moopey

Very good points. I think I'll refrain from scope shopping for a little while. Not sure my wallet can take much more. haha

Went to the range this morning. I took my magpul flip up sights off of my AR and put them on the .308 temporarily. I had a small window of time at the range so I couldn't zero them in. A buddy of mine brought a bolt action .308 so I could compare. I think it was a Ruger. I didn't hit many targets with my rifle, but it ran well. I put about 30 rounds through it. No failures to feed or extract. I was originally worried about the phase 5 bolt catch but it worked fine. Recoil wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. The thing is friggin loud though, which put a smile on my face. After shooting my rifle a few times I then tried my friends bolt action. It definitely had more recoil. It didn't really hurt my shoulder but I could feel it more through my head since I had my cheek resting on the stock....if that makes sense. His bolt action was dead nuts accurate with just iron sights which was pretty cool. All in all I'm happy with the way my .308 turned out. I have a new low profile hand guard coming in next week and that should take care of the only outstanding issue. Now I need to decide If I want to invest in better iron sights or just get a scope. Part of me would rather just keep the magpuls as backup and take the $200 I would spend on irons and put it towards a scope. I took some video on my phone. I just need to figure out how to get it online.

update: I dropped the rifle off at a local gunsmith. He confirmed that the barrel needed to be reamed out a couple/few thousands of an inch in order for the bolt to close. I just picked up today and it's good to go. I also had him pin the muzzle while he was at it. Total cost was $125. I'm glad I opted to have him take care of everything rather than send it back to Fulton Armory. The smith brought it to the range and put some rounds through to make sure all is well. He also mentioned that people at the range might not be too happy if a go to the station next to them. I guess the rifle is pretty loud. haha. I can't wait to shoot it for myself! I asked him if this was a typical problem (since I'm still new to AR building) and he stated that this was first time he had to do this, which was interesting. It's all good now though. Thanks again for all the help. Stay tuned for a range report.

I borrowed some dummy rounds from a friend and cycled them through about a dozen times. The bolt would close on the dummy round if I let the BCG slam it home. Because of this, it didn't close all the time. It was also sometimes very hard to extract a round. After a few cycles I noticed some decent scratches that ran the length of the case were starting to form.

Someone on NES is having the same issue with the 7.62 Industries BCG and a Blackhole Weaponry barrel. He posted a couple links as well. http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_121/516132_The_BIG_Mega_MaTen_Answer_thread__FAQ_covering_LPK__Barrels__Bolts__Stocks__EXT__Check_here_first_.html&page=42#i6073709 http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=760573

Thanks for the advice everyone and for constantly stating the importance for checking the headspacing. There are many people on the other forum I frequent that say it's not a big deal. That clearly isn't true. I'll be bring it to the gunsmith to get his opinion and if it requires machining, so be it. Out of curiosity I looked on Fulton Armory's website and I only saw carriers listed. I didn't see any bolts, which confuses me. I shall keep you all posted.

After talking to Jay from this forum I knew it would be a possibility to have to send my bolt and barrel to them. So that wasn't a surprise. It was just the guys attitude that turned me off. And the $50 diagnostic fee....for what? I already told them it was a headspace issue, and if they want to double check it should that really be a $50 fee? I'm more than happy to pay for them to match the components. My gripe was I'd be $75-$100 deep before even finding out what the total cost to fix the issue would be. and at that point they could charge me whatever they want knowing they have me between a rock and a hard place.....don't want to buy our bolt.....pay these fees.....don't want to pay these fees.....buy our bolt. Seems to me that their system pretty much guarantees them money. I'll bring it to someone local before giving them any more money unless I really really have to. thanks for wishing me luck. I just want to finish this build so it goes boom. haha.

So I called Fulton Armory this afternoon. The conversation didn't go exactly as I had I expected to. After being talked downed to for a couple minutes and being told I should of bought a bolt from them numerous times, it seems my only course of action is to send them my barrel and stripped bolt, pay them a fee of $50 to check the head spacing and then from there I'll either have to pay for them to modify the barrel or bolt, or buy a bolt from them. Seems like I'm going to have to pay either way for not buying their bolt. I specifically asked "so this isn't just a case of the barrel being defective and returning it?". His response was "no, the barrel isn't defective." He seemed annoyed by this question. When he mentioned buying a bolt from them, my response was that I'd really like to use the bolt I've already purchased. He said he understood, but couldn't really comment on what the outcome would be without looking at everything, which I get. I had a feeling I might have to send the bolt back with the barrel. Jay had mentioned that. But having to pay for shipping back and forth, and the diagnostic fee, and then whatever other fee kind of bothered me. Oh and to top it all off.....When discussing shipping I asked what the shipping address was. The guys response was a wise ass comment like "we only have one" or some poop. Like I was an idiot for asking....."Don't you have an invoice?" I finally just said that I could get it from their website I just wanted to make sure that was the same address to ship things to. Then finally to wrap it all up I said "and what's your name again Sir?" his response in a condescending tone....."I'm Clint. The owner". So apparently being a dick goes all the way to the top.

jrtmasp and I met up this morning at his range to see if we could diagnose the problem. After putting my bolt in his rifle and seeming ok, he tried his in my rifle and it didn't seem right. We ended up putting my entire BCG assembly into his rifle and it seemed to be fine. He then fire one shot and it worked flawlessly. This confirmed that the problem is with the barrel. I'll be contacting Fulton Armory tomorrow to see what say. Thanks again Jay!

Yes. The entire BCG assembly is NIB coated.

I just built my first .308 rifle in 16". While I haven't fired it yet I do like the over length of it and the weight. However after reading this.....I think I want to get a tax stamp and build a SBR upper. Point me to some pics of that if you have some.

Please PM his info. I was recently given on another forum for a gunsmith also in Taunton. I wonder if you're thinking of the same person. If so, I live like a mile from him.

I picked up a set of punches. took the bolt completely apart and checked the headspace again.......it still doesn't close with the GO gauge. should i bring the rifle to a gunsmith? or contact the manufacturer of the barrel or bcg?

I did watched that video. The instructions for the Forster gauges only say to remove the extractor so that's all I did. I guess they could of meant the ejector pin also. A member on another forum has said repeatedly that the Forester gauges do not require removal of the pin. I will try taking the bolt completely apart tonight. I just need to find a set of punches. I haven't needed them till now.

Update: I received my troy rail today so I installed the barrel, gas block and gas tube and finished off with the rail. I then proceeded to check the head spacing with a set of Forster GO/NO Go gauges. I followed the instructions and removed the extractor and re-assembled the BCG. I did not remove the ejector or ejector spring. With the upper off of the lower I closed the BCG without a gauge, closes completely. Then I placed the GO gauge in and the BCG will not close. As I push it closed I can feel the tension from the ejector. I get the same result from the NO GO gauge. Should I be removing anything else from the BCG? There's a pretty decent gap with either gauge. So far it's been a night of disappointments between these headspace issues and the Troy rail not lining up with the QD lower.....awesome. I can take pics of the BCG gap tonight, but I won't be able to get good pics of the rifle or rail alignment till tomorrow. Any info on the headspace would greatly appreciated. Thanks. gap in chamber with extractor removed form bolt This pic shows the BCG sticking out of the upper.