How To Fix Ar Barrel Slanted Down

We recently reached out to Republic of chad Albrecht at School of the American Rifle to discuss AR-15 feed ramp bug. Issues with feed ramps can be more than mutual than many builders think, peculiarly when you're perhaps mixing and matching parts from different manufacturers.

ARBuildJunkie is blest to have Chad every bit a resource to exist able to inquire occasional questions to. Nosotros're tremendously grateful for his generosity and willingness to share data with our readers. To acquire more about him and his School of the American burglarize, please be sure to check out our feature interview with him…or other more recent manufactures which you tin can discover here:

Mutual AR-15 Myths – School of the American Rifle
AR-xv Gas System Bug – School of the American Burglarize
Headspace Gauge & the AR – School of the American Burglarize

Also, please consider supporting Republic of chad past following School of the American Rifle on Facebook, or via the Instagram.

Q: Chad, thank you once more for your time. You mentioned discussing AR-fifteen feed ramp issues with our readers. The floor is yours…

Chad Albrecht, Schoolhouse of the American Rifle: When it comes to AR-15 feed ramp issues, one of the big bug with ARs is that there are actually ii different types of feed ramps. You have the standard that was in that location with the starting time of the AR-15, One thousand-16, M-16A1, A2…all the before guns when you lot had a full-sized barrel. Those had standard feed ramps.

That means you had the upper receiver, which had no ramps in it. Then you had the barrel extension where the ramps were built into the barrel. These ramps had no interface with the upper receiver. It was just a apartment aluminum surface and then the ramp started on the barrel extension, which was made of steel.

Somwhere in the 1990s I believe, Colt designed the M4 feed ramps, where they took some of the fabric out of the upper receiver, cut two niggling ramps in it and and so cutting the ramps in the barrel extention a fiddling further forward. This gave it a longer point for the magazine to allow the rounds to come out of the magazine and feed into the chamber. Supposedly, based on data that was published, this was done to increase reliability during full-machine.

What I've seen on the civilian side is that the M4 feed ramps can help reliability in a semi-auto when yous're dealing with the diversity of magazines that are on the marketplace. Some of them don't take the aforementioned feed angles that a GI-effect mag would. As far as ammunition, on the war machine side they are dealing with generally full metal jacket. On the noncombatant side, y'all have hollow point, ballistic tip, full metal jacket, soft point…having that longer feed ramp volition help between the variables of noncombatant bachelor magazines and the diversity of ammunition that can be loaded. Peculiarly if you are getting into manus-loading, where the overall length can exist a little fleck dissimilar than some factory ammunition.

M4 ramps are an industry standard at present, but few do it right. I don't mean to imply that it's intentional, only the tolerance stacking exists with a bunch of manufacturers. In almost every case Colt M4 ramps are perfect, unless the gun had parts swapped such as the upper or barrel.

Q: So, let'due south say I'm dealing with a non Colt…what am I looking for when it comes to AR-15 Feed Ramp Problems?

Republic of chad Albrecht, School of the American Burglarize: When the feed ramps on the upper receiver and barrel extension meet, yous demand to be sure in that location is cipher that allows the projectiles to hang up as they are being fed from the magazine into the chamber. If the steel barrel extension ramps overhang the upper receiver ramps like a roofing shingle, the projectiles tin can hangs up. That can cause reliability and accuracy bug.

Q: I've seen some people do some interesting things to prepare AR-15 feed ramp problems…I would assume there is a right and wrong way to accost the upshot?

Republic of chad Albrecht, School of the American Rifle: Some people, when they encounter it, they go hog wild and break out the Dremel while the barrel is installed onto the upper and everything is nevertheless tight. They only commencement grinding away with a Dremel, but you lot're really not supposed to take textile that's built into the M4 ramps in the anodized portion of the upper receiver…you're not supposed to take material off of that. When y'all practice that, y'all betrayal the softer aluminum underneath the surface and as the projectiles are being fed up, it can sort of 'woodpecker' away at it. It'due south sort of the same principle if you have a semi-auto pistol that has an aluminum frame and a steel barrel, you don't want to get grinding on the aluminum portion. You only want to modify the steel ramps on the barrel.

So, people do it the wrong way, because it'due south more than hard to do it the right way. To practise it the right way, you lot accept to remove some components off of the barrel. Yous have to loosen the butt nut or rail system, pull the butt out, do modifications, go on plumbing equipment information technology dorsum and along. You can't only practice it in ane fell swoop. You then put information technology back on and tighten everything upwardly. Besides, not everybody has the proper tools to practise that. Sometimes it can be rather intimidating, even though information technology actually is a rather uncomplicated task with the right tools. People simply steer articulate of it.

People assume that considering "I'thousand buying a good barrel and I'yard ownership a skilful upper," those 2 parts may not play well together unless yous do a little scrap of fitting. When I do it, I take information technology a footling scrap farther. Instead of just fitting things and making certain there is no overhang with the ramps, I go a step farther and I smooth them similar a mirror.

