I broke the restriction screw on a 1st Gen SLR-7 on my Wolf Pup, my AR pistol and when I asked Rifle Works for replacement parts, they sent a whole new gas block with all the latest upgrades. Trouble is, as soon as I installed the new gasblock, the Wolf Pup started short stroking, even with the gasblock WFO. When I started troubleshooting this problem, I fully expected it to be the new gasblock. To my surprise, it turns out the carrier is leaking gas. It's not the gas rings, it's the carrier itself although I plan to replace the rings, just in case
While troubleshooting the problem, I learned and relearned some valuable lessons I thought I'd share-
- When a problem is intermittent, take a moment to figure out why. Intermittent problems can be very confusing because they can come and go during the troubleshooting process making it difficult to isolate. But they are a valuable clue. Intermittent problems are usually due to a part that's failing due to gradual wear. Take a moment to think where that wear might be.
- Take notes. Write out the problem and note step by step what you've done to isolate the problem. This forces the brain to organize the problem and outlines step by step the problem and the troubleshooting process and help you see what you might otherwise miss. It also lets you go back and remind yourself what you tried and what the results were. It's also a record of the problem in case it or something similar ever comes up again.
- Make one change at a time. This is of particular importance if the troubleshooting process starts taking a lot of time and you start to get fatigued or frustrated. Making more than one change at a time will only confuse troubleshooting and muddy the results.
-Visual and bench inspections are not always enough. Always check your findings with a function test. The faulty BCG easily passed the gas ring test. But it wasn't until double checked my findings with a test firing that it became clear the problem was the carrier, not the gasblock as I originally thought. Fortunately, I discovered the movement of the bolt inside the carrier felt gritty and investigated further.
- Be thorough and assume nothing. The first thing I did was replace the SLR-7 with a gasblock I knew worked. I kept working with different parts until I isolated the problem as the carrier. I replaced the carrier and verified it worked. Then I installed the SLR-7 and verified that the replacement carrier worked with it.
- Start with the easiest fix first. At the start, I had a thought to test the upper with another BCG. But I was too focused on the SLR-7 as a potential problem, then got distracted with other anomalies. If I had followed my hunch and replaced the BCG, I would have saved time swapping gas blocks around and rounds in test firing. The upside is, I eliminated the anomalies as the source of my problem and I gained knowledge.
- Good spare parts are worth their weight in gold. If I didn't have a spare BCG that I knew was good, my AR would still be down.
- The lockback test is an essential tool for troubleshooting and verifying fixes. It immediately identified the problem as short stroking. The lockback made it possible to isolate the actual cause of the shortstroking as each change was made.
- There are many who will tell you how easy it is to build an AR, that they snap together as easy as Legos. I have been guilty of the same thing. But, as simple as an AR is, it still continues to surprise me.
The solution to the short stroking problem in the Wolf Pup was s simple one. It took some work to perform a thorough troubleshooting from changing parts to working through anomalies I had no experience with to taking notes on each step. However, I'm satisfied that I have, with certainty, isolated the problem and fixed it- and it feels good!
Reply With Quote