snap caps? magazine? or user error? DDM4V7

Rhythm & Soul

Rhythm & Soul

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Having some issues with my new rifle, hasn't seen a trip to the range yet.

Decided that today was the day, so I wanted to try it out with some snap caps first....45 minutes later, trip to the range cancelled.

Here's my issue, the magazines fail to load properly. Snap cap gets stuck in an awkward position, and sometimes I had to pull the charging handle back really hard so the cap can come out.

I have 4 RRA MODEL LAR-15 PISTOL MAGAZINE .223/5.56 magazines C Products Defense. It fails with all 4 of them.

But when I try the magazine that came with the rifle (HERA H3MAG) I have no problems.

Is it possible that all 4 LAR-15 don't work well with my rifle? are the snap caps the problem? (A-Zoom 223), or is it user error?
 
Rhythm & Soul said:
Here's my issue, the magazines fail to load properly. Snap cap gets stuck in an awkward position, and sometimes I had to pull the charging handle back really hard so the cap can come out.
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Unless trained in the art of crystal balls nobody is going to be able to answer you with a description this vague.

You want us to take our time to help you? You need to take some time to describe what is happening.
 
BattleRife said:
Unless trained in the art of crystal balls nobody is going to be able to answer you with a description this vague.

You want us to take our time to help you? You need to take some time to describe what is happening.
Click to expand...

Fair enough

How do I add a photo from my computer? When I click on the Insert Image icon, it asks for a URL
 
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Still alive said:
Are you riding the bolt?
You got to let the bolt slam forward when charging the gun.
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After reading your post I want to give it another try. When I put a single snap cap in the magazine, it works no problem. But when I put two, that is when it jams.

It seems like like the bolt is hitting the snap cap on its "belly" vs its "butt" if that makes any sense. The snap cap gets stuck on a 30 degree angle, with the bolt hitting the lower body of the snap cap and it makes a dent. Then is a pain to pull the bolt back.
 
When you say the bolt is hitting the snap cap on the belly, is this the second snap cap? Does the first one eject completely?
From your description, I'm assuming the bolt closes over the top of the second snap cap, not picking up the round, driving the cap downwards into the mag?
If so, it sounds like you're not pulling the charging handle all the way back before releasing it again. Sort of a man made short stroking problem.
At least this is what I'm thinking from your description, without pics.
 
Still alive said:
When you say the bolt is hitting the snap cap on the belly, is this the second snap cap? Does the first one eject completely?
From your description, I'm assuming the bolt closes over the top of the second snap cap, not picking up the round, driving the cap downwards into the mag?
If so, it sounds like you're not pulling the charging handle all the way back before releasing it again. Sort of a man made short stroking problem.
At least this is what I'm thinking from your description, without pics.
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Bolt is closing over the first snap cap, the second one is still in the magazine.

When I use the other mag (Hera H3mag) with two snap caps, works all the time.

This is why I think the issue is with the LAR-15 mags, because I get the same problem with all 4 of them. But then again, is so easy to put the blame on something else. That's why I consider user error since I'm new to all this.
 
Not sure how accustomed to AR's you are, but they are like girls. They run better wet and they like it rough when they are younger, but they get better with age. Don't be scared to pull hard on that handle and let it fly forward. If it is brand new it will require a couple rounds to break in properly. The bolt will usually be really tight at first and the charging handle will be hard to pull out of battery. It's a Daniel Defense, so really, my suggestion is to take it to the range with live ammo and see what happens ;)
 
Before you write off the mags, take the gun with all the mags to the range and actually shoot live rounds. That would be the acid test. If they work fine, then use your Hera mags for practice and the LARs for actual shooting.
If not, then you have your answer. Other than being too gentle with manually cycling the AR, not much can go wrong with a factory rifle.
Edit: missed the DD reference.
OldFrank said it quite eloquently also!
 
