willbird

The only dies I could get were Lee dies. Reloading tools are crazy right now. Same situation with powder so I have quite a bit of RE7 which which is why I started with it. I also have 16lbs of SR4759 and see that a few folks have used it. I might have some 2200, a buddy bought 32 lbs when it was SUPER cheap two decades ago. I have some Lilgun but not a large stash. Did just get some 325 Hornady ftx projo. Bill

OK fired 3 rounds yesterday with a 405 grain cast bullet I bought, they have a gray powder coat, did not fire on paper, used 37.0 grains of RE7. Rounds barely ejected but bolt locked back. Found some data a guy posted and he uses a nice excel spreadsheet format to save data, I decided to use his format for myself going forward. The target was leaned back on my backstop so that is why the bullet holes are not round. You KNOW you are shooting these lol. They were 1158fps in the other guys 16" barrel. I got a 2x-7x Vortex Crossfire for this upper.

Waiting list ?? It was in stock and shipped the next day ?

Wilson combat stripped upper Tromix 10.5" 1/10 twist stainless barrel and bolt Generic .875 gas block Generic pistol gas tube Right to bear arms bcg with Tromix bolt swapped in Guntec USA AR-15 Ultra Lightweight Thin M-LOK Free Floating Handguard 10" Stag lower PSA lower build kit Larue MBT trigger Got the upper together today. Waiting on the cartridge gauge from Tromix before I load any ammo. I jumped on the caliber and ordered the barrel from Tromix before a did a lot of research. I have known Tony from several boards so I did not shop around a lot. After reading more I am EXTREMELY glad I got the barrel from Tromix.

The same type of press has a 3" or so diameter tie bars. Those use "super nuts". https://www.nord-lock.com/superbolt/products/tensioners/ They will develop tension equal to what would be a massive torque value.

I have looked up quite a bit of that stuff. Our molding press's at work have 1-1/4" socket head capscrews in some locations. Off the top of my head I remember around 1200 ft lbs torque. We have a hydraulic torque wrench we use on those.

No shame in saying I wish I gotten one of these Wera a long time ago :-). 18 inch lbs is pretty healthy really. I was afraid it would be a really weeny torque value :-). I have an old school beam in lb torque wrench but only ever used it to set pinion bearing pre load on GM third members.

Got wrapped up into turning all my spare parts into pistols with braces :-).

I will admit never yet owning a torque tool for scope mounting screws. Recently got a Vortex Viper and it has this huge notice around the scope tube to use 18 in lbs torque value. Where do they come up with those numbers ?? Not every ring and mount uses the same exact screws either. I do have a torque tool for bicycle stuff where there are carbon fiber parts involved, it is way to aggressive at 6nm. I ordered a Wera 05074711001 7446 Bill

Just got an email from CDNN, they have some kits listed without barrel, BCG, charging handle or gas tube for $549. Keymod handguard of course. Would all work together tho.

Kinda got enthralled by the idea of a 1X-quite a fewX scope, settled for VORTEX OPTICS - STRIKE EAGLE 1-8X24MM RIFLE SCOPE though to start with :-).

Ordering a linear comp :-). Pretty sure the brake would not be fun shooting inside my Tacoma lol.

Well I have all the machinery to do it :-), just got lucky so far I guess :-). I remember looking at it while assembling thinking "man that hole is tiny" lol. Not sure what they were thinking.

With two rifles same caliber I just decided to make them the same :-). Figured if the 14.5 worked it had 2" more barrel time until bullet exit so the 12.5 should not end up "more gassed" than the 14.5. It was kinda a leap of faith and "hey it's mine" kinda decision :-). Worst case would have been needing a heavier buffer or an adj gas block :-). That is the first gas port I ever drilled :-).

I had some stuff leftover from my 12.5" build that started out as a 10.5" build :-). I had a Brownells-Faxon 1/8 twist 14.5" 6mm arc barrel. So I went ahead and made an upper out of it. Pics coming later. But used Aero M4E1 upper, Brownells BCG, Aero quantum 12" rail, Larue MBT trigger. Dropped on a Aero M4E1 lower that has a Tailhook 2 brace on it.

Loaded some ammo today. Quickly worked up to the maximum LeverRevolution load with 108 ELD. I have another 6mm arc I built using the "leftover" Brownells 14.5 barrel which has 1/8 twist, it will get it's own thread but it comes into play here. The 14.5 functioned and locked back on an empty magazine, the 12.5 did NOT. Hmm. Took them apart and checked gas port size (new rule will be to check WHILE assembling). Hmm 14.5 has .076" gas port, the 12.5 has .0635". Both carbine gas. OK....drilled the 12.5 out to .076 and it too functions and locks back on an empty magazine :-). Good excuse to build more than 1 rifle at a time :-).

The whole reason for building this rifle really was to make something that would fit into this soft case. Any reason will do but that was it :-). So it does fit :-). General idea is a truck gun. In my state with CCW I can keep it in the vehicle in the case locked and loaded legally.

Got this all put together finally. Left out the locking part for the rail fillers for now, those things do not go in easy :-).

Ok so things went around and around and here is where it ended up :-). https://imgur.com/a/9N3zsMO [/IMG] LGS got in some Stag uppers and lowers bare metal and offered them with Cerakote, they had a green pair setting there so I thought "why not". Really digging on the Guntec USA rails. I have one for my 6 Willbird project too. I think I like slimmer rails in general. This setup has the larue MBT trigger. Now need to make some ammo and test fire. Bill

Kind of got buried with work and other stuff, making some progress in that direction tho :-).

I am still waiting on my rail, it did ship though :-). Bill

if I put instant coffee in a microwave, how far back in time do I go ??

faxon has some 12.5" 6mm arc barrels in stock so I grabbed up one. Been busy working pretty much 7 days a week. Projects have languished :-).

The HF stuff is antenna dependent...well having a good antenna always matters, but more for HF than common 2 meter stuff. But if you literally want to work the world on 1 watt and have the time and acreage for a truly good antenna, then radios are not $1K. https://www.qrp-labs.com/ultimate3/u3s.html