I had a gunsmith that doesn't normally do black rifles install a ar15 rail because i couldn't get BCM pins out of the gasblock, He put the gas tube on upside down. Check to make sure your gas tube is inserted correctly.
So, I thought I would circle back to this post. I was finally able to get back out to the range earlier this afternoon. I shot through 140 rounds of factory ammo. My AR cycled flawlessly through every single round. So, I believe that puts to rest the debate over what my issue was. Obviously, a mistake was made on my part. I assumed that the factory reloads I picked up would be a good option for plinking until I was able to start loading my own. Lesson learned!