SL8/G36 Conversion Jam Problem

[eltee49]

Used SL8/G36 purchase. Will lock up tight on a round and will take several tries on the cocking lever before the round ejects manually.

On the bench, using dummy ammo, I removed the magwell (uses AR15 mags) and hand fed rounds into the chamber, closed bolt and pulled the trigger. The bolt more often than not (but not always) locked up and took several pulls to eject the round. When the bolt eventually pulls free, the round ejects fine. There are no obvious gouges or marks on the brass. At least I think I eliminated the magwell and mags being the problem.

With no rounds in use, the bolt can be worked pretty freely.

I was intending to have this converted over to use the G36 magwell and mags, but would like to eliminate the bolt locking up problem first. Should I look into a replacement bolt or sending this off to a gunsmith familiar with these conversions?

THANK YOU for any advice or referrals.

[AEnemaBay]

I know this is probably a stupid question but have you throughly cleaned your chamber with a proper chamber brush? It could be a possibility that the previous owner shot Wolf lacquer cased ammo through it, this sometimes can lead to the lacquer from the casings to build up in the locking lug recesses and cause the bolt to stick. This has happened with many AR-15's and since the bolt design of the G36 is based on the M-16/AR-15 then it's not a stretch to assume this could be the problem.

Next thing I can think of is to check the bolt head itself for any burs or protruding metal that has been mushroomed out for some reason or another. This could be causing the bolt to grind and stick to the inside locking lug recesses, this malfunction would not lead to any marks showing up on the casings but could still be the culprit.

[Liquidous]

my first thought would be check the gas piston and operating rod, if they were not working then that would be why the bolt is locked up, because the piston isnt rotating it.

[AEnemaBay]

my first thought would be check the gas piston and operating rod, if they were not working then that would be why the bolt is locked up, because the piston isnt rotating it.

If he's unable to retract the bolt from battery manually then the operating rod and/or gas piston should not be a factor since they do not contact the bolt/bolt carrier group at anytime until the weapon is fired and it has reached that point in the cycle of operation. Now if this problem only occured while he was firing the weapon then I would agree.

[AEnemaBay]

Wow, you know after reading my post to me it seems as though I'm coming off with an attitude. Didn't mean it that way Liquidous, just typing out loud. Respect.

[Liquidous]

Oh I didnt read his post carefully enouph, I thought he was firing live rounds, sorry

[bigdog2003_99]

This has happened with my rifle once or twice, I've found that it only happened when the round wasn't fully seated in the chamber because of dirt or something

[eltee49]

This first happened at the range, the gun was disassembled and cleaned. Now it seems to still be locking up when I cycle hand fed dummy rounds with or without a mag in place.

The bolt "looks" fine with no obvious deformation or galling. It operates pretty smoothly when being hand cycled with no rounds. My guess is it may be a bolt problem but it isn't anything I can easly see.

Are there any gunsmiths around who are familiar with SL8-G36 hybrids?

Thanks for the help so far.

[AEnemaBay]

This first happened at the range, the gun was disassembled and cleaned. Now it seems to still be locking up when I cycle hand fed dummy rounds with or without a mag in place.

The bolt "looks" fine with no obvious deformation or galling. It operates pretty smoothly when being hand cycled with no rounds. My guess is it may be a bolt problem but it isn't anything I can easly see.

Are there any gunsmiths around who are familiar with SL8-G36 hybrids?

Thanks for the help so far.

If I could actually look at it I'm pretty sure I could figure out the problem. As for sending it out to someone I'm not so sure.

[bluetwister]

You say it uses AR mags, meaning you either have an actual G36 bolt or an American made one from you know who. Which is it? Do you have the original SL8 bolt?