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Weak spring or something sticking? Sounds like there isn't enough pressure keeping the follower snug under the last round. As a result it's flopping around and not being kept aligned with the...

My guess:- the barrel wasn't tight when indexed, so rather than fix it properly Bubba tack welded it with his trusty tombstone. Ugly job he made of it too.

Replace the clip latch spring.

I agree. A spring that was a little on the long side wouldn't cause the op rod to jump off it's track.

The reason I asked for photos earlier was to see if you might be dealing with a reweld or if...

You might want to post some photos so we can more easily see the problem areas:
- overhead and side view with op-rod installed and bolt locked back
- right side view of receiver, out of stock with...

True, but usually a chrome lined barrel will have had it's chamber cut to the appropriate depth (plus tolerance allowance) so it should just be a case of installing in the receiver and checking that...

At a minimum you'll need a barrel vise, receiver wrench, machinist level, set of headspace gauges and a pull through reamer to correctly install a barrel on an M1A/M14. It's a rewarding project to...

When you're shouldering the gun ready to fire, make sure your forward hand isn't accidentally gripping the op-rod. It took me a several shots to figure out why I could feel something moving every...

Yes, especially since the OP said his bolt was new, thus unlikely to evenly engage the receiver lugs evenly.

Exactly! There is only 0.008" difference between GO and FIELD, which really isn't very many turns of a sharp reamer.

As I understand it, the proper procedure would be to first check/lap the bearing surfaces of the bolt lugs to ensure equal distribution of load within the receiver. If you still have a headspace...

Interesting, thanks. I've yet to have the pleasure of playing with a surface grinder, although I can certainly see how useful it would be.

How do you fixture something as thin as a washer so you can surface grind it?

Gary, what sequence of operations did you use when making your washers?

Like I mentioned above, I turned the OD, bored the ID and then parted off at the desired thickness. Never would have...

I looked at it with a loupe and flashlight, but to be honest it's hard to see anything specific because that only focuses at a fairly shallow depth. Where the barrel was originally short chambered...

I had the day off today and wanted to occupy myself with something other than a honey-do chore. Luckily I was the only one home, so I was able to spend the day in my shop fiddling with machine tools...

Went to help a buddy sight in his new bolt gun today, so used the excuse to sling some more lead downrange.

20rds of commercial .308 Winchester 150gr (2850fps) cycled fine every time while 147gr...

If there's nothing obvious, I would detail-strip the trigger group until only the safety is left attached to the housing. Work back from there, making sure it's operable at each step.

Detail...

Firstly, be aware that the safety can only be activated when the hammer is cocked.
If I were you, I'd pop the trigger group out and work the parts in your hand. You should be able to see if...

My vote goes for the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle. Pretty much the first select fire individual weapon to hit the battlefield, even if it was rather heavy and short on ammo capacity to effectively...

So it seems Krieger make the best barrel, but how do they compare to the significantly less costly Criterions? Will the average shooter even notice the difference considering we're talking about a...

I've yet to try a chamber cast. Is is likely to reveal more than what can be seen with a flashlight and fired brass?

It still doesn't run with NATO ammo, but it is able to lock the bolt back with 168gr Federal and the ejected brass gets flung a bit higher/farther so obviously bolt speed is increased as to be...

If funds were unlimited I most certainly would get another barrel. For the time being I'm determined to make this one work, and I do believe I'm getting close.

The gas cylinder is a tight fit on...

The new mainspring is about .75" longer than the old one.
Hopefully going to the range again tomorrow to see if changing it and smoothing the underside of the bolt fixes anything.

ETA: Updated...