did i buy an older model or lemon???

[skidooboy]

I bought an m4 ops yesterday from gander mountain in michigan. brought it home, cleaned it, lubed it. 30 fresh cci stingers, ran flawless for the first 30 rounds. tried federal 550 box from wally world, several failure to eject, 2 failure to fires (light strike). adjusted the ejection screw in and out, same thing, failure to eject over and over with the federals. opted to wait to try different ammo.

today i bought some new ammo on recomendations from this forum reading. i bought cci mini mag hp, mini mag, and ar tactical, and headed home for testing. the minis went through with one failure to eject (thought i was on to something) . the hp was about the same but, i was starting to get a light strike here and there. tried the ar tactical, and the problems started to get worse. more and more failure to fire, and the ejections were getting worse.

adjusted the ejection spring again, cleaned the bolt area alittle, and retested. then it didnt matter what i put in it. light strikes and ejection over and over. decided to just end my frustration and quit trying. i called umarex, they said i could send it back and they would look at it. i am really bummed.... i just bought it yesterday, dont want to give up on it but, i dont know if i should just cut my losses now and return it, and get something else or what?

the model number is BP037004 does anyone know which gen this ops is???? any ideas on what i can do to avoid sending it back? any help appreciated. i realy like the rifle, want to give it a chance to redeem itself but, how far do you go with somehting that wont shoot? ski

[rodent.22]

sit down with the rifle and clean it well, spray a slight amount of oil in the mechanism, (not the chamber). Then fire the rifle until you have run 6-700 rounds thru it. Just reload the lite strikes into the mag again and keep shooting. The gun will loosen up and smooth out. If you are not comfortable with this send it back. The turnaround time is real good, I hear. Some of these Colts are finicky about their ammo, these Walther barrel chambers are TIGHT. Mine will now shoot Federal bulkpak like candy....

[techmike]

As Mr. Rodent says, clean it. These rifles are very tight when new, and it doesn't take much to make them jam. There is ground glass in .22 primers, which is why .22 guns get so gritty. There is also a procedure for the mainspring adjustment: "With the adjustment screw flush with the surrounding metal, turn it in 4 complete revolutions clockwise." (That is for high velocity ammo.)  Mine devours any plated ammunition I feed it, with the exception of Remington Golden Bullets. I would run some more rounds through it before sending it back. There is a cleaning procedure HERE, but be advised that taking your rifle apart that far will most likely void the warranty.

Good Luck!

TM

[skidooboy]

i looked at the tutorial on the power point you provided mike (thank you, it is a great tool) but, i was not comfortable going in that deep, and ending my warrantee in under 24 hours of ownership. i am a motorcycle, and snowmobile kinda guy... i havent been exposed to alot of semi auto firearms or their mechanical internals. i have zero experience with the ar style firearms. going to be learning though.  :D

i opted to take it back to the retailer, i know the smith there. he will look at it and see if he can figure it out. if not it will go up the chain till it gets to umarex i guess. 

after finding this site i am kinda kicking myself in the head for not looking harder and getting the hk416. i am a big Hk usp fan, it is my personal carry firearm for concealed carry. i never knew wather made all these replica style arms. if i can get the colt working, i may be looking for another. does anyone have an idea where you can buy the Hk?

ski

[techmike]

Ski, Totally understandable. I just have to take things apart.  ;D The Colt has gotten a somewhat bad rep, and while there have been issues on some rifles, I think it is mostly a real tight rifle when new, and the .22lr cartridge doesn't have a lot of energy to cycle a semi action. After it wears in (200 - 300 rounds) it is a keeper. Let us know how it goes with your rifle, and welcome to the forum.

TM

PS, My M4 Ops is almost 2 yrs old, SN/BP 25,xxx.

[wobblinwheel]

As Mr. Rodent says, clean it. These rifles are very tight when new, and it doesn't take much to make them jam. There is ground glass in .22 primers, which is why .22 guns get so gritty. There is also a procedure for the mainspring adjustment: "With the adjustment screw flush with the surrounding metal, turn it in 4 complete revolutions clockwise." (That is for high velocity ammo.)  Mine devours any plated ammunition I feed it, with the exception of Remington Golden Bullets. I would run some more rounds through it before sending it back. There is a cleaning procedure HERE, but be advised that taking your rifle apart that far will most likely void the warranty.

Good Luck!

TM

When I first got my Colt, the online Umarex video said to screw the bolt spring "till it bottoms" for hi-velocity ammo, back out flush for standard. Then I read somewhere that Colt Service Dept. recommends 9 full turns in (from flush) for Hi-vel. ammo. Now they suggest 4?? They got new springs in them or something? Mine stays screwed in all the way, all the time. Works great, even with sub-sonic ammo! Wonder what they've changed this time?

[wobblinwheel]

I didn't do that right, did I?

[techmike]

I don't know, what were you trying to do?

[wobblinwheel]

Trying to reply to your post, but my reply looks like PART of your post. Anyway, did you get what I meant?

[techmike]

Actually, no - you made it look like it was all my post.... I will fix it. Fixed.

As far as the main spring, I used it for about a year with the spring adjusted all the way in, as per the video you referenced. It worked OK, but was pretty kinked. When I emailed Colt, they said I had it too tight, and that the replacement spring was a stronger spring than my original, and only required 4 turns.

Problem solved.  ;D

[Michigan Joe]

When I first started reading this board, I saw that everyone said that you needed to break in most semi-auto pistols by shooting them for 500 to 1000 rounds.  Just as predicted, my ISSC M22 pistol took a good 1000 rounds before it suddenly stopped jamming and started to work perfectly. It seemed like it happened overnight. One weekend, it was jamming every magazine or two, then the next, no jams.

