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Last Friday I finished up assembling my AR - first one I have owned. I used a Palmetto stripped lower, the Palmetto lower build kit, and a Palmetto 5.56 upper.
Off to the range Sunday to sight in. I have been reloading .223 for over 20 years for bolt guns, so have lots of components. I did not want buy any factory ammo, so I used a hand load that I had worked up for one of my bolt actions. The load was a commercial case, fully resized with RCBS dies, and trimmed to spec. The bullet was a Nosler 55 gr. jacketed. Powder charge was 22.5 gr. of X-Terminator with a CCI #400 primer. My Sierra manual shows a beginning charge of 22.7 gr.for ARs, so I was confident that the load was safe, although maybe a bit light.
I loaded one round into the Pmag, and it chambered just fine. Pressed the trigger, and the noise and recoil seemed normal. However, the bolt did not lock back, and when I tried to open it, it was stuck. I could not get it open at the range, so when I got home, I squirted some CLP down the barrel and on the bolt. After it soaked for a couple of hours, I tapped the rifle butt down on a chunk of 2x4 while pulling on the charge handle, and the action opened. The empty case stayed stuck in the chamber, so I tapped it out from the muzzle with an old cleaning rod. Now I am wondering why the case got stuck in the chamber. I thought I had thoroughly cleaned the barrel and chamber before firing it. the only thing I can think of is that there must have been some grit or something in the chamber that I missed.
Any ideas, thoughts?
Off to the range Sunday to sight in. I have been reloading .223 for over 20 years for bolt guns, so have lots of components. I did not want buy any factory ammo, so I used a hand load that I had worked up for one of my bolt actions. The load was a commercial case, fully resized with RCBS dies, and trimmed to spec. The bullet was a Nosler 55 gr. jacketed. Powder charge was 22.5 gr. of X-Terminator with a CCI #400 primer. My Sierra manual shows a beginning charge of 22.7 gr.for ARs, so I was confident that the load was safe, although maybe a bit light.
I loaded one round into the Pmag, and it chambered just fine. Pressed the trigger, and the noise and recoil seemed normal. However, the bolt did not lock back, and when I tried to open it, it was stuck. I could not get it open at the range, so when I got home, I squirted some CLP down the barrel and on the bolt. After it soaked for a couple of hours, I tapped the rifle butt down on a chunk of 2x4 while pulling on the charge handle, and the action opened. The empty case stayed stuck in the chamber, so I tapped it out from the muzzle with an old cleaning rod. Now I am wondering why the case got stuck in the chamber. I thought I had thoroughly cleaned the barrel and chamber before firing it. the only thing I can think of is that there must have been some grit or something in the chamber that I missed.
Any ideas, thoughts?