DA 556: Anyone ever have a Slam-Fire?

It's not impossible getting a slam fire in an AR. The firing pin is just floating and not restricted/retained by a spring or other safety retainer etc. Doesn't hurt to not use soft primers.
 
^^
Pretty much what he said. The free float firing pin of an AR will always tap the primer when it chambers a round. If you're using ammo with soft primers, a slam fire may be possible.
 
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the AR rotating bolt mechanism is made to prevent such scenario, the firing pin cant reach the primer until the bolt is fully battery. The only slam fire possible scenario is when the primer is not fully seated in the brass, and when the bolt slam forward, the bolt head hits the primer. Or your firing pin is jammed tight
 
d1ce said:
the AR rotating bolt mechanism is made to prevent such scenario, the firing pin cant reach the primer until the bolt is fully battery. The only slam fire possible scenario is when the primer is not fully seated in the brass, and when the bolt slam forward, the bolt head hits the primer. Or your firing pin is jammed tight
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You are mixing up "slam fire" with "out of battery" which occurs when the bolt is not locked or fully closed".

However "Slam fire" can sometimes happen "out of battery" due to debris or other issues.
 
Would probably have to be a high primer and the bolt itself setting it off, not the firing pin....on a properly made rifle anyway.
Now with a Nork AR all that goes out the window...zero QC with these, firing pin could be out of spec, bolt or cam out of spec, maybe it was the sear that slipped, or disconnect failed (out of spec).
Did you strip and clean it before shooting it?
Did it fire when you loaded the first round?
Was it a double? Fired one round and 2 went off?
 
Wasn't me or my gun, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't a slam-fire. OK, here's the story.
- Was at the range today sighting in my Rem 783 in .308
- Guy next to me had a DA556. Took a look, not bad for $600.
- Get back to shooting...
- RSO calls for target change.
- I was already empty, pulled bolt, mag, placed gun in rack.
- As I turn around, guy next to me drops his mag, pulls back bolt (not the whole way), releases it and BANG.
- Gun was pointed above the berm...
- RSO comes over, WTF was that? He seen it too.
- Guy looks a little confused.
- Both RSO and I are pretty sure he had his finger on trigger. Released bolt which shifted gun, pulled trigger.
- RSO and guy try several times to reproduce the slam-fire. Minor dent in primers, no discharges.
- Ammo was military surplus of some sort, probably hard primers.
- RSO takes his info down, boots him for negligent discharge.

What I do not understand is why he didn't pull the bolt all the way back to eject the chambered round. Maybe it slipped, but the bolt handle is real easy to grip.
That and having your damn finger on the trigger...

I'm leave the range anonymous, no reason to raise attention to a range if the round landed in a field.
Anyway, it pissed me off... an example of not minding the basic safety rules (finger off tirgger, muzzle direction, etc.). :mad:
 
I am not sure it was not possible, I have a close call story very similar with an SKS, I was showing the stripper clip and how they worked to my brother inlaw, when I chambered the round (in my still cosmolined SKS) I dropped the rest out the bottom hinge, pulled the bolt back, didn't get very far and it slipped...BOOM! I cannot fathom how I could have possibly pulled the trigger, with one hand supporting the stock near the mag well, and the other hand running the bolt...... The trigger is too heavy to be pulled by clothing or something silly, but it always made me wonder if I am remembering it correctly, it scared the hell out of me, and the people around me when it went off. Luckily the muzzle was in a safe direction at the time...... I bothers me to this day that I could have been touching the trigger and not noticed.
 
Also...was anyone down range or was this during the period to make the weapons safe before heading down range? If so...why boot a guy who was following the rules and may have had a mistake (or not) during the time period to clear the rifles, chances are if he was running the bolt/charging handle, it was his trigger hand doing so, and may not have been touching the trigger at all.

Seems a little gung-ho to punt if I am reading your story correctly.
 
I believe the chances of a slam fire in an AR was higher way way way back when they originally used a heavier firing pin until they changed the design slightly to lighten it.

OriginalAR15firingpin_zpse91483f1.jpg


Going by the OP's description, it sure sounds more like a ND than a slam fire but I'm just guessing.
 
Most likely an ND. In duncansuds incident, it was just the firing pin stuck forwards because of the heavy grease used in packing and preserving the SKS keeping the pin forward. Norinco ships their newer rifles slathered in this noxious light oil that shouldn't make a pin stick (just remember to take out the paper plugs lol). One other major difference that he pointed out was that on an AR you hold your rifle with your dominant hand and operate the charging handle with your off-hand. That means that if you don't maintain your trigger finger discipline, an ND is likely to happen. On the SKS, for most of us lazy range-bench shooters, it's just easier to operate the charging handle with the dominant hand, so the likelihood of a finger on the trigger is highly reduced.

P.S. Even though the oil used to pack Norinco rifles is pretty light, I still recommend a full strip, cleaning and inspection before shooting any new-to-you rifle.
 
The RSO determined it to be negligent discharge, which is automatic boot for the day and review by the owner.
This was during the transition from Red to Green, no one was downrange.
I cannot say if the gun was stripped and cleaned before firing. didn't look close enough. Outside was clean, inside of action looked oiled.
He shot several mags of ammo with no double or mag dump. Since the firing pin hits the primer on every chambered round, it could have happened any time a round was chambered. I have doubts that this one time when he was clearing his gun and dropped the bolt on a round and it goes off. being able to clear with trigger hand still in place means increased risk of finger too close to trigger. My money is on that being the case here.

Based on the several attempts to reproduce the slam-fire and the very light dents in the primers, this was probably a ND.
 
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TRaTSeRiF said:
Most likely an ND. In duncansuds incident, it was just the firing pin stuck forwards because of the heavy grease used in packing and preserving the SKS keeping the pin forward. Norinco ships their newer rifles slathered in this noxious light oil that shouldn't make a pin stick (just remember to take out the paper plugs lol). One other major difference that he pointed out was that on an AR you hold your rifle with your dominant hand and operate the charging handle with your off-hand. That means that if you don't maintain your trigger finger discipline, an ND is likely to happen. On the SKS, for most of us lazy range-bench shooters, it's just easier to operate the charging handle with the dominant hand, so the likelihood of a finger on the trigger is highly reduced.

P.S. Even though the oil used to pack Norinco rifles is pretty light, I still recommend a full strip, cleaning and inspection before shooting any new-to-you rifle.
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Not just Norcs though. Even a $3000 rifle should be full-stripped and cleaned thoroughly prior to use. It amazes me that anyone will take a brand new untouched rifle straight to the range.
 
NintendoDuckHunt87 said:
Not just Norcs though. Even a $3000 rifle should be full-stripped and cleaned thoroughly prior to use. It amazes me that anyone will take a brand new untouched rifle straight to the range.
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Hence my use of "any new-to-you rifle" :) It should also be done periodically, ideally after every range trip. That's how I detected a crack on the bolt on my SKS one time.
 
Issue was:
Due diligence- clean, inspect and function test after taking your toy from the box.
Safety- keep finger off trigger unless you are shooting and only if you have acquired your sight picture.
Muzzle control- keep muzzle below berm. I need not expand on this.
Education- understand how the wpn functions before bringing it out to the range. This will instil confidence and prevent one from becoming flustered and having an nd.

He was not asked to leave. He returned to the same range after a chat. He was a nice fellow but needed to understand the importance of handling firearms safely.
 
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