I bought a complete upper with an 18" match grade(lapped and air gauged)barrel with RLGS, and "Fat Comp".
It looks and feels very good. It came clean and lubed. I won't mention the vendor just yet as they have been very attentive. I did a shoot one clean one , then shoot two, clean,,,the two rounds were almost touching so I shot three rds to a .8" grp at 60yds, which is where I normally zero. That gives me the flattest trajectory for the way I shoot, which is at night with a thermal scope. Seldom over 200 yds. I was using Hornady 123 SST's initially. I had a bushnell AR type scope on it, which has been good on the 5.56 upper. I then did a light swipe of the bore with a snake, and shot 3 ELD-M Black's to another .8 grp almost identical to the sst's. I noticed that the bolt did not lock back on last round, but figured maybe it would get better with use, cleaning, and lube,,,It hasn't. Then a few rounds later I got the first FTF,,, figured maybe it would get better with use, cleaning, and lube,,,It hasn't. On the first day the temp was warm, since then we have had cooler weather, and the FTF's are much worse. On both of the last outings, it failed both times to load the second(follow up) round. I haven't done an accurate check on the ejection pattern, but I'm sure it is around 5 o'clock. I do my bench shootin from inside my shop, and the cases bounce off the wall beside me. I'm so involved in the shooting, I haven't actually watched to see the angle of the ejection. I am using a new C-products 10 round mag. I've had it apart, it's clean and smooth, and felt like it "might" have had a dry lube film on the inside. I cleaned it, and worked the follower up and down with dowel, and it is smooth, doesn't tilt, or bind anywhere. Even so, I ordered a 10 round E-Lander. Needed another mag anyway. It's on the way.
I talked to the vendor, and he had some sensible suggestions to try, and said no matter what, they would take care of the problem. He suggested to wait and see if the new mag makes a difference. I checked the buffer, it's in the old DPMS oracle lower, and it weighs 2.973oz. tube and spring are clean. The gas block had a bit of carbon around the tube next to the block. Not much, but it only has about 35 or 40 rounds through it. Port alignment looks ok, and the port is .093(3/32"). I took the bolt apart, no sign of gas leakage around the key, and all else looks good. It seems to me to be a classic "under gassed" scenario, but I'm no expert. The FTF is not a "bolt OVER base", the bolt is behind the case with the nose pointed up over the barrel extension.
I almost took out a #41 (.096) drill and opened up the port a little. I don't really need an adjustable block, as I don't experiment with a lot of different loads, and I can't afford a suppressor. Once I find a load that works well for me, I generally stick with it. Sorry to get so long winded, but I wanted get all the info in the post. I probably still left out something. I'm hoping this works out well, the folks I bought it from are really nice, and are trying to make it right. For now I have a really good shooting single shot
I appreciate all the guys on this site, and their willingness to share their knowledge and experience with others. Any and all help appreciated. Thank you, Gary
It looks and feels very good. It came clean and lubed. I won't mention the vendor just yet as they have been very attentive. I did a shoot one clean one , then shoot two, clean,,,the two rounds were almost touching so I shot three rds to a .8" grp at 60yds, which is where I normally zero. That gives me the flattest trajectory for the way I shoot, which is at night with a thermal scope. Seldom over 200 yds. I was using Hornady 123 SST's initially. I had a bushnell AR type scope on it, which has been good on the 5.56 upper. I then did a light swipe of the bore with a snake, and shot 3 ELD-M Black's to another .8 grp almost identical to the sst's. I noticed that the bolt did not lock back on last round, but figured maybe it would get better with use, cleaning, and lube,,,It hasn't. Then a few rounds later I got the first FTF,,, figured maybe it would get better with use, cleaning, and lube,,,It hasn't. On the first day the temp was warm, since then we have had cooler weather, and the FTF's are much worse. On both of the last outings, it failed both times to load the second(follow up) round. I haven't done an accurate check on the ejection pattern, but I'm sure it is around 5 o'clock. I do my bench shootin from inside my shop, and the cases bounce off the wall beside me. I'm so involved in the shooting, I haven't actually watched to see the angle of the ejection. I am using a new C-products 10 round mag. I've had it apart, it's clean and smooth, and felt like it "might" have had a dry lube film on the inside. I cleaned it, and worked the follower up and down with dowel, and it is smooth, doesn't tilt, or bind anywhere. Even so, I ordered a 10 round E-Lander. Needed another mag anyway. It's on the way.
I talked to the vendor, and he had some sensible suggestions to try, and said no matter what, they would take care of the problem. He suggested to wait and see if the new mag makes a difference. I checked the buffer, it's in the old DPMS oracle lower, and it weighs 2.973oz. tube and spring are clean. The gas block had a bit of carbon around the tube next to the block. Not much, but it only has about 35 or 40 rounds through it. Port alignment looks ok, and the port is .093(3/32"). I took the bolt apart, no sign of gas leakage around the key, and all else looks good. It seems to me to be a classic "under gassed" scenario, but I'm no expert. The FTF is not a "bolt OVER base", the bolt is behind the case with the nose pointed up over the barrel extension.
I almost took out a #41 (.096) drill and opened up the port a little. I don't really need an adjustable block, as I don't experiment with a lot of different loads, and I can't afford a suppressor. Once I find a load that works well for me, I generally stick with it. Sorry to get so long winded, but I wanted get all the info in the post. I probably still left out something. I'm hoping this works out well, the folks I bought it from are really nice, and are trying to make it right. For now I have a really good shooting single shot
I appreciate all the guys on this site, and their willingness to share their knowledge and experience with others. Any and all help appreciated. Thank you, Gary
