I did a little shooting this weekend (I let my youngest son do most of it but I did a little).
Yesterday, while shooting the new AR15 I had an experience I've read about a time or two over the last couple of years. My reaction was influenced by another event earlier in the weekend. While firing a box of .44 magnum 240 grain hollow points I opened the cylinder and the empties would not eject. I ended up getting a soft faced hammer and tapping the ejector rod to work the empties out of the cylinder. Two of the six were badly split (almost the full length of the case). Only two from a box of 50 and those nearly at the end of the box and both in the same cylinder "load" of cartridges fired. Funny coincidence but like I said, it influenced my actions yesterday. Wrongly.
While shooting 5 round groups of different loads I "knew" when the last round went off. The AR15 (at least for me) has a different sound when the last round has fired. I dropped the magazine, and tried to put it on safe but the safety would not move to the safe position. I took the rifle off my shoulder and got my arm out of the sling and laid the rifle down and saw the bolt was still forward. First thought was a weak round that maybe didn't lock the bolt back (still should have cocked the hammer, right, but my mind was already rolling). I tried to pull the charging handle back and it wouldn't budge. I unlocked the charging handle and tried to tap the handle back with the same soft faced hammer with no luck at all. It was locked up tight.
Next step was to confirm there was not a loaded round in the chamber (no way I'm going to try to tap a loaded round out of the chamber). More in the next note (my PC only allows me to type so much before it starts "hiding" what I type).
Next step was to confirm there was not a loaded round in the chamber (no way I'm going to try to tap a loaded round out of the chamber). I put the GI cleaning rod together (steel, not aluminum or brass) and slid it down the barrel. When it hit "bottom" I placed my thumb on the rod at the flash suppressor and pulled the rod out and then held the rod up to the barrel to confirm the length of the rod inserted into the barrel went all the way to the bolt face (or very nearly so - therefore no powder/bullet in the chamber - at this point I figured there was brass in the chamber but wasn't positive). I started tapping the handle end of the cleaning rod and got it to move just a little. It still didn't come loose and I hammered it pretty hard several times to get the empty out of the chamber. Once the empty was part of the way out of the chamber I realized the issue was not the empty but something else. By then it was too late to stop.
Now the bolt was partially back and with the good old AR15 design the rifle was now pretty much impossible to take apart normally. I hammered the bolt on back enough to pull the rod out and the empty case popped out when the cleaning rod cleared the case mouth. The empty was as normal as all the rest piled on the mat beside mine. I got my stock wrench (carbine AR15) and removed the stock as I thought maybe the spring had broken and jammed up the buffer/bolt carrier (the bolt carrier would not move forward even with the forward assist). With the stock off I could see the buffer and spring were fine. I used the soft faced hammer to pound the bolt carrier forward into the receiver far enough to push out the pins (rear one falls out due to the spring/pin/pressure being off it with the stock removed) and pulled the receiver halves apart. Small metal pieces have started to rattle around by now ((oops, next post, sorry).
Small metal pieces have started to rattle around by now. I'm really wondering (you know how your mind races) what has broken inside my new AR15 now and figuring its done for the rest of the day. When the two receiver halves separate a very small piece of metal falls out (bicycle axle ball bearing sized and looking). I'm looking into the lower and can't see anything loose or anything out of place and it all seems to work fine. I pick up the upper receiver and now the bolt carrier is suddenly free and I pulled it out of the upper receiver and another, slightly larger, piece of metal falls out of the upper receiver.
It's a bent/twisted/smashed primer cup. The first small piece was the bent/twisted/smashed anvil from the primer. I looked through the brass and found the one with the missing primer (it was, or course, not the one that jammed in the chamber).
Learnings?
1. keep an open mind (try not to be too influenced by previous experience)
2. go slower (had I separated the receiver halves after proving to myself there was no loaded cartridge in the chamber I wouldn't have had to remove the stock or had to pound the bolt carrier forward to get the receiver halves apart)
These were reloads but not "hot" in anyway. They were loaded originally for my Rem. M700 with 45 grain soft points and H335 powder many years ago. I've never loaded for velocity but always for accuracy (which usually is obtained somewhere below max. velocity and pressure).
Hope this account helps someone else when they get into a situation where they have to stop and "fix" a problem.
Watch that H335! If you let the rounds get hot in the sun or leave one sit in the hot chamber of a rifle, it tends to get a bit "squirrely". I paused a bit too long during a firing session on prairie dogs and blew the extractor out of one of my bolt guns. Keep your ammo in the shade and be careful if you leave it in a hot vehicle.
vmt
Hmm. This time we were in the woods at the edge of the garden. A nice shady spot. Can't say how hot the barrel was but I was shooting fairly quickly (not hard to do in a sling supported prone position once you get your NPOA and your firing on a single target). Thanks for the info on the H335 though. The cartridges were reloaded in 1982. That's what the tag on the box said, Dec. 22, 1982. We went through a box of BLC 2 reloads and 5 of 20 from the H335 box. Found them in the attic last year (been there since 1985) while doing some cleaning. Maybe I should use the bullet puller to take the other 15 "down" rather than firing them.
