Customer brings you a Ruger American that she claims, “isn’t loading properly”. Upon further questioning, you discover that she has no problem loading ammunition into the magazine, but that when she closes the bolt, it doesn’t always grab the next round. The customer has only used one brand of ammunition that she can recall.
Safety:
1.How would you safely remove/clear the magazine, chamber, and barrel of ammunition and
potential obstructions?
The Ruger American uses a detachable magazine so I would first remove the feeding source.
Next, I would ensure the rifle is on safe and I would open the action by rotating the bolt and
pulling it rearward to expose the chamber of the barrel. Finally, I would remove the bolt from
the frame and inspect the barrel for any obstructions using a bore light.
Initial Inspection and Diagnosis:
1.What action type is the firearm in question?
The Ruger American is a Bolt Action rifle.
2.Is the malfunction likely to be related to operator-error or faulty ammunition?
I don’t believe it would fall into the faulty ammunition category because the issue is not to do with firing but loading specifically. It is possible the user is not pulling the bolt handle all the way to the rear when loading and the bolt face never reaches the head or rim of the round to chamber.
3.What test(s) might you perform to verify the customer’s complaint? Why would you choose
this method over others?
I would use snap caps chambered in the same caliber as the rifle in question and I would see if it strips the top round of the magazine to properly chamber the round. I would also inspect the magazine spring to ensure the magazine is giving the proper lift on the follower to seat the next round for chambering.
Detailed Assessment:
1.Through to your own research, can you find evidence that a failure to feed malfunction is
common in Ruger American rifles? If so, what is usually the cause and how might you properly address these issues?
We have 2 Ruger American rifles in the rental pool at the live fire facility I currently work at. This is not common in ours because we clean and inspect our rentals regularly, but it is not to say this is not common across the board. The issue we come across the most is operator error like not disengaging the safety or not pulling the bolt handle all the way to the rear to chamber the next round.
2.Assume that the component you originally suspected was not the culprit of the failure, what other component(s) might you suspect and why?
If the ammunition and magazine are fine and the user is operating the firearm correctly then it is possible that the locking lug that is also responsible for stripping the top round from the
magazine is rounded off or even broken and it is slipping over the round in the magazine.
Post-inspection and repairs
1.Assuming the magazine spring was the cause of the malfunction, in a short customer
summary, describe the type of failure, what components caused the malfunction, the
components you removed/replaced, and the tests that were performed to verify operation:
After taking the time to make sure the firearm was unloaded and free of obstructions, I began trying to recreate the issue. In doing so with inert snap cap ammunition I noticed the rounds in the magazine were not being pushed upward enough to catch the part of the bolt face responsible for chambering the ammunition. This led me to believe the issue was not with the firearm but with the feeding source. I removed the magazine spring and pulled it to its appropriate length for the correct tension and this resolved the issue of feeding the
ammunition. However, this is a temporary fix and a new magazine or just a new magazine spring will be needed to properly fix the issue.
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