AR Extractor Issue

[allguns]

Having a problem with my AR extracting the cartridge. It is a factory built DPMS, nothing fancy and not modified. It tries to load the next round before it extracts the fired cartridge. Tried a different bolt out of an identical gun and it worked perfectly. I called DPMS and the guy was zero help. Should I go with something like a BCM heavy spring kit or just the standard DPMS, and should I go with a dpms extractor or is there an aftermarket that will work better? I'm thinking I'll just replace both the extractor and the extractor spring and it should be back running correctly.

Any help/recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[ASH556]

Slow down just a minute. A couple different things could be going on here. Please clarify:

Is the round failing to extract (empty brass left in chamber) or failing to eject (empty brass left in bolt or receiver)? These are different symptoms and have different solutions. Did you change just the bolt or the entire bolt carrier group when you tried the different one "out of an identical gun?"

If it is leaving empty brass in the chamber, and a new bolt fixed it, then it probably is as simple as a bad extractor and/or spring. The parts are cheap enough to replace and try out. Bullseye in Lawrenceville has all these parts in their spares inventory.

If you're experiencing failure to eject, then we need to do some more diagnosing.

 

[allguns]

Failure to extract, brass left in chamber. And sorry, the bolt carrier group.

Yes, it is leaving the brass in the chamber. I just did not know if there was a better spring and extractor I could use. Any recommendation on which spring, and extractor to get? One shop recommended a heavier spring.

 

[ASH556]

Failure to extract, brass left in chamber. And sorry, the bolt carrier group.

Yes, it is leaving the brass in the chamber. I just did not know if there was a better spring and extractor I could use. Any recommendation on which spring, and extractor to get? One shop recommended a heavier spring.

It could be either a bad spring or a bad extractor. A heavier spring on a bad extractor won't fix anything. Like I said, the parts are cheap enough that I would just replace the extractor, spring, and insert. On a carbine (ie, not a 20" rifle) your extractor has to work a little harder. Part of this comes from the insert (blue on rifle vs black on carbine) Beyond that, certain guns (suppressed SBR's) require the additional tension of an o-ring to work reliably. If you want to tinker with it, you could try adding an o-ring to your setup, or buy the upgrade kit from BCM with the spring, insert, and o-ring for $4.95. If it were me, I would just replace the extractor while I was at it and know that I was working with good parts.

 

[allguns]

Okay perfect. I'll give the BCM kit and a new extractor a try. Thank you for all the help.

 

[mtdawg169]

Having a problem with my AR extracting the cartridge. It is a factory built DPMS, nothing fancy and not modified. It tries to load the next round before it extracts the fired cartridge. Tried a different bolt out of an identical gun and it worked perfectly. I called DPMS and the guy was zero help. Should I go with something like a BCM heavy spring kit or just the standard DPMS, and should I go with a dpms extractor or is there an aftermarket that will work better? I'm thinking I'll just replace both the extractor and the extractor spring and it should be back running correctly.

Any help/recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

What ammo are you using?
Have you cleaned the chamber area?

Like ASH suggested, start with a reliability upgrade and replace the extractor, spring & insert. If the problem persists, you'll need an armorer with the proper guage to check to see if the chamber is in spec.

 

[allguns]

Yes, cleaned the chamber a few times. I shoot Federal FMJ and Federal Powerpoint Medium game loads.

 

[mtdawg169]

Yes, cleaned the chamber a few times. I shoot Federal FMJ and Federal Powerpoint Medium game loads.

Perfect. Just wanted to be sure it wasn't a steel case ammo / dirty chamber issue.

 

[allguns]

No, I always shoot brass. Luckily a few people have warned me of that otherwise I could be need more than a $15 extractor. Dad has some steel that we can't hardly give away. Thanks for the help guys. Got the new BCM kit and waiting on the extractor. I'll post how it does.

 

[Ed1981]

Had this same problem, took the extractor and spring apart and cleaned them. I found a lot of metal shavings compacted in the spring from the factory! Now it works perfect!