Golf ball / Can Shooter Issues

[JohnnyMac]

I recently purchased the F5 launcher but because I was deployed on a military ship, I just did finally get home to try it yesterday.

I am not super AR savvy so looking for suggestions from some of you ex-spurts. I attached the ball shooter to my existing AR's lower and bought a new BCG/charging handle so it would have its own dedicated. Only thing I didn't do is install a forward assist in the upper (didn't realize it had one so on order now). Not sure if this would cause any issues.

So my problem is that the blank rounds are not ejecting and are actually getting stuck in the chamber. The first couple I was able to pull the charging handle and cycle the action to extract them however the rounds progressively got worse to the point I had to smack the charging handle with a rubber mallet to get the BCG to extract the last round I shot. I have only ran about a dozen rounds through it and am at a point I don't want to mess anything up by continuing to shoot it.

Ideas?

*Edit to add - I reached out to the company and it looks like they are going to send me a new one. Maybe a manufacturing issue?*

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[Martini_Up]

Using M200?

what is your buffer?

can you cycle rounds without firing, just using the CH?

check the gas tube, is it loose / jenky?

 

[Member 53328]

Shooting blanks. Lol.

 

[MacReady]

Ya that was my question too; does it cleanly cycle the rounds manually?
Ive wondered before how well the chamber is cut on these things. Is it done fast and sloppy since theyre just dedicated uppers meant only for blanks? Id peek with a flashlight to see if theres any burrs or rough tooling marks.

 

[lucusloc]

Were you trying to cycle it with something in the launcher? One possibility might be an over-pressure issue. I do not own one so I have no idea what kind of action they use, but a few of them out there look like they are some kind of blowback. If yours is the same it will probably require you to "tune" the firearm with the mass of your projectile.

 

[bcp]

Are you using blank cartridges intended for use in a starter pistol, or are you using nail gun blanks which have different power levels?

Bruce

 

[doninoregon]

I have a couple of dedicated .22 golf ball launchers and I find that the crimped .22 blank (Powerload) cases expand so much that they need to be manually extracted.

 

[JohnnyMac]

To answer a few questions:

- It will cycle unfired rounds, although it doesn't fully seat the round into the chamber without some help on most attempts.
- The rounds that are ejected have marks/scuffs dents like it isn't smooth.
- A look into the chamber shows it's pretty rough. (See pics)
- The rounds I'm using came with it so I assume they're not for nail guns.

 

[kmk1012]

To answer a few questions:

- It will cycle unfired rounds, although it doesn't fully seat the round into the chamber without some help on most attempts.
- The rounds that are ejected have marks/scuffs dents like it isn't smooth.
- A look into the chamber shows it's pretty rough. (See pics)
- The rounds I'm using came with it so I assume they're not for nail guns.

View attachment 1761042 View attachment 1761043 View attachment 1761044

Wow, that chamber looks like I gave a 5 year old a hand drill and had them cut it.

 

[Yarome]

To answer a few questions:

- It will cycle unfired rounds, although it doesn't fully seat the round into the chamber without some help on most attempts.
- The rounds that are ejected have marks/scuffs dents like it isn't smooth.
- A look into the chamber shows it's pretty rough. (See pics)
- The rounds I'm using came with it so I assume they're not for nail guns.

View attachment 1761042 View attachment 1761043 View attachment 1761044

That chamber is F-ugly!! It's good they are sending you a replacement, but I would certainly inspect the new one's chamber to ensure the first one was actually just someone sleeping on the job and slipped through.

 

[Yarome]

Wow, that chamber looks like I gave a 5 year old a hand drill and had them cut it.

This!

I'm not even sure what the mfg could possibly be using to cut a chamber that ugly... without "trying" to.

 

[MacReady]

Yep exactly as I suspected, that chamber is god awful and then some. Thats the culprit right there ...How that got through QC and their front doors is beyond me! Glad they rectified it for you though because thats inexcusable.

 

[JohnnyMac]

If any of you have one of these maybe you could take a pic of yours for comparison?

 

[Augustus]

Same issues you are having. I believe blanks were made to cycle in a normal chamber while using a blank adapter on the end of the barrel.
The problem as I see it, is this chamber does not have the same profile of a standard chamber. The lack of any locking lugs and proper feed ramps allow the blank to feed out of the mag feed lips at a angle that will l not chamber correctly. In my opinion that is what is denting the case. The lack of locking lugs is concerning both for feeding issues and safety.
As far as ejecting the cases, mine stick as well and had powder residue back behind the shoulder of the spent case. If a case gets stuck in a bad way there is no way to run a brass rod down the barrel to dislodge it. So far, I regret having bought it.

 

[kmk1012]

Same issues you are having. I believe blanks were made to cycle in a normal chamber while using a blank adapter on the end of the barrel.
The problem as I see it, is this chamber does not have the same profile of a standard chamber. The lack of any locking lugs and proper feed ramps allow the blank to feed out of the mag feed lips at a angle that will l not chamber correctly. In my opinion that is what is denting the case. The lack of locking lugs is concerning both for feeding issues and safety.
As far as ejecting the cases, mine stick as well and had powder residue back behind the shoulder of the spent case. If a case gets stuck in a bad way there is no way to run a brass rod down the barrel to dislodge it. So far, I regret having bought it.

View attachment 1777275

I got your PM earlier but had a council meeting to attend. The one I received needed some "massage" work as the chamber was very rough. We used a drill and some compound to smooth it out.

 

[JohnnyMac]

I received my new one but have yet to try it out. A look down the chamber does show some of the same ugliness the last one had. I am hopeful it works a little better but not very confident.

 

[GrayGoose]

Shooting blanks. Lol.