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AM15 DRUM LOADING INSTRUCTIONS (return to top)
*CAUTION: If you are unfamiliar with the function and safe handling of an open bolt firearm, you should seek competent assistance, training and guidance before attempting to fire your AM15 Upper Receiver Conversion Kit.
AM15 drums are easy to use once you understand how they work. Everyone that has ever owned an AM180 or an AM15, has at one time or another managed to dump a drum full of ammo on the ground but once you have a little practice with them, you will be all set and ready to load drums like a professional.
1. If you have a winder on the drum, first ensure that the winder does not have tension on it. This can be accomplished by moving the lock on the winder and SLOWLY letting the drum spin down until there is no tension on the winder by keeping pressure between the drum and baseplate. With no tension on the winder, remove the winder from the drum.
2. Turn the drum upside down. (You want the hole that the bullets go into and come out of, facing upwards.)
3. Hold the top part of the drum and manually rotate the baseplate until the feed slot is lined up with the blank groove in the drum. You'll know which one is the blank groove since its the only different looking slot.
4. While rotating the baseplate clockwise, continue to insert one round of .22LR ammunition into each cavity in the drum with the nose of the round pointing toward the center of the drum.
NOTE: The AM15 functions best with round nose high velocity .22LR ammo. For most reliable operation, avoid hollow point ammo. Hyper velocity and truncated bullet ammo should not be used.
5. Continue inserting individual rounds and rotating the baseplate until you have loaded 360 degrees all the way around without skipping any ammo cavity positions and you are once again back to the blank groove. At this point, the follower will elevate over the first round in the drum and you can continue to add additional ammo while turning the baseplate. Continue this process until each individual cavity on all available levels of the drum are filled.
NOTE: For your initial test firing and until you are familiar with the operation of the AM15 Upper Receiver, only fill the first layer regardless of the capacity of your drum.
6. Move the lever on your winder to "F" (free) and install it in the drum by pushing the legs of the winder all the way into the holes in the drum, ensuring that winder is securely captured by either the fingers on the plastic drum or the metal retainers on the Tactical Innovations Stainless Steel Base Plates.
7. Before winding the drum, you MUST capture the drum and the baseplate between your thumb and fingers with enough force to prevent the drum from spinning (or moving at all) on the baseplate as the winder is turned. For instance, your left hand will capture the drum against the baseplate while your right hand will wind (turn) the winder.
8. The spring tension on the winder is CRITICAL for the reliable operation of the AM15 Upper Receiver. The amount of tension drum via the spring is determined based on how many times you wind (turn) the winder. The number of times you will wind the winder is dependent on the size drum you are using and the number of layers of ammunition that you have in the drum.
The correct winding procedure is 2 1/2 turns PLUS and additional ONE turn for each full layer of ammunition in the drum. For example, the supplied 165 round drum will contain 3 layers of ammunition. Therefore, the winder should be turned 5 1/2 complete turns representing 2 1/2 initial turns and an additional 3 turns, one for each layer of ammunition.
9. Once the winder has been wound the correct number of turns, do not yet release your left hand grip between the drum and the baseplate or all of your ammo will be dumped from the drum by the winders turning force. While maintaining pressure, move the lever on the winder off of "F" and into the detent to lock the winder spring tension. Carefully release your left hand pressure between the baseplate and the drum and the drum should not rotate.
The drum is now ready to fire.
NOTE: Drums can be loaded and stored indefinitely and then simply add the winder and wind when you are ready to shoot. It is much nicer to load the drums before you go to the range.
AM15 OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS (return to top)
*CAUTION: If you are unfamiliar with the function and safe handling of an open bolt firearm, you should seek competent assistance, training and guidance before attempting to fire your AM15 Upper Receiver Conversion Kit.
1. Make sure the gun is not loaded and is pointed in a safe direction.
2. Rotate the safety selector to the SAFE position.
3. Install the filled drum on the AM15 Upper Receiver by slipping the front tab under the lip on the barrel, ensuring that the drum is correctly centered and mated with the vertical pin.
The rear of the drum is correctly seated by sliding the rear tab of the drum through the corresponding slot in the top cover. Push down gently on the rear of the drum until the drum snaps under the mag catch. Firm pressure may be required but you should not strike the drum as damage to the drum might occur. Ensure that the drum is all the way down and that the MAG CATCH HAS RETURNED TO THE FORWARD POSITION before proceeding.
4. Move the lever on the winder to the "F" position to put tension on the drum. The drum is not forcing the ammunition against the feedblock and is unable to turn until the ammunition is allowed to feed through the feedblock during the firing sequence.
5. With the gun pointed in a safe direction and ensuring that your finger is OFF the trigger, retract the bolt using the charging handle to its full rearward travel position. Slowly and gently continue to use the charging handle to allow the bolt to move forward until it is catches in its rearward position.
6. With the bolt in the locked rearward position, return the charging handle to its fully forward position. The charging handle does not reciprocate with the bolt.
7. Rotate the safety selector to the FIRE position and the firearm is now ready to fire.
The firing sequence, which is identical to all other open bolt firearms, is as follows:
a. when the trigger is pulled, the bolt is released and travels forward under spring pressure and strips a round of ammunition from the feedblock and chambers it into the barrel chamber. The bolt does not have a separate moving firing pin but instead has a firing pin machined into the face of the bolt. The forward inertia of the bolt crushes the rim of the case and ignites the primer.
b. the force of the expanding powder propels the bullet down the barrel and the equal and opposite reaction blows the bolt back with the spent case pinned to the bolt face by the extractor until it strikes the ejector and is dropped out of the receiver through the M16's magwell.
c. the bolt continues its rearward travel until it contacts the bolt buffer, ending its rearward travel. The recoil spring then pushes the bolt forward to repeat the cycle. The firing cycle continues until either (1) the trigger is released and the sear (hammer) contacts the bolt to hold it in the rearward position or (2) the drum is empty and the gun runs out of ammunition or (3) a malfunction occurs such as a failure to feed, failure of the primer to ignite etc.
8. Once the drum is empty, it will "spin down". With your finger off the trigger and the firearm pointed in a safe direction, retract the bolt using the bolt handle and visually verify that there is not a round of ammunition in the chamber.
Operate the mag release and free the rear of the drum and then remove the drum from the front slot in the barrel.
CAUTION: THERE WILL ALWAYS BE ONE UNFIRED ROUND OF AMMUNITION LEFT IN THE TOP OF THE FEEDBLOCK WHEN THE DRUM IS EMPTY AND THE SPRING HAS WOUND DOWN. You must manually remove this last round after you remove the drum.
9. With the drum removed from the upper receiver, visually verify that there is no ammunition in (a) the chamber as well as (b) the feedblock.
NOTE 1: The higher capacity plastic drums (275 etc) will sometimes jam due to the plastic baseplate flexing due to the increased spring pressure required by the additional layers of ammunition. This will be evident when the lead bullet of the round that did not chamber is split on the feedblock rather than passing through the feedblock into the chamber. This situation can be remedied with the use of our replacement STAINLESS STEEL BASEPLATE ASSEMBLY.
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