philbert001
Expert
My wife accidentally bought me one for my birthday last week. She said she didn't realize it was polymer until she got it home. What can ya do!?
Anyhow, since I have one now, I decided to build it cheap, and see how it does!
First thing I did was pull the upper from my other AR, and see how they fit. I immediately realized that the pivot pin ears were too thick to clear my rail.
I sat down with some 240 grit sandpaper, and thinned them out enough to clear the rail, and allow my upper to pivot freely.
With the extra clearance, it fits and pivots great!
Using 1/4" drill bits as takedown pins, I pinned the upper to the lower, and the fit is actually quite good!
At this point, I began to wonder how many of these have been broken because people just threw em together, without paying attention to fitment of parts.
(I'll readily admit that my first AR build was 99% just parts assembly, not actually building or fitting!)
It has some spare parts in it now, but I ordered a cheap lower parts kit, and buffer kit from PSA, and I intend to fit everything as needed, to ensure that I'm not over stressing any area of parts attachment.
I intend to just throw a cheap upper on it, (New or second hand. We'll see what my 4 kid budget will allow!)with irons and plastic handguards, and call it good, with the exception of adding a cheap adjustable gas block, to tame the amount of energy the bolt and buffer are delivering to the buffer tube.
We have all heard and seen the horror stories about these things, and I'm curious what the failure rate actually is! I think we only hear the bad! I think there are probably at least 100 guys on INGO who have em and love em, but won't speak up, for fear of being persecuted by the elitists!
Hopefully after it's built, and range tested, this thread will help to prove/disprove the horror stories! One thing is certain, parts fitment will NOT be a variable in this build! I plan to give this lower every opportunity to perform for me!
I know this will never be a rifle that I would want in a SHTF scenario, but I already have a couple rifles for that! I'll just be ecstatic if it turns into a reliable range toy! If I break it, so be it! I'll replace the lower with a forged one, let ATI replace this one and throw it in the safe, till the next gun control scare, and I'll sell it for 5 bajillion dollars!
Anyhow, since I have one now, I decided to build it cheap, and see how it does!
First thing I did was pull the upper from my other AR, and see how they fit. I immediately realized that the pivot pin ears were too thick to clear my rail.
I sat down with some 240 grit sandpaper, and thinned them out enough to clear the rail, and allow my upper to pivot freely.
With the extra clearance, it fits and pivots great!
Using 1/4" drill bits as takedown pins, I pinned the upper to the lower, and the fit is actually quite good!
At this point, I began to wonder how many of these have been broken because people just threw em together, without paying attention to fitment of parts.
(I'll readily admit that my first AR build was 99% just parts assembly, not actually building or fitting!)
It has some spare parts in it now, but I ordered a cheap lower parts kit, and buffer kit from PSA, and I intend to fit everything as needed, to ensure that I'm not over stressing any area of parts attachment.
I intend to just throw a cheap upper on it, (New or second hand. We'll see what my 4 kid budget will allow!)with irons and plastic handguards, and call it good, with the exception of adding a cheap adjustable gas block, to tame the amount of energy the bolt and buffer are delivering to the buffer tube.
We have all heard and seen the horror stories about these things, and I'm curious what the failure rate actually is! I think we only hear the bad! I think there are probably at least 100 guys on INGO who have em and love em, but won't speak up, for fear of being persecuted by the elitists!
Hopefully after it's built, and range tested, this thread will help to prove/disprove the horror stories! One thing is certain, parts fitment will NOT be a variable in this build! I plan to give this lower every opportunity to perform for me!
I know this will never be a rifle that I would want in a SHTF scenario, but I already have a couple rifles for that! I'll just be ecstatic if it turns into a reliable range toy! If I break it, so be it! I'll replace the lower with a forged one, let ATI replace this one and throw it in the safe, till the next gun control scare, and I'll sell it for 5 bajillion dollars!
)
