My Newest Rifle Build

[XxMerlinxX]

The other day I was doing some cleaning up around the house when I suddenly realized I had quite a few parts laying around with which to build a new AR. So I did. Specs on it are as follows:

1. Palmetto State Armory - Upper and lower receiver, bolt, extension tube, LPK minus fire controls
2. JP Enterprises Lightweight BCG
3. Hipertouch 24C Trigger with 2.7# springs installed
4. Bravo Company Gunfighter Mod 2 Grip
5. Bravo Company KMR13 Keymod Rail System
6. Magpul STR Stock and ASAP Endplate
7. Rainier Arms MEDCON 16" Stainless Barrel, 1/8 twist and polygonal 5R Rifling
8. Rainier Arms Raptor Ambidextrous Charging Handle
9. Kies Adjustable Lo-Pro Gas Block
10. Ares Armour Effin-A MKII Adjustable Comp
 

 

[AVB]

So what does one expect to do with it now that you have it built?

I, personally, have never understood the fascination with the AR design. Why so much time and effort was put into what is basically a faulty design just to make it minimally functional is beyond me especailly when there are far better proven designs available and/or newer designs that function better. I mean the original design is 57 years old and the AR version 51. This is not to disparage your building skills as I'm sure they are first rate but I'm just not getting the "why" behind it.

I'm your target, illuminate me.

 

[XxMerlinxX]

So what does one expect to do with it now that you have it built?

 
I'll be competing in 2 and 3 gun matches with it.
 

I, personally, have never understood the fascination with the AR design. Why so much time and effort was put into what is basically a faulty design just to make it minimally functional is beyond me especailly when there are far better proven designs available and/or newer designs that function better. I mean the original design is 57 years old and the AR version 51. This is not to disparage your building skills as I'm sure they are first rate but I'm just not getting the "why" behind it.


I'm your target, illuminate me.

I guess I'd need to know what you consider to be faulty about it and what rifles you feel are superior?  My attraction to it is the wide availability of accessories, the modularity, the accuracy, the low recoil impulse, the low cost, and the manual of arms for it.  Yes, it is an old design, but one that has been consistantly upgraded over the years.

 

[AVB]

Any design that didn't work as intended, in this case feeding a round into the chamber, that needed an "assist" is faulty.  As I said enough time, effort and money has been put into it to correct what is a basic flaw but that doesn't make it a good design. As for accuracy that would depend on your idea of what is accurate. A short barrel, fairly light round is inherently inaccurate at distance - distance that was and is needed in Afghanistan but not so much in urban conflicts like Iraq. The M4 (or A1 version) with new green rounds can't even stop a man in flac at 250M unless you somehow hit him in the head. Then there is the blow back design that requires more maintenance, is more susceptible to dirt and generally doesn't function as well as a piston design  I gotta hit the road but I'll come back and finish this tonight.

 

[AVB]

So what do I think is better?  HK G36, AK 74, FN SCAR I do like the Steyr AUG with the 24" barrel made for the M885 cartridge just for the neato factor and it works pretty well,for close range or far depending which barrel you choose  To reach out and touch someone FN Ballista would be my current choice but on a dollar for dollar basis it is still hard to beat working on an M1A1 for long range even if it is older by a decade than the AR - it is also a better design and function.
 
To each his own.

 

[XxMerlinxX]

Any design that didn't work as intended, in this case feeding a round into the chamber, that needed an "assist" is faulty.  As I said enough time, effort and money has been put into it to correct what is a basic flaw but that doesn't make it a good design. As for accuracy that would depend on your idea of what is accurate. A short barrel, fairly light round is inherently inaccurate at distance - distance that was and is needed in Afghanistan but not so much in urban conflicts like Iraq. The M4 (or A1 version) with new green rounds can't even stop a man in flac at 250M unless you somehow hit him in the head. Then there is the blow back design that requires more maintenance, is more susceptible to dirt and generally doesn't function as well as a piston design  I gotta hit the road but I'll come back and finish this tonight.

The forward assist is not required to feed a round into the chamber.  As I understand it, the Forward Assist came about during the Vietnam war when gunpowder was being manufactured incorrectly causing gas tube blockages and general fouling of the weapon.  As such, a lot of rifles were found to be stuck in a Garand type failure where the bolt wasn't quite in battery and needed a bit of a nudge.  And so the Forward Assist was born.  With properly manufactured ammunition, I would argue that it's simply not needed anymore.
 
What do I consider accurate?  Sub 1" groups at 200 meters.  As for the effectiveness of M855A1, it was designed to penetrate 24 layers of kevlar or 3/8" mild steel plate, but not true hardened steel armor due to loss of effectiveness on soft tissue.  If you hit a guy center mass with it, and he doesn't go down, then he's either jacked up on some sort of narcotic, wearing purpose built body armor, or you missed.
 
