The AR-15 platform, known for its reliability and versatility, is popular among shooters for various applications, from sport shooting to home defense. However, like any mechanical system, it is not immune to malfunctions. Whether at the range or in a critical situation, experiencing a malfunction can be frustrating and, at times, dangerous if not handled properly. Understanding the most common issues and knowing how to quickly and effectively clear them is essential for any AR-15 owner.
In this article, we’ll explore the most common AR-15 malfunctions, such as failure to feed, failure to eject, and double feeds, along with practical tips on addressing each one. These troubleshooting techniques can help ensure your rifle operates smoothly, reducing downtime and keeping you target focused. Always remember to prioritize safety when diagnosing and clearing any firearm malfunction.
Live Inventory Price Checker
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LWRC IC-SPR 16.1" .223 Rem/5.56 AR-15 Rifle, Patriot Brown - ICR5PBC16SPR | Palmetto State Armory | $ 2589.99 |
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LWRC IC-SPR 16.1" .223 Rem/5.56 AR-15 Rifle, Patriot Brown - ICR5PBC16SPR | Palmetto State Armory | $ 2589.99 |
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Colt .223 Rem/5.56 AR-15 Rifle - AR15A4 | Palmetto State Armory | $ 1293.99 $ 956.99 |
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Colt .223 Rem/5.56 AR-15 Rifle - AR15A4 | Palmetto State Armory | $ 1293.99 $ 956.99 |
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Safety First
Before diving into specific malfunctions, it’s important to emphasize the need for safety. If your AR-15 doesn’t fire as expected, remove your finger from the trigger and ensure the firearm is pointed in a safe direction. Avoid attempting to force the weapon to function. Instead, take a moment to assess the situation calmly. With experience, diagnosing and clearing malfunctions will become second nature, but taking it slow and steady is the safest approach for now.
Before we get into the list of the most common malfunctions, check out the following video by Pat McNamara on handling the most common rifle malfunctions. He breaks it down into an easy-to-understand format that everyone can understand.
Failure to Feed (FTF)
Failure to Feed (FTF) is one of the most common malfunctions encountered by AR-15 users. It occurs when a round from the magazine fails to load into the chamber. This malfunction can happen unexpectedly, whether it’s the first shot of the day or midway through a magazine. The good news is that most failure-to-feed issues are straightforward to diagnose and resolve.
Quick Fix:
Tap, Rack, Reassess: Tap the magazine to ensure it’s seated, rack the charging handle to chamber a round, and reassess the rifle’s readiness to fire. If the problem persists, switch out the magazine and check for worn-out springs or bent feed lips.
Preventative Tip: Regularly inspect your magazines. For reliable performance, consider using trusted options like Magpul Gen 3 PMAGs or D&H metal magazines. Why these? The D&H mags don’t just stand up to the challenge; they’re built for it, with anti-tilt followers and a gray Teflon finish that withstands temperature changes and environmental challenges like a champ.
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Magpul PMAG GEN 2 MOE AR-15 .223/5.56 30 Round Magazine (50 Pack Case) | The Mag Shack | $ 649.99 $ 449.99 |
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Magpul PMAG GEN M3 AK/AKM 7.62x39 30 Round Magazine (10 Pack) | The Mag Shack | $ 229.99 |
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Magpul PMAG GEN M3 AR-10 .308/7.62x51 25 Round Window Magazine (10 Pack) | The Mag Shack | $ 249.99 $ 184.99 |
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Magpul PMAG GEN M3 AR-10 .308/7.62x51 20 Round Magazine (10 Pack) - Black | The Mag Shack | $ 229.99 $ 189.99 |
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As a Marine infantryman, I’ve carried the M16/M4 across the globe and fired thousands of rounds through them. This experience hasn’t just made me a better shooter; it’s shown me firsthand how often gear can fail, especially magazines. Most malfunctions? They came down to issues with the mags—worn out from use, bent feed lips, damaged followers, or springs that just couldn’t cut it anymore. The fix was usually simple: swap out the faulty magazine. More often than not, that was all it took to get back in action.
Failure to Eject/Extract (FTE)
Failure to Eject (FTE), also known as a “stovepipe” malfunction, occurs when the empty cartridge case of a fired round fails to exit the chamber and gets stuck, usually protruding from the ejection port. Similarly, a Failure to Extract happens when the bolt successfully extracts the spent casing from the chamber but fails to eject it completely, leaving it trapped in the rifle. Both types of malfunctions prevent the next round from being chambered.
