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AR in x39?

So my buddy has a 16" bear creek arsenal x39 upper on a Noreen Firearms lower that I’m trying to fix for him. We shot it yesterday for the first time and keep getting failure to feed every few shots and the bolt doesn’t hold open on an empty mag.
Using C products mags (work fine in my BCA x39 upper and anderson lower).

His lower has a standard carbine buffer and what looks like a standard carbine buffer spring. He bought the complete lower from a shop.

What else to check?? Can’t go any lighter on the buffer and buffer spring.
Maybe the upper is undergassed? Not enough pressure to cycle? Or is that when it’s overgassed?
 
So my buddy has a 16" bear creek arsenal x39 upper on a Noreen Firearms lower that I’m trying to fix for him. We shot it yesterday for the first time and keep getting failure to feed every few shots and the bolt doesn’t hold open on an empty mag.
Using C products mags (work fine in my BCA x39 upper and anderson lower).

His lower has a standard carbine buffer and what looks like a standard carbine buffer spring. He bought the complete lower from a shop.

What else to check?? Can’t go any lighter on the buffer and buffer spring.
Maybe the upper is undergassed? Not enough pressure to cycle? Or is that when it’s overgassed?

We know your lower works right? Try swapping it onto yours and check function with your known good mags
 
Gas block tight?
After disassembling they gas tube one of the 2 set screws on the gas block was quite loose. The other screw was extremely tight. I don’t know if that one loose screw would have caused this. I’ll have to check again before I bring it to steve at northeast arms to open up the gas port a bit.
 
We know your lower works right? Try swapping it onto yours and check function with your known good mags
Yeah I swapped it on mine and it still wouldn’t hold the bolt open. I actually run a heavier buffer in my (spikes T2) 10.5" BCA upper.
 
Should be interesting to see how it does with higher round count. 1 out of 600 is good odds though considering.
I’d guess it’s at least 1200+ rounds and today I finally broke the extractor 🤣
I need to get some spares. I wonder who makes the best x39 extractors? I’m sure BCA will ship me a replacement at no cost but I need extras.
7BCBDA9E-7D70-4D95-BC16-9AE6451ABE9B.jpeg 4AF10F84-A512-486A-A7A3-A851E699204F.jpeg F006D667-0773-4F3A-ACC9-AE07A522B2A8.jpeg
 
The side charger handle and side of the receiver is getting chewed up from the cases hitting it. All the cases land about 330-4 o clock. I’m running a standard carbine spring with a spikes tactical T2 (tungsten powder?) buffer. I have a AR10 spring kicking around. Should try it out. 0A7A42BE-16B3-451E-BE2A-C116C65B7BAC.jpeg B2852245-9782-473C-A82F-61300B31680E.jpeg
 
Err maybe I should order some ARx39 backup parts......[thinking]
I would - short money.
I'm curious to see how long the bolt will last. BCA claims 9310 steel and MPI so hopefully it lasts a bit.
I already have a tracking number from BRA.
 
My upper came in (whindam), excited to try it. Ive only heard good things about them so far.
Sweet! Which one did you get? I wasn't too familiar with Windham x39 uppers. Just browsed their website. This one looks pretty cool. If I ever destroy my BCA upper maybe I'll upgrade to one of those[laugh]
 
Sweet! Which one did you get? I wasn't too familiar with Windham x39 uppers. Just browsed their website. This one looks pretty cool. If I ever destroy my BCA upper maybe I'll upgrade to one of those[laugh]
I was very tempted to get the pistol, but got this one Windham Weaponry Upper Receiver Assembly for 7.62×39 with A2 Front Sight – Less Carry Handle – Windham Weaponry, Inc
 
The side charger handle and side of the receiver is getting chewed up from the cases hitting it. All the cases land about 330-4 o clock. I’m running a standard carbine spring with a spikes tactical T2 (tungsten powder?) buffer. I have a AR10 spring kicking around. Should try it out. View attachment 556703View attachment 556702
Bear Creek got back to me and they're shipping me a new extractor and charging handle for free. Not bad.
 
Damn that was quick. Got the 2 extractors from Black Rifle Arms today. Going to run this one to see how well it goes compared to the BCA extractor.

They got some nice uppers on their site. Maybe one of these days I’ll upgrade to one of their uppers. Not cheap but I’m sure they’re much better than BCA 6AA94DC5-DAF4-480A-878B-573261E3A9DB.jpeg 9F989E38-8658-4B42-85F8-D645F90170A8.jpeg
 
I’ve had my 7.62x39 AR for close to a decade. Only issue I’ve had was the standard hammer spring wouldn’t always ignite the primers. I swapped it out with a extra power hammer spring and it’s been reliable ever since.
I broke one extractor from shooting a lot of steel cases ammo and replaced it. I should buy one Andrew posted up above to have a spare.
 
Got the replacement extractor (including pin and springs) and charging handle from BCA today. I must say their customer service is pretty damn good
 
Got the replacement extractor (including pin and springs) and charging handle from BCA today. I must say their customer service is pretty damn good
One thing I have noticed is because of the fact that customer service is dwindling in this industry people really appreciate it. One of the reasons why High Point stays in business probably the only reason is because they honor their warranty and they repair their s***. The skinflints who buy their stuff jerk off over that big time. The guns are rough trash but they stand behind the product and want the customer to have a working gun. BCA probably has similar philosophy.
 
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