As for reliability, Pat Rogers has done a number of reliability tests and videos using extreme circumstances and conditions, to include a rifle that fired over 31k rounds without a cleaning.  Most of the armorers I've talked to have said a lot of malfunctions stem from jammed/broken/worn magazines rather than the weapons themselves.
 

So what do I think is better?  HK G36, AK 74, FN SCAR I do like the Steyr AUG with the 24" barrel made for the M885 cartridge just for the neato factor and it works pretty well,for close range or far depending which barrel you choose  To reach out and touch someone FN Ballista would be my current choice but on a dollar for dollar basis it is still hard to beat working on an M1A1 for long range even if it is older by a decade than the AR - it is also a better design and function.
 
To each his own.

The HK G36 may run like a top, but the accuracy degrades under heavy fire as the rifle heats up, more so than is typical.  I also don't care for the optics built in, which limit your field of view, nor the shitty trigger.  As for the AK74, if you think the 5.56 round is underpowered, I don't know why you would like the 5.45 any better since it's got about 100fps less zip on it at a hundred meters.  It's also a lot less accurate than the other rifles you mentioned for a number of reasons, tolerance stacking probably being the first.  I like the FN SCAR, I think it has some mechanical advantages over the AR such as running much cooler, but I do not like the reciprocating handle nor the high price tag associated with it.  Speaking of high price tags, you mentioned the FN Ballista, lol.  Just the caliber change kits are going to be in the $2k neighborhood with the rifle itself around $6k, if/when it ever comes out.
 
The M14 is a good rifle but, respectfully, you're smoking something other than cigars if you think it beats the M110 or anything similar.  Every time you take the action out of the stock, you lose zero, drastically so.  The oprod is also a major pain in the ass, as is mounting a scope on one, as is trying to get the ergonomics on it right, as is finding JUST the right ammo that it likes, etc.  I know that they're still in circulation in the military, thanks to the Sage EBR stock, but every guy I've talked to that had to lug one around always said they liked the M110 more.

 

[Not A Nice Person]

Well, at least you're actually competing with it, instead of wandering around Target or Chipotles.  :whistling:
 
~Boar

 

[AVB]

I did say dollar for dollar about the M1A1 which I think is well below the M110 cost .  Of course I'd take a CheyTak M300 if it wasn't more than my car and I REALLY wanted to call long distance. 

About the forward assist and why it was needed.  I go back to faulty design since other weapons didn't have the same problem nearly as much and not all ammo was made by one company. To say that a dozen manufacturers all produced the same problem is a bit of a stretch for me. Also, if the bolt isn't all the way forward the bullet isn't seated properly in the chamber so the end result is the same - just our whys seem to be different
 
I thought I was told the Ballista  would be out around now and yes it isn't exactly cheap but less than some and less than buying 3 rifles of that quality/capability if you wanted multiple calibers.

 

[XxMerlinxX]

I did say dollar for dollar about the M1A1 which I think is well below the M110 cost .  Of course I'd take a CheyTak M300 if it wasn't more than my car and I REALLY wanted to call long distance. 

About the forward assist and why it was needed.  I go back to faulty design since other weapons didn't have the same problem nearly as much and not all ammo was made by one company. To say that a dozen manufacturers all produced the same problem is a bit of a stretch for me. Also, if the bolt isn't all the way forward the bullet isn't seated properly in the chamber so the end result is the same - just our whys seem to be different
 
I thought I was told the Ballista  would be out around now and yes it isn't exactly cheap but less than some and less than buying 3 rifles of that quality/capability if you wanted multiple calibers.

 
The no frills Springfield M1A goes for about $1200, a S&W M&P10 goes for about the same.  You'll spend a lot more trying to get "match grade" out of a M1A than a M&P10.
 
As for the ammo during Vietnam, you have to remember that the M16 was a completely new weapon with a completely new caliber, 5.56 wasn't even brought to the commercial market until a year after the military standardized and fully adopted it, so there weren't dozens of manufacturers cranking this stuff out.  And unlike the handful of ammo plants running at this time, like Lake City and Badger, there was only one single company, Olin, that could produce propellant to the specs required.
 
And there's no telling when the Ballista will actually get here.  FN has been saying for years that it's coming, but so far that's all we've gotten.

