L4 mag issues

I wish we had a "semi autos" only section as most of my question will all now relate to the semi auto builds done here in the US. I doubt many other locations are doing them, meaning what other country around the globe would have the legal and financial emphasis on doing such a thing?

My L4 has been experiencing quite a few bolt over base jams. I do not necessarily think they are all induced by lack of gas, meaning short stroking, BUT THEY COULD BE?? I feel like the mags themselves may be allowing the cartridge to be stripped, but either not feed correctly (possibly due to mag spring issues) or possibly a short stroke due to the added spring used to drive the separate striker in the firing system?

I have been experiencing this and have not come to a completely satisfactory solution. I did try stretching the springs out a bit to get a more positive cartridge to feed lip interface. That seems to have worked on one mag, giving me a full 20 round feed without an issue, but not successful with all mags. Of course, added spring pressure on the cartridge would only mean more stripping power is needed from the drive springs.

With these semi auto rebuilds, it seems to be such a delicate balance between drive springs, striker spring and magazine spring to get the whole thing running properly. I am suspicious that having the 3rd striker spring in the system may mean that the gas needs to be opened up a few thousandths on the largest setting, because not even the largest setting is giving complete reliability.

Are these magazines known to allow bounce of a cartridge so that it may start to feed, but somehow the feed horns get off the base of the cartridge and slam into the partially fed case jamming it between the bolt and the chamber? Just curious to see if this event EVER occurs in the full auto L4??

Are you using 30rd L4 mags or 20rd L1A1 mags?

With the mag inserted, can you lift the ejector block when you push the maga zine forward?

Is the body an original L4 or a .303 machined to L4 specs? I wonder if the body and inserts are machined to the correct dimensions.

I think BP has it. My post sample L4A3 runs perfectly and I've never experienced any feeding issues with a variety of manufacture, original L4 magazines including ones manufactured in India.

Thanks guys, as usual, I left out some key details.

It is an original L4A4 body. I will have to look again and determine where the welds are in remanufacturing. Some of these are better than others in that these "newish" center sections in the market, and that helps the builders hold better tolerances for some of the critical mid-ship dimensions.

The mags being used are original L4 30 round magazines. That being said, I have not tried the indicator that Lee Enfield suggested, so will try that. Does this indicate a wandering tolerance that can be corrected? Silly question, all issues can be "corrected", one just has to know the source of the problem.

btw, I tried 20 round L1A1 mags just for grins and giggles and they sucked. Every round on those would get jammed in a similar fashion, with feed horns ramming the cartridge just below the shoulder with the cartridge stuck half in and half out of the mag.

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Originally Posted by Lee Enfield

Are you using 30rd L4 mags or 20rd L1A1 mags?

With the mag inserted, can you lift the ejector block when you push the maga zine forward?

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I tried this and while there is a little wiggle with some mags, others have no wiggle at all. I am talking a VERY minute amount, when it happens at all. With mags out I try lifting up on the ejector block and really do not see or feel any movement.

I have discovered (and should have known) that when I pull back on the cocking lever, everything is fine until I hit that last 2" of travel. Then the Striker Spring starts to really compress and causes quite a bit of resistance in that final bit of travel. Even with the gas port opened all the way, I suspect what is happening is the bolt is slowing and possibly just not making a clean recoil to the rear and it actually is short stroking on some cartridges.

I think the designs of these semi autos generate added physical barriers that the original design parameters have problems overcoming. Not being a "hammer fired" weapon seems to be the biggest issue. I think it would have been a reliable conversion, if the original gun had been hammer fired. I believe all Striker Fired designs have this issue to some point. I have heard of problems with MG43 rebuilds (semi auto) and even the DSH RPD seems to have had problems in the past. They just don't receive the same "engineering" abilities that a large arms manufacturer can apply to get a design working properly and reliably.

I own a Madsen LMG semi auto. It works with the crappiest of old surplus ammo. That is because except for the full auto modification to maintain semi auto ONLY functioning, it is still a hammer fired weapon and no new springs have been added to the design to operate a striker.

So it would seem my solution may be to: A. open up the largest gas setting to over-gas the gun and drive the bolt back hard enough to overcome the striker spring in the system; B. find a spring of somewhat lesser spring force, that will compress easier, yet still have enough power to drive the striker home for a positive strike and cartridge ignition. or C. hand load really HOT ammo above and beyond military spec. That seems like the LEAST desirable choice.

