coyote wacker wrote:Before next time you go to the range get a number drill index and take a cordless drill motor with some oil to open up the gas hole....
That's what I wound up doing in the name of expedience, with a Rifle length as system barrel that I had. Once I found the magic port size, it has run reliably ever since.
Barrel manufacturers need to test their barrels before passing them into the customer stream. Clearly, that is not happening as we keep seeing threads along this line. That having been said. With new systems that simply need to be run in, in order to slick up their mating surfaces, gas port enlargement should not automatically be the first stop in ensuring proper cycling. This is especially important in systems where the majority of components are simply phosphated. Systems that are
NiB plated or which use some other slick technology, don't need as much or any run in to get them into a reliable state of operation. With my original first Bushy upper, which had a matte, manganese phosphate finish, I rubbed MoS2 powder into the pores of the mating surfaces a couple of times and its characteristic changed from
scrapy, scratchy, grindy, to slippery smooth cycling after doing so. That was before components were readily available with more slick finishes. Bottom line is: Don't mistake the need for running in with an inadequate gas system or poorly conceived buffer and spring combination. Save those diagnoses until after the system has been smoothed up. That can help save from the need to go with an adjustable gas block later. More importantly though is the fact that manufacturers need to test what they sell. The consumer should not be their Quality Control department.
Hoot