Shrike NOT feeding from the Links....

[I^2 Technologies - Peter]

I have a shrike upper that feeds fine from the magazine, any magazine.

Links.... not so much. It fails to fully strip the round from the link and feed it into the chamber. The Spring is the stronger spring provided with the upper. I also have the spacer installed to. The links are clean (they are not the tighter Canadian lins with the holes. They came from linked Lake City M855 that I have run through my MK-46 with no problems, and I even tumbled the links to clean them. Also this Shrike has a steel feed tray that is BRAND new.

I have read about the round over bolt problem. This is not that! The top bolt lug is picking up the case rim nicely, then it partially strips the round from the back band of the link but the rim does not get to the forward band. I read on (barf.com) several other Shrike owners had the same problem and the Ares Defense answer was "send it in." People had sent them in with Ares saying it was a two to three week turn around. As the thread continued WEEKS went by with no answer to what the problem was and the weekly updates everyone posted was "the nice lady on the phone said she would check and get back to me." Then the thread ended at what I surmised was the end of Ares Defense being a site sponsor and there with no resolution or answer to what the problem was.

Sooooooooo... Does anyone here have any insights? Any Shrike owners experience this problem and discover a solution? My thoughts are, what is going on is an under powered spring not being able to overcome the "clamping force" of both rings of the link.

 

[MrMarty51]

Would there be a safe method to add a spacer/shim behind the spring ??? Might not take much to over come the clamping force of the link with the tougher spring already installed.

 

[I^2 Technologies - Peter]

I am thinking about trying a couple of the "enhanced springs" like the TUBBS flat wire springs or the Tactical Springs red or blue springs.

I will update this as I progress. I really want the damn Shrike to Work! I LOVE the MK-46 but it is twice the weight.

 

[armedpete]

Had a similar problem with Ares. It ran 100% from the mag in both semi and full auto. Belt would not run reliably at all. Changed ammo and that fixed it. It runs on federal 5.56 without any problems. Also, is your gas selector adjusted properly? double check that.

 

[Captain Moroni]

Peter, I think the problem is that you have to much cool stuff all in one place. You keep the MK-46 and send the Shrike over to me and that should solve all your problems.

 

[I^2 Technologies - Peter]

Had a similar problem with Ares. It ran 100% from the mag in both semi and full auto. Belt would not run reliably at all. Changed ammo and that fixed it. It runs on federal 5.56 without any problems. Also, is your gas selector adjusted properly? double check that.

I have adjusted the gas systems every which way but loose! no help there. OK so Federal 5.56 is what works huh, XM193? I am going to try that. I did aquire all the other springs, two from Tactical Springs, the RED, the BLUE, the Tubbs flat wire. All of them are weaker than the supplied spring and feeding is greatly impacted. My next desire is to polish the upper feed ramp...

 

[MrMarty51]

I`m interested and listening.
I do`nt have one of these rifles but My curiosity is wanting to know.

 

[John-K]

We had trouble with ours. We did the 100 round break-in in semi, through mags. Then tried some belted South African 193, it wouldn't strip them from the links. We switched to Federal 855, and it ran like a sewing machine.

 

[I^2 Technologies - Peter]

NO Kidding? Ok I will give it a try. This thing has had about 1000 rounds through it at this point from various belt attempts and mags so it "should be broken in" at this point.

 

[John-K]

Ares is currently (11-8-2013) selling 800rnd battle cans of M855 on M27 links. I'd give that a shot, if it won't feed them, then send it back to Ares.

 

[Restomod]

Has anyone tried their new enhanced feed tray upgrade?

ARES info notes-

“Enhanced Kit includes our newest feed tray and is the best to date! This new tray is billet machined from steel and features integral belt-holding pawls to aid in belt loading without starter tabs and is an absolute must for professional shooters in high speed scenarios! It also features an improved feed geometry that insulates the receiver area above the barrel extension to prevent stubbed rounds and accommodates a wider range of ammunition than the standard feed tray.”

 

[catswithguns]

There is a guy on Sturm that has links that are stretched for the Shrike. Maybe there is something to this.


WTS M27 Links stretched for Shrike $30/100

 

[hfoster]

Peter, I also have experienced the exact same problem, checked, rechecked, googled, regoogled everything I can think of. Loosened some of the links and disregarded any linkes that felt tight, still didn't help. I haven't tried a new version of the feed tray. I did however, dump a 50 round linked ammo without a hitch, it was steel case ammo, that I had linked up about a year ago and didn't recall the brand, it had to be either Bear or Tula, it surprised me when it dumped the entire belt. The most it will fire through the linked ammo is 2 or 3 maybe, that one 50 round linked burst was the only time its ever appeared to function correctly with linked ammo.

Since that one belt worked, I'm going to start trying different flavors of ammo, maybe I'll get lucky.

It always appears to hang up on the second ring of the link, but it could be a feeding issue.

 

[leadbullet]

a light coat of spary on gun lube on the inside of the link helps separating the brass case from tighter links.
we had to do that with an old MG42 and less powerfull ammo.
hope this helps.