Need some help. Recently purchased a Radical Arms 7.5 inch upper, with Spikes bolt carrier group. Have put about 100 rounds through without issue and have really been enjoying this gun. Went to the range today, shot about 30 rounds without issue. Loaded up a new mag, and dropped the bolt. Pulled the trigger and all I got was a click. Then tried to extract the unfired round. The bolt won’t budge. Was initially also unable to break the gun open, but used forward assist to move the bolt slightly forward and was able to break the gun open. I tried putting a cleaning rod down the barrel and then tapping it with a rubber mallet. Didn’t want to really whack it, but moderate taps are not working.
Have been shooting mostly xm193, so no steel cased ammo. Also, and this may or may not be related, have been getting occasional keyholing at 25 yards.
If this doesn’t get it, try aiming your changing handle locking latch at the edge of a heavy wood bench leg and really go for it. I did this at the range on a locked bolt. Popped open on the first whack. I wore myself on the standard mortar.
As mentioned above, mortar it. JUST KEEP THE MUZZLE AWAY FROM YOU AND OTHERS. I assume this is a pistol build, so you probably need to put something soft on the ground/table to avoid damaging your receiver extension tube.
Self-help fix; Place the charging handle against a solid post with a clean 90 degree edge on it. (safe direction, obviously) Press forward to unlatch the charging handle, and put pressure on it. Slam the heel of your free hand against the butt of the stock, driving it forward.
if this works, you then go on to figure out why, and solve that problem.
If it does not, you need to start calling gunsmiths in your area. what they must have is a Brownells stuck case remover, with .223/5.56 rim head. It is a slam-hammer, and it will pull the round out.
Tell him you have a stuck, live, round, and not just a stuck case.
The tool is spendy for a one-time use, but a must-have gunsmith item.
Let us know the source; headspace, out-of-spec round, etc.
DO NOT BANG, KICK, SLAM OR HAMMER ON THE CHARGING HANDLE. Doing so will damage the charging handle and is actually an ineffective way to remove a stuck round.
Pogo the round out (what AR guys call “mortaring”) until the round extracts or the extractor tears the rim off. If it tears the rim off, take a solid cleaning rod (like the Dewey one piece cleaning rod) and drop or toss it down the bore until it knocks the stuck case out. DO NOT DROP A ROD DOWN A BORE AND HAMMER ON IT. The rod will simply flex with the impact, wasting energy. It could also bend the rod inside the case and get it stuck.
Be aware that clearing a stuck unfired round from the chamber using the rod method does entail a certain amount of risk.
If you cannot remove an unstuck case, or get the extractor to tear off the rim of a really stuck case using the pogo maneuver, you are doing it wrong
Ineffective? Hardly. The method I used worked quite well, and didn’t put even a little scratch on the CH. The CH was as it was before. Doing the standard mortar has left my fingers raw and still I had a stuck bolt.
I am thinking that Patrick’s method would be superior to what I did though.
My 4X4 post method has removed cases (and rounds) that resisted the mortaring method.
And do not use a cleaning rod on a live round.
I prefer not to rip off part of the rim, just in case the Brownells tool has to be used. The more rim that is there, the higher the likelihood the Brownells tool will work.
From my experience, pounding on the charging handle or banging it against a post et al is a good way to beat up the CH and rifle.
The hardest case I’ve had to remove either came out when the rifle was pogoed, or the rim tore off and the case popped out by dropping a rod down the bore. It’s gets the job done with the least amount of drama and with less chance of something getting busticated in the process.
Of course, one should do their best to remove a stuck live round without pogoing the rim off
Cosmo, do not leave us hanging, with all the good advice you should be back to running ammo through that AR like was intended. How did you removed the stuck case?