SgtDog0311

With ammo prices what they are I’m looking for experience & recommendations for a good bullet with a good blend of accuracy and hunting potential. Anticipating the proper question of “what are you going to use it for”, I’ll just say for personal defense emergency and hunting - with as much accuracy as I can afford. I mostly want a small stockpile. I know thst is a relative term. I’ve a good supply of 168 SMK for paper and thought it might be practical to stay near that weight - but would consider any input. I’ve got an AR-.308 and an M1A. The AR is an 18” with Criterion barrel. If recommendations are specific to each rifle so much the better. On another post I saw considerable consensus for the 168 A-Max. I was wondering if those were pretty comparable to the SGK - were SGK always 165gr? When I last visited this I was thinking the SBT were 168gr. They changed or my recollection is mistaken.

I like Dave Rubin and Douglas Murray but I have to draw the line with pants down hugs:-) I think I can transition back to the novice stages ok though. I’ll risk annoying some with some bullet questions over in the reloading before long. Been casting my own and shooting lead bullets long enough that it will be a little embarrassing exposing my lack of experience reloading for these. On the bright side I got my room tidied up. Should have seen it while drilling that gas port.

Wanted to update this old thread. My eyes allowed me one more year of BPCR competition and it took another year to prove it was over. Upshot was I let this set till this summer when I did determine I had a function problem. Wouldn’t strip a round from the mag or lock back on empty consistently. I fished around and ultimately got pointed back here by dpete to a couple excellent threads on gas port size as well as gas tube length. 98Z5V in particular, but several others were a big help - and dpete assured me I could manage drilling out the port, so I did. Function problem resolved!! My BPCR days are over but my interests are still here. I can still manage to shoot, just not competition. I’ve even built a couple more AR-15s and another 308. Guess I’ll have some reloading questions since ammo is so high. I’m old enough to turn my efforts towards producing some ammo in bulk. Don’t want to leave my sons firearms without a supply of decent ammo. They may need it given the instability our fearless leaders are busy creating.

Thanks Gentlemen! Read you comments about starting wide open too late but no matter. That is where I ended up, 4.5 turns. Should have begun there to begin with. Didn’t shoot a lot but no mishaps with what I did shoot.

Thanks for the correction 98Z5V. I sure-enough had the rifle/carbine part of that acquisition turned around in my noggin. I’m starting to think back on the sequence I followed seating my magazines, (Bolt closed or open) as we fiddled with the GB adjustment. could be I was contributing. going to try one round in mag, set GB at two full rotations and increase till bolt locks back - then try again with multiple rounds in the magazine. I’ll post back when I get to do that.

Thanks for the responses! per recommendations on page one I ordered the Armalite Rifle buffer/receiver extension. Just pulled and measured. Stuck a small rod and marked - mark is at 7&11/16”. Buffer is 3&1/4”

OK, match schedule been taking precedence last two seasons so so just now getting to shoot this. Got cycling problems and need help trouble shooting. Adjusted the superlative gas block all the way down then counted three revolutions open. Then 3rds stripped off top of magazine and cycled/shot - no problem. Next adjustment to 4 revolutions & produced a jam. Round partially sripped off the top of mag but cocked and dented going in chamber. Back to 3 revolutions and repeat of jam. 2&1/2, again jam. Several instances of failing to strip round from magazine and sent bolt home on empty chamber, including first pull/release of charging handle/bolt. AERO upper and lower, mags are magpul, rifle gas length system, rifle length buffer with Armalite 6-position tube and rifle buffer. 18” Criterion barrel, aero bolt. What else do I need to add to help diagnose the problem? in advance - Thanks!

Love those old vets! Pretty cool video. My brother wore wings. Not sure I could have done better than getting booted overboard.

NightStalker... that was a question/concern I had in mind when I mentioned doing what I could to limit that excess squeezing out around that flange down inside that "Enhanced" fixture. I plan on spreading the loctite thin as practical for that reason. Couple thousands ain't much before you start plowing it towards and over the extension flange. Should be interesting.

RedRiverII, it was gonna be Magpul after I saw the price of the new front sight but I found one used I thought I could identify from the pictures as not China knock-offs and took the risk.

Good to know. Appreciate the reply!

Thanks a bunch for that reply gnumadic, that's exactly the info I was looking for. Appreciate it! The GB I have now is a clamp on.

Cool beans. You got it a couple $$ cheaper than mine. I like what I see now that I have it in-hand but will know more once I'm done with the rifle and get it to the range.

Very interesting about the Vltor receivers!! Machined well then, and 'rigid' with more material too. And on sale for $139 right now. Hate to keep asking questions JT but did you like your uppers from them in all other respects. I see the deflector is pinned/attached vs part of the forging. And just of interest, since it's the first I've seen... they make an upper with fixed hand guard. Don't know that I'd want one but unique, eh.

I share your curiosity unforgiven, I surely do, especially being my first build. I've got an M1A and an AR but I shoot about 16 matches a year in BPCR and BPTR so that's where I spend most all my time. While it's not bench rest its precision in a sense. And shooting my own cast bullets, of my own bullet design and my own load work, anywhere from 200 to 800yds for score, even in 135 yr old rifles, leaves me disposed towards the best accuracy I can get. Honestly I bet I'd be the same if I was hunting hogs at 150yds:-) Regarding the 'stock box'. I was tempted. But I usually immerse myself and thought a build would be best for knowing the rifle. I think I'm right about that but I'm making no claims about a novice's ability to exceed some of those better regarded turn-key rifles out there.