OldFrankHog said:
Not sure how accustomed to AR's you are, but they are like girls. They run better wet and they like it rough when they are younger, but they get better with age. Don't be scared to pull hard on that handle and let it fly forward. If it is brand new it will require a couple rounds to break in properly. The bolt will usually be really tight at first and the charging handle will be hard to pull out of battery. It's a Daniel Defense, so really, my suggestion is to take it to the range with live ammo and see what happens ;)
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hahaha

I did clean it and added some lubricant before using it.

thanks everyone for your advice, I will come back to this thread after my trip to the range.
 
It could be the LAR mags as they could have some burrs that could be catching the rounds or the mags may just be out of spec causing them to load weird. I had something similar as my LAR mags are basic sheet metal stamped and tack welded together, not the best build quality. I filed down the burrs and a bit of the "lip" of the mag (front of the mag where the rounds slide out was a bit higher than the included mag and the rounds were "snagging" when the bolt was pushing the round forward) and just let the bolt slam forward as others have indicated, and after a bit, loads 100% of the time. In any case, take it to the range as you may have a different result with live fire vs snap caps. Good luck!
 
So I went to the range.
For the first 20 rounds I used the Hera h3mag, batches of 3 rounds each time. Never had a problem and it worked great.

For the other 40 rounds, I used the LAR magazines and it was definitely better than snap caps. Never had a round jam like it did before. However, I did get failure to feed 3 or 4 times when pulling the back the bolt and letting it load. I would pull the trigger, hear a click, wait like 20 seconds with the muzzle pointing down range, eject magazine and will notice that a round did not get loaded.

Because the Hera mag worked every single time, I think the issue might be with the LAR mags. I'll continue to use them and see how it goes.

Thanks everyone for your advice
 
Try loading the LAR mags with 9 rounds instead of 10 and try again. That 10'th round sometimes causes problems because it's under soo much tension. And be sure that you are pulling the charging handle all the way back before letting it go, you would be surprised how easy it is to not cycle a action fully for some people like new shooters, people with new unfamiliar guns or under stress. the extra tension may be fooling you into thinking you are pulling the charging handle fully back when you aren't.
 
I haven't had an issue with LAR mags, even loaded to capacity. Are you sure you're pulling the bolt all the way back?
 
DON'T baby that charging handle!!! Rack it all the way back as hard as you can (no, you won't break it) and then let it slam forward.

Take your hand completely off the charging handle when letting it slam forward - do NOT ride the charging handle.

I've seen quite a few new AR owners with new rifles do just this, and that's why 90% of the time they get failure to feed (the other 10% is usually due to the magazine not being seated properly).
 
crashcollins said:
Try loading the LAR mags with 9 rounds instead of 10 and try again. That 10'th round sometimes causes problems because it's under soo much tension. And be sure that you are pulling the charging handle all the way back before letting it go, you would be surprised how easy it is to not cycle a action fully for some people like new shooters, people with new unfamiliar guns or under stress. the extra tension may be fooling you into thinking you are pulling the charging handle fully back when you aren't.
Click to expand...

I was loading them with 3 rounds each time.




shredder said:
DON'T baby that charging handle!!! Rack it all the way back as hard as you can (no, you won't break it) and then let it slam forward.

Take your hand completely off the charging handle when letting it slam forward - do NOT ride the charging handle.

I've seen quite a few new AR owners with new rifles do just this, and that's why 90% of the time they get failure to feed (the other 10% is usually due to the magazine not being seated properly).
Click to expand...

Yes, I was racking all the way back and doing it hard, or at least I thought I was.

I want to say the issue might be with the LAR mags, because I did it at least 7 times with the Hera mag and it worked fine. However, there's the "new user" or "user error" variable. Next time I go to the range I will only use the LAR, focusing on pulling hard all the way back and then letting it slam. I'll let you know how it went.

Thanks everyone for your advice
 
Trying locking the bolt back, and just using the bolt release to drop the bolt. That will remove a lot of the human element.
 
Yup, user error.

Problem: I wasn't inserting the magazine all the way. No issues with the charging handle, just me.

For the snap caps, it jams all the time.
 
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