Gunsmithing AR10 Bolt Stuck in Battery

[jda2631]

It's Aero Precision 308 receiver set, aero precision bolt and BCG, and BA barrel. I was shooting at the range the other day and the bolt didn't come out of battery. At the range I mortared it a few times and it wasn't budging.

When I got home, I took it apart as much as I could. Have the upper receiver off, hand guard and gas block/tub off, barrel nut off. The lugs of the bolt are halfway behind the lugs of the barrel, I can't get them to clear. I assume maybe the primer or some primer material has come out of the fired round and gotten stuck in there and isn't letting the bolt rotate anymore to clear and come out of battery. I have gotten a cleaning rod and put it down the barrel and hit it, trying to get it to get out with no luck. Any other ideas of what to try next to try and get the bolt out of battery? (the barrel nut is off, and I was pulling the barrel to try and get it come lose is why the feed ramps are off to the side)

 

[Precision Underground]

That looks pretty sketchy unless the barrel is pulled out enough for the pin to be far enough out of the slot for the barrel to rotate. Are you positive the ramps were lined up when you first fired it?

 

[jda2631]

Yea, I pulled the barrel far enough out for the pin to clear the barrel extension, and just twisted it with my hands to see if I could get the bolt to rotate.

 

[buffalowinter]

I had the same thing happen to me last week. First time ever. I threw a rod down the barrel and whacked the hell out of it. I found a piece of brass/primer had wedged itself between the bolt body and receiver. I really had to pound on it...I think you have a similar situation. There was no damage to the gun. You can take that for what it's worth and use your best judgement. I would try hitting it harder with a brass rod/punch.

 

[jda2631]

I've shot this gun a ton, ran perfectly fine. I can move the bolt in and out of the carrier slightly by moving the barrel in and out of the extension, and I can move the BCG slightly in the receiver. So I think it is a piece of brass/primer caught up in the lugs, those are the only thing that I can't get to move.

 

[j-huskey]

Try rubber hammer on bolt carrier, to re-close the bolt, crush the offending primer.. might work for you, did for me.

 

[ShtrRdy]

With the bolt carrier as far back as it will go try tapping against the Bolt Cam Pin to see if you can coax the bolt to rotate open.

 

[alwaywatchyoursix]

I'd put the barrel back on, and try the cleaning rod down the barrel, assuming the round that was in there last did actually go off already.

I'd also lube the hell out of everything, including squirting some of it into the chamber and around those lugs, and let it sit for a bit first. In this case, I'd recommend a light penetrating oil, just so it can get in everywhere. You'll be cleaning everything when you're putting it back together anyways, so why not?

Another thing I'd recommend is that instead of trying to smash everything like you're Thor, try a series of light taps. It has been my experience that when Hulking out doesn't seem to work on the first try, a lot of light strikes can often get something to budge little by little.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[ShtrRdy]

With the bolt carrier as far back as it will go try tapping against the Bolt Cam Pin to see if you can coax the bolt to rotate open.

I thought about this suggestion some more and it won't work. Please disregard.

 

[Cascade Hemi]

Brass drift against the bottom rear of the carrier, tap (hard?) with a dead blow rearward.

 

[jda2631]

I got it!! Since it was the bolt that was stuck from unlocking from the barrel. I took the barrel nut off again, got the pin on the barrel clear of the barrel extension, Got a wrench on the flats on my muzzle brake (yay for rocksett in this instance) and was able to twist the barrel with a wrench to get the bolt lugs clear of the barrel and the barrel came right off and complete bcg came out the back of the upper. A few bits fell to the floor, the floor where my bench is has tons of shavings and spent primers and crap on the ground so I didn't see exactly what the culprit was but the spent case that was in the barrel was lacking a primer so it or pieces of it was the culprit. Thank you all for the help!

I looked at the barrel and the bolt, I can't see any defect or scratch or anything on them. They appear to be in perfect condition, is there anything I should do to make sure they are ok though?

 

[BadQ]

prying the carrier rotates the bolt, then tap the bolt to release.

My ar10 did it when I blew a primer out and it got wedged.

 

[Huskydriver]

Were you shooting reloads?

 

[BadQ]

Were you shooting reloads?

They were reloads from my bolt gun. The gas gun didn't like them.

