AR Rebuild...

[RECIT]

I've been considering the AFG but it just looks so uncomfortable. But everything I hear is quite the opposite. I might have to give it a shot.

I have one on my latest build. It is the cat's meow. The most comfortable grip I have held. Magpul doesn't do much wrong in the world of ARs. Except giving up the MASADA to Bushmaster now the ACR.

[The Annoyed Man]

My 3X Gen 2 EOTech magnifier and flip to side mount arrived today. The project is complete... ...for now. I'm going to try and get to the range tomorrow afternoon to get things zeroed.

[RECIT]

Have fun and keep shootin

[The Annoyed Man]

Here are the final pics, with the EOTech magnifier and flip to side mount, Magpul MS2 sling, and Magpul ASAP sling adapter all mounted up and in place:









A couple of things...

One: the sling system works real well, it is adaptable to different configurations, and it is ambidextrous (important for me).

Two: the EOTech magnifier has windage and elevation adjustments to center the lens on the reticle after the reticle has been zeroed. My son's magnifier on his AR is a cheaper knock-off, and it lacks this feature. The magnifier has a 2" (actually 1.97", but who's counting...) of eye relief. That doesn't sound like much on paper, but with the collapsible buttstock getting the eye that close to the scope is easy, and since it is only 5.56/.223, recoil induced eye injury is not a concern. Plus the thing has a rubber eye protector on it anyway. I've been used to scoped rifles with a longer length of pull and heavier recoil, and thus longer eye relief is a concern. On this carbine, the shorter relief feels perfectly naturally.

[The Annoyed Man]

Here's the range report:

OH. EM. GEE!! This is one very sweet shooting AR. It took me about 8 or 10 rounds to get the EOTech's reticle on target. A quick check of the iron sights showed that they do line up with the EOTech's reticle, but I didn't use them. They're strictly an emergency backup as far as I'm concerned. The next step was to adjust the EOTech 3X magnifier so that the EOTech's reticle was centered in the magnifier's field of view — accomplished with a few turns of the screwdriver in the magnifier's elevation and windage screws.

All of the above took just a few minutes, then it was time to get down to shooting. This was at short range in the tactical bay at the Elm Fork Range, the distance being a mere 25 yards useful for setting a battle zero. Ammo was 130 rounds of 55 grain Federal XM193 NATO ball.

The rifle shot to point of aim effortlessly, and I shot 5 strings of 20 rounds each. Each group of 20 rounds went into about an 1" — not sub MOA, but every bit accurate enough to fit my needs. At some point, I'll take it to a 100 yard range and see what I can do there. Even so, I think I would feel comfortable hunting with this rifle inside of 150 yards.

Toward the end of those 5 strings, I began to experience malfunctions of the "stovepipe" variety. The spent case would be sticking out of the ejection port, trapped between the top of the fresh cartridge and the roof of the action, with the fresh cartridge not fed in all the way. At first, it was once in a while, but then it began to happen on every round. Finally, I got two light strikes in a row on a primer, so I finally broke the receiver open to see what's up, thinking maybe the bolt needed to be lubed or that something was gunking up the firing pin. When I pulled the rear pin and broke the receiver open, lo and behold, the buffer retainer and buffer retainer spring were out of their hole and laying on top of the cocked hammer, and the buffer and spring were sticking out of the buffer tube. That put the kibosh on the range session.

It turned out that we were short 1 thread when we threaded the buffer tube into the lower receiver, and so the edge of the buffer tube wasn't going it's job keeping the buffer retainer down in its hole — just a simple oversight on our part. It just need to be threaded in one more turn. When I got home, we rectified the situation and reassembled the rifle, and it seems to have fixed the problem. I can't wait to get back to the range again, only this time I'm going to shoot 69 grain SMKs at 100 yards.

Anyway, I am happy with my new carbine. She's a keeper.

[Carry-a-Kimber]

I love this build You are giving me serious doubts whether I want to sell my Stag or keep it and go to town. I already have all the components I want in my "wish list" over at Midway, so all it would take is a little "click click click". I think I will give it another week or two before I give in. Very cool carbine, very jealous.

[Zoomie]

If you ever want to experiment with a different grip, move the AFG up the the very front of the rail so that your arm is extended more, while this will induce fatigue quicker, it will give you significantly more control of the rifle ( if you watch the magpul guys they grip the gun far forward no matter if their running a VFG, or AFG).

Here's an example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PslbWonjhiU

[The Annoyed Man]

It turned out that we were short 1 thread when we threaded the buffer tube into the lower receiver, and so the edge of the buffer tube wasn't going it's job keeping the buffer retainer down in its hole

Oh, I see what you did, if I understand you correctly - it didn't look like this, huh?



Rather annoying that it cut short your range trip, but fortunately it was an easy fix, no harm done - and a learning experience to boot

Exactly right. It was just an oversight because I was in a hurry to get it done. Stupid, really; but there it is. You live and you learn.

[lrb111]

as Larry mosey's off to safe to check lower builds.