Newbie AR owner question.......

[solowars]

hahaha good man sweetmsauer i was just about to clear up the matter of headspace . He was talking about the chamber in his other post i still strap all the guns i build to a bench for test fireing i would recomend this. Ive never seen an ar blow up but have seen a buddy blow up a 22-250 that he made with a custom stock and nice bull barrel due to lack of headspacing. Needless to say i now do all the gunsmithing and reloading in our group now. I have a RRA EOP varmint 24" upper coming form RRA along with a lower parts kits a a2 buttstock assembly that i will be instailing on a spikes tactical stripped lower with the punisher skull on the magwell. It will be my first black rifle build, next will be a 10.5 or 7.5 pistol upper so if the zombies ever come i can strap that to my lower pop in my beta c drum and go to work on them I wont have it on the lower EVER because it would be a SBR and i do not have my class 3/stamp for it but if they come it sure will be handy.

What are you building your AR-15 for, im building mine so i can shoot 70 to 80 grain out to 600 yards on coyotes. Im thinking about getting a DPMS sweet 20 upper in 1-9 so i can shoot 45 to 60 grain out to about 400 yards for ground squirls and jack rabbits.

Does anyone on here have a RRA varmint upper or a DPMS sweet upper on thier rifles? I dont know why i dont see more of these varmint rigs up for sale on here im kinda starting to think we just have a bunch of ground shooters here but i could be wrong.

ONE SHOT ONE KILL

 

[solowars]

Kind of random but I use synthetic oil as a bullets sizing lube Works freaking awesome best case lube i have used and it saves time. Been working on the same bottle for over a year so ya cant beat that, i still have over half the bottle and have resized 1000's and 1000's of brass.

Ive heard you must lube your ar and ive heard they like it better to be run dry. I guess i will just have to try it both ways, and a couple thousand rounds before you clean your rifle..... you must have not been raised with guns or maybe im just OCD about my guns being clean but thats the way the old man taught me. A clean gun is a reliable gun plus when you have over a thousand put into something you better take dang good care of it.

 

[theduke]

Head space! Can someone elaborate a little more on this.Ie: Swapping uppers that didn't come as a pair. I think I understand concept but where dose the danger factor come from? Too much HS or too little. I've seen the gages, how do they work? Dan

 

[MacBookProAR]

+1 to running these things wet. Besides getting sprayed in the face you can't really run these things too wet. Better too wet than dry.

 

[treemanx]

My bro is Special Forces, and I spoke with him about this stuff last night. As far as the lube goes, he said he only puts a few drops into the three lube holes in the side of the bolt carrier that is exposed behind the dust cover. He said if you lube the upper reciever, it attracts more dirt and sand. The only time he lubes the tracks for the charging handle in the upper, is when he knows the gun will be put up for awhile.

He also said that the rear of the bolt carrier touching the buffer and depressing it a little when closing the top down, is normal and nothing to worry about.

I actually picked his brain quite a bit, and learned alot I didnt know before about ARs.

Im still open for more opinions, I really appreciate all the response!!Thanks NWFA!

 

[sweetnsauer]

Either way on the headspace can be bad, too little, and the brass has nowhere to go when fired, it cant expand. Too much and you risk a misfire for lack of contact to the primer. Too much headspace is far more acceptable than too little. However, niether is a desirable condition.

Cartirdges are designed with a certain level of variance on this subject. In the zone, everything works fine, outside, either way, and things go wrong...

On the subject of lube, extra wet will only collect a bunch of debris, especially given the direct gas impingment design of the standard AR. Just enough lube to make things smooth, and like said before, especially around the bolt carrier, is most desirable.

 

[treemanx]

if you bought the upper as a kit the manufactuer should have checked it (but not always the case just depends on who made the kit)

it is very rare to have new parts be out of spec but in that 1 in a million chance it may be worth checking it out if you value your hands and the side of you face

since your in clack area if i have some time i can bring over some head space guages and check it if you would like and give it a look over to make sure its all together

right not sure what you mean by the buffer tube depressing it . the tube should not at all protrude into the upper receiver and infact should not come into any contact with the upper if i understand you correctly you may not have installed the buffer retainer and screwed your tube in too deep and if thats the case where is the buffer

or you are refering to the buffer and not the buffer tube the buffer is to rest behind the buffer retainer and it also should not protrude into the upper receiver it should be close to flush with it though as the buffer should not hinder the upper from closing onto the lower

as far as gap some have it some don't if it has slop you can get a $5 accue wedge to fix the slop

Hey that would be cool. Im pretty sure that my upper is all from DPMS, but it cant hurt to check the spec.

BTW--I forgot to thank you for sending voland my way from the AR website on my M6, I should owe you a commission!!! Thank you bud!!

 

[wichaka]

..... you must have not been raised with guns or maybe im just OCD about my guns being clean but thats the way the old man taught me. A clean gun is a reliable gun plus when you have over a thousand put into something you better take dang good care of it.

Am Colt factory trained in all their firearms, also teach armorer classes on the AR too.

Going thru training or rifle classes, one won't have time to clean. That's why I keep a bottle of Mobil 1 around.
Like I said, keep the carrier wet, and even when it's very dirty, it'll push the dirt out and keep running.