 

[Huskydriver]

My money is you didn't seat a primer all the way

 

[BadQ]

My money is you didn't seat a primer all the way

and you would lose that money

that thing was way over gassed (I've since removed that barrel)
My bolt gun liked them hot.
Same loads worked fine with zero issues in the bolt.
I blew a couple of primers on the trip to the range and never had the issue before.
I've been loading for over 30 years, and while mistakes happen, I touch every primer after seating.

btw, most common reaction to a not fully seated primer is failure to fire. The power of the firing pin is absorbed in the primers shift forward. Or at least that's my personal experience. Your mileage may vary.

 

[LawnMM]

Make sure you didn't loose the pin that retains your firing pin, that will cause problems as well

 

[Huskydriver]

and you would lose that money

that thing was way over gassed (I've since removed that barrel)
My bolt gun liked them hot.
Same loads worked fine with zero issues in the bolt.
I blew a couple of primers on the trip to the range and never had the issue before.
I've been loading for over 30 years, and while mistakes happen, I touch every primer after seating.

btw, most common reaction to a not fully seated primer is failure to fire. The power of the firing pin is absorbed in the primers shift forward. Or at least that's my personal experience. Your mileage may vary.

First... My posts were intended for the op and just realized your not the op....

Second...

I agree in a bolt gun it would normally be a failure to fire.... Been my experience that in a free floating firing pin system like an ar that has a strong hammer fall, the unsupported primer still can ignite then gets destroyed and then you can have similar issues to the op... Nobody is questioning your reloading hero calm down and make sure you take your blood medication tonight. I was just offering an thought not a fact in your or the OP's case

 

[BadQ]

glad you are worried about my health, but it will take a lot more than this to even register.

I disagreed with your thought, but as I said, your mileage may vary

 

[eastexsteve]

I looked at the barrel and the bolt, I can't see any defect or scratch or anything on them. They appear to be in perfect condition, is there anything I should do to make sure they are ok though?

My wife has an AR-10 build with a for sure .308win chamber. It does not like 7.62x51 ammo. Not long ago, I pulled my HK91/G3 out of the closet and loaded a few 7.62x51 NATO rounds, as that is what it's chambered for. As we were shooting on our range at home, the wife decided to fire a few rounds through the HK91. I was distracted at the time, so I didn't notice she loaded a few .308win rounds in the HK91 mag, sat down at the bench, and fired a round. I looked up because it just didn't sound right when it went off. She tried to pull the trigger on the next round, and the trigger wouldn't move. After a field disassembly of the HK91, the fired .308win round had blown out the primer, and the primer fell into the trigger mechanism and jammed it.

The point I'm getting at is that we have two .308win guns and one 7.62 NATO gun, and the ammo IS NOT interchangeable between them. I'm wondering if maybe you picked up a round/case that wasn't dimensionally acceptable to your gun?

Just one more tidbit. Here's one way to spend the day removing a stuck case from an AR-10 build. Fire a round, then unload the gun. Then, go pick up the fired case, drop it in the chamber, and then slam the bolt carrier down on it like it was a hot round. I've seem this done twice, and both times the bolt closed just enough to lock up the extractor, but not fully chamber the empty round. I haven't been brave enough to try this on any of our guns after seeing the disassembly aftermath this caused in two other guns.

 

[Patriot Cerakote]

It's Aero Precision 308 receiver set, aero precision bolt and BCG, and BA barrel. I was shooting at the range the other day and the bolt didn't come out of battery. At the range I mortared it a few times and it wasn't budging.

When I got home, I took it apart as much as I could. Have the upper receiver off, hand guard and gas block/tub off, barrel nut off. The lugs of the bolt are halfway behind the lugs of the barrel, I can't get them to clear. I assume maybe the primer or some primer material has come out of the fired round and gotten stuck in there and isn't letting the bolt rotate anymore to clear and come out of battery. I have gotten a cleaning rod and put it down the barrel and hit it, trying to get it to get out with no luck. Any other ideas of what to try next to try and get the bolt out of battery? (the barrel nut is off, and I was pulling the barrel to try and get it come lose is why the feed ramps are off to the side)

That barrel isn’t installed properly. There is something wrong with the barrel extension and index pin. The receiver and barrel extensions aren’t lined up.

 

[Patriot Cerakote]

 

[Snuby642]

Makes me wonder, does anyone sell a primer crimper for a single stage? Lol