Bolt Catch Feel Tough

[DrBleachCocktail]

So I’m away building my AR pistol and it’s fully complete but the bolt catch feels very tough. If I want to send the bolt home I would have to really put effort into it to send the bolt forward. Do I have to start over with this or? I feel the spring tension but just a little bit, on my other build which is also fairly new I feel the spring tension a lot more and sending the bolt home is easy. Any advice?

 

[Elwood]

Did you possibly put the plunger in upside down ? The dome shaped end should be facing up, cradled by the bolt catch. If you put it in upside down you may need to drive the roll pin out and re-do it.
Or possibly the wrong spring ?

 

[Mosinitis]

It's not normal. Take it apart and see if you can find a problem.

 

[DrBleachCocktail]

So I took it apart and reassemble it. It seems like the spring is either weak or the stripped lower where the spring belong fit tight enough so the spring doesn’t have great tension. I did this numerous times and it’s the same results. The spring or stripped lower is no good.

 

[Jem45472]

While it's disassembled, does the bolt catch move freely in the lower, or does it seem to hang a bit? If it moves in it's slot ok, is it possible the roll pin is bent?

 

[DrBleachCocktail]

Did you possibly put the plunger in upside down ? The dome shaped end should be facing up, cradled by the bolt catch. If you put it in upside down you may need to drive the roll pin out and re-do it.
Or possibly the wrong spring ?

Wrong spring I highly doubt but is possible. The hole for the spring is the perfect size so the tension isn’t so great.

 

[DrBleachCocktail]

While it's disassembled, does the bolt catch move freely in the lower, or does it seem to hang a bit? If it moves in it's slot ok, is it possible the roll pin is bent?

I didn’t like the way the bolt catch felt so I disassemble it and when I took the bolt release off the spring and nipple thing still was inside the hole. The spring tension didn’t fly out it just remained in the hole. The hole seem a bit tight for the spring.

 

[Saltwater60]

I didn’t like the way the bolt catch felt so I disassemble it and when I took the bolt release off the spring and nipple thing still was inside the hole. The spring tension didn’t fly out it just remained in the hole. The hole seem a bit tight for the spring.

YeH that’s not normal. Seems the lower is bad if the spring and detent are both hanging in the hole.

 

[BDinPutnam]

What lower is this?

Sounds out of spec maybe.

PS how long is the spring?

 

[DrBleachCocktail]

@BDinPutnam This was what I was talking about. It seems a bit loose.
View attachment trim.EC4E7BEF-DD68-4A43-80EB-2EDBE1B2ADAE.MOV

 

[DrBleachCocktail]

For the rest of the guys who want to see what I’m talking about.
View attachment trim.E0F7D21F-67D8-4408-84BE-07C45255F246.MOV

 

[BDinPutnam]

@BDinPutnam This was what I was talking about. It seems a bit loose.
View attachment 87687

Yup, that ain't right.

 

[DrBleachCocktail]

Yup, that ain't right.

I’m going to have to fix it.

 

[Saltwater60]

QUOTE="DrBleachCocktail, post: 799406, member: 4728"]
I’m going to have to fix it.
[/QUOTE]
Get some parts and just swap the springs and detects if you can find them. That safety seems way wrong. It should have a positive click and reset at each position. I wonder if the swapped the springs for bolt catch and safety. However they look completely different so I find that hard to believe. Let us know what you find. Good luck.

 

[Jem45472]

Maybe he got a bad parts kit.

 

[BDinPutnam]

Maybe he got a bad parts kit.

I'm wondering about the length of the springs particularly on the bolt catch.

Though the safety thing I've experienced - where I didn't get everything lined up before screwing down the grip screw.

 

[DrBleachCocktail]

So just to give you guys a quick update, the girlfriend and I took it to the range and ran some 22lr with the kit that I have and it ran flawlessly. The binary trigger ran pretty well, caught me by surprise. When the 22lr conversion bolt is on the upper, the bolt catch seems good but once I put the m16 bolt back it’ll begin to act weird.

 

[camper4lyfe]

So just to give you guys a quick update, the girlfriend and I took it to the range and ran some 22lr with the kit that I have and it ran flawlessly. The binary trigger ran pretty well, caught me by surprise. When the 22lr conversion bolt is on the upper, the bolt catch seems good but once I put the m16 bolt back it’ll begin to act weird.

VERY different springs between the 22lr conversion and a full-sized buffer spring. The springs are pushing the bolt against the release, and the difference in spring force is why the 22lr is better.

 

[Saltwater60]

VERY different springs between the 22lr conversion and a full-sized buffer spring. The springs are pushing the bolt against the release, and the difference in spring force is why the 22lr is better.

Makes sense.

 

[Robin]

Spring is upside down.
Robin