FAMAE Bolt Stop or Bolt Carrier Problem

[Grapeshot]

I just bought a FAMAE rifle on the EE, and it's been giving me a consistent and annoying malfunction.

On the last round in the magazine, as the bolt and bolt carrier move forward, the bolt stop lifts and hits the front of the carrier jamming the bolt in place. This happens every time and with multiple types of ammo.

Took a look inside and compared the carrier to one out of a 550 series rifle and it seems that the 540 carrier has a shallower chamfer, and an edge for the bolt stop to catch on.

Before I take a sander to the carrier, I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue and how they fixed it? Is this carrier just out of spec? Here are pics:


Bolt stop jammed against carrier:

Bolt stop caught against the front of the carrier:

Swiss Arms carrier on the left, FAMAE on the right:

 

[lawn gnome]

Does it happen with just the one mag or with all mags?
Even a swiss arms mag can fail,,,.

Are there any signs of deformation, wear or bending on the bolt holding open latch you have circled?

Behind the ejection port there is a small channel groove below the part where normally there are ejection scuffs, what is that dimple on the start of the groove?
Is there any corresponding parts of the internal of the receiver affected too?

Most curious.

 

[Grapeshot]

I only have three mags, but yes it does it with all of them. The bolt catch lever looks fine. After all it's designed to stop the bolt anyways.

I'm not sure what you mean about the dimple.

edit: In this video, I may be letting the bolt move forward too slowly for the lip of the carrier to clear the bolt stop before it pops up.

 

[Grapeshot]

Okay so no one has this problem too? Could you FAMAE owners see if you can replicate the problem in this manner:

Just wondering so I know whether I need a new bolt carrier, or if it's just the way these rifles are.

 

[Grapeshot]

Got quoted $300 for a new bolt carrier from CSC, but they're out of stock and referred me to North Sylva. I would prefer not to deal with them, so I guess I'm going to sand down my existing carrier to chamfer the face the bolt stop is catching on.

Surprised at how few FAMAE owners there are on here.

 

[Master-G]

This is the only picture I have of mine—it's a 542 so it might not be equivalent. In any case, the lip on mine looks thinner.

 

[Grapeshot]

It does look a little thinner than mine.

Are you able to replicate the problem like in the video in post 4? I've heard from some people that couldn't and one person that could. Seems like the thickness of that part can be a little hit or miss.

This is the only picture I have of mine—it's a 542 so it might not be equivalent. In any case, the lip on mine looks thinner.

 

[*MALICE*]

My buddy has a Famae and it would lock back normally with the factory mags, but with the aftermarket mags he got from Canada Ammo, it would lock back as it was feeding the last round out of the mag.

He removed his bolt stop to 'eliminate' the problem

 

[Grapeshot]

My buddy has a Famae and it would lock back normally with the factory mags, but with the aftermarket mags he got from Canada Ammo, it would lock back as it was feeding the last round out of the mag.

He removed his bolt stop to 'eliminate' the problem

Losing the last round hold open feature altogether would probably be worse than having this issue IMO, but I think I may have sort-of solved the issue. Tell your friend to cut some coils from the springs in his CanAm mags.

Cleaned and lubed it last night, and went to the range to test it again today. When I was running the gun on gas setting 1, all mags would do this. Running on gas 2, only the 20-rounder did it. It looks as though the same spring is used for both the 20 and 30 rounders, so the 20 would have more spring tension pushing the follower up when empty.

The problem is caused when the follower lifts up the bolt catch faster than the carrier can move past it. If the follower moves up too fast (i.e. w/ the 20 rounder) or if the carrier is moving too slow (gas 1) then the bolt catch jams against the lip of the carrier.

Seems like a dumb design flaw that this can happen in the first place, and seeing some of the responses here it looks like I'm not the only one who's had this problem. The flaw is eliminated with a deeper chamfer with the 550 series carrier, so I guess it could be fixed with my rifle by sanding down that face a little. Not going to risk accidentally Bubba-ing up my gun, so I'm just going to clip some coils from my 20 rounder spring, and run it on gas 2 only from now on.

 

[*MALICE*]

Grapeshot- 2 problems with your solution:

1) The mags that didn't have the problem were the 20-rounders. The 30-rounders were the issue.

2) When I say he 'removed' the bolt stop, I should have clarified that he did it irreversibly lol

He preferred to have no bolt hold open rather than have it hold open as it was feeding in the last round

 

[Grapeshot]

Grapeshot- 2 problems with your solution:

1) The mags that didn't have the problem were the 20-rounders. The 30-rounders were the issue.

2) When I say he 'removed' the bolt stop, I should have clarified that he did it irreversibly lol

He preferred to have no bolt hold open rather than have it hold open as it was feeding in the last round

Maybe the CanAm springs were still stiffer in some way? Still could potentially work if it weren't for the bolt stop being absent haha.