Quick Fix:
Immediate Action: Lock the bolt to the rear, drop the magazine, and tilt the rifle to shake out the casing. If stuck, use a cleaning rod to push it out from the muzzle.
Preventative Tip: Regularly clean your bolt carrier group and chamber to prevent carbon buildup. Ensure the extractor and ejector springs are in good condition.
Failure to Fire (FTF)
Failure to Fire (FTF) occurs when the shooter pulls the trigger, but instead of the expected “bang,” there is only a disappointing “click.” This malfunction can be caused by various factors, ranging from ammunition issues to mechanical problems within the rifle. This includes rounds with improperly seated bullets, damaged casings, or bad primers.
Understanding the root causes of FTF and how to address them can save time and prevent unnecessary frustration at the range or in a critical situation.
Quick Fix:
Eject the round and check the primer for a light or absent strike.
Reload and chamber a new round. If the rifle still doesn’t fire, inspect the bolt and firing pin for damage or dirt buildup.
Preventative Tip: Use quality ammunition and keep your rifle clean and lubricated to ensure reliable firing.
Over-Gassed and Under-Gassed Rifles
Whether your AR-15 is over- or under-gassed, gas system issues can lead to a range of malfunctions that affect your rifle’s reliability and performance. Understanding the symptoms and causes of each condition is crucial for diagnosing and resolving related malfunctions effectively.
Over-gassed symptoms: Harsh recoil and failure to eject properly.
Under-gassed symptoms: Failure to lock the bolt back or weak ejection.
Quick Fixes:
Over-Gassed: Install an adjustable gas block or use heavier buffers and springs to slow down the cycling.
Under-Gassed: Check gas block alignment and use higher-quality ammunition. You may also need to switch to a lighter buffer and spring.
Preventative Tip: Keep your gas system clean and consider using an adjustable gas block to fine-tune the system for your ammo and shooting conditions.
Double Feeds
A double feed occurs when two rounds attempt to enter the chamber simultaneously, causing a jam. This usually happens when a live round is stuck behind a previously fired round or its empty casing. Faulty magazines, weak springs, or extractor and ejector failures can cause double feeds.
Quick Fix:
Drop the magazine, lock the bolt to the rear, and use your fingers or a tool to remove the obstructing rounds. After clearing the jam, insert a fresh magazine and cycle the bolt.
Preventative Tip: Ensure your magazine springs are strong and avoid overloading your magazines to reduce tension-related failures.
Bolt Override
A bolt override is a rare but serious malfunction where a live round or spent casing gets stuck above the bolt and below the charging handle. This type of jam can be particularly challenging to clear.
Quick Fix:
Drop the magazine, pull the charging handle back, and lock the bolt to the rear. While keeping pressure on the charging handle, strike the butt of the rifle on a hard surface to dislodge the obstruction.
Preventative Tip: Ensure your ejector and extractor are functioning properly and keep your rifle clean to avoid buildup that could lead to a bolt override.
Stovepipe Malfunction
A stovepipe malfunction, named for how the spent casing sticks vertically out of the ejection port like a stovepipe, occurs when the empty casing fails to fully clear the rifle during ejection. This can disrupt the cycle of operations and prevent the next round from being chambered. Although stovepipes are relatively easy to fix, repeated occurrences can indicate underlying issues that need to be addressed.
Quick Fix:
To eject the casing, perform the “tap, rack, reassess” drill. If it’s still stuck, manually lock the bolt to the rear and clear the obstruction.
Preventative Tip: Keep your rifle clean, especially the bolt carrier group, and ensure your ejector functions correctly. If this happens frequently, consider upgrading your ejector spring.
Conclusion
Experiencing these AR-15 malfunctions can be frustrating, but understanding the most common issues and how to address them will help you become a more proficient and confident shooter. Regular maintenance, proper cleaning, and using quality components are key to minimizing these malfunctions.
From failure to feed to stovepipe malfunctions, each issue has specific causes and solutions. By familiarizing yourself with these troubleshooting techniques, you can quickly diagnose and clear malfunctions, ensuring your rifle remains functional.