I am still open to suggestions.

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Originally Posted by AmEngRifles

B. find a spring of somewhat lesser spring force, that will compress easier, yet still have enough power to drive the striker home for a positive strike and cartridge ignition

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I'd try this one first. I've hed things that gave similar issues and tried this to success... You can get springs wound by guys that do that and use smaller wire by number until you have success.

It would be helpful to know what striker and spring system/version you have.
My brens all have the pirate style setup and the maximum pull weight on the charging handle is 18 pounds with or with out the striker and spring using a fish scales.
I would suggest looking to see if your striker is binding or getting tilted by the carrier and also see if you are getting coil bind on the spring

A & C seem to be the least desireable options
A) open up the port too much and your over gas could be very detrimental to the workings of the whole bolt carrier & piston group as once drilled out you cannot put it back.
C) Goes without question as an absolute folly unless you want to wreck the LMG, yourself and bystanders they proof barrels/actions for a certian pressure for a reason.

I'm wondering why P L has not imparted his practical experience and possible solutions to this quandry your having

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

I'm wondering why P L has not imparted his practical experience and possible solutions to this quandry your having

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Its simple really. He has no experience with striker fired semi auto rewelded brenguns that can be made with varying degrees of skill and use a multitude of new design components and pass no inspections.
Some of these builds run fantastic from day1 and others never ever run right. There is so many variables with these rewelds that need to be addressed and one of the last things needed is to drill th gas port. I have never opened up a gas port on any of my brens even the short barrel Mk3/1 and they all run on gas setting 2.

Once they've been cut and welded back together, they're a different animal.

Thank you gentlemen. I will look for a spring maker first.

Mr. E, as to the questions on the system, I suspect it is a "pirate system". I am not familiar with that term, but the striker has a small skull imprinted exactly where the firing pin extension is struck, therefore, it has a nice shiny wear area. The striker is case colored. I suspect the stamped skull allows the maker to know approximately how much the gun has been fired? It is a HA build. I had been to see the maker, and it did not get fully resolved. Enough said. I have no binding of the striker. Now, I do not think the striker spring is binding, but hard to know once the gun is all closed up, ready for operation. Of course the resistance on the last two inches of cocking handle only increases in pressure, it does not feel like it bottoms out. And I do not think it increases pressure as it closes that 2", but feels more or less like a constant additional pressure?? I would opt to get a lighter weight spring, with enough compression designed into it so the coils do not come into a "compressed state", if that is possible? I will have to get a scale, but in my estimation, that final 2" of travel are well more than 18 lbs...

CINDERS, I am NOT talking anything wild in an uploaded cartridge. I have been reloading long enough to know that that pressure curves jumps VERY quickly at maximum. But also making sure I have consistency in pressure MIGHT help alleviate the issue, but I understand the pitfalls in that approach. I should NOT have said "load really HOT ammo, above mil spec"... With that said, wonder about a buffer system of rubber or poly, say about a 1/2" or 3/4" thickness, then trim or build a new striker spring with a corresponding shortened length to accommodate the buffer. I will say the spring thing seems like the best approach at this time. I may throw in a "buffer" system as well, or at least attempt it. Just gets complicated trying to re-engineer a new firing system for a modified (dare I SAY the words) automatic weapon.

And that last sentence alone is why I do not expect to hear from Mr. L. Not disappointed. I understand that completely. His expertise is with the original iteration. These ridiculous semi auto rebuilds in the US are not really his cup of tea. The original inquiry was related to whether L4 mags ever actually gave feeding issues in the full auto weapons. It appears as if they did not. No one has chimed in to say otherwise, so it removes the mag as being the problem. It is in the striker fired system.

One additional subject. Mr. E, thanks for that input on drilling out a gas block. I figured that was not the best approach, but my Mk III (Project Guns) has a faux Mk III barrel of correspondingly shorter length, and I had wondered if that shorter barrel needed a larger gas port, due to a somewhat shorter dwell time. Much like the issues with an XM177E1. I see the gas block as easily replaceable ( I have extras), but after your comments about all yours running on #2., I will leave that alone. Right now, both the L4 and Mk III still give me feeding problems on #4 setting. I think I have to play more with spring balance.

Has anyone ever tested the pressure needed to retract an original full auto Bren? Anybody know the resistance in lbs? I would guess it is more a less a constant force and well less than 18 lbs.

