Help with my new bushmaster M4 jamming

[tdidona]

Guys, was hoping you could suggest some things for me to check regarding my AR-15 jamming. I have a brand new Bushmaster M4A3, and shot it for the first time on Saturday. I was running the Wolf Military Classic 55gr FMJ through it, and it was jamming quit a bit. It would fire 2 rounds, then jam. Everytime it jammed, I had to pull the charging handle, ram the forward assist, and it would fire another 2 and do the same thing. When I went rapid fire very quickly, it would cycle with no problems through a full 30 rd magazine. I fully cleaned and lubed the gun before firing for the first time per the Bushmaster manual. The range officer said the Wolf was cheap, but I have seen numerous reports of this stuff working fine in the AR. I'm a noob to the AR-15, I was hoping you guys could recommend something for me to check or do. Thanks in advance.

[zac07]

I would first try different ammo, (Im not a wolf hater lol and I use it) some guns just dont like it.

[mvician]

Was this "military classic" Wolf the lacquered or the polymer coated stuff...I have seen both.....?

I've shot both types of Wolf and haven't had any trouble. But then my Bushy was broken in by the time I tried the lacquered stuff.

What are you using for lube ? How much ?

[bkelm18]

What do you mean by jamming? Was it failing to feed or failing to eject? I have a Bushy M4A1 and it's failed to feed a few times with Remington UMC ammo. It's worked fine with the 500 or so rounds of Wolf I've fed it.

[tdidona]

mvician, I was using the new polymer coated Wolf military classic. For lube I used Hoppes lube, and put it on generously like the manual said but it wasn't dripping or anything, just a healthy dose to all of the internals.

bkelm18, it was failing to feed a new round, I had no ejection issues once the round was fired.

[EricCartmann]

1) Check Mag -
My Last Bushmaster also came with a bad mag. I would try different mags.

2) Wolf may be under powered for a new gun -
Under powered ammo can be tough on a new gun. I even heard some of the older Wolf stuff was really under powered. I would try something in brass and is hotter, such as American Eagle, UMC, M855, M193, etc.... when breaking in a new gun. Then once it is broken in, then go back to Wolf.

3) Break in time -
Sometimes it will take a new gun upwards of 300 rounds for a break in period before they work properly. I am sure it will run like butter once it is broken in. My PTR was one of these guns that needed a break in period. Took it about 200 rounds before it ran like butter. All my other guns did not need a break in and worked right of the box. One of my Bushmasters has seen about 3,000 rounds of Wolf of various types (laqured, poly, MC, black box, 55 gr, 62 gr, etc) and has no issues whatsover with it.

[mvician]

+1 on Cartman's advice, I use CLP and on a new rifle I lube it (bolt carrier) so it is dripping wet for the first several hundred rounds. Make sure you have safety glasses on it will splatter all over you.

[03RangerXLT]

sounds like a bad mag.

[Smoke_Works]

I wouldn't do anything other than strip it down clean it well and apply only a single drop of CLP on the patch you coat the bolt carrier group with. Bushmasters are very fine weapons, I doubt the issue is anything other than a bad mag or spring in the mag. Although I can't seem to break from USMC cleaning style of my Bushie, you can't find spec one of carbon or any dirt in mine, I'm a freak like that though, I only clean mine as I did in boot camp and the field, with minimal oil anywhere.

Don't RAM the forward assist, tap it, it simply seats the bolt and is not necessarily needed every time, just precautionary.

[EricCartmann]

Originally Posted by Smoke_Works

I wouldn't do anything other than strip it down clean it well and apply only a single drop of CLP on the patch you coat the bolt carrier group with. Bushmasters are very fine weapons, I doubt the issue is anything other than a bad mag or spring in the mag. Although I can't seem to break from USMC cleaning style of my Bushie, you can't find spec one of carbon or any dirt in mine, I'm a freak like that though, I only clean mine as I did in boot camp and the field, with minimal oil anywhere.

Don't RAM the forward assist, tap it, it simply seats the bolt and is not necessarily needed every time, just precautionary.

Military cleans their weapons way too much. Somtimes one of my guns will have 500 round count before the last clean, and will sit in the safe for 6 months, I will take it out and it shoots just fine.

I think too much cleaning is bad too. One thing I would recommend is a one piece barrel rod. The ones where you have to put together has rough edges at the joining points that could screw up a barrel. Aslo when cleaning the barrel you want to go with the rifling, so therefore you push the cleaning rod from the receiver side. If you push from the other side (the Flash Hider side), it will take my pressure to exert and it is possible to bend the rod and for it to scratch the barrel.