And for those who have, here is a thought I'd had for limiting that 'excess' squeezing out: I thought perhaps that could be minimized by using a piece of card stop or something to ensure the film of bedding, whatever you used, was spread very thin and uniform on the extension in order to limit the excess being squeezed out down in that recess. I ruled out using shim stock since I only have about three thousands tolerance - I thought working that extension in there with a 1 thousands shim wrap would really be a bear.

JT, maybe I missed it but have you done a AERO Enhanced? I ask because I really am bothered a bit by that "excess" issue down inside their fixture. btw, I've been in another discipline and remain in that camp (at least as long as my Glaucoma is held in check) despite my interest here but everything I've learned there tells me this is a no-brainer. But here is the kicker... you go to another venue like this and you run into the same thing you do anywhere. There are internet gurus and then there are the guys you are trying to assess for trustworthiness. So, here I order a Criterion and I have a few exchanges there and the word I get is "start over" concerning the Enhanced and go back to the M5. Dang, that one threw me for a loop since it was that free float fixture that caught my imagination and got me off the fence finally about building a 308. Go figure, right!

Unforgiven, or anyone, If you are interested here is a short video that purports to go back to the 'cause that found a remedy'. Anyway, the gunsmith for the team didn't seem to have any prior knowledge/experience with it. The gentleman is the former chief gunsmith of the USAR team as well as a world record holder. He writes, or did, for the American Gunsmith magazine, which in my world almost qualifies him as a suspect, but I read a few of his articles and he didn't appear to be just another marketing mouthpiece to me. Now... I did exchange some emails with him and he did have an experience with AERO and opinions on uppers I can't get a vector check on. Personally I'm intrigued by JP's "heat-shrink" process. Not saying I'd do it but dang... doesn't even look like they use a barrel nut. Maybe they do but didn't look like they spun one on in their video. Now that I put that in black in white... surely they do. Not using it would be an insane liability. Oh, also of possible interest to you, this guy further tunes harmonics (ammo specific) with barrel nut torque.

gnumadic, hope you post pics. If I had a restart I'd consider the M5/Atlas combo over my first choice. I am curious about the gas block/tube clearance under the smaller Atlas. Any issues there or are we good-to-go. Still tempted to change my mind. Would just be the cost of the upper and hand guard till I turned them over on GB or EBay.

Not sure if that question is for the OP or just anyone in general. For me, I’ve seen enough thru a lot of searching to convince me of the utility to at least check if the face is square. My plan is to check frequently while lapping to see, looking for even or uneven wear. If it’s evenly wearing I’ll stop as soon as signs are visible. As for the bedding, it makes good sense. But more than that it’s recommended by a great deal of precision shooters and performed in one way or another, (heat fit, shims, loctite or fitted bat barrel extensions) by precision builders and armorers for competition teams. That said, its probably an excellent question for each to answer for his rifle. I’ve seen it asked and answered elsewhere. Some claim it shrinks groups by as much as a 1/3rd. But only shooting a before and after would answer for each instance. I considered checking for flat/square then shooting before bedding. Have not decided yet.

NightStalker, I'd be interested in comparing notes if you proceed with yours. The way I see it, and again, confessing little-to-no-experience, there is a big difference in how you'd want to handle the M5 and M5E1. Not so much in the lapping, though I do wonder there if it wouldn't be best to orient vertically rather than horizontally in the vice as I hand-turn. I'll know more once my 220 grit arrives. But the big difference I envision is in the bedding. With the exposed receiver extension of the M5, you have the opportunity to wipe off excess as it squeezes out over the raised flange of the extension. Whereas with the shrouded nature of the M5E1 that excess is going to squeeze out where it can't be reached very well, possibly as far as the female threads of the Enhanced integral Free-float fixture, and even run into the interface between the outside surface of the barrel extension flange where the barrel nut will apply torque. I've got about .0035 of tolerance and how to apply just the right amount of bedding on that surface in order to minimize excess squeezing out is my question/concern.

I did a first pass on an M5E1 night before last. The G&G lapping compound included with the tool was 120grit and felt like gravel so I stopped and cleaned and am ordering some 220 grit. Now this was my first of any kind so take that for what it's worth. The little I exposed in the (hand) lapping looked to be fairly uniform though a short stretch looked like there was less exposure. Since I pulled off it early and didn't expose much I may find this misleading when the 220 grit arrives. Btw, my Criterion Barrel Extension made a decent fit so not sure what I'll do about bedding. I don't have tools to measure the delta between the barrel extension OK and the inside diameter of the barrel nut. But without a barrel nut on at all the barrel itself is a little difficult to pull off. Lapping these M5E1s seems like a whole other animal from a typical receiver extension if that makes any sense. And of course I'm seeing it from having a hands-on with the M5E1 and only videos to watch with the M5.

LPK, Larue trigger, buffer tube and stock installed. Still working on obtaining lapping compound and bedding loctite for barrel interface. The 120 grit lapping compound G&G sent with their tool feels like I'm using gravel from the drive so gonna get some 220 grit to finish lapping. Otherwise I've got everything under my roof to put it together. And of course since I got it that far together I had to do a little mock up. Still a ways to go with the barrel. Does not feel too heavy at all for a fella used to his Ballard single-shots. I better understand how "enhanced" versions of the AERO Upper limit a guy on the hand guards. And squaring off the face of the receiver extension is altogether different. Barrel nut goes from female threads to male threads and lapping tool goes down inside the extension - working on the face of the receiver instead of the face of the extension for squaring up that interface.

Wow, nicely done! Truck looks good too!

“Like” that burnt bronze!