What I'g doing there really isn't a breakthrough in the industry. People have been doing that child of work on 1911s longer than I've been alive. There are factory produced barrels that already have those polished ramps. Centurion Artillery does it. Mine look identical to theirs.

Q: Are in that location any quick and piece of cake indicators that I may have AR-15 feed ramp problems? Metal filings or shavings perhaps?

Chad Albrecht, School of the American Rifle: On guns that take feed ramps that have raised burrs or sharp edges, you'll notice as those rough ramps interface with the projectile, interface with the brass casing, its shaving niggling pieces of textile off every time it'south feeding a circular in.

Yous take the gun autonomously subsequently a few thousand, rounds, if it has made information technology through without a malfunction, you'll see footling pieces of brass and copper all inside the barrel extension. If it builds upwards bad enough, it tin can cause the ejector on the bolt to demark up. That tin can pb to malfunctions. If the gun has short or very tight headspace spec, information technology tin cause the gun not to want to go into battery when it gets actually muddied and fouled.

Q: I've heard that AR-15 feed ramp bug can also impact accuracy. Is this true, or is it more about function?

On the extreme circumstance, if you're looking for accuracy…having whatsoever sort of disruption when the rounds are being fed from the magazine into the chamber, anything that tin cause the projectile to be nicked or knocked out of alignment, not sitting true in the casing, tin can cause inconsistencies on target.

Then, if information technology'southward trying to feed a round and it jams that projectile dorsum into the casing, depending on how hard it crimped, that will impact the force per unit area when the round is fired, and it will affect the consistency from round to circular to circular. When people complain well-nigh accuracy, ane of the first things I expect at in the gun is the feed ramp geometry and whether or not things hang up.

Q: So, if I think AR-xv feed ramp issues are the reason why I am having accurateness problems, how can I tell?

One thing an end-user tin can exercise if he or she is suspecting that feed ramps are causing an issue with accuracy is they can single load. Individually load rounds into the chamber and burn at the same stride or cadence you do in semi-motorcar, then turn and practice the same thing in semi-auto, at the aforementioned pace. Pause between rounds and practise as "scientific" a side-by-side comparison as you lot can.

Ordinarily if you lot take problems with feed geometry, the magazine will feed the rounds and crusade a disruption in consistency, and you'll meet a huge difference in accurateness. The gun is always going to be more accurate if you lot single feed just considering there is less disruption across the board, merely if you run into a huge divergence between single fed groups and magazine fed groups, and so you can start to draw some conclusions that your feed geometry is a footling messed upwards, or something is hanging up.

Q: So, if I've read this far, I might exist inclined to catch an AR and have a look. What should I be looking for? And if I do find a problem, what is my best course of action?

Chad Albrecht, School of the American Rifle: One of the things that I affect on is that you can take a live round, and if you're in an environment where you lot can do information technology safely, you tin take the projectile and run it upwardly the ramp, if it feels similar it is hanging up on anything…sometimes it's just the cutout where the lug of the commodities goes though, it tin have a really abrupt edge on it, and as yous're feeding the projectile y'all tin experience it hang upwards and remove material.

Basically just have something that you can use like the back of a ball betoken pen, or a cleaning bandy or the tip of a projectile and but see if things are hanging up. If yous are seeing a transfer of cloth…if you accept a projectile and run it up the ramps and y'all encounter copper existence displaced onto the feed ramps, then more than than likely they're just rough. You're not having anything truly hanging up. Just information technology's one of those things that's really a "touch and experience" thing. Yous really have to make a skillful judgement call on how it sounds and how information technology looks.

"If you're skilled and accept the proper tools…"

At that point, if you lot're skilled and you have the proper tools, pull the barrel off, and never take any cutting stones to it, but you can take some polishing bits, and basically get brave and break out the Dremel. Simply, if you're not proficient with a Dremel and y'all don't have a steady hand, this might be one of those situations where you lot would probably desire to pay someone who specializes in this kind of work to practise it.

It'due south not expensive if you tin can discover someone who does this kind of work on a consistent basis. Information technology's something that I actually plan on offer in the near hereafter every bit a service. I'm not trying to drive whatsoever business my way because I am not doing it yet, only anyone who is competent as a gunsmith should be able to change feed ramps if someone can't do information technology. If they're a gunsmith and they're worth their table salt, they should be able to exercise it for a nominal fee.

Q: Overall, every bit far as potential AR bug, where do feed ramp issues rank to you?

Republic of chad Albrecht, Schoolhouse of the American Rifle: Headspace is normally the first thing I talk almost. This is the second thing, other than making certain the gun isn't grossly over-ported. AR-15 feed ramp problems would be my number 2. Most all ARs on the civilian market place now, unless they are older, have the M4 ramps. It'south virtually certainly something nosotros address in my armorer's classes…what to practice, what to look for, how to remedy the consequence.

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