I was in contact with Rick Smith. He told me to send it back and he would video the unboxing, inspection and testing and post the video. You can't ask for better service than that! However, I'm not quite ready to give up and return it for service without trying a few of his suggestions first; adjusting the gas setting to the lower setting being at the top of the list. I will also be using the magazines it was tested with and paying particular attention to lubing the locking lugs on the bolt and the cam track in the bolt. His correspondence stated:
" Your rifle may have been one that was a little on the tight side when assembled/test fired and was set on the high setting when it went out. This is the case with about 10% of the rifles and normally within less than 200 rnds they have loosened up and need to be on the low setting or will zing brass 15 feet, kick with 15% more authority, and be in a competition with the mag spring to see who is fastest."
Mine is still on the high setting and brass IS flying pretty far. I also noticed brass kisses on the receiver in front of the ejection port that weren't there first time out. So, too much gas just may be the main culprit here with the failure to feed problems. What he means by the last part of his statement is that the bolt is flying back with so much force and rebounding off the buffer so hard that it is getting back to the magazine before its spring has enough time to have the next cartridge ready for pickup. That still doesn't explain my lockup yesterday but I've only used CLP as my lubricant and I've kept my locking lugs bone dry, something I learned by shooting HK's for many many years where to DO NOT lube the trunnion. So, I will try again before returning it. That will be a couple weeks though. I will post the results.
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