MDWeaponry

Thanks everyone! It definitely didn't hurt to have a buddy with a spotting scope to tell me how far off my hits were. I was honestly really shocked to get any hits at all with that ammo, much less 7. Next time I’ll see what it does with some 168 grain Sierra match kings. I’m still going to make the upgrades to the buffer mentioned, and probably get a nice trigger, and adjustable gas block, but at this point I may just build a 6.5 creedmoore upper with a ballistic advantage or criterion barrel for the extreme long range and keep this as a fun upper that can shoot even the cheapest ammo pretty well.

So I took it out again today. 750 yards verified with rangefinder. I didn’t have any match ammo, so I decided to just have some fun and see what happens after my family/friends shot their rifles. 7 shots out of 20 on target using aguilla .308 and military surplus 7.62x51. 10 of each. Wind was heavy to the right so I it was about 2.5 moa of correction for wind drift. 7th shot isn’t circled but is located bottom right of target. This is a 10 inch steel plate. Considering it’s a 500 dollar rifle shooting the cheapest ammo there is I think I got a hummer. This is my second time shooting long distance. First time was my last post. I’d say I’m doing pretty decent for a newbie, and the rifles doing really well especially considering the cost. This is still the factory rifle setup as well, I haven’t changed the buffer assembly, trigger, or anything yet.

So I got a chance to shoot it again this week. Took it to 500 yards. Now this is my first time ever shooting 500 yards or even anything over 200 but I’m actually very surprised with the accuracy. I did notice a tendency for the shots to rise as the barrel heated. All shots marked .308 were out of the pa-10. The bottom two unmarked shots were mine as well. This is a 10 inch plate. Not bad for my first time at that distance.

So basically the consensus on the ejector smears would be to fix my recoil system and lightly chamfer/bezel the ejector pin faceand go from there? That’s a nice group at 500 yards! I’ll check out your threads here shortly. I was actually looking at ballistic advantages but then I started seeing horror stories of ruptured cases and some other stuff so I started looking elsewhere, maybe I need to put some more thought into it and reconsider ballistic advantage. How does the ballistic advantage compare to the faxon and criterion accuracy wise? I only have the funds to do it once but I could spring for something a bit more costly the first time if it will cut the group size down a good bit.

Okay so it looks like I’m gonna need that new tube as well. I will be getting a new barrel likely from criterion so I may go that route rather then drilling this one unless it’s pretty simple, I just wouldn’t want to screw it up. also I’m getting ejector smear/stamping on the cases, some mild cratering of the primers on good ammo, and pretty bad cratering on cheap primers and I even have a couple pierced primers. Not sure if it’s the gun or if it was the cheap ammo that is responsible.

I completely agree, they may have solved the issue of the bolt beating the receiver up but it wasn’t the proper way to do it. It’s kinda liked they patched a hole with duct tape. I had a chance to get some rounds down range earlier today, it functioned without any failures for the 40 rounds I put through it, but it kicks way harder then it should for a .308 and the shells are ejecting between 1 and 2 o clock. Accuracy was pretty decent for the price, about 1-1.5 moa with a basic trigger and an unexperienced scope user behind it (my first rifle with a scope and my first time shooting at 100+ yards). after sighting it in at 100, I was able to hit clay pigeons at about 150- 175 yards. I hit 8 pigeons with 10 shots and I’m almost certain the two I missed were due to my lack of experience and probably flinching in anticipation of a mule kicking me in the shoulder. i didn’t attempt any further shots. So from my experience today, I need the armalite buffer system, a muzzle break, and possibly an adjustable gas block to tame it down a bit. for the price I can’t complain but when I can afford it, it will be getting some upgrades.

Just tried the buffer In the tube with no spring and slid the bolt back. There’s no way this thing will hit the receiver even without quarters. I’m sure it’s gonna kick like a mule, but they must be getting the system worked out. I’ll probably still get the armalite tube in the future though just to know for a fact it’s correct

Okay so I decided to take the buffer tube off and file a notch so it can screw in one more turn, and I noticed that even though this lower was considered a gen 2, it seems to be the new gen 3 profile. It has extra clearance cutouts in the buffer tube area. Interesting.

Okay so it’s not reliability related, but here’s a piece I made out of brass to act as an accuwedge. It wraps around the rear takedown lug. It takes up All the play in the rear, and eliminated 95 percent of the play up front as well. It will last forever, It doesn’t compress, and it will never break apart or jam the action up since it’s stuck around the lug.

