Sorry if this has been discussed before.

[bobcleanG17]

I just bought a new Armalite M15. I have had it out to the range twice with absolutely no problems. This is my first AR so I am still kind of new to taking it down and cleaning it then putting it back together. Well I noticed today that when I clear a round from the chamber there is a little marked on the primer of the round (like the from the firing pin) the new rounds don't have this mark and any round I cycle through gets one. I kind of found it a bit unnerving to have something striking the primers hard enough to leave a mark (although so far not hard enough to set one off).

Is this marking normal? Did I put something together wrong?

I haven't been able to get back out to the range since I cleaned it so maybe I am just being paranoid because I am new to ARs but I thought I would ask to set my mind at ease.

[Akita]

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[Onmilo]

It is normal with an AR15/M16 type rifle because of the free floating firing pin.
You should not continue to chamber the same round over and over because this desensitizes the primer and instead of a slam fire the most likely problem will be the cartridge misfiring or hangfiring.

[bobcleanG17]

Thanks guys... that makes me feel a lot better...

[RMTactical]

Yeah, it's normal. It would be very rare to get a slamfire in your AR15, however, not impossible. ALWAYS POINT THE WEAPON IN A SAFE DIRECTION.

[ArmaGlock]

The rifle is defective and you should get rid of it immediately. I'll take it!!!! It will match the one I already have. :tongueout:

[halfmoonclip]

It is normal with an AR15/M16 type rifle because of the free floating firing pin.
You should not continue to chamber the same round over and over because this desensitizes the primer and instead of a slam fire the most likely problem will be the cartridge misfiring or hangfiring.

Now that's interesting. I had always heard the opposite, but what you say makes perfect sense.
In any case, repeatedly rechambering the same round can be a problem in anything.
It would be possible to 'ride' the charging handle to ease the round in to the chamber, and then bump the FA to make sure it's locked up.
Moon

[ArmaGlock]

Now that's interesting. I had always heard the opposite, but what you say makes perfect sense.
In any case, repeatedly rechambering the same round can be a problem in anything.
It would be possible to 'ride' the charging handle to ease the round in to the chamber, and then bump the FA to make sure it's locked up.
Moon

I've always heard that you are not supposed to ride the charging handle forward while closing the chamber....

[halfmoonclip]

I've always heard that you are not supposed to ride the charging handle forward while closing the chamber....


That's probably to make sure that the rifle will go bang if asked...if you ride the CH, the gun may well not be completely in battery; unless you give the forward assist a couple bumps.
I understand that this is also a way to more quietly chamber a round.
Personally, I let 'er slam, but the concern was about dimpling primers.
Moon

[gordo]

I have solved this problem by never having any unfired ammo left at the end of a range session. Makes the range bag lighter when I leave and makes life more fun too.

[ArmaGlock]

I have solved this problem by never having any unfired ammo left at the end of a range session. Makes the range bag lighter when I leave and makes life more fun too.

Yeah that works unless you have specific ammo you keep for self-defense and keep your gun loaded with one in the chamber. I avoid the issue by keeping a loaded mag in the rifle with the chamber opened. That way all I have to do is hit the bolt release and take care of business. Of course a round still gets chambered here and there if I have to deploy the rifle for some reason. Just rotate the top round.

[halfmoonclip]

Unless there is some Defcon event, I just keep the chamber empty and rack the CH if there seems a reason; tend to do this with the house gun (G17) as well. I entirely trust the safetys on both, but just hate to beat up that first round. The chambered round of my P3AT, which gets ejected once a week or so for gun delinting, either gets shot away or discarded fairly often.
I had a now-departed 3913 that allowed you to drop a round in the chamber and eaaaaaaaaase the extractor over the rim as you slowly ran the slide home. Avoided beating up the first round administratively OR breaking the extractor.
I'm an old revolver guy, and wheelies solve the problem rather nicely.
Moon