StealthyBlagga

You are preaching to the choir my friend. If you look closely at the 4th photo in my original post, you can just see that I put a piece of piano wire inside the roll pin to beef it up. Its a PITA to install this way, but I have not had a roll pin break since.

DONE - 60 seconds with a swiss file, and it looks OK. I'll post my shooting results when I get around to test firing it.

Your guess is as good as mine. This gun has had thousands of round of Estate ammo through it without a problem, but then I use up one box of Federal ammo and this happens. Although the photo above is not that clear, the rear of the rim of the Federal shotshell is noticably squarer/sharper, and could have caused the damage, but after only 25 shells ??? When the new shell lifter arrives, I want to compare its shape and angle with the old one to see if the hump somehow got bent in and made it more vulnerable to being beaten on by the shells as they fed out of the mag tube. Most likely the damage has been there for a while (I only remove the trigger group for cleaning twice a year), and the sharp rim of this Federal ammo just precipitated the problem to crisis level. At least it was only a local match... the SMM3G was not that long ago.

In a local 3-gun match yesterday, my Remington 11-87 shotgun, which normally runs like a Swiss watch, suffered the mother of all malfunctions. I was able to replicate this "death jam" and photograph it: After an eternity, and with the RO's vocabulary of British expletives considerably expanded, I managed to clear the malf and complete the stage. Today I stripped the gun down to find out what went wrong. The photos below clearly show the problem, which was caused by a bur on the side of the shell lifter: I suspect the failure was precipitated by the Walmart Federal shotshells I was using up (someone gave them to me - normally I use Estate shotshells), but probably this has been a problem in the making for a while. I finished the stage with Estate ammo, and the gun ran OK. I suspect the Federal load was more prone to this malfunction because the base of the rim is noticably less rounded. The photo below shows the rim of a Federal shotshell (right) compared to my usual Estate shotshell (left): For the moment I'm going to clean up the damaged area with a file, and I'll order a replacement shell lifter. I'm not looking forward to refitting the EZ Loader, but a new shell lifter is probably a surer repair than TIG welding the damaged area of the existing lifter. If removing the bur with a file restores the gun to acceptable reliability, I may even install a completely new lifter and EZ Loader, and keep the repaired lifter/EZ Loader as a pre-assembled spare part. Does anyone know what exactly this hump on the side of the shell lifter actually does ? I'd guess it just guides the shells into the chamber and away from the ejection port - right ? If anyone here has ever encountered this kind of jam before, chime in. I suggest you guys who shoot Remington autoloaders periodically check this area of your guns to be sure you don't suffer the same fate.

How to paracord wrap your FF tube: 1) Obtain paracord of your chosen color. I recommend "real" 550 parachute cord, with white strands inside a colored outer sheath, rather than the braided stuff you get at WalMart. 2) Cut the paracord to length. For a plain-vanilla aluminum FF tube, you will need about 4 feet of paracord for every inch of tube you want to cover. Once cut, heat-seal the ends to prevent fraying. 3) Cut another length of paracord to approximately 18" long, fold in half, and then tie a knot with the loose ends to create a loop about 9" long. 4) Soak the longer length of paracord (from step 2) in water until its saturated, then shake off the excess water. 5) Starting with one cut end of the wet paracord near the middle of the FF tube, lay the paracord lengthwise along the tube towards the end you want to start wrapping. Now start wrapping the paracord around the tube, keeping things as tight as you can and working your way towards the opposite end. The wrapping will cover the first several inches you had initially layed lengthwise, thus preventing it from unravelling. 6) When you get within about 5" of the end, lay the 9" long loop of paracord lengthwise on the FF tube (knot towards the center of the FF tube), then continue wrapping the paracord so as to cover this loop. This loop needs to protrude about 2" at each end. 7) When you get to the end of the FF tube, insert the loose end of paracord through the protruding loop, and then pull on the opposite end of the loop so that the loose end of paracord is pulled under the wrapping. 8) Cut off any remaining loose ends of paracord, and heat seal. I hope the above is clear. Once the paracord dries, it will tighten down nicely and prevent the wrapping from unravelling. The paracord wrapping on the rifles shown in my post above was done several years ago, and has withstood hard 3-gun use with impunity. It still looks as good as it did the day I put it on. Of all the FF tubes I have ever handled, my paracord wrapping is by far the coolest to hold. I encourage you to try it and see what you are missing.

Paracord FTW ! Cheap, quick, good looking (like me), robust and cool to touch even after a hoser stage in the AZ summer heat:

I really enjoy shooting them, and nothing beats the thrill of multiple flipper clays in the air at the same time. However, flying clays are too difficult to score fairly. If the RO makes a bad call on whether a clay was broken/chipped/dusted, the competitor has no recourse, and the penalty/lost points are significant under both IMGA and IPSC rules. Its not just the RO calls either - even "real" clay traps can cause problems such as prematurely thrown birds (happened to me at RM3G07) or broken birds (which should require the entire stage to be reshot, but mostly ROs give the shooter the hit anyway). I think they are great for local "fun" shoots, but flying clay bird targets should be avoided entirely at big matches.

