Question for Lefty's-have you noticed this?

[copterdrvr]

My first PCC was a dedicated left hand rifle with everything reversed for a Lefty.  Unfortunately it takes Colt mags and I'm just not a fan so I built a new rifle using an FM lower that is for you righties but it uses Glock mags and I don't have any issues with the mag release location.  I also like the DDC side charger and it doesn't work on left side ejection actions so that was another reason for the new build.  Gun runs 100% EXCEPT for the fact that not too long ago I broke a firing pin and replaced it with a titanium pin.

 

ANYWAY, I have two different bolts for my righty PCC-one is the "old style" narrow extractor and the other is the "new style" AR type wide extractor that requires a much wider cut in the bolt face.  What I have found is that because of the much deeper and wider cut in the bolt face, I find that I get a significant increase in the amount of crap that gets thrown back in my face during firing. I'm using Sport Pistol and a light bullet in a really light load and was also wondering if I jazzed the load up a little-would it make a difference?  It's obvious that it's powder that is hitting my face and I'm assuming it's unburnt powder, maybe from not complete combustion?

 

Wondering if any of you Lefty's have noticed the difference in the bolts......

[Walli]

Are you sure it does not have anything to do with different bolt weights? When I compare my SI bolt and my Stern Defense  bolt the difference in weight is quite substantial.

Edited December 24, 2020 by Walli

[Silver_Surfer]

Lefty here.  Blow backs are dirty SOBs. Maybe a cleaner powder & a jacketed bullet will help?

[Bdh821]

Also a southie...  I’m sure it’s not as dirty of a gun to clean as a MPX.  I guess I don’t understand why lefty vs righty gun would make a difference on carbon build up. I mean I’m sure the gun isn’t like “yeah you dumb lefty, let’s leave more crap in your gun!!”

 

I have 0 useful input to add to the convo

 

But personally I’m not a fan of “lefty” guns cuz if s#!t breaks nobody has replacement parts. 

[copterdrvr]

I think you missed the point.... What I'm referring to is the fact that a right handed shooter shooting any AR has the ejection port to the RIGHT of his aiming eye and debris ejected from the ejection port is thrown out to the RIGHT of the shooters eye.  Being a Lefty and using the newer style bolt, I get a crapload of stuff hitting my face during a shooting event and that is because the ejection port is IN LINE with my RIGHT EYE which causes the debris from the chamber to be thrown directly into my face.  The two bolts I have are the same weight and I am positive that the issue is because of the fact that the "new" bolt" has a much deeper cut that allows debris to fly past the cut directly into the right side of my face...

[RangerTrace]

I'm a lefty as well.  I've got a 5.5" 9mm AR/SBR that I run with an Octane9 suppressor.  If I run hot duty ammo, it will give me lots of tiny black freckles........

[GrumpyOne]

25 minutes ago, RangerTrace said:

I'm a lefty as well.  I've got a 5.5" 9mm AR/SBR that I run with an Octane9 suppressor.  If I run hot duty ammo, it will give me lots of tiny black freckles........

I shoot a pistol right handed, but a long gun left handed. The first time (back about 35 years ago) that I shot an AR, I looked in the mirror the next morning and saw a bunch of circular burn marks on the right side of my face...

[copterdrvr]

Hate to say it but I'm glad to hear that because it corroborates my recent experiences.

[Silver_Surfer]

Does your upper have a brass deflector? Heck I never got hit with any of my ARs

[Southpaw]

Add a gas deflector.  It helps with this a lot.

 

 

[Flatland Shooter]

Hey Southpaw, will that deflector fit any upper receiver or does it need to be mounted on a 9mm only upper? 

 

Thanks.

[GrumpyOne]

1 hour ago, Silver_Surfer said:

Does your upper have a brass deflector? Heck I never got hit with any of my ARs

That was 35 years ago, and wasn't my AR...IIRC, it was an old Colt AR...I have no idea if it had a deflector...the one I have now does.

[Silver_Surfer]

14 minutes ago, GrumpyOne said:

That was 35 years ago, and wasn't my AR...IIRC, it was an old Colt AR...I have no idea if it had a deflector...the one I have now does.

SO I'm old! my SP1/A1 neva hit me with brass

 

And then there's this.

Edited December 25, 2020 by Silver_Surfer

[Southpaw]

1 hour ago, Flatland Shooter said:

Hey Southpaw, will that deflector fit any upper receiver or does it need to be mounted on a 9mm only upper? 

 

Thanks.