What do the cases and primers look like on the others? Show any signs of pressure?
Just curious, had you fired steel cased ammo in the AR before the re-loads?
I wonder if the lead from the chamber is different than with your bolt gun?
A trick that will let you un-stick pretty much any stuck AR in your situation:
Hold onto the rifle with your strong hand. Place your weak hand onto the charging handle. Muzzle up during all of this.
While applying rearward pressure with your weak hand towards the ground, slam the buttstock against the ground (IF YOU HAVE A COLLAPSABLE STOCK, COLLAPSE IT COMPLETELY). It should unlock pretty much instantly.
If you are afraid of that, pop the rear take down pin, and with a flat bladed screw driver place the tip between the rear lug and the bolt carrier group. Rotate the handle towards the muzzle, and out comes the bolt carrier.
*edited for an important part I left out and was reminded of thanks to a post below*
Old Dog-
It sounds to me as if that piece of brass had been fired once too many times. I know that my first reloads with LC '07 brass, the primers were somewhat difficult to seat, even after being swaged on a dillon 'super swage'. By the third reload in the same cases, the primer pocket had gotten 'loose', and by the 5th reload, no resistance was felt during the seating process. I did not complete the loading process for the 5th load, and have since stopped reloading the cases after the 3rd reload.
Jeep-
I, too, had been instructed to clear a 'stuck case' in the same manner as you described. This caused significant damage to my collapsible stock, as I had not collapsed it prior to attempting this maneuver. I have since replaced the useless-to-me 6 position stock with a standard A2 stock. Just something you should note when you give that process for clearing a stuck case.
This was a learning experience.
Don't jump to conclusions (just because two events seem similar they can have different causes). Go slow (think about things first - see the note about no jumping to conclusions, which equals not thinking sometimes). Try to take it apart the usual way first (had I popped the rear pin first and opened the rifle up I'd have seen no damage in the lower receiver and found the first small piece of primer -the anvil - and known what had caused the problem - I still would have had to pound that bolt rearward as it was hung up bad). Make sure it's empty (did that with the cleaning rod and explained what I was doing, and why, to my son who was shooting with me yesterday).
This particular rifle has a very "tight" chamber. No steel case ammo through it yet. I've already found out that reloads that are fine in two other ARs we have result in chambering issues in about 5 out of 10 rounds.
These were 45 grain bullets, very "short" compared to even 55 grain rounds. No sign of pressure.
We did notice differences in my son's AR with ejection of the brass (location).
In prone, my 55 grain fmj reloads (IMR4198 powder but I forget the amount without grabbing my log book) ejected at 4 o'clock about 4 feet from the ejection port. The 62 grain fmj reloads (same powder, different amount) ejected at 3 o'clock about 2 feet from the rifle. The 45 grain soft points ejected at about 2 o'clock, again, about 2 feet from the rifle.
All the brass fired this weekend will go through my RCBS X-dies (.223 Remington) as I've determined previously that when I use those dies the reloads will chamber in my newest AR.
The bolt carrier/bolt is coated with that new hard/slick black stuff and there isn't even a scratch on it ins spite of being hung up so bad I had to use a hammer to pound it back.
I had a shooter's lock up like this one time at G'Burg. He had a brand new CMP AR.
The method Jeep described works great on Uncle Sam's ARs, his AR, my AR, but not so great on everyone elses. The average shooter at an event just doesn't seem to understand slamming their rifle down on the ground won't necessarily hurt it (and as ItsanSKS pointed out, it very well could).
As Old Dog has pointed out, take your time and keep an open mind when clearing this type of jam. You'll be shocked when you see that itty bitty little primer cup and think, "man, that's what gave us all that grief?" If your shooters will allow you, clear it the way Jeep suggested. If they won't, take that rifle off the line immediately and do it in a safe area by more mechanical means.
The sad thing about the incident I was party to was the guy missed the rest of the day because he was worried about hurting his rifle. He meticulously dissected it in hopes of finding the problem even after I offered him my LTR.
Now, ball powder has a reputation for having different max loads for summer and winter. I used to use WW 748 for my .30 IHMSA Hunter class rifle back in my Bench Rest competition days. Different loads summer and winter, a significant amount less in the heat. IMR is still affected, but not nearly as much, or usually enough to get you anywhere near in trouble (unlike the ball). Part of why I'm partial to H4895.
But, knowing Old Dog as well as I do, he's an experienced reloader, and I already knew the first thing he checked was the primers on the ones that gave no trouble.
Probably was what has already been mentioned, a loose primer pocket, coupled with a load on the high side of the tolerance, powder wise. Doesn't show that all that high pressure, but the primer pocket will still loosen up some.