Legos for grownups, eh?
ICONROLLEY
What a frickin' PITA.
So, being the stupid person I am, I waited to get into the "build your own AR" game until Obamascare 2013. So I paid 3x more than I should have for a crappy polymer NFA lower. Which was out of spec and a PITA to build using too-expensive, run of the mill PSA LPK (which I had to scrounge for months to find). So figure at this point I'd spent at least $100 too much so far.
[ame]http://youtu.be/HsCbm4ANry4[/ame] video detailing issues and fixes for any interested.
Found a used Magpul CTR stock for about $60 and a used/beat up receiver extension and castle nut/plate on one of the forums for... I can't remember, but I paid double what it was worth. in early/mid 2013 there were ZERO AR parts available anywhere. Paid too much for a standard carbine buffer and later a carbine spring; paid shipping on both from separate shops because you couldn't buy both parts together anywhere at the time. ICONROLLEY
Got the lower completed and it functions... tried it out on a couple other uppers and seems fine. Trigger pull is like 12 lbs but Kwhatevz.
So couple weeks ago I decide I've hemmed and hawed enough and I'm going to get this POS rifle done come hell or high water, so I can put it in the back of my safe and ignore it. My goal originally was to go for cheap/light for this one. Since the lower is polymer, I figured I was off to a good start at least for the light part. I've already paid likely at least double what I should for a completed lower. *cough*
Still needed barrel/gas tube/front sight guts/gas tube pin/delta ring and guts/flash hider/handguards. Sometime during the panic I find an email "special" and pay $170 for a "5.56 8620 BCG with charging handle" from PSA. Not engraved with typical PSA logo so I assume it's no-name or generic brand. I don't know. Paid too much for crappy quality. Again. Because I'm stupid.
Last week I order the barrel and most associated parts from Midway and get free shipping; ends up being $190. Still don't have rear sight or handguards. Barrel is E.R. Shaw/Model 1 lightweight 16" CAR barrel from Midway, info says .223 chamber, reviews/feedback say .223 chamber.
Try to install barrel. I tighten and loosen barrel nut a couple of times to "seat" the surfaces, as recommended. Then try torque. At recommended starting torque of 30 ft/lbs, the tooth opening on the nut is juuuust too far for proper clearance of the gas tube. So I have to go a complete other tooth tighter. Sonova..... In the process of trying to torque barrel nut I shear like 4 teeth off the crappy barrel nut, and at what I would consider WAY TOO MUCH TORQUE/STOP YOU HAMFISTED GORILLA tightness, the next tooth is juuuust not far enough for clearance. Sonova...... I am NOT going to try to tighten it any further. Once the part breaks I figure it's tight enough, and I don't try to tighten it further. I don't care who you are... that's just good sense. GI1
I figure the barrel nut is now FUBAR anyway, so I can just grind/sand the tooth a bit to clear the gas tube. (I know, I know ICONROLLEY ). I try. I sweat and swear. I don't have a Dremel so I use sandpaper. It's a bit better but it doesn't work well enough to properly align gas tube without interference. To distract myself from how crappy a job I'm doing, I decide to check headspace.
Bad idea. 8620 BCG closes on a Clymer .223 NO GO gauge. (1.4666"). ICONROLLEY The PSA BCG that came with my PSA mock dissy upper does NOT close on the NO GO .223 gauge in the new rifle. Both BCGs close on .223 NO GO gauge if tried in the PSA dissy upper (which has a 5.56 chamber).
So: I assume this means that my crappy 8620 BCG or bolt is out of spec. I don't have a 5.56 NO GO or MAX gauge so I can't confirm that the chamber is improperly cut. However, the fact that a "known good" BCG won't close on a .223 NO GO leads me to believe that my 8620 BCG is questionable.
I add one layer of scotch tape (supposed to be .0015" thick) to the back of the .223 NO GO gauge and the bolt won't close. So I figure it's close enough for government work. Somewhere between 1.4666" and 1.4681". If I ever get it complete I'll only shoot .223 in it and test/triple check for excessive case stretching.
After headspace check I try to futz with the barrel nut again. It pisses me off again so I give up and loosen it (before I break the rest of the damn teeth off) and order a new barrel nut, skinny M4 handguards, and a Daniel Defense rear sight ($70 GI3 ). I would have tried to cheap out on the rear BUIS and gotten a Magpul but I have a hard time paying $50 for an ugly, questionably functional plastic sight... plus I'm paranoid about the myriad fake magpul parts out there. I figure I can justify the rear sight by using it on my PSA Dissy and take the (likely fake) Matech rear sight off of it and use it on the new LW build.
So, my "cheap" build has now cost me quite a bit more than the complete "bargain ARs" I've seen in sales lately. Ah, well... the lessons learned are worth it. Right? RIGHT? DISHOUT
Only good part in this story is that I was given the complete PSA flattop upper (sans BCG or charging handle), so I claw like $50 back there. woooooooooooooooo ICONROLLEY
ICONROLLEY
What a frickin' PITA.
