Need some black rifle help

[Brannon74]

Took my spikes/ar15performance 6.8 apart night before last and cleaned it. put it back togather and took it hunting last night, Had a yote at 50 yards and click. it would not fire. The firing pin is not hitting the shell like it should. don't know what I did wrong. I didn't take it down completely. Just took the upper off and pulled the bolt and charging handle and cleaned every thing. I am a rookie so anybody have any ideas on what i did and how to fix it.

[JBS]

Did you put the firing pin in front of the firing pin keeper or behind it ?

[mesquitecountry]

Did you put the firing pin in front of the firing pin keeper or behind it ?

This

[Brannon74]

I didn't pull the pi out of the bolt, when i pull the trigger it clicks like its firing, but when I look at the bullet it has just barly tapped it. Not enough to make the primer fire? sorry if i am not comunicating better, I am very new to ar-15s and I am not very mechanically inclined.

[JBS]

With the bolt carrier removed from the upper, push the bolt all the way back into the carrier. Use your finger to push the firing pin forward till it stops. Does the tip protrude from the firing pin hole a bit more than the standard dent you find in a primer ?

[miket]

Dangit. I thought what JBS said would be it..........

[M16]

Are you sure the round was fully chambered? Always release the charging handle and do not "ride" it down. Tap the forward assist as well.

[Brannon74]

I pushed on it last night and it seemed to me that the pin was not coming foward enough. I did not take the pin apart from the bolt so I don't know how I could have messed it up. when I get home tonight I will pull the pin and see if it is gummed up.

[Brannon74]

Yes i made sure the round was fully chambered and even tried a couple of different bullets.

[Reaper]

I'm no expert compared to the fellas above..but i had a similar issue with mine in that it wasn't getting enough ooomf to make the primer react but was denting it. the issue with mine was the buffer detent, holding the buffer detent spring had come loose and the spring was out causing the tube not to go all the way back

the detent is number 4 and the spring is number 5 in this pic


I replaced both the detent and spring and it worked like a charm

btw the problem was also caused by me when I broke it down to clean it

[J.B.]

Post a picture of your bolt from the side with the forward assist grooves.

There is something up with the firing pin and retaining pin. Either the retaining pin is missing/fell out or it is in front of the firing pin.

[texag93]

Sounds like you short stroked it when loading. I have done this coyote hunting more than once while trying to be quite.

When I load mine, I lock the bolt back, load the mag and hit the bolt release. This ensures a round is fully chambered. Lubing everything good helps too. A dry AR is a great single shot rifle.

[Brannon74]

I'm no expert compared to the fellas above..but i had a similar issue with mine in that it wasn't getting enough ooomf to make the primer react but was denting it. the issue with mine was the buffer detent, holding the buffer detent spring had come loose and the spring was out causing the tube not to go all the way back

the detent is number 4 and the spring is number 5 in this pic


I replaced both the detent and spring and it worked like a charm

btw the problem was also caused by me when I broke it down to clean it

That sounds like what mine is doing. I dont have my rifle w/ me but I will check it out at home tonight.

[Reaper]

well, what was it, does it shoot now?

[Tommyh]

did the rifle ever fire with this upper installed at all? Removing the BCG from the upper will not cause it to misfire unless you took the bolt assy apart. take the BCG down and clean it really well with a toothbrush and a cleaner/degreaser, then put it back together and use a good viscous lube. you should be able to shake the bolt into battery by hand out of the upper receiver once its broke in.