A buddy is having trouble with the bolt hold device in his AR and I had a look at it. when an empty mag was inserted and the carrier pulled back it would not lock. It appeared the catch lever was not going high enough to catch on the front of the carrier so I ground a little off the spring detent and the bolt would stay open with no mag but not with a mag in place. On top of that, the carrier should be held far enough back to be able to strip a round out of a fresh mag and this is not the case. The bolt sits on top of the base of the round in the magazine. I can fix the whole POS by building up portions of these peices with a bit of welding and grinding but I shouldnt have to. Anybody else seen this before?
AR bolt hold device
- Thread starter lamar
- Start date
+1 to Savage for the magazines.
I have spare parts if you need some, but I would try a magazine of known reliabilityfirst. It sounds like the follower is not exerting enough pressure upwards to press the tail of the boltstop up into the path of the bolt.
I have spare parts if you need some, but I would try a magazine of known reliabilityfirst. It sounds like the follower is not exerting enough pressure upwards to press the tail of the boltstop up into the path of the bolt.
Disclaimer: follow these instructions at your own risk. I am not a gunsmith.
First, read this section on the assembly of the bolt catch:
http://ar15.com/content/guides/assembly/lower/#boltCatch
Perform the function check that is mentioned in the guide.
Visually inspect the bolt catch. Here's what it should look like:
In this image, you can see the triangular bit that should press against the plastic "follower" in an empty magazine:
If little effort is required to have the bolt catch pivot, then check the magazine. Are many magazines causing the same problem, or is it just one magazine? Has the magazine been modified to have a notch so that it won't touch the bolt catch?
If the bolt catch is stiff or doesn't move smoothly, it *may* need to be disassembled and cleaned or possibly checked for corrosion. Before I disassembled the bolt catch, I would try to lubricate it with some CLP or some other "gun oil". Disassemble as a last resort only.
Keep us posted.
First, read this section on the assembly of the bolt catch:
http://ar15.com/content/guides/assembly/lower/#boltCatch
Perform the function check that is mentioned in the guide.
Visually inspect the bolt catch. Here's what it should look like:
In this image, you can see the triangular bit that should press against the plastic "follower" in an empty magazine:
If little effort is required to have the bolt catch pivot, then check the magazine. Are many magazines causing the same problem, or is it just one magazine? Has the magazine been modified to have a notch so that it won't touch the bolt catch?
If the bolt catch is stiff or doesn't move smoothly, it *may* need to be disassembled and cleaned or possibly checked for corrosion. Before I disassembled the bolt catch, I would try to lubricate it with some CLP or some other "gun oil". Disassemble as a last resort only.
Keep us posted.
Just a suggestion, but it sounds to me like your buddy may have the wrong length buffer (too long) in the buffer tube, or he's got too long an upper buttplate screw in the stock. The bolt can't and won't go back far enough to allow the bolt hold-open device to go in front of the bolt properly. You shouldn't have to grind anything to make it work.
This plagued my dreams last night...
So I woke up this morning in a cold sweat, worried half to death about non-functioning bolt catches. And that's when it hit me.
Can your friend manually engage the bolt catch?
Details:
From the picture, normally when the bolt catch is properly engaged, you press on section "B" and the bolt will be released, picking up a round and chambering it.
To manually engage the bolt catch, press on section "A" while pulling back on the cocking lever. Once the cocking lever is fully to the rear, allow it to slide forward again (under control) and it should make the bolt get stuck on the bolt catch. Stop pressing on section "A" and slide the cocking lever (now with no tension on it) to its fully forward and "clipped-in" position.
At any time, your friend should be able to look in through the ejection port to see what's going on. If the buffer is too long for the stock as Six Star suggested, then your friend won't be able to pull the cocking handle fully to the rear.
If your friend can manually engage the bolt catch, that means that:
- the bolt catch is working relative to the bolt
- the bolt is working relative to the bolt catch
If an empty magazine causes section "C" of the bolt catch to "pop up", then the bolt catch and magazine are working properly.
At this point, with an empty magazine in the weapon, try to #### it, and see if the bolt catch engages itself.
I hope this helps.
So I woke up this morning in a cold sweat, worried half to death about non-functioning bolt catches. And that's when it hit me.
Can your friend manually engage the bolt catch?
Details:
From the picture, normally when the bolt catch is properly engaged, you press on section "B" and the bolt will be released, picking up a round and chambering it.
To manually engage the bolt catch, press on section "A" while pulling back on the cocking lever. Once the cocking lever is fully to the rear, allow it to slide forward again (under control) and it should make the bolt get stuck on the bolt catch. Stop pressing on section "A" and slide the cocking lever (now with no tension on it) to its fully forward and "clipped-in" position.
At any time, your friend should be able to look in through the ejection port to see what's going on. If the buffer is too long for the stock as Six Star suggested, then your friend won't be able to pull the cocking handle fully to the rear.
If your friend can manually engage the bolt catch, that means that:
- the bolt catch is working relative to the bolt
- the bolt is working relative to the bolt catch
If an empty magazine causes section "C" of the bolt catch to "pop up", then the bolt catch and magazine are working properly.
At this point, with an empty magazine in the weapon, try to #### it, and see if the bolt catch engages itself.
I hope this helps.
Question....Is the catch supposed to catch the front of the bolt or the carrier? Right now its catching on the front of the carrier when I manually engage it. This may explain why its not back far enough to strip a fresh round out of the mag. I tried 3 mags and all of them dont push the catch up high enough to engage anything. He bought a new carrier and a new bolt catch with the same results.......I need to look at another one to figure this damn thing out. Could it be the buffer?
