Stove Piping

I am having a stove pipe issue with my AR15 SBR.

Here is a few bits of info:

• It's new. less than 300 rounds.
• It's clean. Detailed strip and clean.
• It's an SBR. 7 inch. LOUD.
• It was well lubed. Even over-lubed eventually
• Ammo was new and consistent.

The next thing I am going to try is swapping out the lower with the pistol lower I originally had on this rig. It ran fine in the past with that lower.

My theory is that the buffer spring is too strong because the barrel is so short and the recoil is so light.

Any other ideas?

--Yes I assembled the thing myself? What are you saying!?

JR Carbine Update

It has been a while since my JR Carbine has made its way out of the safe to the range. It has had as odd function issue.

This issue has gotten worse the more rounds I put through it.

I got to speak to the JR Carbine team while I was at the NRA Convention. Joe, the lead armorer was very helpful and took a lot of time to discuss the issue. He agreed that the buffer spring was too tight.

The day after I got home from the convention a new spring arrived in the mail. No charge.

That is good customer service.

It seemed better, but it did jam once, with a different kind of failure.

I was not running it this time with the suppressor to ensure that is not a factor.

--It shot pretty good at 150 feet.

Range trip

I made a quick range trip. In an unusual series of events I only took one firearm to shoot.

I took my Suppressed Roni/Glock 21 SBR.I have a new EOTech that I needed to sight in. It was fun.

I walked in the sight at 25 yards and then at 50 yards. I forgot to bring my spotting scope or binocs. My eyes are not what they use to be but if you drop a whole mag you can see where they go.

I can't believe how much .45ACP drop.

Fun stuff.

The only problem was that when the gun heats up the suppressor begins to work loose.

Tightening the can when it's HOT is not much fun!

--I love this gun!

Holster Problem

I have carried a compact 1911 in a Crossbreed Deluxe holster for years, I love it.

When I decided I was going to carry my Px4, the Crossbreed Deluxe was a natural choice when I discovered they made one for the Px4.

I have been using it now for about a month now and unfortunately it has a problem. A bad problem.

The holster presses the mag release button all the time. I never had the mag drop out but if I had needed it that is some very bad mojo.

The photo to the right shows clearly the wear point where the mag release was getting pressure.

I plan on contacting Crossbreed to see if they can do anything. Otherwise I think I will cut a circle out at that spot.

--Let me know if you have had this kind of issue or have any ideas.

Failure to feed.

I am trying to sort out a feed jam on the JR Carbine. I had 2 of these failures in 300 rounds this weekend.

As far as I can tell the bolt is not sliding back all the way to be able to pick up the back lip of the cartridge. In the large version of the image you can see where the bolt started trying to pick up the round.

It does it with force. enough to damage the bullet and the casing.It will happen with or without the suppressor and all the mags are Glock factory mags.

Another thing that may or may not be related is that it is rattling all the nut loose. Had to pause a couple times to tighten up everything.

--I need this thing to be an Easy Button.

Failure to Feed

I had a new failure this weekend with my 1911. I thought I had worked out all the bugs on this puppy. So much so, that this had become my daily carry piece.

This was a totally new type of failure too. The slide locked open as if it was empty when it was not empty. A quick touch on the slide release and it's ready to go again.

The web does not seem to be much help. I have already tried a giant pile of mags to fix other issues. Different Rounds might cause it. But I have already run about 500 of these same rounds through it.

--Any Ideas?

Jam

Last weekend at the Nations Gun Show I bought the JR Carbine that I wanted.

I got the .45acp version that takes the Glock mags. I am putting together a post about the carbine now.

Today's post is about a jam I had with the JR. I had one jam in the first 100 rounds. Not bad. And it happened with a mag that was not an original Glock mag. I will post about that piece of crap later too.

The ejector didn't grab the round but the rifle fully cycled and hammered the next round right into the ass end of the previous round.

The spring in the bolt action is pretty stiff and as you can see in this photo it hammered the bullet back into the casing.

The jam was easy to clear. The ejector grabbed the shell on the next cycle and I found the round when I was cleaning up.

--I wonder if it would fire. I am so not trying it...

Firearm Insurance

I receive emails and junk mail from the NRA every few months regarding additional insurance for my firearms.

I already have an additional rider policy for my guns.

My sister had a fire that ended up destroying her husbands guns. He lost a Marlin 30-30 and a Mossberg 500 12ga. They encouraged me to do an insurance audit.

I was very surprised to discover that firearms were covered specifically to only $2500. I needed way more than that. I called my insurance provider and got a rider. While talking with them on the phone they also encouraged me to take photos of each gun and record the serial numbers and store it all in a safe deposit box. All good advice.

