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POF Stove Pipe issue.


Plagued

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First off let me appologize as I see that there is a POF forum area but its been inactive for a while so I'm asking here. If it is an issue please feel free to move the thread.

 

I recently bought 2 POF P308's locally "used". One is a 14.5'' pinned and welded to 16'' and the second is a 20''. Both are the NP3 "grey/silver" models.

The 14.5'' rifle is flawless and I love it but the 20'' is giving me non stop problems with stove piping and ejection issues.

It ejects at the 1:30-2 O'clock about 4'-6' away when it does eject. The main issue is it stove pipes constantly, in turn jamming up the following chambering round.

I've tried the following ammo.

Malaysian 7.62 surplus. Brass cased.
ZQI 7.62 Made in Turkey. Brass cased.
Federal Gold Match 168g. Brass cased.

All stove pipe and freeze up operation after 1-10 rounds, sometimes many in a row.

I've tried Magpul 20 round, Magpul 25 round and the Original POF metal magazine. All cause this issue.

I've changed the buffer and spring from the 14.5'' to the 20'' and it caused it to function slightly better but the problem still persists many times per magazine.

 

I've also tested the bolt from the 14.5" and it still stove pipes.

I've also checked for burrs and the likes on the bolt, bolt face, ejector and within the upper and it looks clean.

I'm perplexed with the issue.

 

Also I noticed on the 20'' the gas plug is loose and even if I switch from the 14.5" gas plug it is still loose.

 

I'm wondering if maybe the 20" upper is out of spec or maybe it just is a dud.

 

Any idea guys?

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

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Sounds like you have a leak in your gas.

Can you swap the piston system parts from your 14.5 to your 20?

I don't know enough about the POF piston, but if it's anywhere similar to the PWS or AA or HK, you should be able to pull a majority of the piston and compare parts. I'll bet you're missing some small, seemingly insignificant, part.

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Yeah that's what I figured and I have switched the parts including the piston and piston rod. The plug itself has some very heavy play no matter which plug or set up I'm using.

 

I come here because POF sends me to a voicemail. Even if I get an employee they say they have no clue on the inner workings and send me to this guy or that guy and I get voicemails.

 

The front gas block must be to big.

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I'm thinking about adding a O-ring tomorrow if I can get it over the gas plugs locking lugs. I'm thinking a super thin one that will not put but maybe 0.01 foward pressure after pressed tight on the gas plug and lock it in tighter. I figure that might be better than the extreme side play it has going on left and right. Sound dangerous?

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  I'm also not that familiar with the POF rife's Gas system , but its like the M14/M1A ,if I remember correctly . Stove piping is usually caused by weak Gas Pulse or a Ejector or Extractor , but since you swapped the Bolts out , that kinda rules out any Bolt Components  , if you think its leaking around the Gas Plug , put a piece of tape around it , fire a round off & see if it blows the tape off .

  I don't know how the Gas Piston Block is attached , but you would need to swap out all the Parts . Might not be worth the trouble , but it would be the only way to know for sure . To swap out all components with known working ones .

 

  As was said above , I also thought they had two settings on their Gas system. (Off , on & remove  , maybe not in that order )

 

  Are you using Lubricant , because some think you don't need to with the NIB ? <dontknow>

 

  Those POF rifles , I thought were Guaranteed for life ? They don't have a Warranty Dept. ?  I don't get it .

Edited by survivalshop
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They have a 3 year to the intial buyer warranty.

 

The problem is definitely the loose gas plug. I finally got ahold of someone at POF and they said if I ship it in they will go over the whole gun and make sure it works before leaving.

 

I've never sent in a gun for repair work I've usually done it all myself but this one is me replacing the gas block or them for the cost of shipping so that seems like letting them do it is logical. Should I have any worries about the firearm being lost in transit or stolen or anything? I plan to insure it.

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I've never sent in a gun for repair work I've usually done it all myself but this one is me replacing the gas block or them for the cost of shipping so that seems like letting them do it is logical. Should I have any worries about the firearm being lost in transit or stolen or anything? I plan to insure it.

I've done it plenty of times and there's really not much to worry about. I usually use UPS since there's a hub along my commute.

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Sorry. Coming in late on this one. But being that there are only a few pieces to the gas system on these rifles, it would seem that there's probably an issue with the gas block itself (or sounds like it at least). Or as Pat mentioned, a misalignment problem with the block itself, maybe. Though you would think that you could visually see something out of kilter that much if it was causing cycling issues. I also agree with 98. Let POF do the fix for you this time around. Things we've all heard about POF seem to be hit or miss. I think that I got lucky with the SBR version that I got some time back.

Here some pics of the gas system parts.

post-12568-0-07194900-1436624256_thumb.j
post-12568-0-45316200-1436624278_thumb.j
post-12568-0-68646900-1436624300_thumb.j

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I sent it back and POF did the following.

 

Replaced the gas plug with a tighter fitting plug.

 

Replaced the ejector spring with a 4lb. stronger spring.

 

Headspaced.

 

Replaced the bolt.

 

Reamed and polished the chamber.

 

Test fired with 3 types of ammo and 2 different magazine types.

 

Also returned it with a brand new rifle case.

 

I took it out earlier and put 25 rounds through it as fast as I could pull the trigger and its now running flawlessly. Until I get a few hundred more through it I won't fully trust its reliability but for now I'm a happy camper.

 

POF went above and beyond on customer service in my opinion since I'm not the original owner and the gun was manufactured outside of its warranty policy.

 

Also I'd like to add it was there and back in 1 week. Great turn around.

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POF went above and beyond on customer service in my opinion since I'm not the original owner and the gun was manufactured outside of its warranty policy.

 

Also I'd like to add it was there and back in 1 week. Great turn around.

 

Despite some of the problems with the POF rifles not-too-often, that's what I usually hear about from POF.  I've heard that there are more problems from the Hogans, and Hogan owners don't receive that same kind of response or treatment. 

 

Good stuff, man - good path to follow.  You did it well.  <thumbsup>

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