Fletch

Also, there seems to be this 'police are good' vs. 'police are bad' theme whenever I hear/read about this stuff...way too oversimplified IMO. There are good cops and there are scumbag cops...there are criminals (black, white, or other) that deserve to be shot, and there are a lot of good normal people who shouldn't be treated like criminals because they have an expired license plate, jaywalk, or have a broken tail light.

Good discussion. I think they all made good points. My opinion is that the root of the problem isn't the police or even the criminals for that matter...we seem to have adopted this "save everyone from everything" mentality and "enforce every rule/law/code, no matter how minor, as if everyone is on some "most-wanted" list. I remember in law classes how we talked about "better to let 10 guilty people go free than jail 1 innocent person"...and how our system is supposed to be "innocent until proven guilty". Now it seems the attitude is "guilty until proven innocent" and "better to jail 10 innocent people than let 1 guilty person go free". For that there is plenty of blame to go around...certainly our nanny-state minded politicaians (on both side of the aisle), the media, the social-engineer do-gooder types, etc...essentially the "status-quo". These police shootings (or being shot) are not the "problem" IMO...they are a symptom of much deeper issues...and we seem to be a long way off from even starting to tackle those issues.

I will definitely do so.

Yes, I thought that was a possibility as well. There is some play but nothing that I think would be considered excessive. No, it was well-lubed during all firing...it's only clean-ish looking in the pics because I wiped everything down. The machining marks (if that's what they're called?) inside the upper are smooth in some spots and rough in others...perhaps the uneven surface is causing friction or grab? Either way it's out of my hands now as I dropped off the gun at Armalite today...I'm quite interested in hearing what they find out.

Agreed...me too. I got the impression so far that they would in fact do right...I should know soon enough if they take customer service seriously or if they just try to do the minimum to placate me...I figure they will either take care of the issues to my liking or they won't...if they do that will be great and they will have earned a loyal customer...if not, I'll just sell the rifle when I get it back and never buy another Armalite product again.

I spoke with Mario at Armalite this morning and emailed him the pics so he could see what I was talking about...he showed the pics to one of the gunsmiths and he said that the marks on the bolt were from the machining, and the interior of the upper and the receiver fit were "somewhat normal" but they would need to see the gun before they could say anything more definitive. Fortunately, I live about 45 minutes from Armalite so I dropped the gun off to Mario this morning as well. I'll report back when I hear more. Thanks for all the input guys! Very much appreciated!!!

No front to back play at all.

Nothing at all on the lower. Here's some pics of the inside of the upper...

LOL...that's good! I went back and found a pic from before I ever shot the rifle...the resolution isn't the best as I had to zoom in considerably...but you can clearly see the difference between the two....any thoughts? This thing is definitely going back. Before shooting it... After about 200-250 rounds...

Thanks! Will do.

LOL...that's about what it looks like.

The gun cycles perfectly but I'm going to contact Armalite.

LOL...thanks a ton Wash! I am going to call/email Armalite tomorrow. I live about an hour from Armalite so I'll drop it of to them rather than shipping it.

No, it is absolutely 100% factory built by Armalite. I ordered it from Grab-A-Gun a few months ago. I too have never seen bolt marks like that.

Sorry about the jumbled pics...I tried to fix it but for some reason the post won't allow me edit anymore?

From what I can tell the barrel extension looks fine.

Or am I just being overly picky? This rifle has about 200-250-ish rounds through it...I was cleaning it today and noticed the following with this rifle (Armalite AR10 Tactical 16) First the bolt...notice the gouge marks behind the lugs...these marks appear around the entire surface of the bolt, not just one side or another. Now the fit of the receivers....seems like quite a large gap? And the gap gets wider as you go from the takedown pin up toward the rail...almost as if the rear part of the lower is bent backwards very slightly (if that's even possible)? . Also...the rear part of the upper receiver protrudes on the right side of the lower and on the left side it is slightly indented...but toward the front of the upper/lower it fits perfectly...its almost as if the upper (or lower) receiver is a very slight bit cockeyed with relation to how they fit. Left side slightly indented, but mostly from the takedown pin toward the rear...the front 3/4's of the receiver(s) fit perfectly. The right side protruding, but again, the fit of the receivers in front of the takedown pin appears very good. Any input would be greatly appreciated...my main concern is the integrity and reliability of the rifle...cosmetically-speaking it doesn't bother me at all. If there is a problem I would rather get it taken care of now rather than wait for something to pop up down the road. Thanks in advance!!!