Alright thanks guys. I’ll make sure to take some high tech gunsmithing quarters with me to the range this weekend haha.

Alright thanks for the information. I’ll order the armalite stuff next week. Now is it safe to assume if I use the quarters mentioned earlier as a temp fix for the recoil assembly, I won’t damage my lower testing it out a bit this weekend? My receivers are sloppy enough as it is, I don’t need the gun beating itself to death on top of it.

Here’s a picture of the rifle by the way. Ar maglock because California, Harris bipod, and a vortex viper pst gen 2 5x25x50 scope up top. oh yeah and this might ruffle some feathers but I went for the “build the wall” lower because I think it’s hilarious

I’m not too upset with the purchase, although I’d be 100 percent happy if the upper fit wasn’t loose. Mainly because I’m turning this into a long range target rifle. Planning on a match barrel for it soon, but I feel like I need to fix the upper/lower slop first. If psa had a stripped upper In stock I’d get that and modify it but of course they’re out of stock. I just realized by the time I’m done with what I want to build I could have just gotten an aero precision matched set to work with for not much more money. Are there Any good uppers that fit well and look decent on a psa lower? When you say the 7 inch is correct, is 7 inch the same length as the armalite ar-10 tube?

Thanks I’ll give the quarters a shot! And I figured they wouldn’t really want to do anything about it, especially since it’s not going to effect the function, just possibly the accuracy and my desire for a tighter fit. I’ll give them a call just to see what they say but I’m not gonna get my hopes up. thanks for the welcome!

Thanks for the help and the warm welcome to the forum by the way!

Well the warranty sounds promising. I’ll call them tomorrow and ask what they would do about it before I modify it at all. they don’t have upper receivers or 20 inch stainless barrels in stock according to their website. I dont want it to turn into a month or more without the rifle is my main concern. I already patiently and eagerly awaited it in the first place haha.

I guess I could. I actually purchased the upper and lower separately, as that was my only option as a California resident. I would just hate to send it back and wait forever to have them tell me it’s within spec when I could spend a day reaming the hole out and pressing in a properly fitting brass or aluminum tube for the pin. Ahh well decisions decisions

I wish that was my issue, but I feel like the upper receiver pin hole is out of spec as in the hole is slightly too large. No dremeling needed, I need to add material back to the pin hole if anything. I would contact palmetto about it, but I’m sure that after a month long wait it would be “in spec” i have to actually be careful when closing it to make sure the takedown pin lug centers into the lower otherwise it will hit on the lower receiver side wall when I close it.

That’s my plan, but I know I wouldn’t get it in time to try it out this weekend so I was hoping there’s a quick fix. To keep from damaging the lower at all until I can get one.

That clear ended buffer looks to be the exact same one, and we have the same internal buffer tube depth of 7 inches. Not what I was expecting from other experience. It might be better then they were putting out but it’s certainly not right. btw, does your upper receiver pivot pin hole seem loose and out of spec? Or is it just me. Pin fits pretty well in the lower by itself. almost debating on finding a brass tube that fits the pin better and then sanding it down and pressing it into the upper pin hole to act as a shim

Spring is 11.5 inches long using around 1/8 inch wire with 28 coils counting end to end, buffer is 2.5 inches long. Internal Depth of buffer tube is 7 inches. I don’t have a scale handy to measure the buffer weight

So I wanted to get into the .308 world and found a deal that I couldn’t pass up, but after reading these posts I’m thinking I should have. I haven’t shot it yet, but it’s the gen 2 with 20 inch stainless barrel and free float 15 inch mlok. The goal was to build a precision rig through time and upgrades, and to save a bit of money in the process by doing it off of a psa receiver set and I figured the extra parts I pulled off would be decent to have just because. Anyways after noticing the semi sloppy (not horrible but it seems like the upper pivot pin hole is out of spec a bit) upper/lower fit mine has, and all the extraction issues and recoil system issue threads I’ve read, I’m thinking I should have just built it from scratch with all reputable parts. Anyways I’d like to shoot it this weekend but I don’t really want the bcg beating my lower to death, so what should I do as a quick fix to keep that from happening until I can get the proper armalite spring and buffer? Thanks in advance