To check for spring bind just get the lower and holding the striker down push it to the rear until it engages the sear then it should still be able to move rearward aprox 1/8” give or take. If you are getting coil bind you will see it this way. Another test is to take out the striker spring and assemble the gun then stand the gun up virtucally barrel down. Pull back the charging handle slowly at first and feel for any binding. Ease the bolt and carrier forward release the striker and do the same test again but quickly. What the test is looking for is carrier & striker bind. You can also do this test with just the carrier and striker in the receiver with no lower.
18 pounds with or with out the striker sort of covers FA bren spring weight

Main striker designs are small diameter spring over original return rod. Large diameter spring over original return rod. Spring above return rod. There is the ML system but if you can see the spring its not the ultimate and fantastic ML setup
Ther was also a striker the had a portion the protruded under the carrier. It would help us help you if you could post a picture. As I always say a picture is worth a thousand guesses

Thanks Mr. E. Very helpful stuff. Will mess with it a bit and report back.

OK, did the tests you outlined. Drop test seemed to have no binding. Striker compression seemed acceptable. Take a look at the pic and see if that spring coil looks unduly compressed. Don't believe so.

Sometimes it takes me a while to grasp the obvious. But I left the striker spring out of the whole deal and assembled the rifle without it. NOW I know how a REAL L4 feels when cocking it. Smooth and even. Then upon reassembly, I pulled the cocking lever and realized once again, while not an extreme amount of additional spring pressure, it is there none the less. I included a picture showing at what point that additional spring pressure starts.

Also, while the striker spring was out, I ran a mag of only 6 rounds through the gun, to see if the ramming speed (bolt closing speed) was enough to give reliable feeding from the mag. It does. Although I tried it twice because the first time, it did skip the last round in the mag, which leads me back to the original question : Do the L4 mags springs ever get weak or cause misfeeds??

The gun would sure be a whole lot more reliable without that striker spring added in. But then it won't go "BANG!"

Your bren was built by historic arms. Its most likley already had the gas port opened up Len did that on all his brens.
Now I know its one of Len’s guns I would now be looking at the magazine to bolt clearance. See if the feed lips are reaching to the stops.

A few questions,

Does the breech block have JI, 7.62mm, U or numbers on the side (if the side isn’t machined away for conversion).

Where the parts are rewelded back together, do the piston extension rails in the body look square and true?

Is the piston original or a compliant US made replacement, can you check dimensions against an original if new made.

What type of cylinder is installed?

What lubricant are you using on the guide rails?

I’m wondering if reducing friction in the guide rails and a better gas seal would help.

Brit plumber, the bolt is indeed marked as a 7.62. The receiver tracks have some uneven portions, as I suspect many rewelds do, but nothing binds as the piston extension ( bolt carrier) and striker move within the track smoothly and freely. I do believe the piston is a new, US compliant part. The gas cylinder is smooth under the bipod. Not sure if that means it is a type III or an original L4 cylinder? I have removed grease from inside receiver and gone to a light weapons oil.

Mr. E. Will look at mag to reinforcement stops but I have no knowledge of measuring those dimensions, so it will be a subjective observation. Mags lock in snug and there is little to no play in the mag release/ejector block.

Thank you all for the continued support and input.

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

I'm wondering why P L has not imparted his practical experience and possible solutions to this quandry your having

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I believe Peter has been busy as of late dealing with more pressing issues. I'm sure he'll pop in shortly.

After some helpful input from JoeH and others (thank you everyone), I am understanding the differences between the basic striker systems. I am also pretty impressed with what Mighty Lime has been doing, as he seems to have approached his solution with an engineering mind set. From what I have READ, his system seems to be the most reliable one, being the most balanced in all things based on engineering formulas.

I now believe that my L4A4 is just really experiencing short stroking, so that the bolt is really not coming back in full travel, thus giving me a bolt over base misfeed. I have a similar issue with a Project Guns MkIII. The issues ( as applied to many guns, not just mine) seem to start up from with the gas spigot, and compound themselves as we move rearward in the gun, through the gas piston, and it's diameter and length and even whether the piston face is cupped (as in one builders design) or just better fitted with the standard flat face. NEW, better fitting gas pistons are one of the easiest parts to make and replace in that train of integrated (gas) parts. Would be nice to see someone produce a variety of gas pistons to be sold, so one could tighten up their bleeding gas system.