Hey there...sorry I was beat last night and just needed to sleep. As Wash indicated, we certainly aren't going to save you any (or at least not much) money...but hopefully will save you some aggravation and annoyances and help you get exactly what you're looking for. I'll try not to make this any longer than necessary (apologies in advance) but will also try to be very thorough. I have a 16" on Aero receivers...I currently have a Mega barrel (best group 1/2" but think I got a bit lucky on that one...consistent 3/4" shooter though with Fed GMM 168's...I tried other factory rounds...I don't reload...but the gun seems to shoot the Fed 168's the best so I stick with them). The gun has a carbine buffer system (mil-spec buffer tube) and I use one of the Slash's Heavy Buffers (CAR-10) and one of his springs. When I first built the gun I used the standard Aero 308 carbine buffer & spring...but ended up with the back end of the lower rails of the bolt carrier slamming into the lower receiver where the buffer tube meets...after some trial & error and experimenting it seemed the buffer itself was the issue...not 100% sure exactly what was happening, but I was left with only 2 possible causes...1) the pad on the buffer was getting compressed so badly that it allowed the BCG to travel further rearward than meant to be, or 2) somehow the buffer was tilting inside the buffer tube and somehow allowing the BCG to travel rearward more than meant to be. At first the rifle had a regular (non-adjustable) gas block...which I changed to an adjustable gas block as part of my experimenting...it helped the buffer issue but did not solve it. I then tried the Slash's buffer after reading about someone else having the same issue...that solved the problem 100%. For a goof I shot the rifle a few times with full-gas just to see what would happen and the Slash buffer still worked perfectly. I am sure there are many people who have not had this issue and run the same parts I started out with, however, I will always use the Slash buffer (and spring) without a doubt for future 308AR builds, for the little bit of extra money I feel it is worth it. The only other issue I had with the build was a bad barrel...yes, it was a Mega. The best I could get was 1.5" groups, and after ruling everything else out I ended up sending the barrel back to them, they also could get no better than 1.5" and replaced the barrel without hassle. Mega has great customer service and great products...I highly recommend them. Also, if you go the Mega route for a barrel keep in mind they do not dimple their barrels so I would suggest making sure you get a clamp-style gas block as opposed to the set-screw type. The "recipe" for my build is as follows for the primary parts: Aero M5 receiver set - Mega Arms 16" barrel - Rubber City Armory BCG - carbine buffer tube w/Slash's heavy buffer & spring, and Syrac Gen 2 click-detent gas block - ALG Defense ACT trigger (with purple spring, 4.5# pull). I have really come to like the ACT trigger (with the purple spring)...best available value to price IMO...I prefer single stage triggers and I like them lighter than 6-ish#'s but also not too light like 3-ish#'s either. I'm quite sure there are better one's out there, but for the price they cannot be beat. Again, that's just my preference so don't read much into that. I'm in the process of doing a build right now for a buddy that is somewhat similar to mine...the only differences are that his is with a Mega receiver set, and he wanted the Faxon 18" fluted barrel (it's much lighter than the Mega 18" and from what I've read it shoots very accurately also). The rest of the parts are basically the same. I should have the rest of the parts in by next weekend and if I have any issues or find anything odd with that set-up when building/testing it I will let you know. As far as building the thing...I use these and they work perfectly: https://www.plastixrevolution.net/collections/ar15-vise-blocks/products/ar10-sr25-lower-receiver-vise-block https://www.plastixrevolution.net/collections/ar15-vise-blocks/products/308-upper-receiver-vise-block-ar10-sr25-lr308 I also found this guy's series (links below) on his Maten build to be very informative and helpful when I first embarked on the 308 builds. I think there are like 9 or 10 parts to it, but I mostly watched part's 6 & 7 as the other stuff I was OK on. I also think parts 6 & 7 might be particularly useful to you as well based on what questions you're asking. Worth checking out IMO. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZETW1gJJ_rg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFbLX6qtRF8 Also, I would absolutely make sure the headspace checks out with the bolt/barrel. My build is meant to be along the lines of a DMR or CSASS...I mostly shoot paper and steel out to 600 yards and like to be able to make hits consistently and quickly...which this set-up does perfectly. Oh...I've always preferred simple flash hiders to muzzle brakes....but on this build I ended up changing out the flash hider for a brake and I am very glad I did...the rifle feels so much more smooth and I'm able to get follow-up shots much more quickly as well. I've never shot it past 600 (yet) but I feel pretty confident it should have no issues out to 800 or so. Based on what you are asking I think a set-up similar to this would work perfectly for you.

I've got a 16" Mega barrel on an Aero M5 set with carbine/adjustable stock that is very accurate and functions perfectly, weighs in at just over 8 pounds (naked)...sounds very similar to what you're trying to build. I just got home and am beat so I'm headed to sleep...I will re-reply tomorrow with more details and any help/advice I can offer from doing my build. Have a good night!

Are you set on wanting individual rings or are you considering a one-piece mount as well?

I had a similar issue a while back (best was 1.5" with Fed 168 GMM, everything else was 2"-ish best...I ruled out everything except the barrel (which like your Ballistic Advantage, came with a sub-MOA guarantee)...I ended up sending the barrel back to the manufacturer and sure enough the best they were able to get was 1.5" also, they replaced the barrel and the new one shoots consistent 3/4" groups. My guess is that the barrel is most likely your issue. BA has a lot of info for troubleshooting and contacting them for accuracy issues so they should take care of you without a hassle, I would definitely give them a call and go from there. Did you build this upper yourself or did you purchase it assembled?

I see the fireworks are starting early tonight... Good eye Wash...nice catch!

If you get the Wheeler make sure you get the SR25/LR-308 version...the AR15 version will be too small and unstable. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/175976/wheeler-engineering-delta-series-lower-receiver-magazine-well-vise-block-kac-sr25-lr-308-polymer

This is what I use for 308 receivers...I've used it on both DPMS and Armalite style uppers & lowers... https://www.plastixrevolution.net/products/308-upper-receiver-vise-block-ar10-sr25-lr308 https://www.plastixrevolution.net/collections/ar15-vise-blocks/products/ar10-sr25-lower-receiver-vise-block