Jgun

There you go bursting my bubble!, I'm trying to come up with something that I can do to make my build different from all of the others that are done with the same componants. I thought that doing some machine work on the gun would accomplish that, now I'm not sure. The gun I have planned is going to be a very heavy, bench gun so the weight savings are not enought to justify the risk, but I'm going to have to think of something I can do to make my build unique (at least in my mind).

I haven't seen it yet. I keep forgetting to stop at the store to see if I can pick up a copy. Regarding the 300 load, when I was at the range the other day chronoing them, My friend (that originally got me into the 300) was testing some of his loads. He really likes to load his stuff hot. He was testing out of a 14.5" Noveske 1/8 twist barrel. He had some 168 gr bullets loaded with 21.5 gr (I think) of powder. He was blowing the primers right out of the cases, obviously too hot! I think that his problem was the result of the seating depth of the 168 gr bullets. His focus is different than mine, He's trying to see how powerful he can make it for maximum wounding/lethality. Anyway, I've ordered some of the new Sierra Match King 125gr 300BLK bullets and one of those Lee factory crimp dies from Midway and when they get here I'm planning to bump my loads up a little, along with trying out the crimp die. I'm really thinking that I want to build another 300BLK upper, this one minimum length (14.5"w fixed brake). I don't want to spend the money on the Noveske barrel, so I'm thinking about getting one of the Wilsons like yours.

In my effort to gain more hands on experience with regards to gunsmithing, and firearms specific machine work, I'm considering fluting the Krieger barrel that I ordered for my M1A build, not so much that I expect to gain any noticeable performance or weight savings, but more to add to my knowledge and experience in performing these operations. If I should do it, I will be sure to post some before and after shots.

I've weighed several .308 AR receiver sets, all billet, I have not had an opportunity to weigh a forged set. All of the sets that I've weighed have been within 7 oz of each other, with the Kaiser set being the lightest, so, although you can save some weight there, I don't think it's going to be as significant as in other areas, besides which, people seem to favor a particular receiver due to esthetic's or brand loyalty anyway, I think that in the AR platform the three places that you have the ability to make the difference between a "heavy" gun and "light", is the barrel, handguard, and stock. Of course, everything is going to be a trade off. In my experience the CF barrel is not going to be any lighter than a pencil barrel but will give better accuracy. I have not had mine long enough to comment on any extended lifespan,(will probably take me years). In most cases, I don't think the additional cost of the CF barrel is justified. You can save at least a pound on a handguard going from a cf tube with nothing nounted, to a full length railed handguard (with nothing mounted). Same for the stock, A Magpul PRS or Ace Hammer stock will weigh 1.5 lbs more( I think) than the fixed Ace stock. Of course, none of this takes into account the weight added when you mount an optic (probably at least 2 lbs with quick release mount) or any other accessories you might feel the need to mount, and a full mag of 308 isn't exactly light, so, although I'd say you can build a mid 7lb .308 AR, it won't be that weight when your carrying it in the woods, unless it's empty and your using BUIS exclusively. I also realize that all of the accessories will add the same additional amount to a 7lb gun as they do to a 9lb gun so weight savings is weight saving regardless. One thing I have found is that the smaller mass of the small platform AR's is beneficial in quick handling of the gun. My 300BLK is a much better handling gun with a TR 24 mounted than my CF barreled Kaiser .308 is with BUIS, and the 300 with optic mounted weighs more than the .308 without. Of course, the Blackout is only good to 300yds, so if you want/need the range/power of .308, it comes at the price of added weight/bulk. I'm looking forward to hearing just how light you guys can build these .308's as well, and I'm also going to be interested to hear how much they end up REALLY weighing as configured with all of the accessories you mount on them.

So a dissipater front sight is just an A2 front sight mounted at the front of a barrel with a low pro gas block mounted seperately, further back? Someone told me that a dissipater style AR was a rifle with a railed handguard that completely covered the barrel. I'm going to have to work harder on keeping up on the currant terminology.

I'd really like to build a 14.5" 300BLK upper. I've been looking at the Wilson barrels and their 14.5 is half the price of the Noveske, and I know Survivalshop's happy with his Wilson 300 barrel. By the way, what does a dissipater front sight look like?

