Feeding problems with AI Arctic Warfare

[Known]

Hello,

I have a new AI Arctic Warfare (left hand) that is jamming quite a bit. Every 20 rounds or so, the tip of the cartridge jams against the intersection of the barrel and receiver as shown in the attached photos. Cartridges are Lapua brass, Sierra 175 SMK, COAL 2.820. I played with the cartridge overall length and the shorter ones jam even worse.

Any idea what's going on? Is this to be expected with the AI rifles?

Thanks....

 

[Timo Turl]

AI magazine ? Is it random where the jam comes in the stack or is it always last round ?

 

[Known]

AI magazine ? Is it random where the jam comes in the stack or is it always last round ?

It's the AI factory mag that came with the rifle. Jam occurs throughout the stack.

 

[API Norway]

If You can get another mag,try that. Mabye somting wrong With lips on Yours ??? We have several AW`s. No problemo on any kind of ammo !
Hope You can sort it out. cheers

 

[BlueVFRank]

I had a 5 rounder that also jammed sporadicaly. Bought a 10 rounder and never had a problem with it. Probably a feedlip problem, try a different mag as said above. If it works take out the calipers and see if you can measure the difference between the two mags.

 

[Lowlight]

AW only have 10 round double stack magazines, there is no five rounder.

There where a few actions over the years that needed work, GAP can tell you if you don't want to contact AINA. GAP did a lot to fix those old ones, though I never heard of a left hand action doing it.

Try a different mag, and you can also back the bolt off a 1/4" the round will more than likely pop to correct t it's self. The pictures are too blurry to say but appear more mag related it looks like it is pushing the round high.

 

[Known]

AW only have 10 round double stack magazines, there is no five rounder.

There where a few actions over the years that needed work, GAP can tell you if you don't want to contact AINA. GAP did a lot to fix those old ones, though I never heard of a left hand action doing it.

Try a different mag, and you can also back the bolt off a 1/4" the round will more than likely pop to correct t it's self. The pictures are too blurry to say but appear more mag related it looks like it is pushing the round high.

Thanks for the input.

Yes I can back off the bolt a bit and it will feed, but I'm not too happy I have to do this on such a high end rifle. This is a brand new rifle so I expect AI would have worked out the bugs. This is the only mag I have as Mille High is waiting for more to come in.

I'm going to send it back to Mile High and let them work with AINA to sort this out.

I have an old 03 springfield and the mouth of the barrel is like a big funnel right to the edge of the receiver. Needless to say it doesn't jam. Surprised that the AI design has such a prominent ledge to allow the cartridge to get caught up on it.

Here are some additional clearer pictures:

 

[XOR]

The only time I've had a jam like that was from a sticking follower in the AI magazine due to sand that had gotten into it. I would look at the magazine closely. Even pull the follower and make sure it is riding smooth and the lips are not bent. I would also pull a bore snake through the chamber to make sure nothing had gotten onto it.

 

[Lowlight]

If you only have one mag, then you can;t blame the rifle yet...

Try another mag... as I said I have never heard of a left hand action having an issue, but that doesn't mean something is off.

Magazines are the weak link in any system,

 

[Known]

There where a few actions over the years that needed work, GAP can tell you if you don't want to contact AINA. GAP did a lot to fix those old ones, though I never heard of a left hand action doing it.

What were the issues with the actions that had to get fixed?

I've also attached a picture of my magazine with dummy rounds inserted. Does anything look wrong?

 

[StrayDog]

Even if you're having trouble, it's good just to see Lefty AIAWs out there among the other southpaw unicorns.
No doubts MileHigh will get you sorted out regardless.

 

[RADcustom]

Have you tried putting pressure on the bottom of the magazine while working the bolt. Perhaps the mag catch is a little short?

 

[bonneville]

Please can you show more pic's of the mag. from all sides & bottom
thanks.

 

[Known]

Please can you show more pic's of the mag. from all sides & bottom
thanks.

Sure thing....

 

[tomirwin]

Sacshooter,
You can get all the advise you would ever want here but you need to talk to AINA in Fredericksburg, telephone 540-368-3108 and ask for Scott or Patrick. If necessary you will have to send it to us and we will fix it. This should be treated as a potential warranty issue and all warranty and service activities are carried out by AINA and not our distributors.
Tom Irwin
Accuracy International

 

[Known]

Sacshooter,
You can get all the advise you would ever want here but you need to talk to AINA in Fredericksburg, telephone 540-368-3108 and ask for Scott or Patrick. If necessary you will have to send it to us and we will fix it. This should be treated as a potential warranty issue and all warranty and service activities are carried out by AINA and not our distributors.
Tom Irwin
Accuracy International

Thanks Tom - I'll give them a call on Monday.