--Don't forget to keep a list of ammo and accessories. It adds up!

Texas Mayor Warns Residents To 'Bolt Your Doors'

By ANA CAMPOY

 

"ALTO, Texas—People here are bracing for a spike in crime after the city put its police force on furlough.

Budget woes in Alto, Texas have forced drastic measures, including laying off the five-member police force. A newspaper's antique printing press is being moved to a museum for safe keeping. WSJ's Ana Campoy reports.

"Everybody's talking about 'bolt your doors, buy a gun,' " said Monty Collins, Alto's mayor, who was against the measure.

City Council members sent the police home when they decided they couldn't afford them. On June 15, the police chief and his four officers secured the evidence room, changed the passwords on their computers and locked the department's doors for six months—longer if local finances don't improve by then."

For more look at the WSJ article and the Business Insider page.

--Get use to stories like this. If the fed continues to bankrupt the country we may find ourselves on our own.

Range Report

I went to the range this weekend with my son and a couple friends. We got there right at opening.

We went to Blue Ridge Arsenal, an indoor range here in Northern VA. They were talking about this range at work. The renovations and ventilation repairs are now complete.I had stopped going to this because the owner was very public about the fact that he voted for Barack Obama. The service there was really bad. They were slow, made all four of us use one lane, and they didn't know jack about guns, didn't know that my Cx4 Storm carbine used pistol ammo. The range officer was ridiculous. I will not be going there again any time soon.

Anyway...

• My RIA 1911, "The Biter",  continues to roll without any failures. I think it's tuned at last.
• My Beretta 96D still doesn't like blunt nose ammo. Feed jams. The LaserMax guide rod LASER is in and out. I bought it in 1996.
• My Cx4 Storm was loved by all. Need to buy more mags so we can spend more time shooting and less reloading.
• My Glock 21 was on my hip and is still the one for the pending Zombie Apocalypse.
• My Friend Tony liked my Px4 .40 the best.

My friend brought his Glock 22 .40 cal. I use to have one of these and like it way less than my Glock 17 or 21. It is one of the few guns that has have sold. I tried Mikes Glock 22. The trigger was really heavy and not smooth. Gritty in fact. It made me was to do a super clean and polish with the air compressor to smooth that thing out.

--Might be going again next weekend! My new 10/22 mags just arrived! (but not to Blue Ridge)

Saiga Update

Tom was a natural at skeet shooting

You may remember that I was having some trouble with my new Saiga 12 gauge shotgun. It was a total Jam-Fest the last time. I figured I would do a full disassemble, clean and run a couple hundred more rounds through it before I took it to a gunsmith.

I took her out again this week. Tom is one of my oldest friends. We met in college back in the late 70's. He was visiting over spring break this year and one day I took him to the range for a couple hours of recoil and fun.

We took the Saiga and did some skeet shooting!

It performed way better this trip. I only jammed four times and always on the last shell from the magazine. Way better operation. We were hammering clay pidgins with that bad boy.

Tom was loving the attention that gun gets on the range. Manly attention!

He lives in MA. This gun is not allowed there.

--I will make a Republican out of him yet!

Injuries

Ever since I turned 50 I have been trying to get into shade. A shape other than round.

Last year, I lost 40 pounds. I want to do the same this year. To that end I have started working out at the gym and got myself a personal trainer. I have been slowly pushing myself, with her help, harder and harder slowly. Recently I inflamed an old injury.

About ten years ago I slipped on the ice, landed on my elbow and dislocated my shoulder. I tore my rotater cuff. It took over a year before it was right after that. The loss of sleep is a huge hassle too. My wife and I even switched sides on the bed so I could more easily favor my right shoulder.

As it stands right now I would not dare shoot a rifle or shotgun with heavy recoil. Even hand guns will give me a thrill I'm sure. If it was an emergency and I was gunning and running from Zombies this would be damn inconvenient.

--Time to practice left hand shooting.

The SGL12 Jam-Fest

On Sunday when I went to the NRA Range with a pile of Blog Buddies, one of the guns I took along was my new Saiga SGL12-03.

They allow shotguns there if you are using slugs. I had 20 rounds to run through it and set about it with a smile. The sights are spot on at 50 feet. Nice big holes right where I want them.

Until it started jamming.

In total, there were nine jams out of twenty rounds. None of the first five jammed, all of the last five jammed. All were failures to eject. The recoil could not cycle the machine far enough. Like the spring was too strong.

--For now I believe all I should do is give it a good cleaning and lube. Lather, rinse, repeat. Break it in...