During the break-in period, I too thought I had received a lemon, the gun's manufacturer was putting out a poor product and the ammo makers  were loading their bullets with bellybutton lint.  Other than still having my suspicions about Remington's source of powder for their Golden Bullets, breaking the gun in solved the problem.

[techmike]

When I first started reading this board, I saw that everyone said that you needed to break in most semi-auto pistols by shooting them for 500 to 1000 rounds.  Just as predicted, my ISSC M22 pistol took a good 1000 rounds before it suddenly stopped jamming and started to work perfectly. It seemed like it happened overnight. One weekend, it was jamming every magazine or two, then the next, no jams.

During the break-in period, I too thought I had received a lemon, the gun's manufacturer was putting out a poor product and the ammo makers  were loading their bullets with bellybutton lint.  Other than still having my suspicions about Remington's source of powder for their Golden Bullets, breaking the gun in solved the problem.

Good post,  :thumb: Thanks Joe.

[rodent.22]

Excellent!!!

[skidooboy]

update.... well, after not hearing from gander mountain (purchasing dealer) for 3 days, i decided to stop in and check for myself. much to my disbelief i found out they hadnt even looked at the firearm, and would basicly be sending it back to the distributor (umarex). I COULD HAVE DONE THAT MYSELF 3 DAYS AGO!!!

then they told me it would take 4-6 weeks to hear anything. i told them to give me the gun back, this was unacceptable customer service. i have close to 600 into the gun, and i only owned for 24 hours, and they were not the least bit helpful. i decided to take matters into my own hands.

i called umarex, spoke with ryan, explained the issues. he said he would email me a fed ex label, and for me to send the unit back. they would go through it, and make it right. total turn around once they recieve the unit, was about 3-4 days. he also ran the serial number and told me that it was a mid range production, not the oldest model, nor the latest.

rec'd the email, and shipping label. i will be shipping it out tomorrow. hopefully i have a good update in the next 10-14 days or so. i truely hope so anyway... my extra mags and new red dot has arrived, and i would like to try them out. ski

[Microgunner]

I'm glad Umarex is taking care of you. Good luck.

[imschur]

So what kind of Skidoo do you have? Coincidentally Skidoo challenge for xbox 360 was delivered today  :beer:

[skidooboy]

the canadians call snowmobiling skidooing. i have had skidoos in the past, as well as polaris and yamaha. currently we ride 2009 arctic cat M8's. we are mountain, back country type riders, not trail riders. we go outwest for a few weeks a year to ride them. and spend ALOT of time in northern ontario exploring the back country. seldom do we ride our home state. too many people. LOL! ski

[Microgunner]

I lived in Alaska for awhile and there snowmobiles are called snow machines and riding them is called sledding.

[imschur]

ahhh when I rode in NY they too called it Skidooing. Of course the Bombardier distributor was based in the town :) Vermonters call them Snomachines as well. My last Sled was an old Mach 1.

[rodent.22]

Good Luck, Ski... :beer:

[skidooboy]

update.....

sent the rifle back to umarex last friday. recieved emails several times updating the guns progress. it appears they have tested it, replaced the mainspring, the ejector and the extractor, and re-tested it. then ran it through it's paces test firing the gun. they say it 100% operational (quoted from the email). 

hopefully i will have it back early next week sometime. i will update again after recieving it and firing it myself.

i think i am going to have them send me the compensator to add to the accy's i have recieved so far. does anyone have an idea where i can get, and how to mount a single point tactical sling mount to this platform???? ski

[Michigan Joe]

OK, I am certainly no gunsmith, but how in the world did all those pieces need replacing?  Or, are those parts  that are normally replaced when giving a gun a "tune up?" 

[skidooboy]

from what i am guessing these were earlier model parts known to be an issue, and replaced. as far as i know... i did nothing to the gun. i bought it brand new on a sunday, shot it about 100 times started having issues, tried different ammo on monday, still had problems, and they were getting worse the more i shot. sent the gun back.

joe, not sure where you are in michigan but, lapeer county sportsmans club has a steel shoot the third saturday of every month. it is a really good time. 10.00 per round for non members. one round is 100 shots (if you connect on the first hit :) next shoot is the 18th. you can shoot rifle (.17-.22 and 9mm carbine), or pistols .45 or smaller, no magnums. it is a fun shoot for times, no trophies, no pressure, just you against the clock. ski

ski

[skidooboy]

UPDATE!!!! recieved the m4 ops back from umarex today, ten days total turn around, inc shipping days. they also sent me the colt compensator (at a nice discount for my troubles with the new gun). i  installed the compensator, magpul asap sling mount, single point sling, magpul angled forgrip, walther ps22 red dot and lift mount.

took it out back, with a new 20 round mag, cycled 20 through of mini mag hp's, no problems. cycled 20 regular mini mags, no problems. cycled 20 cci ar tactical, no problems.

i set the scope close to witnessing with the standard sights before i started. i had it sighted in and driving nails in less than 20 rounds, after being picky trying to pick fly poop out of pepper.

shot another mag of mixed cci (the above 3 choices), no problems. well ahead of the curve from the first day i recieved the gun. very happy so far, especially the fast turn around from umarex.

in a week and a half we will be heading to lapeer sportsmans club for a timed steel shoot, i will give more reports... good or bad as time allows. thanks for helping, and listening. :D

almost forgot the most important thing... a pic of her. ski

[techmike]

Thanks for the update! Good to hear about the excellent customer service you received. And nice looking rifle!! :thumb: :thumb:

I had accuracy issues with my "compensator", it had some machining marks inside. I bored it out a few thou and it seems to be just fine now.  FYI, I used a small center punch to put a registration mark on the compensator, so when I tighten it up after cleaning the mark is always at 12 o'clock - consistent tension on the barrel. Good luck in your shoot!!

TM