XCR-L out of battery discharge

Purplenurple said:
The manual specifically says that only new, factory ammo in good condition should be used....That being said, if one is going to reload, he should absolutely use NATO spec primers because they are hard and more likely to be to spec....This information was given to me by the company manager.
Click to expand...

So factory Federal Gold Medal Match would be ok to run in the XCR, despite that ammunition using a Federal 205m primer (which happens to be about the 'softest' out there), and yet handloading ammo is no good, despite using a Winchester WSR primer, a primer which has had good success and fully in spec in semi auto rifles?

I can understand someone's trepidation in trusting the quality of a handload (was it sized correctly, was the primer seated properly, ensuring no 'high primers', etc.) but to load it all on the type of primer seems a bit...off...
 
Last edited:
Now that all the norinco has been bought out and dried up, what are other options for military surplus? All i shoot is surplus .556. I have put about 400 rounds of winchester white box and AE through mine without any issues. Once the last 100 rounds of white box are done ill be exclusively shooting norc but when that runs dry whats next?

Ive always suspected factory ammo was loosing its quality but damn i thought the xcr would eat anything.
 
beltfed said:
Norinco isn't surplus 5.56 to begin with.
Click to expand...
In my opinion this ammo is the definition of surplus.
It is not wine or cheese that requires ageing.

We know that the ammo that I purchased last year was CJ 95 so it is 20 year old ammo.
Ammo is continuously being produced and rotated so wouldn't this CJ 95 be surplus to their needs?

Frontier Firearms also is selling it as surplus ammo.
http://frontierfirearms.ca/ammunition-reloading/surplus-ammunition/chinese-surplus-5-56x45-223-fmj-1120-rounds-per-crate-non-corrosive.html
 
Last edited:
thump_rrr said:
In my opinion this ammo is the definition of surplus.
It is not wine or cheese that requires ageing.

We know that the ammo that I purchased last year was CJ 95 so it is 20 year old ammo.
Ammo is continuously being produced and rotated so wouldn't this CJ 95 be surplus to their needs?

Frontier Firearms also is selling it as surplus ammo.
http://frontierfirearms.ca/ammunition-reloading/surplus-ammunition/chinese-surplus-5-56x45-223-fmj-1120-rounds-per-crate-non-corrosive.html
Click to expand...

Surplus to who's needs? The PRC doesn't use 5.56mm, so it's not military surplus as most people define it. By this definition, any ammo that isn't sold immediately would be considered "surplus to requirements."
 
Here's my hypothesis:

Some time while the bolt carrier group is travelling forward after having picked up the round, the hammer gets released for an unknown reason. The bcg moves forward until it stops - for some reason the bolt lugs do not get past the barrel extension openings. The hammer hits that "nub" extending from the 6 o'clock rear of the bolt carrier, but not the firing pin. The force of the hammer hitting that nub causes the bottom part of the bolt carrier to shear off. The hammer continues its forward movement, eventually hitting the firing pin.
 
Last edited:
An interesting development last night using dental mirrors to inspect the brand new 223 barrel that was installed for this accident. It appears to me that the rifle WAS in fact partially into battery, the bolt face just did not fully rotate to lockup. There is slight galling at the edge of the extension lugs (looks like it has seen many thousands of cycles instead of the 65 or 70 rounds it has truly seen) indicating the bolt face was definitely a few thousands of an inch engaged before the discharge. Unfortunately it wasn't engaged well enough to prevent it from slipping out and costing me well over a grand. This would also explain the good primer hit as the bolt carrier would have been fully forward at that time exposing the rear of the firing pin completely. No I need to figure out if the hammer fell on the pin or was it an inertia hit.

Pics to follow later, it's going tol be hard to get good pics of the blind side of the extension lugs.
 
Last edited:
Has anyone had this problem in surplus x39?
All that ammo is hard primer, so has it happened with x39 or not?
 
Any possibility the barrel could have been somewhat loose causing the bolt and lugs to be out of square(alignment) when the BCG attempted to lock up?

I have a snake camera but it's 9mm so not sure it would help you see behind the barrel extension lugs with the barrel ext. in place and with it removed you can see it without a cable cam I suspect.
 
I am really curious to know the condition of the firing pin. I had a firing pin break in my XCR, and noticed when cleaning the firing pin was protruding from the bolt face. As far as I know I fired it several times with the broken pin, as I never had any malfunctions and only noticed it when cleaning. Could definitely cause an OOB sticking out the way I saw it.
 
Skypilot said:
Any possibility the barrel could have been somewhat loose causing the bolt and lugs to be out of square(alignment) when the BCG attempted to lock up?

I have a snake camera but it's 9mm so not sure it would help you see behind the barrel extension lugs with the barrel ext. in place and with it removed you can see it without a cable cam I suspect.
Click to expand...

Nope, alway torqued to 250 inlbs exactly. I keep a torque wrench in the gun case as I have multiple calibers for this gun and switch fairly often. I've found my POI is fairly repeatable if I torque the retention bolt exactly each time so I've been doing so for a long time. Thanks for the cam offer, the extension isn't removable but I can get a pretty good view with the dental mirrors.



BeerBaron said:
I am really curious to know the condition of the firing pin. I had a firing pin break in my XCR, and noticed when cleaning the firing pin was protruding from the bolt face. As far as I know I fired it several times with the broken pin, as I never had any malfunctions and only noticed it when cleaning. Could definitely cause an OOB sticking out the way I saw it.
Click to expand...

Firing pin, bolt face and spring are all in perfect condition. I'll try to take pics of the barrel extension this weekend and post them.
 
weasel1 said:
You could always buy some NATO rounds, pull the bullets and reload with something more critter friendly.
Click to expand...

lol , I don't think they enjoy it either way. I had the old style firing pin with the shoulder where the cross pin went through and it had a brittle fracture at the shoulder ... was able to fire and chamber a few rounds by hand before I figured out it was toast, the long half of the firing pin had been jammed into the firing pin hole in the bolt face and would not go back in (had to use hammer ) ... I would have almost definitely had an OBD if I had continued ... now I have 3 new fully tapered firing pins :D no more stress concentration. $7 each at wolverine when in doubt buy a few . Only Using .556 few hundred rounds since and no problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom