One of my friends has a remington r-15 he’s had for about a year or so. After shooting last week all of a sudden his bolt will not unlock without some considerable force, in fact with the upper on the lower it will not come back at all. We’ve cleaned the chamber and cant find any obstructions, any ideas?
This is where it locks up and wont come back any further.
View of the bolt where it stops.
Did bullet fire from rifle? If so take long cleaning rod (or compairable) and tap bolt back. If not sure bullet is still in case and rifle is HOT collapse stock and mortar style slam (pointing in safe direction) rifle down to help drive back BCG can use hammer and rod on bottom of BCG if needed…Really you cant hurt it too bad so grip it and rip it…
I am having a hard time tracking here.
Firs thing is first. Can you disassemble the weapon and remove the BCG?
I can’t really see that but it looks like the bolt hasn’t rotated enough to come out. Maybe it’s binding somewhere in the barrel extension, or the cam pin/cam pin slot?
Is it stuck right there, or have you gotten it apart already and now it’s just stiff?
Does the bolt move freely in and out of the BCG along it’s cam pin track?
I’ve had a separated primer do that before. It locked it up from the backside of the lug. Nothing super technical about going about fixing it, we just shook it around and hit the bolt forward to separate it. Finally got it loosened up & it was back to functioning normal after we got all the little pieces out of the lug & chamber.
Yes with considerable force and only when the upper is removed from the lower. There is nothing in the barrel.
So bolt will not cam shut? in that case place face of bolt on table and hammer home. IG should have a better idea of cause, effect and fix.
Once it’s disassembled, check the upper thoroughly for debris. Also check to make sure everything with the receiver extension on the lower is good and free of debris
Have you checked the buffer tube to look for obstructions (such as the roll pin for the buffer working loose)?
Did you check the BCG carefully to see if a blown primer something was lodged inside the area of the cam pin?
Have you checked the bolt carrier key to see if it is crooked or loosening and binding in the upper?
Are you seeing any marks on the bolt lugs?
The bolt would cam shut and i felt no unusual resistance. I will check the bcg and buffer carefully tomorrow and see if there is any oddities.
Hindsight says I probably should’ve taken a picture of the bcg while i had it out.
Gas tube hittin gas key maybe? If bolt can freely cam shut then something is not allowing BCG to fully lock up. When you slide it home pay exrta attention to to sound (metal on metal)and look to see where contact is.
The bolt will lock into battery, but it will not unlock when the upper is installed on the lower and it is a royal pita to unlock when the upper is removed from the lower.
Can you hand cycle? Have you pulled out buffer and made sure that problem is not bufffer and spring pushing BCG forward, maybe primer got wedged back there somewhere also is commercial buffer tube? Is buffer spring binding up in ext. (I saw this once) commercal tubes are angled on back and spring pushes against it angling it upward, maybe binding… Have ya checked buffer and tube is what I’m gettin at. edit just saw mention of upper being seperate from lower
I’ll check the receiver extension and components tomorrow when i see the rifle again, and yes it is a commercial RE.
You need to check each component. We know that the when we pull the charging handle back, the spring compress into the buffer tube.
We also know that the bolt must clear the lugs in the chamber extension and that the bolt will move in the carrier.
Strip the BCG down completely and insert it into the upper. Check to see if the key is hitting the upper. Then I would insert the charging handle and stripped BCG and cycle it back and forth (again check for binding of the buffer and spring or the carrier). Also if the key is hitting the gas tube.
Check the inside of the BCG and see if there is an obstruction. Check the bolt and make sure that the gas rings are not crossed. if nothing is detected then re-assemble and do the checks again. If the problem persists I would suspect the the bolt is screwed up or the chamber extension. Have you checked to make sure that the barrel isn’t loose?
Is it just me or does that upper look cracked (see attached image)?
I saw that and thought it was some debris or something.
Have you tried another BCG in the upper?
Sorry everyone, i was down with the flu today so i did not have a chance to take another look at it. I’m hoping tomorrow will be better.