I am hearing of far too many problems with the AR556. You shouldn't have to completely disassemble a rifle and clean it when it is brand new, but I'd encourage you to do that. If that doesn't work, call Ruger and ask to speak to a technician.

 

B

This is actually bad advice. Most new firearms ship with a protective oil/grease that needs to be cleaned out before use.

 

Try new brass. Freedom Munitions sell reman, might not be resized enough. Also, slop the lube in the chamber. I use Froglube and WD-40 specialist, both feel like they have a bit of paraffin in them. WD-40 specialist long term corrosion can be picked up at Wally as Froglube could take a bit to find. Stay away from steel case until you get some rounds through it.

Can you post some picks of the scratches?

 

As a general rule, if you're having problems with ejecting, try using some half way decient ammo. All ammo is NOT alike, not even close.

Start all over again after you've COMPLETELY cleaned the chamber.

I use Froglube on both my ARs and personally think that WD-40 has no place close to a gun. FrogLube will take care of all your lube needs on an AR plus make it a snap to clean. But this discussion been done a million times.

Clean your chamber and the rest of the gun, lube properly and try some quality ammo that's new and made in this country.

 

I've run about 500 rds through my AR556 and haven't had any problems. I shot MAN 5.56, Tulammo .223 and PMC .223 and it all fed,fired and ejected. When I got my AR I stripped it down and cleaned every part thoroughly, there was a lot of oil,[looked like 10W40],dirt and some metal shavings on the bolt face, under the extractor and in the reciever. I used a small cleaning pick to get all the shavings out, a brass brush and about 30 patches to clean the barrel and bolt. I also cleaned the gas tube with degreaser.
I disassembled the bolt and cleaned it with degreaser, then applied a lite coat of Remoil to all the parts. It was not a very clean rifle when I got it and I suspect that a majority of the problems reported with the AR556 are related to the improper cleaning before shooting.

 

I had mine for 6 days, Ruger has had it for a month!!! I had FTfeed. First time I called they told me the screws on the bolt carrier where loose and the gas rings weren't staggered which I know is BS because I cleaned it before I sent it back and am no novice to ARs. I sent pictures of the misaligned feed ramps but on the fourth call they said a supervisor look at it and it is NOT an issue!!! Lesson learned don't buy inexpensive AR15s!. This is my first Ruger and my last

 

BennyS, I've the SR series but four of my shooting buddies all have the AR and love them! One guy had some ejection problems but, it was solved with real ammo. That immediately solved the problem and after a couple of hundred rounds of the good stuff he's now shooting a lot of the cheap stuff and the rifle functions like a dream.

One of the guys has a Lantac Dragon muzzle break and that is a nice rifle to shoot!!

I hope your problems work out because everyone I know that has the Ruger AR is pretty darned happy.

I'm even thinking of getting one!

 

wow sorry for your problems I've run 2000 rds through mine and never had a problem I do over clean it and lube it well it's just part of the love for me.

 

A bore snake run through often in a new chamber and barrel is your friend. I agree with using quality ammo at the start. No steel and no remanufactured ammo until the rifle is broken in.

kwg

 

x2 on the bore snake

 

A couple months ago I had a customer who brought in his AR-556. He had got it from Grabagun and shipped it through me. My only part of the purchase was the FFL transfer. He had the same problem so I told him to contact Ruger CS. He shipped to them and got it back and came to me saying it was still messed up. This time he brought the gun to me to show me the problem. After putting the gun in my gun vice I was able to extract the cartridge. It was a reload from a friend of his. It would not fit into my .223 cartridge gauge. So it was so tight it would not extract manually.
Remember manual extraction on an AR-15 does not release any tension on the locking lugs. When fired in a DI AR like the AR-556 the piston actually pushes the bolt forward before it gets rotated relieving the extra tension. This is not the case in manually racking or in a piston system like the SR-556. When a cartridge it not sized right (too big) this can cause the lockup you're seeing.
As a gunsmith and also one who reloads, I like using my cartridge gauges on both my reloads and store bought cartridges.

 

Mine has been very reliable from the first round. I use American Eagle 55 & 62 grain ammo and they work fine. I keep the bore, chamber, and bolt carrier group clean plus plenty of lube on the bolt carrier rails.

I'd trust it if the SHTF.

 

Another vote to totally break it down and clean out all that goopy oil in which the rifle shipped.

Also, splurge a bit for some ammo that isn't something you know is crappy...at least for initial trials.

Also, CLP is your friend...

Aqualung

 

Hello,

New to this forum but not new to the M16/M4/AR platform.

Sorry to hear about your AR-556 problem but I have had nothing but great results from the very first round to the 2K odd rd that went downrange last Sunday. Even after swapping out some parts my 556 is running fine.

