DustBuster

I just stumbled across the issue of magpul problems. I had a 10rounder and was learning about the bolt catch after first putting it together... worked fine pulling Bolt with charge handle when empty. Then I got myself some bigger clips. Practiced with those and the dang bolt carrier got stopped about 3/4 open. The little bolt stop lifter Tab in the magazine was not catching quite as centered on the bolt catch prong, but good enough. Instead it was too high, because of the magpul design change from the 10 to 20. They designed a little relief step in the follower to allow it to come up higher apparently to fix an issue for other people. But it goes up too high in the rear and the follower itself actually interferes with the bolt carrier. I’m sure other people have failed to cycle because of it. I’ve seen another post elsewhere maybe u tube of someone else discovered the thing was failing because the follower was tilted too much. Well they suggested some other fix that worked for them, but I think my fix will work for my situation better. Keeping the follower in the magazine Level by a little chunk of softish plastic glued to the terraced right back edge of new style magazine followe. After doing this to two faulty brand new magazines, I fixed them. My 10 rounder was fine as is new. I will post a picture tomorrow of the fix but not the problem issue because I fixed it!

Ok, thanks 98z5v... I saw your mention of that dremel bit on a different post... I’m probably a month away from gettin er all done... I’ll test fire it and see... Lots of adjusting and tweaking makes this a fun project, sort of :). I already solved a magpul magazine design problem... the new 20 and 25s were modified by that company to raise higher to lift bolt catch higher but they go too high. I glued a tiny chunk of rubberized plastic from a 3prong to 2 prong outlet adapter to the rear of the “Follower” where it sits under the right curved top. This fixed the design flaw of that follower tilting to the front too much. I’ll see if that tweak works on the range.

So what do you guys think... that alignment worth readjusting, or just filing a tad on the right ramp in the picture, or waiting till I fire the gun to see how she feeds. Rotating it to perfection would put more surface area, however slight, in contact with the lugs of the extension and the bolt. I do kind of have a case of ocd, but that is the name of the game it seems when building a sweet shooting LR. I already have a replacement 15.5” gas tube on the way because of stuff I read on discussions here.

I’m not too sure about the terminology,... The bolt face looks like the Japanese Rising Sun, or a Sprocket That George Jetson has worked on. Maybe their called Bolt Lugs.. I just couldn’t remember at the time!

Thanks 392 Heminut. yep it may not be worth worrying about. By redoing it and adding a tiny tiny shim to take up the slop in locking tab space of the receiver, I could realign it better by a whisker. The only advantage to that would be more surface area of the bolt sprockets would rest back against the metal of the barrel extension lugs. I’ll post a picture. The bolt does go in and locks, maybe more friction and wear might occur. I’m 50/50. I really do not want to screw with it again. Maybe I’ll see how it feeds. I’m having some dummy rounds made up. Thanks for input

I did do a test...with the same leather and 4” vise... using an Eskimo Ice Auger hand crank pipe , looks like steel 5/8 Tube... i think it was the vise or leather that made the sound. I put way more force on the little vise handle with the test... So I think my barrel is ok. Unfortunately the feed ramps look a tiny bit shifted from perfect alignment... Damn! Shoulda checked that before final torquing.. I might have to end up redoing it which will probably require reheating.

Hi... I just froze my barrel, heated the upper, to get a Very tight Faxon Heavy Fluted Barrel to go home. I used two layers of very thick leather in a standard 4 inch vice. It seemed to work good up to the required FT-lbs. I did hear a “creak” one time upon tightening the vice. I’m hoping that the sound was the leather or the vice itself. I’m worried that I put too much pressure from two sides on the fluted barrel and cracked the thing. Does anybody think this could have happened? The job is done now, Barrel nut, Mil-spec grease, 50-60 ft-lbs. Too late for me to use V blocks or anything else. Later today I will try to simulate with a small steel pipe and see if the sound came from the “pipe” or the vice or leather Adios Amigos