AR-15 Trigger Assembly Jam
I have a Bushmaster AR-15 that quit functioning, wouldn't allow firing mode adjustment and really gave me a fit for weeks. Today, 38 years since my last breakdown on one, only having one eye since 12Jan70 (thanks to a gook's AK-47 round that day) and wearing bifocals today made the breakdown pretty tough even with good lighting.
My technical manual on the AR/M16 doesn't cover the trigger assembly stripping or reassembly so I went into it really very nervously. All of the visible parts looked great, clean and undisturbed but the selector switch would not change from fire to safety. What the heck? I disassembled it anyway.
While dropping the trigger from the lower I discovered a round object that was very strange to me after it dropped into my hand while the last pieces came out. It was about 3/16-1/4" in diameter, had 3 crimps on one side, domed on the other end with an indention in the center. I asked myself, "What in the heck is this?"
After several minutes of inspection I realized it was a primer from a .223 round. After its removal and reassembly of the lower of the weapon the rifle worked perfectly. I called several of my fellow platoon members from back in our day in Vietnam and none of them had ever seen or heard of this type of problem with the AR.
Some of us get inferior ammo and it may happen to anyone. I felt I should share this experience with you in case it may happen again. If anyone has ever had this experience I would surely like to hear from you.
Best regards to all, God bless our troops and may God bless you.
Rick Jones
D/4/12 199th Light Infantry Brigade 1969-1970 (11Bravo)
My technical manual on the AR/M16 doesn't cover the trigger assembly stripping or reassembly so I went into it really very nervously. All of the visible parts looked great, clean and undisturbed but the selector switch would not change from fire to safety. What the heck? I disassembled it anyway.
While dropping the trigger from the lower I discovered a round object that was very strange to me after it dropped into my hand while the last pieces came out. It was about 3/16-1/4" in diameter, had 3 crimps on one side, domed on the other end with an indention in the center. I asked myself, "What in the heck is this?"
After several minutes of inspection I realized it was a primer from a .223 round. After its removal and reassembly of the lower of the weapon the rifle worked perfectly. I called several of my fellow platoon members from back in our day in Vietnam and none of them had ever seen or heard of this type of problem with the AR.
Some of us get inferior ammo and it may happen to anyone. I felt I should share this experience with you in case it may happen again. If anyone has ever had this experience I would surely like to hear from you.
Best regards to all, God bless our troops and may God bless you.
Rick Jones
D/4/12 199th Light Infantry Brigade 1969-1970 (11Bravo)
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this should do it
http://www.ar15.com/content/guides/assembly/lower/0 -
Thank you, sir. The fragmented .223 round was my main concern. Have you ever experienced the problem? It had me and several others baffled because nothing was visible when viewing the lower. Only after my disassembly of it was I aware of the cause. Rick 0 -
What ammo did you use? 0 -
I inherited the problem from a previous local buyer. I don't have a clue as to what was fired thru it during the short time he possessed it. It was a buy-back from him because he needed the money, took a good beating in price because of his own mistakes and now it looks like a great investment for me once again. In this area most AR buyers are dumber than rocks........most, not all. I've not been in contact with him in several weeks now. Rick 0 -
Well at least you found the problem and fixed it. I have never heard of that happening before. Happy shooting. 0 -
I went from a Mini-14 fan to an AR-15 Bushmaster fan recently. I'm still learning the takedown process on the AR. 0 -
It does happen and that is why military spec ammo has a crimped in primer. It really isn't to common in my experience in AR15 semi auto rifles but I have seen it 2 or 3 times in M16 rifles. DPMS makes a rubber shield that is supposed to prevent this problem from happening. 0
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