This weeks AR build

[magsite20 1,664]

My new light weight AR is all here or has been shipped but I’ve got to put it together (might let the son do this one as a learning thing). The good news is this time it’s just the lower to do I bought a complete upper this time. Went way different than my usual fixed stock 20” HBAR type AR at about 8.5 lbs with this and wasn’t able to get one thing I wanted for this rifle / carbine I’d wanted a mid length gas system ended up going with a carbine system but the weight should be about 6 lbs.

 

The parts:

• CMMG stripped lower
  
• DPMS lower parts kit
  
• Wolff Springs trigger function pak
  
• DPMS ambi selector
  
• Tapco Commercial AR T6™ Stock Assembly
  
• DPMS AR-15 Panther A3 Lite-16 Complete Upper Receiver- 5.56 NATO (was $379.99 complete with bolt group)
  

That leaves sights / optics open for now but I’m thinking the Grendel needs better / more magnification on its glass (that’s a problem for the son in the future) so the 1-4 Millett DMS will go to this rifle. For now as useless as it may be with my eye sight I’ll put the Bushmasters rear sight -carry handle on it.

 

 

Well forget the son doing it

I got bored yesterday and put the lower together went a lot easier than the first one but the little roll pin that holds the bolt release is still a pain in the ass.

Edited September 21, 2012 by 20-Mags

[magsite20 1,664]

Gun as done for now, more than likely will change out the optics. The trigger pull isn’t as good as what I got on the Grendel build with the 3.5 J&P Enterprises springs with the trigger group. I went with the Wolff spring set because I was worried about reducing the power on the hammer spring on a rifle that may end up shooting some surplus ammo.

Edited September 27, 2012 by 20-Mags

[slostang 80]

The BHO pin is easy for me. The front takedown pin detent and spring on the other hand... I usually shoot that across the room about three times before it complies.

[magsite20 1,664]

16" Carbine on the left and the 18" 6.5 Grendel on the right

[going12220 125]

oops sorry about that screwed up

Edited November 19, 2012 by going12220

[magsite20 1,664]

Due to a number of reasons (mostly health) I find myself pretty much unable to shoot a rifle very well. Me and my shotguns are getting along fine (good thing I enjoy skeet) but trying to hold a steady hold on a target and squeeze off a shot is kicking my butt. So while I’ve given up all dreams of winning Camp Perry I’d still like to see how well a rifle could perform if I take my limits out of the equation.

So I was thinking about a shooting rest. There are a few things that may or may not effect the choice: 1st of course is cost I’d like to keep it within a hundred dollars, 2nd is I’m left handed / master eyed, 3rd is of course it needs to be AR friendly. Oh and hand gun compatible would be nice but not the biggest issue.

I looked hard at the Calwell Lead Sled Solo and was leaning towards it but there was one review that ate at me about being impossible to use left handed and another one that said it could be used left handed but had some problems.

I really wanted the full rest style for myself at home but the front rest only might be useful for the field / the son so I think I’ve found a system that might work. I saw a Stoney Point Shooting Rest with Bench Anchor set up at about the same price as the Calwell with free shipping it came to $67.99. The tripod front can be used alone or you can have the whole thing together. The reviews looked damn good with the only con given was the way it goes together seems to be a pain in the butt to do.

So I ordered one. Like I said at first on this post I found it’s a lot easier for me to hit a fast moving clay right now with a bead on a shotgun than a piece of paper that’s stationary with a scope on a rifle.

 

A short review of the rest:

For starters I shot 1,000% better with it than I could without it. There are a couple of things I need to address for getting the most out of it. 1st I need a good bench or table top to support it, for today's run I used a B&D Workmate that did OK but I left the rubber tips on the rest and they cause a little wobble. 2nd the bag on the front of the rest is loose, it's held by 2 Velcro strips to the support but it can slide around. I'm going to add a strip to the bottom of the bag and the top of the support to stabilize it better. The butt plate support end is pretty wide and it fit the Tapco rubber pad on the 5.56 carbine stock perfectly on the Grendel's A2 stock I put some folded paper on each side to lock it in better. The up and down wheel was smooth and would make very fine adjustments. Should note that you can't use the longer mags like 30 rounders, 20s work fine. I'll flesh this out more after I address the table and the bag changes.

 

Couple of side notes on ammo:

One the Grendel / .264 LBC shoots great and this was with the 120 Wolf MPT ammo I was able to keep a 5 shot group on a 1 inch dot at 60 yards pretty much every time. I'm saving the Hornady for finial testing once I've got a little better set up.

On the other hand the 5.56 Wolf ammo (55 gr. steel case) and my carbine did not love each other and I was thinking I might need to move it along to a new owner till I took out some of my very limited supply of M855 and some 223 Hornady ammo. Both of those shot fine 1" groups out of the carbine, my old Bushmaster rifle with the 20" barrel always did fine with the Wolf but this DPMS 16" carbine has no real love for it.

 

Should also note the 4 to 12 power scope on the Grendel is a lot easier to fine tune shots compared to the 1 to 4 power on the carbine.

Edited November 19, 2012 by 20-Mags

[magsite20 1,664]

co witness being played with seems to work pretty well for a low cost set up