Problem With Jamming!

I spent Saturday at the range with my youngest son Jake, for that story click here. What I want to discuss today is what happened while shooting my AR for the first time this weekend. Being that I had never shot this firearm before I wanted to take it slow and easy to make sure that I was thinking about everything I was doing before going off willy nilly and throwing lead down range.

After pre-reading the manual before I went to the range just so I would understand everything, I settled down on the shooting bench to get ready for my first round of shooting. I only loaded up three rounds of ammo in the magazine and then inserted the mag into the AR. I shot probably three or four rounds this way, then after loading up the mag again I shot the first round off and the firearm jammed! The spent case was drawn out about half way and the second cartridge was being pushed towards the chamber opening as you can see by the photo.

The AR Jammed!

I pulled the magazine out which luckily pulled the second round free. I grabbed the charging handle on the bolt while removing the magazine from the firearm and mistakenly I let it move forward to the closed position on the spent case. I couldn’t pull the bolt back again, so I made sure the firearm was pointed in a safe direction and dry fired it against the spent case. I was still unable to pull the bolt back to remove the spent case. I had to break down the firearm to remove the case from the chamber.

The firearm jammed two more times on me, but I managed to hold the bolt back to remove the spent case. I then began to play over in my head how I was loading this firearm. I was inserting the cartridges onto the top of the magazine just before the hook that holds the rounds in the magazine and then used my thumb to slide them back into position while depressing the rounds. I was also only loading three rounds at a time, I’m not sure if this made a difference or not. I then began to load the magazine from the top by placing the rounds directly on top of the magazine and pressing downward until the hook held them in place, I also loaded five rounds instead of just three. The firearm performed flawlessly after that.

Out At The Range

I’m not really sure what to make of it other than a friend of mine told me I needed to slap the bottom of the magazine to settle the rounds in place after inserting it into the firearm. I did notice in the manual that they recommend this procedure also. I will have to make sure to perform this technique when I head to the range for the next round of target practice.

Mike Adams

Up North Journal

www.upnorthjournal.com

My Bushmaster AR-15 .223

I recently had the opportunity to purchase a brand new Bushmaster AR-15 for a very reasonable price, so I jumped at the chance. I have always wanted a .223 rifle to chase the elusive coyotes in my home state of Michigan so this rifle seemed to be the cure for the itch of a new firearm to chase them. I must say that the allure of a modern sport rifle has always intrigued me along with most firearm enthusiasts I knew.

Me With My New AR!

I quickly found myself defending my actions of purchasing this selection of mine. My wife was first by stating that, “why in the world do you need an evil black gun?” She was stern in her stance even though she knew how I felt about firearms. It was now time to educate her on what a modern sport rifle was and there was no such thing as an “Evil Black Gun” or “Assault Rifle”. Those are two terms that we now have the mainstream media to thank for!

It took a while for her to understand why a modern sport rifle was no different than the standard .22’s that we currently own. They are all semi-automatics that ONLY fire one round with one pull of the trigger! The color or look of a firearm doesn’t make it any different than that of any other rifle. Be it black, green, pink, blue, or camo clad, the color doesn’t make a firearm do anything or make it take on a personality of being evil or good! The look of them falls into that same category. Be it military, techno, cowboy, primitive, or modern, the look doesn’t make the firearm worthy of being called evil nor should it put it into a hands off category.

Bushmaster AR-15 .223

By now you probably have figured out that this blog is going to be devoted to promoting and protecting the modern sport rifle. It has a place in the firearm world and in the woods and field as a hunting tool. This blog will be devoted to articles about modern sport rifles and issues concerning them. I will also cover the hunts and range time I spend with my sport rifle. Hopefully this will become an informative forum for you to gain either knowledge about the modern sport rifle or how it is used in the hunting world. Feel free to email me about any questions you might have or any insight you may wish to pass along that will enhance my own experience with them.

Mike Adams
Up North Journal
www.upnorthjournal.com