From the components I recall, I think it's going to be hard to beat the build Robocop's doing, unless you were to do an all out competition build with low mass carrier, Ace stock, carbon FF tube and pencil barrel, and then probably not by much.

This isn't something I've got prior experience doing it the wrong way or training of doing it the right way to draw from, but it would seem to me that a good way to contour an AR barrel and minimize the chances of damaging or bending it would be to support the barrel in the center (at the gas block location?) in a steady rest to effectively reduce the unsupported span and minimize deflection. Another option would be to set the barrel into the chuck. I guess that wouldn't exactly be the fastest way, but I'm thinking it would be less likely to damage the barrel.

I've noticed that on "tan" guns that get scratched up, where the tan was applied over an existing black hard coat, the scratches really stand out because of the contrast between the black and tan. I was thinking that an upper/lower/hanguard set that was in the white might be a better way to go.

Wash, Sounds like you take your shotgunning pretty seriously, nice stock on the second one as well. I don't presently own a gun that would do justice to a high end custom stock. I'm planning to do build the M1A this year and put it in a chassis type stock for accuracy purposes, but When I get a hold of a deserving candidate, I'm going to go for it. I was looking at another stock maker,West Texas Armory, and he also makes some incredible stocks. He has stock blanks that are made of the europeon fancy walnuts that run +$500 for the wood alone!!!!, too rich for me, but I bet your familiar with them from your shotgunning friends. Congrats on the engagement. You do know of course that a wife that likes shooting as much as you do, can be a very expensive proposition, LOL.

Very attractive and distinctive gun. Very impressive for your first ever rifle build. I've been wanting to powder coat a gun in FDE for quite a while but I'm worried that I'll regret doing it if the finish isn't durable. I keep thinking that I should do it on a low dollar AR 15 build first. Maybe I'll get brave this year.

Although, there seems to be a great deal of brand loyalty among the Armalite crowd, there are certain differences to consider when building a gun vs buying one from a company like Armalite, Noveske, DPMS etc. There are certain things you might want to research before deciding on one over the other. As Imschur stated, there is no mil spec for the .308 AR rifle, which confuses things when you decide to build your own. Fortunately, you've come to the right place to have any component compatibility questions answered. One thing that sometimes is the deciding factor for builders is the magazine issue. If you decide on an Armalite pattern rifle, you will have to use Armalite type magazines. If you wish to utilize Magpul mags for your .308 You'll want to build an SR 25/DPMS pattern gun.

I was able to chrono my 125 gr 300BLK test loads today, Unfortunately, my hottest load of 21.5 gr of LIL GUN powder behind a Speer 125 gr TNT only gave me a best velocity of 2550 fps. I was hoping to get 2600 fps from it. I see no indications of excess pressure, so I'm thinking about trying another 1/2 grain after I have the barrel melonited. I'm starting to get into compressed load territory here because I can't reduce the seating depth of the bullet any further without having to worry about the rd not being secure in the case. Maybe the melonite process will help the situation a little.

I think your mistaken here Robo, as far as I know, all barrels are manufactured from rifled blanks that are contoured/fluted, ported, threaded, chambered,crowned afterwards,(not in that order)

This has been discussed before. There are definite functional advantages to the monolithic uppers, no problems with rail alignment between upper and handguard, no chance of the handguard rotating, greater freedom for optics mounting without worrying about bridging two separate components with scope rings. On the other hand, if you see your guns as a combination of components that you might want to switch from one gun to the other, the separate handguard allows greater freedom, besides allowing you to change handguard type or length to complement barrel length or rifle configuration changes. I also think that at the price you have listed, you could buy a matched MA TEN upper/lower set and add the handguard of your choice, railed or otherwise, for less money. Another thing to consider is weight, I don't know what the Mega mono setup weighs but some of the other ones on the market are substantially heavier than separate components. I guess you just have to be clear on what your needs are. I'm sure that the Mega mono setup is top of the line, just like their other receiver sets. By the way, good call on prioritizing the new baby, congrats.

Midways got them listed for $35 per 100. If I get the fps I'm looking for out of the Speer TNT 125 loads I'm planning to test this week, I'll order some of the 300BLK 125 SMK's to see if I notice any accuracy advantage when using the more expensive SMK's over the TNT's.