 

It's designed for a standard AR upper receiver.  It should fit on any upper that accepts the normal ejection port door.  Many dedicated 9mm uppers have smaller ejection ports or no ejection port doors so they won't accept them.  I wouldn't want a 9mm AR without the gas deflector as I really feel the difference when shooting one without it. 

 

I like using the Aero upper receiver without the forward assist.  I find the forward assist gets in the way of ambi charging handles so use this upper on 9mm and .223 ARs.  https://www.aeroprecisionusa.com/ar15-stripped-upper-receiver-no-fa

[Southpaw]

1 hour ago, GrumpyOne said:

That was 35 years ago, and wasn't my AR...IIRC, it was an old Colt AR...I have no idea if it had a deflector...the one I have now does.

 

The first time I shot an AR 20+ years ago was a Colt SP-1 that doesn't have the brass deflector.  I was wearing a fleece jacket and after shooting noticed a piece of brass had melted into my right sleeve and was stuck on the jacket by the case mouth

[copterdrvr]

All of my AR's (except the Lefty 9mm colt mag model) are the standard right hand version. I have them in 6.5 Creedmoor, 300 Blackout, .224 Valkyrie, 223 Wylde and the 9mm AR that I have been describing.  I don't have any issues with ANY of them to include the 9mm UNTIL I install the 9mm bolt that has the "new style" AR extractor which uses a much wider and deeper cut in the bolt face for the wider, AR style extractor.

 

Silver Surfer, where did you get that deflector????

 

 

[Southpaw]

Yeah there's more gas from the 9mm since it's a blowback.  CMMG and Colt make that gas deflector I and Silver Surfer posted.  CMMG changed the design a few years ago, the one I posted is newer design.  If you prefer the look of the older design Brownells sells the Colt parts.  The CMMG one is available from lots of places, here's a few quick ones I found from googling.  I wouldn't trust the stock picture they use on the website though.  If it's a CMMG then it's probably the newer design.

 

https://9mmar.com/cmmg-ejection-port-cover-kit-with-gas-deflector/

https://www.jsesurplus.com/cmmg9mmdeflector.aspx

https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_info.php/products_id/714018149

https://gun.deals/search/apachesolr_search/815835016436?is_firearms_wikiarms=0

 

[copterdrvr]

Thanks Southpaw-I ordered the CMMG kit.

[SteelCityShooter]

I'm also a lefty and, while I'm not sure what the design of the JP. GMR-15's extractor is, I have never had gas problems using mine. 

 

Perhaps, more fundamentally, is there any reason you can't go back to the old, narrow extractor bolt and eliminate the problem at its source?  Does the new bolt solve any problem that justifies the new one it produced?

[copterdrvr]

You are correct SCS, I AM using the original bolt until I get the gas deflector. I had purchased two bolts with the new style extractor for another upper build of my own and for a friend I'm building a gun for.  I would ASSUME (maybe incorrectly) that the new style extractor would be an overall higher reliability part due to the fact that it is SIGNIFICANTLY larger than the original AR9 style extractor and would be better suited to grab and remove "difficult" cases and would last longer before failing.

 

I've had ZERO issues with the "old style" extractor, just always looking at ways to improve reliability in the long run. I do enjoy using the "old style" bolt as I get no appreciable particle blowback and if there's not a history of the original style extractors failing, I'll probably continue to use it on the PCC I use for USPSA.

[copterdrvr]

This is what I'm referring to.....  The bolt on the left is the "new style" extractor and the bolt on the right is a true "left hand bolt" with the old style extractor so that I could put the side with the extractor on the same side of the bolt facing end to end.  I guess I was just surprised at how that different cut on the bolt would make such a huge impact on the amount of crap I would feel on my face....

 

 

[copterdrvr]

I guess that what I really want to do is educate future Lefty builders to take into account the differences between the two bolts and the "feedback" you will receive if you choose one over the other. The only guns I shoot without glasses are my PRS bolt guns-everything else is with glasses.  If I was going to keep an AR9 in the bedroom for defense, it would be with the "old style" bolt, but the pistol grip pump shotgun that compliments the two 9mm pistols we have, works just fine so I 'll stick with that.

[rowdyb]

The wider cut naturally allows more to escape underneath it. You should always expect more gunk to fly out from around the extractor with it like that. That is the path of least resistance and it is 2x the size of what you were dealing with before.

[copterdrvr]

Exactly!

 

[cecil]

i guess that is why there is LH and RH .. rifles...