About Scott Witner
Scott Witner is a former Marine Corps Infantryman with 2ndBn/8th Marines. He completed training in desert warfare at the Marine Air Ground Combat Center, Mountain Warfare and survival at the Mountain Warfare Training Center, the South Korean Mountain Warfare School in Pohang, and the Jungle Warfare school in the jungles of Okinawa, Japan. He now enjoys recreational shooting, trail running, hiking, functional fitness, and working on his truck. Scott resides in Northeastern Ohio.
Don’t be afraid to put oil on the bolt carrier and bolt and reapply as needed since oil will blow out during firing. A dry rifle will bind some when the components heat up. Oil on the mags lip works too. As stated, the biggest offender are damaged mags.
You know nothing about guns. You don’t oil mags! And you make it sound as though people should pour oil on the BCG! Only a numbskull does that. You put a LITTLE CLP on the bolt carrier key base, the cam pin, the extractor, and the firing pin. And a little CLP to the hammer, and hammer springs and safety.
And EVEN less than a LITTLE if you’re in a cold or dusty/sandy environment.
NEVER OIL MAGS!!!!
You are a numbskull woketard that doesn’t know anything about guns. You’re a fake vet aka STOLEN VALOR. AND YOU ARE NUTS!
If you have a blued steel magazine and don’t occasionally wipe it down with an oily rag it will rust. Period. End of story.
SOME
MAGS
NEED
TO
BE
OILED
And you, Mr. Nagger, apparently are not the expert you see yourself to be.
Hey I’ve been promoted! You called me mister instead of kid!!!
Back to your point, yes, you’re correct. But the article is about AR15 magazines, and those are nowadays, polymer… You know, things like Magpul, Lancer, and so forth.
I do find it amusing, you dislike me so, yet you can’t help yourself from reading and responding to my comments. You are rather silly.
Check the springs in those plastic mags. let us know if they should be wiped down with oil or not.
I don’t disassemble my mags. Shoot them. And they keep working. Don’t oil them either, that’ll just make them collect crud.
Belly laughs all around, the mags are the weakest part of the rifle numbskull. When you fire a round, it burns powder and deposits crud (Carbon) on your mags and rifle in the form of ash from the powder.
What about carbon buildup?
Do you clean your guns and mags of carbon? Carbon is considered a non-metal element.15 Interesting Facts about Carbon Measuring amounts of the radioactive isotope Carbon-14 can help us to determine the age of things such as archaeological artifacts and ancient documents. Carbon nanotubes are one of the strongest materials in the world and have been proposed as a possible building material for some wild inventions such as a space elevator. All life as we know it is based on carbon. Over 10 million compounds that we know of so far can be formed by carbon, more than any other element.… Read more »
The list… you’re welcome.
Metals are essential for normal body functioning, including:
Once again, the don’t know-it-all strikes, M16 mags were made of steel, aluminum, and now plastic, my 20 round mags are all steel and some 30 round mags. The base plate and spring are steel and require oiling or rust forms. Take a look at your mags lips and you’ll find a bright spot on the lip due to the bolt or carrier is making contact during cycling, that causes friction, oil it. During cold weather training we used a dry lube on the weapons and kept a small bottle of oil inside our jackets to apply to the bolt… Read more »
If you read the article, it’s about AR15’s not M16’s. So your comment is irrelevant.
Wait, so now it depends on a certain weapon platform? Correct me if I’m wrong here but the AR15 and M16, M16A1, M16A2 or M4 rifle are the same except the AR15 is semi-auto only, correct? Are the mags not interchangeable if using 5.56 ammo?
A professional soldier such as yourself would know, that M16A4’s and M4’s are service rifles, not civilian rifles. Therefore they are issues with military magazines. Soldiers therefore have less leeway with magazine choice then civilians, who can pick any brand/type/material etc.
So, yes, a professional such as yourself would know, that both military M16A4/M4’s can take the civilian magazines, they are not ISSUED with all the types civilians can buy.
Oops, wrong again smarty-pants, as usual. BTW, metal mags are still in use too.
The Marine Corps has ordered Leathernecks to use PMAGs for their rifles.PMAG Gen3 Approved by The Marine Corps.
Hint, both platforms have the same mag-well, and the mags are interchangeable.