My thinking is that you wrap a gun for concealment purposes, not cosmetic, but thats just my opinion. I say if you personally like it that way than who cares what others think.

Justin does make a high quality product. I looked into the 80% and the deal breaker for me is getting it hardcoated afterwards. That would be something that I would have no control of and would be at the mercy of the plater. The idea of the plater (or should I say his employee) leaving the lower in the etching solution too long and screwing up all the tolerences of the lower I worked so hard to make perfect is just too painful to contemplate.

Upper looks great, I'll be waiting for a review once you get your dedicated lower. Which lower did you go with, the CNC Gunsmithing?

Based on my experiences loading 300BLK, I believe that it should be possible to load 7.62X40 with 125gr projectiles and still fit withing the front to back dimensions of an unmodified Pmag (but this is not proven yet). I have already loaded 145gr bullets in 300BLK cases and gotten 2400 fps out of it, I think it is a given that you can load 125gr supersonic in both 300BLK and 7.62X40 Wilson, in fact they now have the 125gr 300BLK Sierra Match kings available in an elongated shape to get the ogive of the rd closer to the lead for greater accuracy. As far as factory ammo is concerned, if 125 supersonc is not already out there I'd say it's only a matter of time until it is.

Hey H2O Man, do you think you could take a couple of measurements from that standard profile barrel for me ? I'm thinking about possibly fluting the heavy profile barrel I have planned for my build, for improved heat dissipation and maybe a little weight savings (not much) I figure if I don't go any deeper than a standard profile barrel I won't weaken the barrel excessively. If you can, I'd ask for the OD between the op rod guide location and that large dia at the chamber end of the barrel ,the OD between the op rod location and the gas cylinder location, and the length of the large diameter at the back of the barrel where the chamber is.

In the interview with Kevin Brittingham posted in the 300BLK section, he makes remarks in reference to the 7.62X40 Wilson cartridge. Specifically, he mentions the issue of needing modified magazines for the cartridge (which I had already heard), but he states that the Wilson cartridge doesn't allow the same number of rds as 5.56, as the 300BLK does. I have not verified this yet, and don't see why that should be the case, since all 3 share the same parent case, but I intend to give Wilson a call to follow up on this. If true, that would definitely be a deal breaker for anyone (like myself) thinking of trying the Wilson for 3 gun competition. Any other members know anything about this?

Looks good. I'm eagerly awaiting the release of his blackfeather stock, I'm anxious to see if it turns out as light as he says, if so, I think it may be an attractive alternative to the McCann's CF stock.

I was sent this today. I was also told that Kevin Brittingham, the founder of AAC, who sold the company to Freedom group recently, has been fired and was escorted from the property. It's a fairly long interview, but I found it to be an interesting read. www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/08/foghorn/an-interview-with-kevin-founder-of-aac

It appears that this thread has, unfortunately taken a bad turn. I almost regret my post about trying the melonite process. I may be mistaken, but I don't think that I stated that anything I was saying about the process was fact, that was the reason I gave for my intention to try out the process for myself, specifically on a barrel that I have already tried before treatment. Although I have read a number of descriptions of how the process is performed, and have spoken to tech reps of companies that actually perform the process, I have both read and been warned, that there are potential problems with the high temperature routinely used for the process, to soften the core hardness of parts that are treated, while at the same time increasing it's surface hardness. maybe some of this is the companies not wishing to be held responsible if the process weakens a part so treated. But, because of the fact that no one seems to ever be willing to guarantee that the process will have no detrimental effect on the accuracy of a barrel, I was looking for some feed back from others that had already used it, and in no way was it my intent to give the impression that anything I was stating was fact. Although I do believe that the above moderator was actually in error when he stated that he interpreted what was written as a description of a coating instead of a surface treatment, I would agree that as 98 has said, the response was uncalled for. Furthermore, I don't think that the moderator stated that it was a coating, only that in his opinion the description indicated that it was. Sometimes when someone with a great deal of knowledge and experience on a subject, observes others that don't have the same, are possibly passing on erroneous information, there is a tendency to become upset by it, but I think all here can agree that there was no intent by the moderator to knowingly mislead any reader of this thread.