Yes, I have a live case stuck in the chamber of new DPMS. While at the range: Loaded the mag.--shot 4 rounds--5th round fed in but did not fire. The hammer did fall. Therefore, it is not cocked. Problem: I can't get the bolt to come back. I really don't want to try to beat the case out. I don't want this thing to blow. Does anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks

Assumptions: DPMS means AR 15 patfrom (maybe AR 10).

Okay, bolt closed, hammer fell, loaded cartridge in chamber, cannot retract bolt/carrier group via charging handle to manually extracxt/ekject round?

Of course, if you are certain the round is fully chambered, shotgun the rifle, cock the hammer, close, take aim and attempt to fire once again.... If the rifle won't shotgun open, the bolt carrier is not fully forward (which will prevent the firing pin from reachin gthe primer-(a good design feature)), strike the forward assist with the heel of your hand to close the bolt fully, attempt to fire.

If that fails:

1. Attempt to place safety in "safe position (should not go-as the hammer is down/uncocked) Remove magazine (remove optics if you want-it may get ugly).

2 Point rifle down range (as much as posible) hold rifle by hanguards with one hand, unlatch charging handle and apply rearward pressure with the other, strike buttstock on shooting mat/hard surface (with padding if desired) to allow inertia to help move carrier/bolt rearward. Bounce buttplate on on ground/hard surface rather briskly while pulling back on charging handle- that should cause the bolt/carrier group to withdraw the (probably oversized) round out of the chamber.

3. If 2 does not work, have assistant lay rifle on side, ejection port up, hold charging handle latch and apply rearward pressure, and brace the buttstock, keep rifle pointed down range (of course) stand behind/alongside rifle, and place a brass punch on bolt carrier face just behind the front of the ejection port, use rawhide hammer/mallet etc to strike the brass punch (it will be at a 30/45 degree angle, not straight back, of course) stike bolt carrier to force it rearward, etc.

Other than that...

Let us know!

quote:

Originally posted by hunt1415:
Yes, I have a live case stuck in the chamber of new DPMS. While at the range: Loaded the mag.--shot 4 rounds--5th round fed in but did not fire. The hammer did fall. Therefore, it is not cocked. Problem: I can't get the bolt to come back. I really don't want to try to beat the case out. I don't want this thing to blow. Does anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks

Oh, yeah-DO NOT TRY TO USE A ROD TO DRIVE THE LIVE ROUND OUT; PLEASE!!!!

Andrew gave excellent advise.

Also I agree do not dry to drive a live round out with a rod down the barrel.

Two people have been killed at bench rest matches by doing that.

Outcome?

Hitting the butt of the gun on hard surface while applying pressure on the charging handle worked. Need just that little extra jolt.

Thanks for the advise.

Always full length resize rounds for ARs or other semi-autos, as they usually do not have the built in manual primary extraction abilities of bolt or SS or even lever guns.

Keep the chamber clean too.

quote:

Originally posted by hunt1415:

Hitting the butt of the gun on hard surface while applying pressure on the charging handle worked. Needed just that little extra jolt.

quote:

Originally posited by Andrew cempa:

Always full length resize rounds for ARs or other semi-autos, as they usually do not have the built in manual primary extraction abilities of bolt or SS or even lever guns.

Correct on both counts. I used to have the top problem with great regularity. Extremely frustrating. Was ripping my hair out in anger, too. Problem was ammo was incorrectly sized. Now I turn the small-base die down a quarter turn past contact with the shell holder when press ram is at top of stroke. I have yet to have a round not chamber or extract since getting this straight. My rounds are so correctly sized, I can bump-fire a 30-round magazine with no problems whatsoever.

While small-base dies/resizing may be required for a very few tight or out of norm chambers, a chamber of normal dimesion doesn't need SB effort.

For maximizing accuracy and minimizing risk of slam/out of barry fire, bumping the shoulder back abut .003 is all that is needed-brass lasts longer and accuracy is optimized. Insure your primer pockets are clean and primers are seated flush or slighly below flush (check out a mil-spec round-you'll find they are seated about 3-5 thousandths belwo deck)

Clean the bolt/firing pin channel and firing pin well-sticky FP can cause a slam fire.

For max accuracy in hi-power AR use, I resize with a FL body die and a .343 neck bushiing, working the brass only minimally-get 10-12 loadings before I simply recycle the brass. 24.3 grn Varget and a 75/77 BTHP seated mag length and it cleans the house if I do my part (which is not as often as I hoped it seems!).