New to AR's and having problems

[Russ McDonald]

Here is my gun https://www.andersonrifles.com/optic-ready-am15-optic-ready/non treated.  Cleaned and lubed up twice.  Lubed even out at the range.  The problem I am having is it shoots and then it is like the trigger or internal hammer doesn't cock.  If that makes sense.  I either have to flip the safety on and off or today I actually used my finger and moved the trigger forward and it reset to fire again.  Figured I would ask the experts.

[h20hunter]

Do this. Triple check that it is unloaded. Dry fire and keep the trigger depressed. Now, ease up on the trigger. Did it click?

[Russ McDonald]

  of course and yes it does.  My son in law, just out of the Army has been trying to figure it out with me.  He did just that out at the range and it always reset while dry firing.

[h20hunter]

And that is the extent of my AR diagnosis abilities!

[jay.sharkbait]

Is the hammer following the BCG and do you have to cycle the rifle to re set? I read the post and I think it is but I'm making sure.

Next, I would remove the hammer and see if the trigger moves front to back freely with no resistance other than the return spring.

[Russ McDonald]

BCG I am new to them so use real words  .  I don't have cycle the rifle to reset.  I can either push the trigger forward with my finger or flip the safety on and off.  This only does this when I am shooting and it random.  There is no pattern.

[JimmyHoffa]

BCG is the bolt carrier group.  When it travels backwards, it pushes the hammer back down and locks it in ready to fire again.  User just has to let the trigger reset.

[jay.sharkbait]

BCG I am new to them so use real words  .  I don't have cycle the rifle to reset.  I can either push the trigger forward with my finger or flip the safety on and off.  This only does this when I am shooting and it random.  There is no pattern.

I'm sorry....bolt carrier group.

I think the next step is to remove the hammer.

[Russ McDonald]

BCG I am new to them so use real words  .  I don't have cycle the rifle to reset.  I can either push the trigger forward with my finger or flip the safety on and off.  This only does this when I am shooting and it random.  There is no pattern.

I'm sorry....bolt carrier group.

I think the next step is to remove the hammer.

BCG is the bolt carrier group.  When it travels backwards, it pushes the hammer back down and locks it in ready to fire again.  User just has to let the trigger reset.

Ok so I will have to look at that because the trigger is not resetting at times.  That is the problem I am having.

[b23]

It almost sounds like it's not coming off the disconnector properly. 

If you can go from it not working to working by nothing more than pushing the trigger forward you very likely have a out of time disconnector issue and it's not always releasing the hammer to allow the sear to engage.

The nice thing about AR triggers is you can flip the upper forward or completely remove it and work the trigger by hand to see what's going on in there but if you aren't particularly versed on how these triggers work, it'll probably be best to have someone take a look at it for you.  Good news is it's likely an easy fix for someone that knows what they're doing. 

You could always use this as a good excuse to buy a aftermarket trigger, too. 

One other thing, have you or anyone else disassembled any of the trigger parts in this gun??

[Russ McDonald]

It almost sounds like it's not coming off the disconnector properly. 

If you can go from it not working to working by nothing more than pushing the trigger forward you very likely have a out of time disconnector issue and it's not always releasing the hammer to allow the sear to engage.

The nice thing about AR triggers is you can flip the upper forward or completely remove it and work the trigger by hand to see what's going on in there but if you aren't particularly versed on how these triggers work, it'll probably be best to have someone take a look at it for you.  Good news is it's likely an easy fix for someone that knows what they're doing. 

You could always use this as a good excuse to buy a aftermarket trigger, too. 

One other thing, have you or anyone else disassembled any of the trigger parts in this gun??

That was my next step after possibly calling the company since I just bought it this year and they have a life time warranty.

[Special T]

Since it's new that's what I'd do. It would be a good idea however to watch a you tube video on doing a trigger job. Even if you don't do one (they are easy) it helps explain how everything works.

[Russ McDonald]

Hasn't Youtube been an incredible thing b23 just sent me a video that would really help out.

[Special T]

It's really pretty amazing how much gunsmithing  you can do with several different grits of sandpaper and a small file set  for less than $30

[hunter399]

I was also gonna say YouTube,but if you can't get it fixed call the company and get a new trigger assembly parts,you don't what your gun going off anytime or being a safety problem.

[Russ McDonald]

Manufacture is sending me a new trigger system.

[JLS]

Probably one of several things:

Bad trigger spring
Poorly machined disconnector and/or
Poorly machined trigger

All of these will easily be remedied by the new trigger group.

[C-Money]

Manufacture is sending me a new trigger system.

Cool! Hope that solves the issues...