Does the military issue steel, Magpul Gen 1,2,3, etc, the various Lancer’s, and all the rest? Do soldiers walk into their units armories and pick out the brand and type they want? Or do they get what Uncle Sam issues?
You’ll find this mind-blowing know-it-all. I had two sets of 782 field “Deuce” gear and that included 14 magazines for field gear and “Junk on the bunk” inspections. I also had two sets of clothing for wall locker inspections, one set worn daily and one set kept in plastic bags and containers for IG or commanders’ inspections.
The problems I see most often at the range are caused by dirty chambers, which could be the reason the forward assist is part of most AR-15s. When I see someone using the FA repeatedly I ask if they use a chamber brush, and usually get, “What’s that?”
I have occasional jam not mentioned with my 1999 made Colt HBAR A2 Sporter. It isn’t magazine specific. Instead of the described “bolt override the cartridge feed from the magazine gets jammed under the bolt. I suspect it is due to the per M4 barrel extension’s single feed ramp. Clearing the jam is just as difficult to the override
The initial year of M-16 production the weapon was issued to US forces as a maintenance-free, all weather, combat rifle. And it was the most attractive rifle ever seen. But the flashy system was designed with no forward assist. Therefor when the rifle seized, it required disassembly to correct it. But by then, reports were arriving that the weapon was flawed in a list of aspects. Sensitive to dust, shock, moisture and in instances drenched in seawater [Marines] the weapon had been reported to explode. It was suspected that the United States had mass produced, and then went to war… Read more »
Saw that problem in the Nam ( I was a FO attached to 2/1) in 1969-70. Maybe we got Army castoffs, I dunno, but there were always problems with ours. Not only the M-16, the 3.5 RL ammo worked 50% of the time. Why I carried a shorgun.
I was at Quang-Tri and Con Thien 70-72. Shotguns were in big demand up there as well. In fact, shotguns were one of the few bright spots in that entire war.
What make/model did you see most often?
Short barrel Remington pump. Once known as the “riot gun”. The weapon was reserved primarily for squad leaders and platoon sergeants only. At that time, there was no high tech combat shotguns like in the arsenal today.
How’d the Remingtons hold up? Blued I assume? Did they rust instantly? Or did they take the moisture ok?
North Vietnamese forces concentrated outside Quang-Tri feared the Remington shotgun. Anywhere these shotguns were active North Vietnamese were much quicker to break off contact. Unlike the soft, cinderella hitting M-16 that they did not fear. Even today, you hear of very few people being shot with shotguns. And that’s because aggressors either run away or comply. Shotguns make aggressors quit. I watched a North Vietnamese infantry officer take a direct torso hit with an M-16 rifle. By the next week, the guy was observed driving a truck.
So the M193 didn’t yaw on impact?
What were the Remingtons, blued? Parkerized? Did they rust?
And why would an infantry officer be driving a truck a week after being shot in the torso?
I didn’t think officers in any army drove trucks?
How’d you guys know it was him? If he was shot why wasn’t he taken prisoner?
You were never in the service.
The lack of knowledge about the AR platform in this article and comments is quite eye opening..If an AR rifle has any of these listed problems, it is important to send the rifle to a person who knows what the cause of the problem is and knows how to fix it..Tap and rack, installing an adj gas block, and using a different buffer/spring weight is not a fix..If you want a real example of how to diagnose and fix an AR problem, then go to the School of the American rifle YT channel..When built to the TDP spec, the AR… Read more »
How is an adjustable gas block not a fix for incorrect gas pressure? They are particularly handy if one switches between low power 223 (such as PMC gold) and full power 556 – or needs to fire both with and without suppressor. With adjustable block, can tune rifle to whichever setup one is currently using. Same for buffer weight and spring adjustments. These are standard tools for adjusting cycling rate in individual rifles at minimal cost and without requiring tools and knowhow necessary for replacing gas block. Sure if you are under gassed you could drill out gas bleed hole… Read more »
Nothing wrong with adj gas blocks if the person doing the work knows what they are doing and knows how to maintain them..I have many of them on my rifles..They do come with their own problems that most users of them have zero clue about..The only adj gas block on the market that is military ready is the Rifle Speed..A cheaper and easier option is an EZ tune gas tube with the port hole perfectly sized for the ammunition being used..Increasing buffer weight or spring strength rarely fixes the problem and does not fix the over gas issue that can… Read more »