Folks,
Recently we've had a number of guys wanting us to rework prefits for Coups due to the extractor dragging on the bolt face. In May alone it was 5 barrels, 3 of which came from the same member. Those 3 barrels were on the date bubble where it's possible they might have been cut prior to the program update. Exactly 0 of them really had a problem, but all 5 were tested incorrectly and showed false positives.
Fortunately, shooters are looking out for other shooters and telling them that it's something to check.
Unfortunately, the way that people are being told to check them is erroneous and leading to a bunch of false positive alerts.
Anyone who got a barrel from PVA after the first 20 in March 2023 or so that we made doesn't have this issue and it's a false positive. If the serial number on your barrel starts with "2309xxx" or higher you don't have an issue, I'm sure of it.
Without following the instructions below you can make a barrel look like it has a problem 100 out of 100 times.
Below is the proper method for testing to see if the extractor is dragging.
Background:
The geometry of the ARC Coup chamber cone was updated early on in the production actions due to an extractor geometry change and that was causing actions to drag the extractor across the bolt face when the bolt was being closed. It leaves a characteristic mark as seen in the photo attached.
Discussion:
The photo attached is a false positive. Yes, it left a mark on the chamber cone, but it's not repeatable with a cartridge in the chamber or with a trigger installed. In fact, now that we have data on this and have realized that many folks testing them aren't aware of the proper test procedure, it's very likely that none of the PVA prefits we have ever shipped truly needed to be modified because we had appropriate clearance to start, however out of a modicum of caution for customers we made a change and ensured 0.010" of clearance on the extractor nose to breechface.
Note that the second picture shows a damaged tenon. The barrel in the photos showed up for the call "My Coup barrel is wrong, send me a call tag". The customer sends it in and packs it poorly, which the package handling hyenas can smell from a mile away, and the barrel gets damaged on the way here. Insurance right? Nope, not a chance... "improper packaging". Unfortunately, now the barrel does need fixing, but not for the reason originally thought.
Barrels must be tested under one of two conditions: With a GO gauge in the chamber OR with a trigger installed and set to SAFE. These two conditions are critical because otherwise the clearance in the actions will allow the bolt nose to come forward approximately 1/32" and it will ALWAYS touch the breech face. This is not unique to the Coup. It will do it on a TL3, Origin, Defiance, Impact, Lone Peak, etc. If you take off a barrel from a TL3 that's been on there for a few hundred dry fires you can see a shadow of the bolt face on the breech face. It doesn't mean anything is wrong, that's just how these machines work.
Proper Test Procedure:
1) Sharpie the chamber cone and Install barrel
2) Put in a dummy or GO gauge
3) Close the bolt several times on a chamber that "loaded"
4) Remove barrel and look for the mark that is shown in the first photo.
Alternate if you don't own a GO or can't make a dummy round for some reason:
1) Same as above
2) Install trigger and put the trigger on SAFE
3) Same as above
4) Same as above
Important Detail: If you test on an empty chamber you will be able to create a swipe mark every single time you attempt it on a Coup. It's a false positive.
@padom @Rob01 would one of you guys mind putting this as a sticky for a while so the information doesn't just drop to the bottom of the list and get forgotten, please?
Recently we've had a number of guys wanting us to rework prefits for Coups due to the extractor dragging on the bolt face. In May alone it was 5 barrels, 3 of which came from the same member. Those 3 barrels were on the date bubble where it's possible they might have been cut prior to the program update. Exactly 0 of them really had a problem, but all 5 were tested incorrectly and showed false positives.
Fortunately, shooters are looking out for other shooters and telling them that it's something to check.
Unfortunately, the way that people are being told to check them is erroneous and leading to a bunch of false positive alerts.
Anyone who got a barrel from PVA after the first 20 in March 2023 or so that we made doesn't have this issue and it's a false positive. If the serial number on your barrel starts with "2309xxx" or higher you don't have an issue, I'm sure of it.
Without following the instructions below you can make a barrel look like it has a problem 100 out of 100 times.
Below is the proper method for testing to see if the extractor is dragging.
Background:
The geometry of the ARC Coup chamber cone was updated early on in the production actions due to an extractor geometry change and that was causing actions to drag the extractor across the bolt face when the bolt was being closed. It leaves a characteristic mark as seen in the photo attached.
Discussion:
The photo attached is a false positive. Yes, it left a mark on the chamber cone, but it's not repeatable with a cartridge in the chamber or with a trigger installed. In fact, now that we have data on this and have realized that many folks testing them aren't aware of the proper test procedure, it's very likely that none of the PVA prefits we have ever shipped truly needed to be modified because we had appropriate clearance to start, however out of a modicum of caution for customers we made a change and ensured 0.010" of clearance on the extractor nose to breechface.
Note that the second picture shows a damaged tenon. The barrel in the photos showed up for the call "My Coup barrel is wrong, send me a call tag". The customer sends it in and packs it poorly, which the package handling hyenas can smell from a mile away, and the barrel gets damaged on the way here. Insurance right? Nope, not a chance... "improper packaging". Unfortunately, now the barrel does need fixing, but not for the reason originally thought.
Barrels must be tested under one of two conditions: With a GO gauge in the chamber OR with a trigger installed and set to SAFE. These two conditions are critical because otherwise the clearance in the actions will allow the bolt nose to come forward approximately 1/32" and it will ALWAYS touch the breech face. This is not unique to the Coup. It will do it on a TL3, Origin, Defiance, Impact, Lone Peak, etc. If you take off a barrel from a TL3 that's been on there for a few hundred dry fires you can see a shadow of the bolt face on the breech face. It doesn't mean anything is wrong, that's just how these machines work.
Proper Test Procedure:
1) Sharpie the chamber cone and Install barrel
2) Put in a dummy or GO gauge
3) Close the bolt several times on a chamber that "loaded"
4) Remove barrel and look for the mark that is shown in the first photo.
Alternate if you don't own a GO or can't make a dummy round for some reason:
1) Same as above
2) Install trigger and put the trigger on SAFE
3) Same as above
4) Same as above
Important Detail: If you test on an empty chamber you will be able to create a swipe mark every single time you attempt it on a Coup. It's a false positive.
@padom @Rob01 would one of you guys mind putting this as a sticky for a while so the information doesn't just drop to the bottom of the list and get forgotten, please?
