Dust cover woes

[gatordev]

So here's a little story. I appreciate any insight, despite the intentional lack of details (at least for the moment)...

One Black Friday, I bought a Mega MATEN upper receiver for a great deal from Rainier. When I got it, it was standard Mega quality, to include a working, locking dust cover. Then I had it cerakoted by another company (along with the dust cover). It appears the dust cover was removed (which makes sense) as the dust cover pin and spring isn't cerakoted, which is fine. Now the dust cover won't lock into place. The ball detent works fine, as it retracts and resets. The receiver itself doesn't appear to have any weird blemishes that would prevent the cover from catching on the normal detent. And given that adding an additional layer of paint to everything should make it slightly thicker, it should be harder to lock/unlock the dust cover.

So, is there anything I can do to make the dust cover more resilient? I'm already seeing wear on the detent on the receiver after snapping the cover in place a bunch of times, but it's still not a secure "lock." I can't even figure out what would have been messed with to make this an issue, given everything appears to be working correctly, independently.

Any thoughts?

[Joelski]

Is the detent housing bowed away from the dust cover plate? That would give it some slop. Seems like it was maybe stuck and someone or something, possibly a paranormal entity forced it open, creating a bend that's not obvious to the nekkid/old eyeballs.

I'd try laying it flat side down on a covered surface and giving the detent housing a rap or two with a mallet. That ought to tighten things up. Do it gradually until you get the fit you want.

[alamo5000]

I am thinking that if you slightly polish the lip of your upper reciever and possibly the inside edge of your dust cover it will fix the problem.

One of mine did something similar for a while and a slight polish fixed it right up. Of course use something ultra fine and take your time so you don't mess things up.

Either that or take your upper off and remove the bolt. Look inside the upper and see the exact contact point where the detent ball is supposed to be locking in place... and polish that down from the inside then you are running even less risk of doing something that can be seen.

As far as the 'cause' my best guess is the thickness has been messed with some, especially if they cerekoted both the door it's self and the upper...the gap between the ball and the door is only so wide...and the thickness of the exact spot it locks on is supposed to be only so thick... but somewhere along the lines those got out of whack. It might be two or three layers too thick actually.

Heck, mine did that and it wasn't even cerekoted.

[gatordev]

Is the detent housing bowed away from the dust cover plate? That would give it some slop. Seems like it was maybe stuck and someone or something, possibly a paranormal entity forced it open, creating a bend that's not obvious to the nekkid/old eyeballs.

I'd try laying it flat side down on a covered surface and giving the detent housing a rap or two with a mallet. That ought to tighten things up. Do it gradually until you get the fit you want.

I thought you might be on to something there, but it looks like it's hitting the receiver evenly. Unfortunately, I can't take the cover off, as I don't have the tools to remove the rail, which blocks the pin.




Either that or take your upper off and remove the bolt. Look inside the upper and see the exact contact point where the detent ball is supposed to be locking in place... and polish that down from the inside then you are running even less risk of doing something that can be seen.

As far as the 'cause' my best guess is the thickness has been messed with some, especially if they cerekoted both the door it's self and the upper...the gap between the ball and the door is only so wide...and the thickness of the exact spot it locks on is supposed to be only so thick... but somewhere along the lines those got out of whack. It might be two or three layers too thick actually.

Heck, mine did that and it wasn't even cerekoted.

The issue doesn't appear to be a surface thickness/contact issue, but instead the detent ball just not grabbing anything, so looking at the detent may be the right course. However, I can see the contact point, and it's already showing wear (to the bare metal), so I don't think that's going to solve anything.

It's really weird how it could be that loose all of a sudden. At the end of the day, it doesn't affect function, but how am I going to take sexy pictures with an open dust cover? That's just uncivilized...and undeservedly kills baby kittens.

[WHSmithIV]

Well, what you 'could' do is remove the dust cover and replace it with a Strike Industries UDC. If you pop off that little c-clip, you can slide the rod out to the rear without removing the handguard. The UDC rod is spring loaded like the pin for a watchband and doesn't use a c-clip. The UDC also has an adjustable ball so you can make it snap in place as tight as you want.

It won't be cerakoted like the upper receiver is, but perhaps you could get those folks who cerakoted the upper to cerakote the UDC for you.

[gatordev]

Well, what you 'could' do is remove the dust cover and replace it with a Strike Industries UDC.

My upper is a MATEN, not an AR-15, so it's a different setup altogether.

[SINNER]

If I recall correctly you don't need to remove the rail on a Maten. Isn't there a set screw in the rear of the upper that retains the dust cover rod?

As for the issue my money is on the detent ball being fouled from the Cerakote. Even a slight amount around the bore will restrict the detention ball from moving fully into position.

[gatordev]

If I recall correctly you don't need to remove the rail on a Maten. Isn't there a set screw in the rear of the upper that retains the dust cover rod?

You may be right, but damned if I can find it. I just looked again, because what you're saying makes sense, but I'm still not seeing it.


As for the issue my money is on the detent ball being fouled from the Cerakote. Even a slight amount around the bore will restrict the detention ball from moving fully into position.

I think you're onto something. I was looking at that this afternoon as I was putting the rest of the rifle together, and it does seem to be a weak ball. It's also starting to lock a little better. Still weak, but at least it's staying closed now when I tap the door, so hopefully with a little more use it will wear down some more.

[SINNER]

The small hole to the right of the carrier. You can barely see the set screw.

1054

[gatordev]

The small hole to the right of the carrier. You can barely see the set screw.


Interesting. I don't have that on mine.

[SINNER]

Yeah been a while since I looked at mine that are just an upper and not a upper/rail combo. They are both buried deep in one of the safes. Lol

[gatordev]

My lower has been around for a while (circa 2012) but the upper is much newer (circa 2015) so it looks like they've made some changes. Either way, here's hoping everything functions this weekend.