With the bolt forward, and the ejection port cover open, you'll see 2 holes on the side of the bolt carrier. Drop some oil in there as well, it'll keep the bolt lubed.

 

[solowars]

I wasnt trying to say you didnt have any training, just a clean gun is better then a dirty one. With my 10/22T if its dirty i shoot about 1.5 at 100 yards with it clean and same ammo i can shrink the groups do to under a inch. Same gos for both my min 14's and even my browning bar in 300 win mag. I go for long range accuracy with my semi's and i can say if your on the same page keep it clean but if your a ground shooter then i guess it wouldnt matter.

 

[wichaka]

No offense taken.

No harm, no foul here.

A 22lr is far different from a .223 in an AR platform. A 22lr will get much dirtier faster than a .223 Plus you're shooting lead bullets, compared to jacketed with a .223

A 22lr conversion is not a good idea in an AR platform, with the standard gas set up, as it will clog it in no time.

Again a different bird comparing it with a Mini-14 or a BAR.

Your accuracy comes from a combo of the bullet seating into the chamber, along with the quality of the ammo and barrel itself. If the bolt carrier gets grungy, it won't change the accuracy much.
If you're a long range/bench rest shooter...then you want a clean gun for almost every shot to get the most out of it.

The AR was never designed to be a precision long range shooter...there are better options for that. But can pick off man sized targets out to 200 yards all day long with an AR that's as dirty as a coal miner.

 

[solowars]

Build a varmint rig and shoot zombies out to 800 yards all day long with a clean rifle. the last time i checked the regs you couldnt hunt people so i guess what im saying is who cares if you can hit a person at 200 when you cant hit a rabbit at the same range.


Ok if your a ground shooter blaze away and if putting bullets in the same hole is your thing like it is mine Clean your rifle after every couple shots. I dont know if your building a varmint rig but if so then keep it clean and if not i guess then blaze away just keep the carrie wet.

Ive been reloading sense i was knee high and i only shoot custom made rounds made for individual rifles. So i know a thing or two about accuracy you would be surprised how much just changing primers with a load will change your point of impact or even how close the bullet is seated to the throat of the bore. your right the First AR-15/m16 were junk but now a days you can build or buy a black rifle that shoots just as good as any bolt action
go on youtube and theres one guy hitting steal at over 800 yards with a AR-15. Alot of the ar varmint rigs will shoot 1/3 MOA and even better.

No offense taken.

No harm, no foul here.

A 22lr is far different from a .223 in an AR platform. A 22lr will get much dirtier faster than a .223 Plus you're shooting lead bullets, compared to jacketed with a .223

A 22lr conversion is not a good idea in an AR platform, with the standard gas set up, as it will clog it in no time.

Again a different bird comparing it with a Mini-14 or a BAR.

Your accuracy comes from a combo of the bullet seating into the chamber, along with the quality of the ammo and barrel itself. If the bolt carrier gets grungy, it won't change the accuracy much.
If you're a long range/bench rest shooter...then you want a clean gun for almost every shot to get the most out of it.

The AR was never designed to be a precision long range shooter...there are better options for that. But can pick off man sized targets out to 200 yards all day long with an AR that's as dirty as a coal miner.

 

[theduke]

(What should I look out for when putting an upper and lower together that didnt come new with eachother?)


Lets revisit the Headspace issue. For instance if it was off +- . How would you check
the tol.? How would you fix? Shim the barrel, Mill the front of upr. rec. or what?

 

[eldbillbo]

(What should I look out for when putting an upper and lower together that didnt come new with eachother?)


Lets revisit the Headspace issue. For instance if it was off +- . How would you check
the tol.? How would you fix? Shim the barrel, Mill the front of upr. rec. or what?

there is a set of 3 guages go, no go, and field

they usually come with instructions and some sets are different with mine you drop in a go if it closes good if not barrel or bolt is out of spec and should not be used
you don't really need a go but i use it cause its a good gauge to check the usuage of a barrel and bolt it should not close if it does, check it with a field if it does not close on a field, its still good if it does close on a field gauge the barrel or bolt is out of spec or worn out and should not be used

the only way to correct this is to find which is bad barrel or bolt and for most the only way to test that is to drop another bolt in the barrel and or vise versa and narrow it down to being the bolt or the barrel. the only way to correct it is to send to a gunsmith if the barrel or bolt is way out spec from usage replacement is the only way to fix it ,or a smith may be able to re adjust barrel but that requires more work and may require filling and redrilling the gas port for timing of the front sight base and barrel extension pin at this point it may be not worth saving the barrel or the bolt if the factory sent either of these parts out of spec and it happens to be new the factory should replace it

 

[sweetnsauer]

Finally, an end to the whole headspacing one of those auto rifles.

Nothing beats a good old fashioned bolt gun.

And by the way solowars, Alot of us reload, and understand what an accurate rifle/load combination is. He is asking about an AR, so be helpful.

 

[eldbillbo]

Finally, an end to the whole headspacing one of those auto rifles.

Nothing beats a good old fashioned bolt gun.

if you change bolts in old fashioned bolt guns they should be checked as well , i'd hate see what a out of spec 300 magnum bolt and barrel combo would do

 

[sweetnsauer]

If you s*** bolts in fashioned bolt guns they should be checked as well

No argument here.