Then comes the bolt carrier modification (which seems ok across the board as far as NOT causing any issues) and the striker itself. Mighty Lime states some very good reasoning for having the lightest striker possible, but with the duties of the striker, it still becomes a massive chunk of unnecessary weight. It has to have rails to keep it guided while traveling inside the receiver guide slots, a capture hole (meaning length) to allow spring or recoil rod to pass into and thru and a sear cut to catch and be held by the sear during the firing process. All the extra weight complicates the math in figuring spring forces to have reliable cycling. ML striker always struck me as an elegant shape, but now I understand why. He simply was reducing mass to the design. Could these be made out of Titanium, or would that be cost prohibitive? Does Titanium not stand up to battering?

But the Mighty Lime solution goes beyond just slimming down the striker. He also elegantly contains the necessary drive spring and support parts to a minimum to reduce that force needed to cock and operate the striker.

I am very interested in converting my L4A4 into a Mighty Lime set up, but he does not offer this as a service. I have only just been introduced to the Builder's Guild and those guys are WAY smarter and more talented than myself. I am just a trigger puller. Would be nice if someone would start retro fitting the "other" designs, with the ML design (maybe even as a drop in kit?). I do not think anything that is required in the ML design is not doable as the other designs should have unaltered recoil tubes and the ability to accept his modifications. The modified recoil tube and an additional striker spring tube is required as I understand it. New design specific strikers would be required as well.

I will be hanging out at the Builders Guild a bit more, trying to absorb as much as I can. Thank you to all who have helped me with this journey. I WILL get my problems resolved and I WILL love these Bren guns that I have always wanted. I just am disappointed that they do not come as reliable as they could have been, from the get go. As much as they cost, I expected more.

Peter Laidler hasn't been here simply because what he knows and understands about the semi auto cut-rewelds could be written on the back of a postage stamp with a biro. And there'd STILL be space for the Lords Prayer

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

Peter Laidler hasn't been here simply because what he knows and understands about the semi auto cut-rewelds could be written on the back of a postage stamp with a biro. And there'd STILL be space for the Lords Prayer

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Dear Peter, IF you ever have any spare time, check out this website. Fun projects by many a talented individual, including Mighty Lime and his award winning Bren build.

http://www.weaponsguild.com



No worries on no input. I understand exactly why there as there was simply no experience in this area. But I always appreciate your oversight and insight. I am guessing that there were no mag issues once the L4 were fielded. My problem seems to originate internally in the gun. At least that is what I believe now.

To be honest, there were MAJOR mag issue problems with the early X10 and L4A1 guns and even MORE when they were formulating the L4A2 Bren with the enlarged front knib that had to seat a little lower into the body. Unbelievably, the .303" gun body drawings that they were working from were not quite correct. To finally work out what was REALLY going wrong, they had to cut a body longiudinally straight down the middle from end to end. Only then could they see and establish what the problem was and how to solve it in two quite simple ways

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

To be honest, there were MAJOR mag issue problems with the early X10 and L4A1 guns and even MORE when they were formulating the L4A2 Bren with the enlarged front knib that had to seat a little lower into the body. Unbelievably, the .303" gun body drawings that they were working from were not quite correct. To finally work out what was REALLY going wrong, they had to cut a body longiudinally straight down the middle from end to end. Only then could they see and establish what the problem was and how to solve it in two quite simple ways

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I take it that is the vertical pin thru the front locking recess to hold the top cover detent spring, and the 2 feed lip inserts?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

To be honest, there were MAJOR mag issue problems with the early X10 and L4A1 guns and even MORE when they were formulating the L4A2 Bren with the enlarged front knib that had to seat a little lower into the body. Unbelievably, the .303" gun body drawings that they were working from were not quite correct. To finally work out what was REALLY going wrong, they had to cut a body longiudinally straight down the middle from end to end. Only then could they see and establish what the problem was and how to solve it in two quite simple ways

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Now THAT I would like to see. Kinda like cutting a hog with a band saw from head to hole!

I am hoping that because mine is an L4A4, they had that all worked out. I knew there were early problems, but was not sure if that persisted through the life of the L4 series? And that makes it sound like there was a POSITION issue with the mag, not a design issue with the mag itself??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AmEngRifles

Now THAT I would like to see. Kinda like cutting a hog with a band saw from head to hole!

I am hoping that because mine is an L4A4, they had that all worked out. I knew there were early problems, but was not sure if that persisted through the life of the L4 series? And that makes it sound like there was a POSITION issue with the mag, not a design issue with the mag itself??

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Update: 4.15.19. Not sure why I didn’t think of this sooner.