When my AR-556 came out of the box I gave it a G.I. cleaning using CLP and then my favorite gun oil and off I went to the range and have not looked back.

Swearing off a brand because of one bad firearm sounds more like a rant. I do not know of a single Mfg. I have had dealings with that does not have a product fail out of the box at one time or another.

 

Well stated.

Terry

 

I had the exact same problem with freedom munition and needing to mortar to clear the rounds. Now I am 99% sure the problem is the ammo not the rifle. I cleaned it good with chamber brush and lubed like everyone recommended. I mortared less often but it still occurs. So Today I kept all the rounds that got stuck in the chamber instead of throwing them away, then I got a 20 round PMC bronze from the range and my AC 556 fired them all without any problems at all.

I then went back to the 8 stuck rounds and tried firing them in the same pmag, I had to mortar every rounds to clear them. both PMC and freedom reload I used were 55 gr but the reloads appears shorter when compared side by side with PMC rounds. I never had issues with freedom munition 9mm or 45 acp so this is surprising.

 

Glad you found the culprit. Now time to enjoy your AR556.

 

so I got a wilson case gauge to measure the reloads that I had to mortar to get them out, every one of them fits perfectly flush with the gauge. ex if I run my finger across the top surface, I feel no bump sliding across gauge+case. On the other hand I inserted a PMC bronze ammo into the gauge, I could feel a slight bump between the case/gauge.

so this got me thinking, could this also be caused by a slightly out of spec firing pin? two of the "mortared rounds" had slight indentations on the primer and the rest had no strike marks at all. none of them have any deep scratch marks on the case.

 

No problems with my AR556 when I had it---but it got traded for a true AR--a Colt lightweight 6720

 

Every one of my new rifles or handguns were at least field stripped and properly lubed.

Used guns always got totally taken apart and each part was examined for functionality then the parts were cleaned and lubed (if needed) before shooting.

This practice worked very well for a lifetime of gun buying except one. That one gun had a set of aftermarket grips that interfered with gun's function that I didn't catch until I tore the gun down after it failed at the range. Replaced the grips with OEM and the gun ran flawlessly... just not as pretty.

I loved going through my AR 556 before first shooting it. I got to know the gun and I also knew it was battle-ready for its first trip to the range. It's never let me down. Great gun.

 

I own both a SR556 and a SR762 and have had 0 problems with either, short of the crap triggers Ruger tortures us with. I know they can install better triggers because the trigger in the VT variant is a decent factory trigger. With that little rant out of the way, it never ceases to amaze me the number of problems people have because they won’t clean a new firearm before taking it to the range. I get the excitement of shooting that new rifle, but this is such a basic step and the chances of tarnishing the new rifle experience are greatly diminished if you will just clean it. Another benefit is you will understand the function of the weapon better if you see how the components work together. New weapon - CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN and stay away from WD-40 unless you are using you new AR toy during the monsoons of south East Asia! And even then I won’t use it on my AR platform weapons. There are way too many good lubricants on the market to compromise your investment with Water Displacement compound number 40. It is not a lubricant to be used in firearm. Also do yourself a favor and use decent ammunition, at least during the break-in period.

 

You shouldn't have to completely disassemble a rifle and clean it when it is brand new,

Don't know how you came up with that one, but it's not very good advise.

Also grease and or oil in the chamber is a no, no, The cases can stick to the chamber walls
So that also is bad advise, don't no how some people come up with this stuff ??

 

No issues

My son and daughter both have the SR556/223. Use PMC 55g, no issues at all with both rifles.
I'm a firm beleaver on cleaning a new purchased gun. I made both dissemble, clean, and reassemble both there SR's.

My son just purchased a new 870 he ask me if he could put it in the gun safe, I ask him did you clean it? Long story short, I and my son could not beleave how dirty it was, when he did the barrel I said wow never seen a gun that dirty before. He agreed.

I have the SR762/308, excellent rifle! Put over 1500 rounds thru it with no hick up's.

 

Remove the bolt carrier group and inspect it. In the Ruger AR556 handbook beginning on page(s) 27 thru 32 are instructions on maintaining it so it functions properly.

" Make sure the grooves in the gas rings are not aligned (see Figure 31). WARNING: The splits in the gas rings need to be offset in order for the AR-556™ to function properly. If the splits in the gas rings align, they will allow hot gases to flow by the gas rings, and keep the firearm from functioning properly."

 

It appears the OP (shgreene88) just vented in one post and has not returned. Just in case he comes back and for the benefit of others ... it's the ammo , not the gun. Granted, starting with a clean rifle helps a lot ... mine was dripping wet with preservative oil ... not lubricating oil. The real issue is the remanufactured ammo where Freedom Munitions did NOT use a small base sizer die.

Click on this link for the answer to the OP's situation: http://rugerforum.net/reloading/124070-small-base-sizer-dies.html