 

[AVB]

You apparently know more about the beginning of the AR than I but by my time Olin certainly wasn't the only manufacturer. The rifle had been fielded for 6-7 years and tested for for a few years before that and still was not as reliable or accurate as what it replaced.  The only good thing I could say about it was the 3 prong flash suppressor made it easy to open C-rat cases, (which both the rifle and C-rats are probably well before your time)

I hadn't realized that a new M1A1 had gone up that much, it wasn't dirt cheap when I built mine but nowhere near $1200.  I don't think my whole rig was $1200. For the $1650 list of an M&P10 it probably is a better buy now.

I will admit the M885 came out well after my time but I still keep in contact with people and for whatever reason they don't have a lot of confidence in the round. Now I deal with Jarheads so I can't say what the Army or anybody else is using or thinking but they (Marines) do like the new MK318 if given the choice.  At some point 30 years after I'm dead they'll issue a rifle with 2 barrels, easily interchangeable with a round that has ability to do a decent range with the long barrel and has some penetration with the short barrel and end this micro managed specialization they keep trying to do.  Combat is too fluid to be overly specialized IMO.

I guess it come down to personal preference, I'd rather have something that I can reach out and touch you with at 5-700 yards if needed than not have that ability.  But then a .308 is a bit much to shoot groundhogs with or use in a stairwell too. 

 

[LikeAPuma]

Nice gun! I can always appreciate the time & thought that goes into custom builds. I appreciated the platform while toting an M4 around Iraq.

These days, I don't have much use for that style of rifle. Can't use them for deer hunting (in CT), & for fun at the range, 22lr ammo costs much less.

I still enjoy the "tacti-cool" look on firearms, though everything I currently own has wood stocks lol. Thinking of buying a new stock for my Ruger 10/22, but am torn, since I won't be able to put anything on it here in CT.

 

[BlindedByScience]

Nice build.  I've got a 20" custom, and a 18" 'cheap' black rifle in the safe.  The 20" started life as a complete rifle from Bushmaster that I bought years ago.  Had them build me one with a 20" fluted barrel.  My friends out at Brimstone Gunsmithing worked the trigger group over for me and it's fantastically crisp.  Not light like the full drop in replacement triggers, but it doesn't have any creep and I can work with that.  May go to a Wilson TTU for that one at some point.  The 'cheap' build started out as an Olympic Arms complete uppoer I picked up at the gun show for a great price.  Scored some lowers from 2Vets Arms some time back (my kid in the USMC knows them) so I put a Palmetto State lower kit together with one, and voila, a "cheap" black rifle.
 
Kudos on the Rainier Arms barrel.  I'm counting my pennies for a Rainier built 14.5" upper assembly to go with a lower I've already got.   The 20" has an ACOG TA-01 on it, and is a lot of fun to shoot with my SpecWar556 can on the front.
 
Both my rifles run fantastically, 100% reliable, and they print well off the bench if I do my job.  Maybe the forward assist works, maybe it doesn't, because I've never touched either of them.  Ray, I 'get it' that there are folks that don't like the AR platform, but there is no disputing the fact that it's been improved so much over the years since it's introduction, that it's really become the platform of choice for lots of applications.  I happen to know one Marine quite well that consistently makes the 9" plate ring at 500 yards with an issue M4..  The M1A1 is a great platform but it will cost you about $1200 to get in the door, and more like $2000 to get the one you want.  I don't believe the AR platform would be nearly as popular as they are today, throughout the world, in many applications if they were truly a 'faulty design'.  I completely understand that you have to have faith in the platform, and if it isn't there, of course there are choices.  I can say this; [SIZE=14.4444446563721px]I'm very happy with my AR's for their intended use, and if the SHTF my 20" AR and my Glock G21 would be the first two firearms I'd grab.  [/SIZE]
  
LikeAPuma, I took my nearly 30 year old Ruger 10-22 and gave it a bit of a 'tune up' about a year ago.  I'm really happy with how it turned out:
 

 
- Hogue "Overmolded" stock
- Tactical Solutions 'X-Ring" 0.920" barrel
- Tactical Solutions V-Block upgrade
- Stage 2 trigger work by Brimstone Gunsmithing
- Rimfire Specialties recoil buffer, charging handle / guide rod, trigger, and magazine release.
- Bolt blueprinting and engine turning by Que
- Nikon Rimfire BDC scope
- Tally "Rail-less" scope rings. 
 
....with a can on the front of the barrel (yes, it's threaded) it's as quiet as can be and really fun to tear up targets and tin cans with.  I had a lot of fun picking the parts and putting it together, it's a great project and easy to recommend.
 
Cheers, guys - B.B.S.

 

 

[LikeAPuma]

I was thinking of putting a Promag Archangel 556 stock on & dressing it up. I don't do competitions, but we enjoy doing timed shoots amongst friends... Would be fun to use something other than a wood stock

 

[likescarsz28]

Good thread, thanks!