Gunsmithing My ar-15 chambered in .224 valkyrie has a first round flier

Elderinjun

Private
Minuteman
Aug 19, 2019
11
1
My ar-15 consistently shoots the first round left and high, I cannot figure out the issue although, the hand guard was loose when the upper receiver arrived at my house.This looseness caused the barrel to be incredibly inaccurate. After tightening the six screws that held the guard in place it was very accurate, but only after the first shot. I was going to have someone with more knowledge take the barrel off and with the hand guard and put it back together as I lack the confidence and knowledge to do it by myself, but I was wondering if this "flier" could be a product of another issue.
 
Try hand feeding each round next time out and see if the issue still exists..
Like noted above. Not really that uncommon when feeding from magazine.
If the issue still exists then should i look into getting different magazines? Honestly now that i think about it, it makes sense because its a .224 and I've been using 5.56 magazines and they fit kinda awkwardly, so that being the problem is very probable.
 
If you haven't allready tried it try using the charging handle to ride the first round into the chamber instead of dropping the hammer on it with the bolt release.
Just make damn sure you have full lock up.
That eliminated first round out of group on a couple of my rifles one of them has never done it but has a low mass carrier and buffer with adjustable gas block.
 
First round out of magazine is chambered “differently” than subsequent rds as BCG moving slower when cycled by hand or from being held by bolt stop.
Last rd there is no upward pressure on bottom of BCG by rounds in magazine.

When rifle cycles differently, accuracy is influenced by the difference.
 
I would get a proper magazine. I would ask, do you always load the same amount of cartridges? If you always load an odd number the first round is hitting the left ramp and vice versa for an even amount. You can measure OAL before chambering and after to see if you're getting any setback as well.
 
Concentricity may also be a factor.

As an extreme example, before I futzed with my magazine lips and chamfered the chamber/barrel end interface, my Aero/Faxon AR-10 6.5CM build set bullets back almost a quarter inch and tilted them visibly towards the chamber.
 
I would get a proper magazine. I would ask, do you always load the same amount of cartridges? If you always load an odd number the first round is hitting the left ramp and vice versa for an even amount. You can measure OAL before chambering and after to see if you're getting any setback as well.
in The "competition" I shot in with this extremely annoying quirk I always loaded 7 rounds into the magazine as per the rules of it and every time it shot consistently left and high. I will probably buy a proper 6.8 spc mag for my rifle and try it, but before that I'm going to try and hand load them. also what am I looking for when i hand load them? Thank you for all the support on this problem I now have some semblance of a troubleshooting strategy next time I can make it to the range.
 
As far as magazines go PRI are the Cadillac of 68spc mags.
I have some of the old non waffle and newer ones and they have all been flawless.
If you want a cheaper option I have had good luck with ASC mags as well you just might have to fine tune them a little and both PRI and ASC will allow longer COAL.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JAMER
in The "competition" I shot in with this extremely annoying quirk I always loaded 7 rounds into the magazine as per the rules of it and every time it shot consistently left and high. I will probably buy a proper 6.8 spc mag for my rifle and try it, but before that I'm going to try and hand load them. also what am I looking for when i hand load them? Thank you for all the support on this problem I now have some semblance of a troubleshooting strategy next time I can make it to the range.


You're looking for consistancy. By eliminating any issues the mag feeding may cause you can narrow down a problem. If you don't get any fliers hand feeding, it was the mag causing the issue.

I suggest PRI mags as well. I use them for my 6mm predator and they are awesome.