troble with my bolt catch

Blue Cooker

Blue Cooker

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Hey gents. I bought a phase 5 tactical bolt catch lever. This thing is sweet and works awesome... when it does work. Other times it doesn't catch the bolt. :confused:I think the problem lies in the fitment. It is installed with the retention spring and proper roll pin, but fits sloppy in the receiver. I feel a shim kit would solve the problem. Where can I buy a shim kit for a bolt catch? any other thoughts would be appreciated too.

Thanks
 
What lower is it on? I have one on one of the lowers I am building at the moment but I have tested it with 2 different uppers with no issues.

It would be very hard to find a shim to match that pin, it could actually bind locking the bolt back or drag on the bolt causing other issues if too tight.
 
I have 2 Phase 5 Tactical EBRv2's on both my Noveske and Stag lowers with no issues.
I had a Magpul BAD lever on a Norinco and had TD same issues you're having with sloppy fit and erratic function.
 
A wise man once said "if your bolt catch causes your gun to screw up, throw it away, better to be reliable without tacticool, than non-functional with it" - actually he was talking about right hands, sinning and getting into heaven, but the idea is the same. Any part that causes your gun to screw up needs to get binned without remorse.
 
The Phase 5 Tactical EBRv2 is mounted on an NEA lower. At a match today it also had a couple failure to feed. bolt would not pick up the first round in the mag. Please dont make this a thread for hating on NEA. lets stick to the issue Please. I know the shim kit exists... just dont know where to get one.
 
I have 3 of the Phase 5 bolt release levers, two of the new EBRv2's and an older one on my 9mm AR and all of them work perfectly and I've never had a failure caused by the bolt catch.
Are you sure you have the right spring in there and have the little button nub thingy that goes with it?
View attachment 17290
Random image snagged off the internet

Are you wearing gloves while shooting or is your finger touching the lever in any way while shooting? Sounds strange since the only levers I've heard of having problems are the Magpul BAD levers.

One of my AR's with the EBRv2's is an NEA lower so no bashing coming from this direction. Works perfectly in mine with no shims.
 
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factory spring... i will have to check that the little plunger is in.... didn't think to check that. nothing touching the lever when it fails.
 
I FIXED IT!!! With some research I found that no manufacturer makes shims for the bolt catch... That I could find anyway. So I started researching shims for other applications. I found some stainless steel shims made for stainless steel gears in high end airsoft guns. http://www.redtactics.com/modify-advanced-shim-set-6x-10-6x-15-6x-30-6x-50-gb-05-39/ the shims fit perfectly over the roll pin and tuck away in the receiver perfectly. I started by removing the bolt catch. I then used a metric caliper to measure the width of the slot in the receiver. I then measured the width of the bolt catch. The size difference was 0.17mm in total. this was perfect for me. I used a 0.15mm shim. It left me with 0.01mm of space on either side of the bolt catch to let it move freely, but also stop the lever from being sloppy. OnceI reassembled the AR, I racked the charging handle over 100 times with a PMAG in, without a single issue.
 
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Blue Cooker said:
I FIXED IT!!! With some research I found that no manufacturer makes shims for the bolt catch... That I could find anyway. So I started researching shims for other applications. I found some stainless steel shims made for stainless steel gears in high end airsoft guns. http://www.redtactics.com/modify-advanced-shim-set-6x-10-6x-15-6x-30-6x-50-gb-05-39/ the shims fit perfectly over the roll pin and tuck away in the receiver perfectly. I started by removing the bolt catch. I then used a metric caliper to measure the width of the slot in the receiver. I then measured the width of the bolt catch. The size difference was 0.17mm in total. this was perfect for me. I used a 0.15mm shim. It left me with 0.01mm of space on either side of the bolt catch to let it move freely, but also stop the lever from being sloppy. OnceI reassembled the AR, I racked the charging handle over 100 times with a PMAG in, without a single issue.
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Thanks for the tip, now for the final test you must actually shoot it to see if it works.
Mine would rack fine but fail to lock back on a known good mag.
 
Blue Cooker said:
Hey gents. I bought a phase 5 tactical bolt catch lever. This thing is sweet and works awesome... when it does work. Other times it doesn't catch the bolt. :confused:I think the problem lies in the fitment. It is installed with the retention spring and proper roll pin, but fits sloppy in the receiver. I feel a shim kit would solve the problem. Where can I buy a shim kit for a bolt catch? any other thoughts would be appreciated too.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Your problem lies in using an entirely different part with completely different mechanical/physical properties in place of the original perfectly good design that has no issues.

OnceI reassembled the AR, I racked the charging handle over 100 times with a PMAG in, without a single issue.
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Problems are not troubleshooted by manually cycling a gun.
 
I have an NEA that had similar problems. Would not always latch on the last round. The plunger was sticking as I found out due to either it being out of spec or the hole not being de-burred properly. I took it apart and the plunger was stuck as it seemed the hole was not de-burred properly or at all. (I thought maybe it was not there, as the bolt catch was free to rattle and I didn't think it should.) After working the plunger out (carefully!!) I took a small round file and de-burred the hole.

Re-assembled and manually checked it. Then function checked serviceable at the range.
 
Dietz said:
Your problem lies in using an entirely different part with completely different mechanical/physical properties in place of the original perfectly good design that has no issues.


Problems are not troubleshooted by manually cycling a gun.
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Yes it is replacing the perfectly good part. If you read my other post, I stated that I have a partial amputation of my left hand. The lever allows me to use the function of the bolt catch with ease of my right hand. As for trouble shooting by manually cycling the gun... This does actually show me results. with the lower before shimming, I would rack the rifle with a mag in and it would only catch about 2 of every 10. Now the bolt catches every time. The true test will be at the range. I have a match on the 29th. my match will include 260 rounds. Fine tuning is part of the game when building a custom rifle. Most of the fun for me is the build, having problems, fixing them, then shooting them without failure. I just like to share my findings, and learn from others on GNC. To me this is what GNC is all about. I stay quiet on here mostly. I take in everything I can tho. I sign in every day to see the latest. At the end of the month I will update with my findings on the range.
 
Tango4N said:
I have an NEA that had similar problems. Would not always latch on the last round. The plunger was sticking as I found out due to either it being out of spec or the hole not being de-burred properly. I took it apart and the plunger was stuck as it seemed the hole was not de-burred properly or at all. (I thought maybe it was not there, as the bolt catch was free to rattle and I didn't think it should.) After working the plunger out (carefully!!) I took a small round file and de-burred the hole.

Re-assembled and manually checked it. Then function checked serviceable at the range.
Click to expand...
This is something I checked as well. mine was fine.
 
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