So, being the stupid person I am, I waited to get into the "build your own AR" game until Obamascare 2013. So I paid 3x more than I should have for a crappy polymer NFA lower. Which was out of spec and a PITA to build using too-expensive, run of the mill PSA LPK (which I had to scrounge for months to find). So figure at this point I'd spent at least $100 too much so far.
[ame]http://youtu.be/HsCbm4ANry4[/ame] video detailing issues and fixes for any interested.
Found a used Magpul CTR stock for about $60 and a used/beat up receiver extension and castle nut/plate on one of the forums for... I can't remember, but I paid double what it was worth. in early/mid 2013 there were ZERO AR parts available anywhere. Paid too much for a standard carbine buffer and later a carbine spring; paid shipping on both from separate shops because you couldn't buy both parts together anywhere at the time. ICONROLLEY
Got the lower completed and it functions... tried it out on a couple other uppers and seems fine. Trigger pull is like 12 lbs but Kwhatevz.
So couple weeks ago I decide I've hemmed and hawed enough and I'm going to get this POS rifle done come hell or high water, so I can put it in the back of my safe and ignore it. My goal originally was to go for cheap/light for this one. Since the lower is polymer, I figured I was off to a good start at least for the light part. I've already paid likely at least double what I should for a completed lower. *cough*
Still needed barrel/gas tube/front sight guts/gas tube pin/delta ring and guts/flash hider/handguards. Sometime during the panic I find an email "special" and pay $170 for a "5.56 8620 BCG with charging handle" from PSA. Not engraved with typical PSA logo so I assume it's no-name or generic brand. I don't know. Paid too much for crappy quality. Again. Because I'm stupid.
Last week I order the barrel and most associated parts from Midway and get free shipping; ends up being $190. Still don't have rear sight or handguards. Barrel is E.R. Shaw/Model 1 lightweight 16" CAR barrel from Midway, info says .223 chamber, reviews/feedback say .223 chamber.
Try to install barrel. I tighten and loosen barrel nut a couple of times to "seat" the surfaces, as recommended. Then try torque. At recommended starting torque of 30 ft/lbs, the tooth opening on the nut is juuuust too far for proper clearance of the gas tube. So I have to go a complete other tooth tighter. Sonova..... In the process of trying to torque barrel nut I shear like 4 teeth off the crappy barrel nut, and at what I would consider WAY TOO MUCH TORQUE/STOP YOU HAMFISTED GORILLA tightness, the next tooth is juuuust not far enough for clearance. Sonova...... I am NOT going to try to tighten it any further. Once the part breaks I figure it's tight enough, and I don't try to tighten it further. I don't care who you are... that's just good sense. GI1
I figure the barrel nut is now FUBAR anyway, so I can just grind/sand the tooth a bit to clear the gas tube. (I know, I know ICONROLLEY ). I try. I sweat and swear. I don't have a Dremel so I use sandpaper. It's a bit better but it doesn't work well enough to properly align gas tube without interference. To distract myself from how crappy a job I'm doing, I decide to check headspace.
Bad idea. 8620 BCG closes on a Clymer .223 NO GO gauge. (1.4666"). ICONROLLEY The PSA BCG that came with my PSA mock dissy upper does NOT close on the NO GO .223 gauge in the new rifle. Both BCGs close on .223 NO GO gauge if tried in the PSA dissy upper (which has a 5.56 chamber).
So: I assume this means that my crappy 8620 BCG or bolt is out of spec. I don't have a 5.56 NO GO or MAX gauge so I can't confirm that the chamber is improperly cut. However, the fact that a "known good" BCG won't close on a .223 NO GO leads me to believe that my 8620 BCG is questionable.
I add one layer of scotch tape (supposed to be .0015" thick) to the back of the .223 NO GO gauge and the bolt won't close. So I figure it's close enough for government work. Somewhere between 1.4666" and 1.4681". If I ever get it complete I'll only shoot .223 in it and test/triple check for excessive case stretching.
After headspace check I try to futz with the barrel nut again. It pisses me off again so I give up and loosen it (before I break the rest of the damn teeth off) and order a new barrel nut, skinny M4 handguards, and a Daniel Defense rear sight ($70 GI3 ). I would have tried to cheap out on the rear BUIS and gotten a Magpul but I have a hard time paying $50 for an ugly, questionably functional plastic sight... plus I'm paranoid about the myriad fake magpul parts out there. I figure I can justify the rear sight by using it on my PSA Dissy and take the (likely fake) Matech rear sight off of it and use it on the new LW build.
So, my "cheap" build has now cost me quite a bit more than the complete "bargain ARs" I've seen in sales lately. Ah, well... the lessons learned are worth it. Right? RIGHT? DISHOUT
Only good part in this story is that I was given the complete PSA flattop upper (sans BCG or charging handle), so I claw like $50 back there. woooooooooooooooo ICONROLLEY