I decided the bite the bullet so to speak and send the rifle to M.D. Charlton to have work done under warranty.... Shipping was a pretty penny, and I had to take off my ACOG so that will have to be re-zeroed, but I figured maybe it was the best way to address the issue due to the number of suggestions and possible complexities that are surrounding this issue.
Murphy's law will probably prevail and they won't find anything wrong with it, or the problem will be the cheapest part possible....
I can think of a few things that may cause this:
- Mag catch location milled into the lower receiver is on the low tolerance side but high enough for the bolt to strip a round but not high enough to push the bolt catch to make a solid lockup.
- Worn or slightly smaller profile on bolt catch just not high enough to make a solid lockup on the bolt.
- Rifle undergassed due to misaligned or too small a barrel gas port. I doubt this is the case as you might have experienced the odd short stroking.
- Rifle over gassed and buffer weight too light, not giving enough time for the magazine's spring to push up the empty follower in time to engage the bolt catch and arrest the bolt. Got an H2 or H3 buffer kicking around to test?
guy has 750 rounds through the gun....
try again
I started having issues after replacing the gas block and rail with the bolt not locking back on an empty mag, even sometimes failing to cycle on my DD. After pulling the rail, gas block and checking everything I noticed the 3 gas rings on the bolt were all aligned with the gaps pretty much directly in line. I oiled every thing up, spaced the gas rings evenly and put it all back together - problem solved.
The problem was more likely a mis-installed gas block since you only started having issues when you replaced the gas block.
The gas ring gap thing is a myth that just won't die.
Agreed, the gas rings are often blamed for things they shouldn't be. I remember seeing a bolt so loose in a bolt carrier that if you held the BCG upright, the bolt would draw in or out depending because of it's weight while you were holding it.... And the weapons fired and locked open like a champ.