I’ve shot Mini14s and lever action rifles for years, but wanted to jump into a new system while I still have the opportunity (I’m moving to a ban state next year). I almost went with an AK47 variant, but in the end decided to get into the AR15. Based on the great information available in this forum, I decided to grab a Daniel Defense M4V3 from GalleryOfGuns.com this past week.
I loaded it up with .223 Rem UMC 55 gr. rounds and shot a few off at 25 yards. Oddly, the POI at this distance was 6 inches off right and about 8 inches low. It took quite a windage adjustment to get the POI centered and now the rear site is obviously left of the barrel centerline. I’m aware that the peephole in the Daniel Defense rear site is purposely drilled off center a bit, but there’s no doubt that this peephole itself is significantly left of the barrel centerline.
The other thing I noticed is that the bolt hold open failed about half the time with the PMAG that comes with the gun. If I rack the charging handle with an empty mag, the hold open works every time. But firing the last round only works sometimes. It’s a brand new gun so perhaps I haven’t adequately lubricated the BCG? I have no frame of reference since I’m completely new to the system–that is, I simply don’t know how much lubrication is enough. I tried lubricating it with regular gun oil which is all I had but that didn’t change things. I obviously need to pick up a better lube.
On a similar note, the whole BCG seems to operate very roughly compared to a Mini14’s bolt. ThMy Mini14 runs silky smooth. The DDM4 seems clunky. Should an AR15’s BCG slide smoothly with adequate lube? Another thing I wonder about is the charging handle…it just seems to slide so roughly. And it smells like burnt rubber after sliding in its channel. Is this all normal?
check this thread out on where to lube and how much http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=35490, and as far as the ch making a burning smell that could be it making contact with the top of the lower by the castle nut area.
New finishes on parts will need time to wear into each other at their contact points. Follow my lube chart given in the link above. During break-in it wouldn’t hurt to even lean towards the heavy side when lubing.
As far as the smell from the charging handle, this falls right in with what I posted above: New anodized finishes rubbing against each other.
Generally speaking it is a good idea to clean the weapon before hand and give it a good once over. I then recommend that you take the time to read the owners manual or an M16 operators manual.
The next thing I would do is get some quality lubricant (Slip2000, Weapon Shield or even some Militec) and good ammo. Remington UMC ammo is fairly low on the power scale. I would try some S&B, Federal M193 or even some of the Hornady 5.56 TAP training in steel cases. So far that ammo has worked flawlessly in the various AR’s I have shot it in and it’s about 279.00 per 1000 rounds.
Remember that the Mini-14 and AR are not the same. Lube the AR properly and you will have no issues. Especially with a Daniel Defense.
Yeah, no doubt that breaking the rifle in will yield a smoother operation of the entire mechanism. I’ve been following your lube suggestions and will take your advice to apply lubricant liberally.
I figured the smell wasn’t anything to worry about…but man that is a terrible smell!
Iraqgunz brings up a good point that I probably should have mentioned, which is to field strip the weapon and give it a good visual inspection before lubing.
It probably wouldn’t hurt either, to wash everything down with mineral spirits prior to lube. Ensure there are no contaminants left inside the weapon from manufacturing and assembly. Wash off any corrosion prevention compounds as well, if present. CPC is usually tacky and certainly won’t help with the break-in process if left on the weapon.
Shoot about 500 rounds of xm193 and keep it well lubed the BCG will loosen up after 500+ rounds. Try another p-mag or a usgi mag with magpul gen 3 followers.
Don’t worry about the roughness of the action. It will take several hundred rounds to smooth up. As mentioned above, try using some 5.56 when you are breaking it in. As far as the rear sight is concerned, it is normal for those things to not line up perfectly in the center. Check the front sight post to see if it is bent any. I have seen some front sight posts that got bent from rough handling, which might account for an extreme windage adjustment problem.
I bought the DDXV about three months ago and shot about 100 rounds of REM UMC 55 out of the box without any lube. Mine worked flawlessly. I bought the DD because of the great reputation. What would cause a weapon to have the issues the OP is having, especially out of a brand that has such great QC?
As to the ammo, Remington UMC is easily among the worst in terms of consistency, accuracy and power. I bought two two hundred round cases a few months apart. Case one ran like a top, case two would eject, but not with enough power to strip a fresh round from the magazine. Neither case ejected far beyond my feet. Places like DSG put this crap on sale for $6.99 a box and people flock to buy it - not knowing that they could buy Privi, XM193, Q3131 etc for the same price or even less…
Call DD - the answers you’ll get here may be helpful, but will be varied. Good luck with your rifle…
I did indeed field strip the gun and clean it before taking it out for the first time, but did not clean all parts with solvent. I ran a patch of Hoppes9 through the bore and let it soak for a bit, and the next patch through was blue, so there was definitely some fouling in there initially. Maybe from the test firing? The bolt carrier also had some carbon pretty well caked on there but I cleaned it all off.
I’ve used UMC in the past and never had a problem with it in my Mini14, but of course the Mini is very forgiving. It’s all the only brand available at the range so I didn’t have a choice at the time.