Light primer strike on AR?

[ErickW]

I just got back from shooting my Core 15 AR and sighting in my Strikefire. I had only previously put around 15 rds through it with no problems. Today however I had three light primer strikes. I was inserting the mag, stripping one round off and then dropping it, so I could set the rifle down on a rest to shoot when it happened on all three occasions. If I ran a mag continuously I had no problems. I'm thinking I wasn't being "aggressive" enough when stripping the rounds, and maybe the bolt wasn't seating completely. I haven't taken the rifle down yet to take a look, but wanted to get some input.

 

[Leo]

Is the ammo within spec? Loose headspace can look like a light primer strike.

 

[midget]

I the bolt isn't closing all of the way, you should not be seeing a firing pin stike on the primer. I would suspect an under powered hammer spring.

 

[ErickW]

Makes sense, I hadn't thought of that. As far as head space goes, how can I check it?

 

[ErickW]

Is it possible, I'm not seeing a light primer strike, but rather a dimple from the bolt closing and the firing pin floating and hitting the round?

 

[midget]

If the round isn't completely clambering, no, that should even happen. The bolt face would be too far away.

 

[ErickW]

I'm going to break it down and have a look later tonight. I have to think it had something to do with stripping individual rounds off.

 

[dhamby]

Make sure your hammer spring is in correctly and in the right direction, not backwards...don't ask me how I know.

 

[ErickW]

It is, I verified, thanks for the heads up though. I'm going to go back and shoot some more and see if and when I can isolate the problem. Hopefully won't happen any more.

 

[Cam]

I put a lower together with a Del-Ton kit (I don't think Del-Ton is to blame, just where the kit came from) and had this same problem except it didn't matter whether the mag was in or not. Ended up being the weight of the hammer. Replaced it and the problem was never seen again.

Don't know if that's your problem, but another place to look.

 

[cop car]

Military primers need a nice hit to set them off. A lot of aftermarket triggers don't have enough spring to do that.

 

[ErickW]

I haven't had a chance to go out and run it again, but I really appreciate all the input so far guys!