GunBugBit

My beer go-to these days is Four Peaks Golden Lager. Very straightfoward but an impeccable lager.

On a GI trigger, just shoot it a lot or do some hammer boosting (pulling the trigger while putting forward pressure on the hammer). The interface spots will polish against each other and the trigger will feel sufficiently smooth. You can use grease to make it feel even better. Then it might be a matter of finding a hammer spring that is light enough for your tastes but still provides reliable ignition. Good luck!

Thumbs up on the SSA-E. There is one on my elk rifle.

So gangsta.

AR trigger choices are incredible. Geissele has fantastic offerings; 98Z5V's recommendations are top shelf. Improving a GI trigger is one way to go. Need the trigger to remain safe, reset properly and not have light strike issues. Learning about all of that is enjoyable. But if you want a quality trigger that will just work -- Geiselle will take care of you. For your precision upper, barrel choice is your biggest point to consider. You might not shoot beyond 300 yards for fun or more serious endeavors, but hey, you want some nice tight groups, right? I am no expert on barrels but I gather there is a big quality spectrum out there, as with many things.

Another note on lessons learned: dremel off any burrs where the jig halves join before starting drill press work.

We will be using our builds for the upcoming elk hunt, not even four weeks away now.

Finally had this rifle out for an afternoon of 100 and 200 yard shooting. Function-wise, never a hitch. Accuracy-wise, groups I can cover with the palm of my hand at 200 yards are achieved with little effort. I know I can get tighter groups and most of my time with this rifle will be toward that very goal. I am been extremely pleased. My friend's similar build turned out well, but he is having light strike issues which we are addressing. More range time today, Phoenix weather is so good.

This is how my buddy came to the 308 AR. He wanted very much to have an AR so he got the idea to build one, and specifically a 308 AR. His interest and mine resulted in us building a total of 5 ARs (two 308s and three 5.56s).

It shoots good! I haven't done much more with the rifle shown than a 3-mag function check. It ran perfectly, I'm happy to say. I put a tried-and-true bolt carrier group in this rifle, along with a new barrel, so I made sure to check head space before I shot it. Within a month or so, I'll be taking it out to zero that scope and just generally get some good trigger time. I got drawn for bull elk in AZ unit 10 for early December, so I'll be sure to provide an update of what happens. This hasn't been much of a rifle year for me. Most of my shooting involves 1911s in USPSA, Steel Challenge and club practice matches. I've also been Glockin' a bit lately; the G20 is finally running 100% with Underwood 10mm loads. Last but not least, I've been having fun seeing what kind of accuracy I can get out of my snub-nose SP101. So many guns, so little time.

The jig is designed to facilitate hand-drilling the side holes, and you get a good result if you do that. If you use the drill press, it is strong enough to defeat where the jig wants to guide the bit to. It is also easier and faster to do this part with a hand drill. The RPM recommendation is from Polymer80. If you leave the bit spinning in the same place for long, yes you can get melting. If you work with reasonable crispness and efficiency, this speed makes quick work of the task and there is no melting.

98Z5V, it's so fun! The carbide goes through the polymer like butter. Best to have a buddy with a shop vac keeping the chips out of the way.

Here are a couple of pics showing the setup and a finished receiver with the fire control group installed.

When I get a chance I will supply details on the lower machining process, lessons learned, etc. I can share the lessons learned right now as I have them handy. I use a Porter Cable floor model drill press and and X-Y cross vise. The setup works well. I think I have some pictures. Here are the lessons learned on machining these (I've done 5 80% lower ARs now): --- Do not use drill press for side holes. Be sure hand drill has spin direction correct. Tape halves of jig together. Plunge out as much of the pocket with the end mill bit as possible before milling, staying well inside the jig. Do not touch side of jig walls with the end mill until smooth portion of bit is at least halfway below the top. Set drillpress speed at 1800 RPM or thereabouts. Use 7/16" depth collet on end mill bit but don't depend on it as it's possible to plunge too deep when the bit is in the center of the jig opening. Do not release hammer on thin wall behind bolt catch bar slot.

What are we shootin'? If any 1911 .45 ACP, I will sweep the desert with ya'll sissy-ass metrosexuals.

Very nice, bro-tato chip.

Rifle length gas tube.

Hi MikeD, please see my post with some details.

In the mail: 80% lowers, stop collars for mill/drill bits.

I am trying a WarrHogg (308 80% polymer lower from Polymer80) build. I am a new drillpress owner and not an experienced machinist so on my first try, mistakes were made but I do believe the lower came out 100% functional. I'll know for sure when my parts kit arrives and I get a chance to test fire. This supposedly tough polymer makes for pretty easy cutting. The bits should last longer, not that that's an issue because you get a fresh set with every Polymer80 kit. I'm intrigued enough to try a couple of builds with their lowers and if they turn out to be problematic, I'll go to aluminum for future builds.

firefighterbve, welcome! On the gas block, I favor a pinned low profile gas block. The benefit is: it's the most solid approach to keeping the gas block from becoming misaligned with the barrel gas hole. A set screw or clamp approach can work but for best stability I like pinned. One can do the pinning with a jig, a drill and a reamer. A hand reamer can work to finish the hole you'll drill, so the taper pin will fit. No I don't work for Brownell's, just find their stuff handy to link to because they often come up on searches. Also, no guarantee that all the parts I linked to are compatible with each other, they're just examples. I'll be pinning a low profile gas block on an in-progress 308 AR build so watch for my posts on how it went.

Have been enjoying a new Gen 4 Glock 20. Not super much a Glock guy, but I do find myself in ownership of 3 block-of-Glock plastic-metal blasters. I thought finding ammo would be an issue but I'm finding there are enough sources of decent 10mm ammo. Now I'm hankering for a 1911 in 10mm, such as the Dan Wesson Silverback (a Razorback with a bare stainless slide) available at a gun store all too near to me. Very tempting.

Good for you! Not everyone can pull that off.

Great set of links there. It was a similar collection of URLs that got me started in the 1911 world some years ago.