 

[Arbiter]

Looks to me like a mag feed lip issue...

 

[Known]

Looks to me like a mag feed lip issue...

Did you spot something in the pictures that doesn't look right with the magazine? Lips too close together, too far out, etc?

 

[Known]

I made up 10 fresh dummy rounds from brand new never fired lapua brass and 175 SMK seated to 2.80. I got a really clear picture of the jam. It catches right at the outside edge of the barrel radius. If I pull the bolt back as suggested by Lowlight the cartridge just stays in place - it's wedged in. I'll see what AINA has to say tomorrow.

As a side note, the magazine allows you to seat 155 Lapua Scenars out to 2.90 where they begin to touch the lands. This will alleviate the compressed charge issues I've experienced when limited to 2.820 COAL or less. One thing at least to make me happy.

 

[Known]

Sacshooter,
You can get all the advise you would ever want here but you need to talk to AINA in Fredericksburg, telephone 540-368-3108 and ask for Scott or Patrick. If necessary you will have to send it to us and we will fix it. This should be treated as a potential warranty issue and all warranty and service activities are carried out by AINA and not our distributors.
Tom Irwin
Accuracy International

Spoke with Patrick and they are sending me a new magazine to try out. I'll keep everybody posted.

 

[Known]

Hi,

I have yet to receive the magazine from AI, but I have put about 150 rounds through the rifle without a failure to feed. Could be the rifle needed to be broken in a bit?

Regards,

Ed

 

[XOR]

Hi,

I have yet to receive the magazine from AI, but I have put about 150 rounds through the rifle without a failure to feed. Could be the rifle needed to be broken in a bit?

Regards,

Ed

Maybe the magazine was having an issue and now it is loosened up? Again the only time I ever had a jam like that on my AI was from a sticking magazine follower due to a lot of fine sand entering it. The follower was tilting and allowing the round to tip up too far when the bolt was stripping them off. The nose of the round would jam into the upper part of the receiver before the chamber causing a feed failure. Only cleaning the magazine was able to resolve it.

 

[Bruiser_Joe]

i think it has to have been the magazine and the spring/follower loosening up. i've NEVER had a issue with my AW.

 

[Known]

Maybe the magazine was having an issue and now it is loosened up? Again the only time I ever had a jam like that on my AI was from a sticking magazine follower due to a lot of fine sand entering it. The follower was tilting and allowing the round to tip up too far when the bolt was stripping them off. The nose of the round would jam into the upper part of the receiver before the chamber causing a feed failure. Only cleaning the magazine was able to resolve it.

Along the lines of engineering with various failure states in mind, would it be possible to create more of a funneled mouth on the barrel (a la Springfield or Mosin Nagant) so a less than perfectly oriented round will not get snagged? It would have to be done in such a way that does not compromise case support or require rework of the receiver. When ordering a new barrel, one could request an "enhanced feed ramp" or something like that.

I'm still curious about the GA Precision fix that Lowlight mentioned. I sent a PM to Tom Irwin last week and am awaiting a response.

Anyway, my rifle shoots well per my other postings.

 

[XOR]

Along the lines of engineering with various failure states in mind, would it be possible to create more of a funneled mouth on the barrel (a la Springfield or Mosin Nagant) so a less than perfectly oriented round will not get snagged? It would have to be done in such a way that does not compromise case support or require rework of the receiver. When ordering a new barrel, one could request an "enhanced feed ramp" or something like that.

What I saw is the round was stripped off at such an angle that the bolt face was hitting the case wall. I don't think a feed ramp 2x the size would have solved it. The magazine follower was just too far tilted and sticking. I swapped magazines and cleaned it to fix it.

 

[bward]

Along the lines of engineering with various failure states in mind, would it be possible to create more of a funneled mouth on the barrel (a la Springfield or Mosin Nagant) so a less than perfectly oriented round will not get snagged? It would have to be done in such a way that does not compromise case support or require rework of the receiver. When ordering a new barrel, one could request an "enhanced feed ramp" or something like that.

I'm still curious about the GA Precision fix that Lowlight mentioned. I sent a PM to Tom Irwin last week and am awaiting a response.

Anyway, my rifle shoots well per my other postings.

I don't see how you could without leaving a large part of the case unsupported. It sounds like you are referring to a chamber cut with a bolt nose recess for a coned bolt. AI's have a flat bolt nose, so the back of the tenon also will be flat in order to support the case.

 

[Known]

To close the loop on this, I've shot close to 400 rounds without a failure to feed.