AR with a bullet stuck in the barrel...

first round he fired stuck in the barrel...ok,seen that happen before,squib round,no big deal,knock it out with a down,check the barrel and go on....he did that,fired a second round,same thing...so he contacts me and is a little pissed his new gun doesent work....and I feel bad cause he Thinks I sold him a dud.

If bolt is in battery, the primer is being sucessfully ignited by the firing pin and he's able to hammer the bullet through the barrel and out the muzzle (IE no barrel deformation) how can the gun be to blame? Unless there is pressure escaping through a fissure/hole/deformation in the barrel or escaping back through the bolt and into the shooter's face because the bolt isn't in battery? I submit that a functional 223 round with roughly 50k PSI should be able to propel the projectile through the barrel much better than he can with a hammer.

My first reaction was bad ammo,incomplete ignition of the powder,etc.

Unless there is something seriously wrong with the chamber or barrel that is allowing pressure to escape somewhere this is most likely situation. See below.

Other then ammo,what else would cause this?excessive carbon build up in the gas tube maybe?im honestly at a loss here and want to help him get it running.

I once bought an M1 Carbine at a gunshow. When I took it out to shoot it, I had exactly the same problem this gentleman is having. After hammering 4-5 bullets out of the barrel from different manufacturers I got suspicious and tore the rifle apart. Turns out there was a hole drilled laterally from left to right inside the chamber. Some idiot had attempted to deactivate it by drilling holes through the chamber and I assume the intent was to stick a rod through the holes to prevent rounds from being chambered. The rod may or may not have been placed since I got the gun (so did the dealer) in that condition without the rod but the damage had been done. The gas pressure was escaping through the sides of the chamber via those 2 holes and there wasn't enough leftover to propel the bullet out of the barrel and cycle the action.

From what I gather from your post, nobody performed a shady deactivation job on your rifle and it was working before so it has to be the ammo.
 
All he told me is that the bullet stuck in the barrel.Did he mean the case would still eject,don't know,he said he has to knock the biller out with a rod,so I'm assuming he means the actual projectile.if he means the casing that a simple ejector issue,no big deal.

I don't know the guy,so I can't comment on how honest he is.

My conclusion was bad ammo,but the likelyhood of 2 squibs in a row?that the most unlikely thing I've seen.either he was using some ####ty reloads or he's trying to take me for a fool.

That rifle ran flawlessly every time I ever used it.

I built it,and when I did so,I inspected every single part I used to make sure everything was up to spec,gas tube and gas tube holes,headspacing was good and the gas key was properly staked.

This has got to be an ammo issue.
 
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if a full powered round (meaning if the round was a good one properly charged etc, not a squib) was indeed miraculously stopped halfway down the barrel by something? all of that gas and pressure would have nowhere to go. this can lead to blown/bulged barrels etc.

if this has happened TWICE and yet there is no obvious damage to the gun then something is fishy.

Exactly

If it was 2 commercials squibs in a row it's very special

If it wasn't squibs, the barrel or the bolt would have exploded with all the hot gas and nowhere to go.

I think by a round in the barrel he mean a case in the chamber it he reload and don't want to tell you the truth.
 
Did the buyer decide to take the gun completely apart and messed up in putting it back together? I suggest the gun (maybe ammo) was messed with since you sold him an operating gun. Only way to tell for sure is to first change ammo and next confirm the gun is assembled properly. You would be surprised how many guns that we have sold over the years (including new guns) have been completely disassembled (not just field stripped) and have been improperly put back together. Phil.
 
If 2 squibs in the same box he should report the lot number to AE. And stop using that box. Try another brand.

^^^ I recently had this exact issue with some reloaded ammo I picked up from a retailer here in ontario. I contacted the manufacturer directly and the paid from the remained of the lot to be shipped back and are sending me rounds to replace the ones in question.

Have that guy stop using that ammo, EMT him some $$ to get a different brand and have him run that to prove it's not a lemon
 
Did the buyer decide to take the gun completely apart and messed up in putting it back together? I suggest the gun (maybe ammo) was messed with since you sold him an operating gun. Only way to tell for sure is to first change ammo and next confirm the gun is assembled properly. You would be surprised how many guns that we have sold over the years (including new guns) have been completely disassembled (not just field stripped) and have been improperly put back together. Phil.


Not sure,he very well could have,I took him through field stripping it when I sold it to him,if he decided to go further,no idea.

Honestly I'm starting to think it may be the round being chambered and not extracting,he's just calling the casing the bullet.

I'm gonna try to get a better answer from him,and maybe some pictures if he has any,hopefully that will clear it up.
If it's just the extractor,I'll replace it for him,other then that I do t know what to tell the guy.

I do know if I get the gun back and it works fine,or I found he messed with it I'll be awfully pissed
 
Something sounds amiss. Tell him to try a different ammo manufacturer. If the rifle makes the round go 'boom', then the bullet is going to exit the rifle...unless there is a problem with the ammo.
 
Not sure,he very well could have,I took him through field stripping it when I sold it to him,if he decided to go further,no idea.

Honestly I'm starting to think it may be the round being chambered and not extracting,he's just calling the casing the bullet.

I'm gonna try to get a better answer from him,and maybe some pictures if he has any,hopefully that will clear it up.
If it's just the extractor,I'll replace it for him,other then that I do t know what to tell the guy.

I do know if I get the gun back and it works fine,or I found he messed with it I'll be awfully pissed

Not your problem that hes clueless. If hes calling the casing the bullet and cannot give you proper indication of what the problem is. Honestly I would say sorry Because clearly the guy incompetent.
 
So I sold a guy my 7.5" NEA AR...I fired roughly 750 rounds through if(that's being generous)never a hitch with the gun.i was contacted by the guy I traded it to today,he said he brought it to the range for the first time today and the first round he fired stuck in the barrel...ok,seen that happen before,squib round,no big deal,knock it out with a down,check the barrel and go on....he did that,fired a second round,same thing...so he contacts me and is a little pissed his new gun doesent work....and I feel bad cause he Thinks I sold him a dud

My first reaction was bad ammo,incomplete ignition of the powder,etc.

He was using American eagle .223,which I've always used with no issue,but I have seen some bad batches from the best ammo(hornady).

Other then ammo,what else would cause this?excessive carbon build up in the gas tube maybe?im honestly at a loss here and want to help him get it running.

Squib loads with either a very low powder charge or zero powder at all. As pointed out he needs to try another brand or he will seriously hurt himself or a shooter next to him.
 
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Just got word back,he indeed heard a pop both times,and the case did eject.squib.

Told him to bring the ammo to the store and ask for a refund then buy something else.

I still find it hard to believe that 2 factory loads would do that in a row.....in the last 10 years I've seen maybe 10 squibs myself....and everyone was reloads.i still think he was using reloads not factory ammo.
 
Very hard to believe a squib load had sufficient gas to eject. Even so he is lucky he did not continue to reload and pull the trigger after hearing only a pop. Very very fortunate indeed.
 
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