I concur. While I enjoy shooting flying clays as much as the next guy, they cannot be scored fairly (either under IMGA or IPSC rules) and so I would prefer to see them deleted from practical shooting competition. If people want to shoot flying clays, the world is awash with trap, skeet and sporting clays shooting venues.

I mostly shoot matches under IMGA rules which stipulate maximum magazine load of 20 rounds. This means I could start each stage with 20+1 in the gun, and I cannot envision a situation where I would willingly load less rounds than permitted. Indeed, I frequently shoot stages where every round counts, and that missing round could be a significnat disadvantage. The DPMS 19-rounders are so close to accepting 20 rounds that it seems modifying the follower and/or spring should allow me to get 20 rounds in the mag. I am just hoping someone has done this and can share advice. If not, I guess I'll have to look at the problem myself, or buy 20-rounders from elsewhere (e.g. C-Products) and shelve the DPMS mags (or TIG them into a monster mag, as Benny suggests). ETA: Thanks Kurt... I'll give it a shot.

Has anyone modified their DPMS 19-round 308 magazines to hold the full 20 rounds ? Any tips on how to do this mod ?

Correct - NEITHER of these circumstances has EVER happened to me (and I have been shooting an AR15 in 3-gun for 10 years). Being a double-feed mag, the rounds stack in a predictable and known orientation. The top round in a GI mag loaded with 30-rounds should always be on the right side. If on the left, I know it is not properly loaded, and can tell if its over-loaded or underloaded by pressing down on the top rounds. A fully-loaded GI 30-rounder will allow the top round to push down about 3/16". If a round is on the right and pushes in too far, then it is clearly not loaded to capacity. If you like drilling holes in your mags, then go nuts. I live in AZ and so am unusually paranoid about the risk of getting sand in my mags. If you live in wetter climes, you might benefit from drain holes .

I just push down on the top few rounds... its pretty clear if the mag is full to capacity or not. What is the point of knowing if you have 20 or 25 rounds in the mag ? I can't imagine any situation where I would willingly walk to the line without every mag on my person loaded to capacity. That way lies madness.

I shoot 55 grainers exclusively (Federal American Eagle). It works for me even out towards 500yds.

Just a comment. My 11 year old son has a 20ga Rem 870 Youth. Its great for him, but when I load it the loading port is REALLY small for my adult-size thumb. If you have big hands, check this out before buying.

I agree. Under IMGA rules, one often encounters target arrays greater than 8 shots... if it is an advantage to shoot 11 targets from one position, then an 11-shot gun saves me a standing reload. When you have this capability, its amazine how often you find an opportunity to utilize it.

The side-cocker might be helpful if you are planning on clearing lots of malfunctions from the prone position. Otherwise, I don't see it being any quicker than a standard charging handle. Personally, I did not like the ergonomics, but then again I only handled one once. Just my 2 cents worth.

I shoot exclusively under IMGA rules. My Tactical shotgun has a 10+1 tube on it. I start stages with only 9 loaded, of course, but often (in maybe 40% of stages) I find it to be an advantage to stuff in extra rounds and be able to fire more than 9 from one position. Sometimes it allows me to shoot a stage in a different and more efficient way, other times it just gives me that extra shot to make up a miss without having to do a standing reload. Sure, the gun is a little longer, but I don't feel its that big of a disadvantage. Mag capacity greater than 8 +1 is a significant advantage IMHO.

All of the above would work.

Thanks for all the tips guys. I also used a level, on the top of the Pic rail and on the flat of the vertical adjustment assembly (in hindsight, using the underside would have been smarter). I did not need to shim the scope, as it bore sighted perfectly right off the bat. I only needed a cvouple of clicks to get spot on at 200 .

Ahhh, $$$ is always the limitation. I'm glad you got to the bottom of the problem.

The easy solution is to replace the upper receiver with a new one of the correct configuration... its only a $100 part. Of course, this may be more complicated and costly for you, depending on your local laws. Good luck.

Do you see marks where the bullet tip is hitting the upper receiver ? If so, the best solution would be to change to an M4 upper receiver. If you just dremel the aluminium without re-anodizing, there will be a soft spot where the bullet tip hits.

Another possible cause could be slow cartridge lift in the magazine, as it looks like you have a bolt-over-cartridge malfunction. Normally this would be isolated to one magazine only, and would typically be caused by dirt or a weak magazine spring but, looking at your location, could this be a lube and temperature related issue ? Could lubricant in the magazine be slowing the cartridge lift ? Are the inside of the mag and buffer tube degreased and unlubed ? Maybe try graphite instead ? Just a thought. The same could be a problem with lube in the buffer tube... some people put grease on their buffer spring to reduce the "sproing" sound, and it could be slowing things down for you.

Maybe, but I would expect a problem to be visible, or at least a bur you could feel with your finger. Does your barrel extension have M4 feedramps (i.e. cuts that go down to the aluminium of the upper receiver) or rifle feedramps that are only in the extension itself... see photo below (courtesy AR15barrels.com) ? Is there any evidence of damage or roughness on the offending side ?

As we can see the bullet cannelure, it does not look like setback. My vote would be for something reducing the forward force of the bolt (weak buffer spring, dirty/damaged buffer tube, bent charging handle etc.). I don't suppose you changed anything else recently, like the mag release ?