Wolf steel case? Its probably the ammo, they're training rounds for malfunction drills. I've tried to shoot wolf and tulamo steel case in a variety of ARs and it's made them single shot rifles for the most part. At first I thought it was the buffer but different weights didn't help at all. My rifles are kept clean and well lubed, that's not the problem either.
I've never had luck with any kind of steel case .223 or .556. Same with .380 but wolf 9mm has been mostly reliable. Go figure.

My very first AR was like that. Turned out that the bolt was not moving freely in the carrier, as if it was seized up at the gas rings, and yes, it was super dry.

Update: So I managed to get out in the yard at lunch and shoot a few rounds. I took down the rifle, and disassembled the bolt carrier group just to be sure the extractor was aligned properly etc. I had done this before for my own learning and thought perhaps I could have messed up something. But all was as it should be except the lack of lube as you guys mentioned.

First I shot 10 rounds of Sig Elite Performance, brass 5.56 55 grain FMJ. No issues, the bolt locked back on empty also, which makes me happy. Then I tried the Wolf .223 steel case 55 gr. First 5 rounds shot fine but bolt didn't lock. Next I shot 2 rounds and had a short stroke as in my original pic. Then I had a double feed but I'm thinking that was my own fault. In my haste to eject the short stroke round I may have loaded another in the chamber, then repeated in error. I didn't think that I made that mistake but it is entirely possible.

I shot 5 rounds a couple more times. I had one more short stroke, one that went perfectly with the bolt even locking back, and 1 group that the bolt didn't lock but no other malfunctions.

So clearly the issue isn't my rifle but lube seems to be the biggest issue and ammo the next. I'm hoping with more rounds the issues will decrease. I'll use the Wolf when plinking in the yard and the Sig when I go to finally zero it in. I don't have the distance to do any serious shooting on my property (yet).

Someone asked about the fixed mag, it's a P-mag that is pinned in somehow. I can't really see how it's locked in place. Theoretically you would have to take it down to reload, well open it up anyhow. But of course the ingenuity of people has come up with an alternative...

Sounds like the Wolff Ammo is indeed underpowered. The failure to lock back with that ammo, but proper function with the Sig ammo is very telling.

I don't know how much of that Wolff ammo you have...I wouldn't buy any more...but if you have a bunch, it wouldn't surprise me if you start to see better reliability out of it now that the gun is properly lubed and starts to wear in.

That mag loader from Mean Arms is a cool solution to an idiotic human created problem...basically a 90-degree stripper clip. I have some of their 9mm conversion pmags, and they are awesome. I also saw a video a while back about a roller-delayed 9mm AR upper that they are working on. I've been very impressed with them as a company.

I lube my AR like a bike chain: slop it on and let the excess fling off while it runs.

Bruce

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
A smooth-running AR is like good sex: Clean or dirty, it's gotta be wet.

Hahaha, made me laugh boss.

First issue I see is lack of lube-you should be able to see the oil...wet not wiped on then off.... oil it up, get a spray can of remlube/hoppes/clp, hose it down, if there is too much on it-it will sling off after the first round.

Second, don’t use steel cased ammo. Ever.

From that photo you're running a pretty dry AR. You should be able to see visable oil on the gas rings, and on the locking lugs and bolt body. I've seen numerous AR's that wouldn't run on steel cased ammo at all, so I'm not suprised it short stroked with that lack of lube. Also, not all AR's will run on anyone's steel cased ammo, so break that rifle in with brass cased SAAMI spec ammo, then try the steel cased stuff again.