Has been a while with me still working through these issues with my Historic Arms L4A4. I ended up in touch with Mighty Lime and purchased one of his striker set up. I was having continued issues with the HA gun, as well as firing issues with my Project Guns Mk III. Because ML leaves both rails on his striker ( reflects his approach to builds in semi auto Brens), it is a no go to work in the HA Bren due to the fact Len welds up the left side guideway and mills down the rail on both the piston extension and his striker. So a no go with the ML system in a Historic Arms Gun unless you have the rail guideway milled open again. Then that leads to questions of trying to alter the Bren body to accept full auto parts. Don’t need to go down that path. Mighty Lime has been looking at his system altered to work with Historic Arms Brens, but does not have any set up at this date.

The Project Guns Mk III I put the ML striker system in runs great now! There is only one issue I found associated with ML lighter striker. It runs and pops all commercial primers in modern manufactured .303 with no problems. However, it does not strike the very hard primers of some South African Mk VII I tried. In those instances, I can understand the virtues of the heavy striker HA Brens use. Of course, heavy striker needs heavy spring ( maybe?) which leads to reliability issues.

NOW, what I started out to report got pushed back in the story because I was prefacing with some of the things I have learned along the way. But I woke up this morning with the revelation that I could lessen the spring pressures on my HA L4A4 by removing one spring. I removed the inner recoil spring in the set of nested recoil springs and tried running 5 rounds into the gun, from a mag. This was to confirm there was still enough spring drive to strip a round from the mag and fully chamber. It worked! So off to the range I go!

While it was still unfortunately NOT the Fix All I hoped it would be, the gun ran about 95% better with reduced spring pressure to overcome. I had already backed the gas regulator down to a “ number 3” setting and that seemed fine. When I tried it at “2” I started getting misfeeds of Bolt Over Bass again. So regulator back to “3”.

I am still hoping to reduce the weight of the HA Striker, plus lighten the spring load of the striker spring, but have not located a spring maker yet. Made an inquiry with Len Savage to get a spare striker and striker spring, but got no reply? Wondering if he has gone out of business now?

So my L4 A4 still does not operate 100%, but it is getting closer. I do think some of the L4 mag springs may be a bit weak after all these years. Had a few issues with last round in the magazine doing the BOB thing. Think the round is bouncing in the mag once the rest of the stack is no longer there to keep heavier pressure downward...

I own six of HA's Brens, MK I through L4A4 and my L4A3 and L4A4 work spectacularly well. Early on in the R&D times with Len, we did find that certain guns were more finiky than others, and that removing a coil or two from the striker spring often helped. In some of the early guns the #1 gas port on the regulator was opened up to make it into a "#5" for use with older cordite ammo. I have one of these sitting in my spares bin along with an extra striker spring if you'd like to borrow it to try in your gun.

Drop me a line if I can be of help.

Cheers

Gary

Thanks Gary, tried to send a PM. Don’t think it went thru?

Would prefer to buy an extra set to modify. Certainly would not modify a borrowed set, but rather get a set to see if I could modify for more reliable operation. I am getting closer to figuring it out.

AER,

Below is a summary of my troubleshooting experience with the Bren semi auto. I used the striker design with the striker spring on the return rod. This was long before Mighty Lime's spring system.
I'm not sure this is the same system as Historic Arms. I think HA may have used a striker spring in place of the buffer and opened up the gas ports. If this is the case the striker is cocked on the rearward motion of the bolt. The system I used cocked the striker on the forward motion of the bolt.
I did find as CSMarcher noted removing coils from the striker spring sometimes made a difference.

Maybe this link will be of some help:

Login

Joe

Thanks Joe. I had started down that path you had suggested. I got the springs to go around the recoil rod, but never could make a satisfactory block to keep it from going through the striker. I may readdress that, but never understood the part about taking up space with the recoil spring inside the butt? Seems like nothing inside the receiver has any effect on the recoil compression inside the butt?? Am I not seeing something there? I never got to the point were I fired the thing, mostly because of the striker "plug" issues.

Now that I have an extra Project Guns striker laying around, it may work with your upgrade? Have to check firing pin protrusion to see?

Thanks for refreshing your approach to the issue.

One other thing that MIGHT work is to go ahead and get another ML striker system (he makes them in batches and may not have any at the moment?) and just file away the left side guide rail on the ML striker. Between his striker guide rod and the right side guide rail, I don't think the striker would bind? ML made me two firing pins as well, one in HA length and one in PG length. I may find some combination of striker and spring other than the HA system that works in the L4?

