bolt hold issue (norinco AR15)

[fred0000]

I got this rifle used and this issue was not a problem when I got it and the first few hundred rounds, the bolt hold has started letting go when the upper and lower flex just a bit, the play between the upper and lower has always been there.
the bolt will hold open no matter what you do if you leave an empty mag in it. i'm thinking the edge on the bolt carrier has worn away enough that it doesn't have enough engagment, I don't have access to another BCG to try in this rifle, has anyone else ever dealt with this and was there an easy fix?
thanks.

I should have shown that my finger wasn't anywhere near the bolt release in this video.

[youtube]9lPq7lvupdk[/youtube]

 

[*MALICE*]

Is it holding the carrier back on the carrier or the bolt face? It should be on the bolt face.

What ammo?

 

[fred0000]

Is it holding the carrier back on the carrier or the bolt face? It should be on the bolt face.

What ammo?

Thanks. I'll have to look at the bolt face when I get home. I didn't really know where it held but the carrier had a chamfer to it so I assumed that was the issue.

MFS
Federal American eagle
Norinco
Various 5.56

It all does it.

 

[*MALICE*]

Did you change anything on the rifle from when you first got it?

 

[fred0000]

Did you change anything on the rifle from when you first got it?

other then put the quadrail and optic on I haven't done anything to it other then clean it when it needs it.

inspecting the locking lugs on the bolt they appear to be just fine, shiny from use but no chamfer to speak of.

 

[Bolivar]

From the picture above, it appears that your bolt catch is not travelling enough to properly catch the bolt. It should fully cover the lugs and the "ring" above the lug. There may be a piece of crud or something else in the bolt catch channel.

Question: You said that the bolt catch will hold in place when the mag is in.

With a mag in the rifle, cycle the charging handle to lock the bolt to the rear, now remove the mag and wiggle the upper and lower. Does the bolt release then?

 

[fred0000]

From the picture above, it appears that your bolt catch is not travelling enough to properly catch the bolt. It should fully cover the lugs and the "ring" above the lug. There may be a piece of crud or something else in the bolt catch channel.

Question: You said that the bolt catch will hold in place when the mag is in.

With a mag in the rifle, cycle the charging handle to lock the bolt to the rear, now remove the mag and wiggle the upper and lower. Does the bolt release then?

awesome, thanks i'll look into that I took the picture because I really have no idea how far up that bolt catch is supposed to go.

yes, it will let go

 

[ez8]

sounds like your catch isnt going in/up far enough when you try to use the bolt release lever.
if it latches fine with a empty mag then pop the mag out and see if it holds., but a large gap in your upper and lower could cause this.

actually now that i think about it, there was 1 other norc that i shot that would only hold open on last round maybe 1/4 of the time.
i dont think we ever looked into it.

 

[fred0000]

sounds like your catch isnt going in/up far enough when you try to use the bolt release lever.
if it latches fine with a empty mag then pop the mag out and see if it holds., but a large gap in your upper and lower could cause this.

actually now that i think about it, there was 1 other norc that i shot that would only hold open on last round maybe 1/4 of the time.
i dont think we ever looked into it.

atleast i've got an idea on what to look into now to try and remidy the issue, it'll hold all day long even while I wiggle it when theres a mag in it, once the mag is out just handling it will let the bolt go, it's not a HUGE deal but it startles people when they grab it and the bolt flys home.
mag changes would be a whole lot easier if the bolt stayed back too though, wich is kinda why i'm looking into getting it fixed now.

 

[fred0000]

Thanks guys! After posting this thread I knew what to look for.
I took the bolt catch out and cleaned/inspected it, everything looked fine and put it back together and the issue was still there, took it out again and filed the backside a little bit so the catch comes up to cover more of the bolt face and so far (cross fingers) it's working as it should through my home testing, I can't wait to take it shooting again and see how it does, I can still file it so it comes up a but more if need be (the catch now comes up about halfway on the locking lugs) but it's working much better already. Tested with 30/5 round mags aswell as LAR mags (manually cycling dummy rounds)

 

[fred0000]

here's where I did some filing

stock for referance.

and how it looks now holding the bolt back, can't wait to go out and test it.

and the before shot again just for referance.

thanks again guys, seems like this should do the trick, now it looks more propper when I compare it to other pictures online too.