Can a BCG be assembled wrong?

kcult

kcult

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I don't have one in front of me, but I took the bolt out of one yesterday, to use my BEV block. I paid attention to the orientation upon reassembly, but now I'm curious if it can even be assembled 180° off.

Can it?
 
Will that make the bullet fire into your shoulder? :eek:
 
I believe I managed to get bolt 180 off once. So yeah I think you can. Extractor goes on outside!
 
You’ll know when you shoot it the first time and can’t find your brass...because the bolt won’t catch the rim and the whole round goes down the barrel. Second time this week I’ve been able to use this. :D

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BigWaylon said:
You’ll know when you shoot it the first time and can’t find your brass...because the bolt won’t catch the rim and the whole round goes down the barrel. Second time this week I’ve been able to use this. :D

View attachment 207239
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And it's the second time I've enjoyed it.
 
I'm not capable of screwing up the assembly of the bolt but you probably are more than capable.

That was a compliment?
 
Typically, you can't assemble it "backwards", but I have seen one bolt that would let you insert the cam locking pin into the wrong side of the bolt.
 
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Crazy Carl said:
Typically, you can't assemble it "backwards", but I have seen one bolt that would let you insert the cam locking pin into the wrong side of the bolt.
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That's what I meant when I said 180°. The bolt is already in, but it's rotated so that the extractor is on the wrong side of the assembly.

Thanks to @Tim and his definitive "no," I decided, before pouring another quarantini, I'll go check. And now I know, and know why. The bolt is dimpled. I didn't know that before.

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At my job, an operator could sometimes install a tool 180° off, put it back in the machine and immediately crash it. I redesigned the tool so that the locating pin could only be put in from one side.

No more crashes because of that mess.

*pats self on back like he did when he saved a snake from a hoe
 
First time I ever field stripped an AR and reassembled I didn't have the firing pin all the way in the BCG and inserted that little cotter pin. Gun went together, but wouldn’t charge, which jammed it, and damn near had to break it open with brute force which snapped that little detent pin that holds the buffer in. Andrew Barnes invited me out to pick up the replacement part, and tour his facility in Apex.

So yes, they can be assembled wrong. :oops:
 
There's a couple ways it can be done. I've never seen one fired in such condition, but I've seen several dummies firmly jam the BCG into their buffer tube while function checking a weapon without first reinstalling the buffer & spring.
 
kcult said:
I don't have one in front of me, but I took the bolt out of one yesterday, to use my BEV block. I paid attention to the orientation upon reassembly, but now I'm curious if it can even be assembled 180° off.

Can it?
Click to expand...

IF the bolt is MIL-SPEC no because the cam-pin hole in the bolt is drilled at a taper.

To test my post, when the bolt is in pieces, take the cam pin and try to insert it by both directions. It only fits one way.

I have seen some odd stuff, the worst was a improper milled cam-pin track that was 180 deg's out.
 
Crazy Carl said:
There's a couple ways it can be done. I've never seen one fired in such condition, but I've seen several dummies firmly jam the BCG into their buffer tube while function checking a weapon without first reinstalling the buffer & spring.
Click to expand...
...
that wouldn't jam it at all.
In fact, i've done that on purpose a lot of times. Too lazy to pull a spring/buffer out of a different lower, but i want to check to make sure a bcg can go in and lock up... sometimes you just gotta mortar it muzzle down in order to get it back out of the tube :)
 
fieldgrade said:
First time I ever field stripped an AR and reassembled I didn't have the firing pin all the way in the BCG and inserted that little cotter pin. Gun went together, but wouldn’t charge, which jammed it, and damn near had to break it open with brute force which snapped that little detent pin that holds the buffer in. Andrew Barnes invited me out to pick up the replacement part, and tour his facility in Apex.

So yes, they can be assembled wrong. :oops:
Click to expand...
I’ve had troops do that. You put the firing pin behind the cotter pin.
 
fieldgrade said:
I put the firing pin in first, but didn’t shove it into place. Same effect.
FUBAR
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Most of my guys had the FP slide out of the BCG when they tilted it down.
 
I saw 2 fellows at the range trying to shoot an AR.
Fired a round, and the rifle jammed. They had to beat it apart, cleared it, and then repeated the process.
The RO went over and pointed out the the extractor goes towards the ejection port.
 
With today's cheap parts there is no telling what can happen. The bolt should not accept the cam only if installed correctly. I saw a left hand bolt installed in a right hand eject rifle and that created a mess.
 
I was fairly certain the cam pin and its hole are supposed to be tapered...
Even so, I've always checked when reassembling...
 
one can be fubar if you forget to install the cam pin .... and the bolt rotates a bit to lock in lugs....
 
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