Ares Armor Polymer Lower Issues

[spyder1184]

Recently finished up an Ares Armor 80% poly lower. Everything seems to function perfectly except the bolt wont lock back after firing the last round in the magazine. I've tried manually running the bolt with an empty magazine inserted and it still wont catch, or just barely catches, and when I eject the magazine the bolt doesnt stay locked to the rear.

Thoughts or suggestions?

[Svickstc]

are you using the right buffer spring length/tube....aka a fixed length spring for a adjustable stock

is the bolt catch installed properly?

If you were closer id take a look, but those are the first two places id check that are easy and quick

[spyder1184]

Yes on the buffer/spring. As far as the bolt catch being installed correctly, I believe that it is- if I pull the charging handle all the way to the rear and press the bolt catch it works, it just doesnt get triggered by an empty magazine like it should.

[AirportFF]

Too much or too little spring tension on the bolt catch?

I've been doing a little poking around with a different question and I read that that may be the problem you are having.

[Hazarmaveth]

Take the upper off of the lower, it's easier to diagnose that way.

It's fairly common for the bolt catch to be too tight on the roll pin. With the upper off and the mag out, it should pivot freely and always spring back to the non-bolt-catching position.

When you put an empty mag in the lower, you should be able to see the follower push up the bolt catch. If it's not pushing it up far enough then it's likely the spring for the bolt catch is up to some funny business, as AirportFF suggested. Your issue sounds more like too much spring than too little. If that spring goes in with a kink, or the hole for it is too tight, it can act unreasonably strong and defy the mag spring. I wouldn't be surprised to see that hole end up a little small in polymer.

You said when it does catch it lets go when you drop the mag, so I would tend to suspect the latter. It could also be a mag issue, but I'm guessing you've tried more than one.

[spyder1184]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, I have run the gamut of mags, all of which worked flawlessly in another weapon. No spring issues that I can tell, but I was just playing with it and noticed that the mag follower barely catches the lip of the bolt catch, whereas on my other lower the mag lip firmly engages the tip of the bolt catch. I dont have a caliper handy, but I wonder if I got an out of spec bolt catch...

Take the upper off of the lower, it's easier to diagnose that way.

It's fairly common for the bolt catch to be too tight on the roll pin. With the upper off and the mag out, it should pivot freely and always spring back to the non-bolt-catching position.

When you put an empty mag in the lower, you should be able to see the follower push up the bolt catch. If it's not pushing it up far enough then it's likely the spring for the bolt catch is up to some funny business, as AirportFF suggested. Your issue sounds more like too much spring than too little. If that spring goes in with a kink, or the hole for it is too tight, it can act unreasonably strong and defy the mag spring. I wouldn't be surprised to see that hole end up a little small in polymer.

You said when it does catch it lets go when you drop the mag, so I would tend to suspect the latter. It could also be a mag issue, but I'm guessing you've tried more than one.

[spyder1184]

So if anyone else is having a similar problem I have found a possible solution...

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_66/47...0________.html

I'm going to try out a 9mm AR bolt catch and see if I can trim it down to the size I need.