[David T.]

I am a newbie to the Kel-Tec family. Just bought a new RDB, cocked the gun and dry fired it without a snap cap and the magazine inserted.
Afterward, I was able to only pull back the operating handle about half way back, unable to completely cock the gun. The operating handle can still move forward but seemed stuck and stop at the halfway point. Also after the dry fire, I cannot insert the magazine completely in, it does not catch.
I called Keltec support, they could not tell me much over the phone without seeing and inspecting the gun. So they told me to send it in.
So lets not go into the debate about is it safe to dry fire or not. What I want to know is do I have a defective gun? Any recommendation to fix this w/o having to send this in unless this is a manufacture defect. I have other rifle that I could dry fire w/o seeing this problem, is this due to the bullpub design?
Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[RogueIV]

Hate to ask but are you pulling hard enough on the charging handle? About halfway is where you start to cock the rifle and is usually when the handle gets a little harder to pull.

Can you flip the gun over and take some pics of in the magwell and also the ejection port so we can better help you?

 

[RogueIV]

Also the mag is known to be harder to insert whem the gun is uncocked. You need to give it a slight smack to get it in or push it all the way up then sort of rock it backwards till it clicks. I would fool with the mag yet till we can confirm nothing it wrong with your hammer though.

 

[David T.]

Thanks RogueIV for your suggestions. I insert the magazine and bang it in hard and was able to get the magazine to clicked in. I did it couple times, now it is going in much easier.
As for the charging handle, I used alot more forces to pull it back, it moved back almost toward the end, do you think I should force it back with more force? like banging the charge handle onto a hard surface to force it back.

 

[RogueIV]

looks like it's jammed up. Edit: nevermind it's not behind the hammer like I initially thought but still need to know what's going on in there.

Looks like you need to field strip it.

Field stripping is really easy though. Just be careful as since you bolt is stuck in the reward position it'll be under spring tension and will try to launch the launch itself apart as soon as you hinge it apart so make sure you keep a good grasp on the front grip and the pistol grip to keep it from flying apart uncontrollably.

For reference here's a video of field stripping, starts at around 4:00 if the link doesn't already start you there

After you have it apart like in 4:40 of the video you're going to take the 3rd pin out so you can see better into the lower and view the hammer. get to this poin and post up a picture I'll go grab my rdb at that point and give you some pics on what to do next if your's looks like it's not damaged/defective.

 

[RogueIV]

edited initial response.

 

[David T.]

OK, I field stripped like the above videos showed. The long stroke gas piston system was stuck to the upper receiver, it went slightly off track in there. But I got it out.
I got 2 things that are not exactly looking the same as in the above video. Wants to know if this is normal? or a defect?
1. The recoil spring on mine is outside of the gas piston system/bolt carrier.
2. on one end of the gas piston system/bolt carrier, it is nicked and not perfectly round.
Do you think these 2 things contributed to my original problem? does yours showing similar to mine?

 

[David T.]

oos, forgot the pictures:

 

[RogueIV]

1. MAC was a bit wrong in saying it was a long stroke piston system, it's actually a short stroke piston and the what you're actually looking at is the guide rod and bolt carrier. the piston is actually on the barrel assembly. Anyway semantics aside.

A little nick at the very end shouldn't affect anything. Does the spring's guide rod move into the bolt carrier smoothly or does it bind up?

Here's a pic of my guide rod yours should look similar:
20190325_155255 by roguetorino, on Flickr

Here is the location of the actual short stroke piston(you shouldn't have any issues with it but I included it for reference):
20190325_155427 by roguetorino, on Flickr

 

[RogueIV]

oos, forgot the pictures:
View attachment 40732 View attachment 40730

That looks fine to me. the divot is just where they weld the end plug of the bolt carrier to the outer tube and is normal.

What does the lower half of the receiver look like?
Mine for reference hammer cocked:
20190325_162240 by roguetorino, on Flickr

Hammer uncocked, note: Do not dryfire with out the rifle assembled. you must hold the hammer with you thumb and ride it forward while pulling the trigger with safety on "F"
20190325_163228 by roguetorino, on Flickr

On the upper receiver do any of the 4 screw protrude excessively on the 2 guide rails?
20190325_162143 by roguetorino, on Flickr
20190325_162154 by roguetorino, on Flickr

 

[David T.]

RougeIV, yeah the piston looking OK and no sticking w/ the guide rod/spring. I put everything back together and it is working perfectly now, I was able to cock the gun and release and it is very smooth now. I think whole problem was due to the bolt carrier misaligned w/ the upper receiver track, so when I tried to cock the gun, it got stuck. I will try to go to the range fire w/ live ammo and see if this gives me any more problems. Thank you very much for taking your time and helping me out.

 

[RogueIV]

No problem, glad you got it working!
Let us know how it runs at the range.

 

[IamScotticus]

Check the straightness of the guide rod.
If the rod wasn't centered on the rear buffer, and the bolt forced back enuf, the bolt would be jammed up and the rod could get bent. the fact that the rails themselves arent dragging now, makes me think an assembly error may have been the issue. And yes, the spring is not captured on later models.

 

[David T.]

Thanks for the suggestion, I will keep an eye on it the next time I field strip it.

 

[IamScotticus]

When you're reassembling and pushing in the pins (I call it buttoning up)
It helps to work the bolt back and forth. You will find things tend to seat together better and the pins lock in more easily. On mine, the pins have their own favorite bolt positions. Go figure??