Anyone ever break an AR-15 bolt?

[DickWanner]

Like legit break. By that I mean completely shearing the bolt in two at the cam pin hole


Either my rifle hates me for not cleaning it last Saturday when I cleaned the others or it didn't like me putting on the collapsible stock and flash hider earlier today

 

[vellnueve]

Brand?

 

[Tim94gt]

Not sure if this would cause it, but did you use a carbine or rifle buffer?

 

[DickWanner]

Rifle started life as an Essential Arms pre-ban J-15 setup A2 style. I swapped out the 20" full length upper with a flat-top 16" short guard upper. I just popped the old bolt in without checking headspace or anything, but in 1000rds I never really had an issue and it shot pretty damn reliably. I also hadn't cleaned it in that 1000rds and most of that was crappy steel cased ammo, but then again I didn't ever even have one jam so why would I clean it haha.. Today I plopped on the flash hider from the A2 and put on a brand new non-pinned collapsible with carbine length buffer. Shot maybe 50rds and then the bolt said FU. It was quite a pain to get apart and I'm cleaning the bolt now and carbon is pretty much caked on the bolt carrier and parts, though I figured that would just make it jam.

 

[atilla]

looks like the AG office has built in some sort of self-destruct mechanism for when the rifle detects evil features. it's for your safety, citizen.

did you damage the carrier at all or is it GTG? maybe you just got a really, really bad round? you'd think the whole upper would have grenaded if that was the case though. i've only had one failure in my 5.56 AR and all it did was jam the rifle up and blow the brass case into two pieces.

 

[Dench]

Like legit break. By that I mean completely shearing the bolt in two at the cam pin hole

Take some pics of that bad boy.

 

[cekim]

Like legit break. By that I mean completely shearing the bolt in two at the cam pin hole

I think you limp wristed it...

 

[DickWanner]

looks like the AG office has built in some sort of self-destruct mechanism for when the rifle detects evil features. it's for your safety, citizen.

did you damage the carrier at all or is it GTG? maybe you just got a really, really bad round? you'd think the whole upper would have grenaded if that was the case though. i've only had one failure in my 5.56 AR and all it did was jam the rifle up and blow the brass case into two pieces.

Carrier and other bolt parts seem fine from my experience cleaning a bunch of BCGs in the military. The carbon was caked on pretty bad and after 2 hours of cleaning with CLP, a brush, and about 3 dozen q-tips there's still a few spots of carbon stuck on pretty good. I just can't see this as a cleaning issue, though I don't know if the use of crappy steel ammo had anything to do with it.

 

[DickWanner]

Take some pics of that bad boy.

 

[skol]

after 2 hours of cleaning

You spend 2 hours cleaning a gun?


I guess that was a shitty bolt http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-AR15-Bolt-Assembly-MPI-p/bcm bolt assemly mp.htm

 

[DickWanner]

You spend 2 hours cleaning a gun?


I guess that was a shitty bolt http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-AR15-Bolt-Assembly-MPI-p/bcm bolt assemly mp.htm

Or just 15+ years old with an unknown round count. The upper is actually a Bravo Company IIRC. Though $70 seems steep, I'll have to check my discount sources first before I would even consider that.

I spent two hours just on the BCG as I didn't have any gun scrubber and just CLP. Haven't even touched the rest of the rifle

 

[14paul]

You can fix that with a dab of glue and maybe some duct tape...

 

[meth0d]

 

[DickWanner]

You can fix that with a dab of glue and maybe some duct tape...

I was gonna try JB Weld before I resorted to such extreme methods

 

[vellnueve]

This type of fracture does happen occasionally - definitely not the norm, but I've seen more than a few instances posted online with similar pics to yours.

 

[DickWanner]

This type of fracture does happen occasionally - definitely not the norm, but I've seen more than a few instances posted online with similar pics to yours.

Good to know, thankyou. I was worried that I did something stupid to cause it. At least the rest of the BCG seems to be okay.

 

[skol]

Or just 15+ years old with an unknown round count. The upper is actually a Bravo Company IIRC. Though $70 seems steep, I'll have to check my discount sources first before I would even consider that.

I spent two hours just on the BCG as I didn't have any gun scrubber and just CLP. Haven't even touched the rest of the rifle

70 isn't steep, a good BCG is ~130 so if you are buying bolts at "discount" places expect to get another one that will break.

 

[DickWanner]

70 isn't steep, a good BCG is ~130 so if you are buying bolts at "discount" places expect to get another one that will break.

By discount I meant name brand products at a discount through my sources

 

[vellnueve]

70 isn't steep, a good BCG is ~130 so if you are buying bolts at "discount" places expect to get another one that will break.

He's talking $70 for the bolt, not $70 for a full BCG. You can get a quality bolt for $40-50

 

[Zappa]

You spend 2 hours cleaning a gun?

Really!

I just throw mine in the dishwasher.

 

[DickWanner]

He's talking $70 for the bolt, not $70 for a full BCG. You can get a quality bolt for $40-50

Yea, whoever pays $70 for a full BCG is basically asking for it to fall apart.

Really!

I just throw mine in the dishwasher.

Hmm, you may be on to something. There's one of those at my parents house. I don't think they'll mind...

 

[Fixxah]

You can now make a carrier keychain.

 

[william_munny]

You can now make a carrier keychain.

Gotta look at the positives, right?

 

[SKS Ray]

Cleaning is one more reason why I prefer an SKS or AK over an AR.

I sometimes treat my guns like ex girlfriends. Well used and put away dirty.

 

[DickWanner]

Cleaning is one more reason why I prefer an SKS or AK over an AR.

I sometimes treat my guns like ex girlfriends. Well used and put away dirty.

That's quotable material right there

 

[DickWanner]

You can now make a carrier keychain.

Sweet, wanna buy a $40 keychain

 

[vellnueve]

Cleaning is one more reason why I prefer an SKS or AK over an AR.

I sometimes treat my guns like ex girlfriends. Well used and put away dirty.

I didn't clean my SHTF rifle (AR) for at least a year and a half... never had a malfunction through a few cases of Wolf...

 

[icyclefar]

Just a guess here, but if it's like everything else that I break, I would bet you fractured half of the bolt some time ago, and on your last outing managed to shear off the remaining side.

Dis you happen to notice if one side of the break seemed clean, while the other side was dirty?

 

[DickWanner]

Just a guess here, but if it's like everything else that I break, I would bet you fractured half of the bolt some time ago, and on your last outing managed to shear off the remaining side.

Dis you happen to notice if one side of the break seemed clean, while the other side was dirty?

I think you may be right, it did seem like one side had a cleaner looking shear than the other. I prolly would have noticed the fracture had I cleaned the thing in a year or so

I didn't clean my SHTF rifle (AR) for at least a year and a half... never had a malfunction through a few cases of Wolf...

Glad to know I'm not the only one who shoots dirty Russian ammo and doesn't clean their AR

 

[jim/boston]

Prolly a non-Colt bolt; the Colt has an MP stamp which stands for 'magnetic particle' tested...MP will detect flaws in the steel which can lead to 40.00 keychains Jim Factory Colt M-16 Armorer