I should't have to be working this hard on a rifle that cost well over 5k. Having semi auto Bren's should be for builders only. I compare this to a buddy who used to own a Porsche, then sold it. Said it was fun to drive when it was running well, but it spent a lot of time in the shop getting tweaked.

Joe, thanks for the Link. I am on there, but only as a browser, since I am not a builder. I tried to find a local machinist, and Tony was suggested. Found his web site, dropped him an e-mail. Never got a response. I will keep searching for the right answer and combination. If I can get the left side rail pathway milled out, say for the length JUST enough to allow the striker it's travel, I would do that, but yet to find a machinist in my area. I think Mad Dog Machinist is in Macon, but have yet to attempt to connect with him. But, if I get it milled, I will upgrade to the ML system in this L4 as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AmEngRifles

but never understood the part about taking up space with the recoil spring inside the butt

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AER,

When you introduce the striker into the recoiling parts behind the bolt the full compression of recoil springs is less than the full design compression by the length of the striker. The bolt travel is less than design by the length of the striker. Since the return rod bears on the bolt, the springs cannot be fully compressed. The addition of a plug ,the length of the striker, behind the roil springs assures full design compression of the recoil springs with the striker in place. Hope this explains it.

Joe

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AmEngRifles

Thanks Gary, tried to send a PM. Don’t think it went thru?

Would prefer to buy an extra set to modify. Certainly would not modify a borrowed set, but rather get a set to see if I could modify for more reliable operation. I am getting closer to figuring it out.

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My email is: csmarcher@socal.rr.com
And I have a half dozen striker springs so you’re welcome to one to modify as needed. As far as the gas regulator try it, if it works pick up a spare and modify it as per mine and drop mine back in the post when you’re done with it.
Offer stands as before 👍🏻

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Originally Posted by Joe H

AER,

When you introduce the striker into the recoiling parts behind the bolt the full compression of recoil springs is less than the full design compression by the length of the striker. The bolt travel is less than design by the length of the striker. Since the return rod bears on the bolt, the springs cannot be fully compressed. The addition of a plug ,the length of the striker, behind the roil springs assures full design compression of the recoil springs with the striker in place. Hope this explains it.

Joe

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Thanks Joe. Now I get it. Appreciate that. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

---------- Post added at 06:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:48 PM ----------

Quote:

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Originally Posted by csmarcher

My email is: csmarcher@socal.rr.com
And I have a half dozen striker springs so you’re welcome to one to modify as needed. As far as the gas regulator try it, if it works pick up a spare and modify it as per mine and drop mine back in the post when you’re done with it.
Offer stands as before 👍🏻

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Thank you Gary, I will do that. Let me touch bases with you next week. Ending out a busy week, with heavy storms tonight headed our way. Hopefully my week ends on a good note. Will be decompressing this weekend.

Update.

Ran the L4 yesterday at the range. Ran on #3 gas setting with zero issues. I was pleasantly surprised. Ran 10 round out of two mags, with no last round jamming issues. Rand 20 out of each of two mags with no last round feed issues. Ran that twice. Not sure what changed? I did try gas setting #2 since everything was going well. Had a couple of bolt over base jams, so went back to gas setting 3. All this seems to have come about with the removal of the INNER recoil spring in the butt. The previous range trip had last round jam issues, but those seem to have improved?? Have no idea what was different? Happy as a peach since I still have ONE whole gas setting left as reserve.

At some point, I will try clipping a striker recoil spring and see if I can get the system to operate on gas setting #2? Not imperative, but would be nice to run one lower setting again. Mainly as there is diminished recoil when running on gas setting #2. Since the HA Brens no longer have the working buffer in the back end, nice to reduce some of the banging going on internally.

I will also get set up with a improved spring system as per Joe H. I am half way there. Just need to locate the spacer for the recoil spring tube. Hoping this is basically resolved and much of it seems to be getting that balance of spring rates, which everyone knows or discovers as the BIG issue with these semi auto conversions. I am now looking for a rubber or plastic spacers, both for the recoil tube and one to go inside the striker spring on the original HA system. Will report on the success of such at a future date. Having option is always good.

Will see how the mags do over the course of the next several range trips. Not sure why they would have issues on one trip and then no problem the next? Got tape ID and records for each mag for functioning now to get a running history.