[Special T]

Take a good look at the parts and compare them when your replacing them. Do you send the old trigger back? If not it may be a good opportunity to try your hand at doing a trigger job.

[Russ McDonald]

Take a good look at the parts and compare them when your replacing them. Do you send the old trigger back? If not it may be a good opportunity to try your hand at doing a trigger job.

They are not asking for the old trigger back.  I will see when I get the new stuff in.

[b23]

Manufacture is sending me a new trigger system.

Before you replace the trigger group it wouldn't be a bad idea to lightly touch up the surfaces with some wet/dry sandpaper to remove any burr/s the contact points may have.  If nothing else, it'll polish those surfaces.  I typically use 600, lightly, to remove any burr/s then follow up with 1000 then 1500 or 2000.  On the trigger sear and sear engagement notch on the hammer I use a felt pad on my Dremel with a tiny dab of Flitz.  It'll polish those surfaces to a mirror shine and helps eliminate a lot of that creep/pretravel or at the least will make the pretravel much less gritty feeling.

With 1000 grit and higher it's not much concern but when using 600 grit or lower you want to make sure you don't round off any edges.  I usually fold a small piece of sandpaper over and old .085 thou feeler gauge and use to help keep my edges square and straight when I'm working on the trigger sear.  Like someone mentioned earlier, it's surprising how a couple dollars worth of sandpaper can improve one of these triggers.

[Special T]

Manufacture is sending me a new trigger system.

Before you replace the trigger group it wouldn't be a bad idea to lightly touch up the surfaces with some wet/dry sandpaper to remove any burr/s the contact points may have.  If nothing else, it'll polish those surfaces.  I typically use 600, lightly, to remove any burr/s then follow up with 1000 then 1500 or 2000.  On the trigger sear and sear engagement notch on the hammer I use a felt pad on my Dremel with a tiny dab of Flitz.  It'll polish those surfaces to a mirror shine and helps eliminate a lot of that creep/pretravel or at the least will make the pretravel much less gritty feeling.

With 1000 grit and higher it's not much concern but when using 600 grit or lower you want to make sure you don't round off any edges.  I usually fold a small piece of sandpaper over and old .085 thou feeler gauge and use to help keep my edges square and straight when I'm working on the trigger sear.  Like someone mentioned earlier, it's surprising how a couple dollars worth of sandpaper can improve one of these triggers.

That's some good info right there... I wouldn't go more than 1500 grit if it were me. On a couple of my guns I've done trigger jobs to 1k grit and the drummer was a huge difference. The feeler gauge is a great idea, I used a miniature flat file with the sand paper folded over it.

[b23]

They are not asking for the old trigger back.  I will see when I get the new stuff in.

I'll bet the disconnector was a little tight from the get go and there was likely a tiny burr on either the disconnector hook or on the hammer where the disconnector hooks it and over time the burr/s got just a tiny bit worse and wouldn't, consistently, release the hammer to the sear.  When it's working properly, as you let your finger off the trigger the disconnector is supposed to let go of the hammer so it can be caught by the trigger sear and be ready to fire but yours, for whatever reason, wasn't consistently doing that.

Something I forgot to mention earlier, the disconnector isn't a machined piece, it's just stamped out with a die so there will pretty much always be a tiny burr on one side of stamped part.  I'd lay the disconnect piece flat on some 600 and work it around in circles a few times then flip it over and do the other side.  This will get rid of any burr it may have on the sides.  You'll be able to feel if there is any kind of burr on hook part of the disconnector with your fingernail.  If one is present, polish it off with some 600 followed by the 1000.

AR triggers are actually fun to work on because you can see everything that's going on and how it all works which certainly makes it easier to know which piece needs more attention.

Also, if you have to reuse your old springs or the hammer spring doesn't come already on it, make sure you don't get the hammer spring reversed.  People often forget which way it went and reinstall it wrong.

[Russ McDonald]

So put in the new trigger today.   Noticed on the old hammer on the cresent shape it wasn't smooth.   There is s pretty good bump there.   Now go out and shoot it later.   Thanks for all the input.

Sent from my super duper thingamajig

[Russ McDonald]

So forgot to mention that i finally got it to shoot.   Smooth shooting.  It was awesome.   Now i know why people like AR's.

Sent from my super duper thingamajig

[Alchase]

Thanks for the update, this thread has some great info in it.

[Blacklab]

So forgot to mention that i finally got it to shoot.   Smooth shooting.  It was awesome.   Now i know why people like AR's.

Sent from my super duper thingamajig

Where smiles are made 

[hunter399]

Glad to hear you got it running,nothing better than a functioning firearm,have fun.