.
 
Can you take a picture of the bolt catch with the upper removed? Something doesn't sound right.

Pop the bolt catch out and see if any foreign material is jamming it up at the back. Something isn't right here.
 
I had it apart a few times and didn't see anything that doesn't belong.

The catch doesn't go any higher because this spring is bottoming out in the receiver and stopping it.

catch1.jpg


I wonder if the hook just isn't big enough or what.

Here is the rest of it. This next one is with it lifted as far as I can get it up. How does it compare?

catch3.jpg


And the rest.

catch5.jpg

catch4.jpg

catch2.jpg


Thanks for your time.
 
Iam still pretty new with the ar180b, I couldnt tell you what the gas block looks like and iam dying to know incase i ever have a jamming problem, Yes I am a noob. But from those picture the bolt catch looks as if its bent too far forward compared to mine
 
Yes, I just noticed that. Have no idea how I missed it.

You're bolt catch it bent all wonky. The reason it isn't going up high enough is because the back part of the horizontal piece it bent up and this will hit on the upper reciever, limiting the upwards travel.

Everything should be more square.
 
Craig0ry said:
Iam still pretty new with the ar180b, I couldnt tell you what the gas block looks like and iam dying to know incase i ever have a jamming problem, Yes I am a noob. But from those picture the bolt catch looks as if its bent too far forward compared to mine
Click to expand...

The gas block is the same part your front sight assembly is part of, since the gasses are tapped from the barrel through it, onto the piston.

In the operator's manual, they call it the operating rod cylinder, listed as part #13 in the upper receiver group.
 
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