09-28-2011, 04:29 AM
LRRPF52 Wrote:I expect every AR I put together to function 100% from the start, and I'm usually successful achieving that unless introducing some new, unproven component. I polish the raceways on the bolt carrier to avoid the break-in with bolt carrier to upper friction, and using Slip2000. I also lube the recoil spring with Slip2000 to do the same thing with the anodizing inside the extension tube.
One thing that I would not want to do by cycling the action 200 times is wear out the recess for the charge handle latch on the upper. This is one design flaw of the charge handle that can cause the handle to come loose while you're shooting. A steel latch versus the aluminum upper will leave the steel latch the winner every time. You can forgo the 200 cycle break-in by polishing your BC raceways and using a thick, viscous lube. Some guys even polish the inside of the upper. A Milspec upper has a dry film lube baked into it after anodizing, which has a pretty rough finish as Mutt described, but serves as a good base for absorbing and retaining lubrication.
The last two AR builds I tested ran 100% in high-volume torture tests with M193 to the tune of 350 rounds per. If you have quality barrels with the corect gas port diameter, the correct bolt carrier weight, the correct recoil spring and buffer, decent mags, and the correct octane fuel, they will run.
I would advise against cycling steel on the dry film lube to smooth it out, since that is the porous base that will hold your lubrication better than worn and exposed aluminum.
Polishing the raceways on the BCG and other parts does basically the same thing. Either way, the parts need smoothed out either by firing, cycling or polishing to get the weapon to function 100 percent. Most manufacturers don't take the attention to detail like LRRPF52 does by polishing his build parts. The average AR builder usually only learns to do this after building his/her first build and relizing everything is a little too "tight".
LRRPF52 is right, when cycling you don't want the latch to catch each and every time you pull the charging handle. You want to hold the latch open and ride the charging handle in and out so not to wear out the recess for the charging handle catch. I should have been more specific in my post. Manually cycling your action a couple hundred times may seem like alot of work. But, in reality it only takes about ten minutes. Some surfaces such as feed ramps, I prefer to polish using a dremel with a small felt polishing bit and some rouge.
The extracters I have seen have all had those viciously sharp edges (points) on both sides. All of them needed to be filed down. A small jewelers file or small stone will do the trick. The very sharp points are totally unneccessary. All they do is cut the brass and will tear your brass up fairly well if you intend to reload. The only area that typically needed filing was the very tips or points and not the actual lip. Before filing, these points would cut slots in the base of every round I used, especially the Wolf (which is softer).
I do have to add ...... every time you show a pic of your parts, they are drier than hell. That can cause alot of problems in itself. Run that thing wet till you get it broke in. Don't get discouraged, it's smooth out. Just needs a little tweeking.