Knuckledragger

My EDC guns are a Sig P365XL & P226. 9mm works just fine for me 😁

Got talked into buying a police surplus Star BM 9mm by an old friend. Star BM @ J&G Sales

More goodies from Forward Controls, and he’ll be getting another order Thursday. A pair of B5 SOCOM stocks, 1 black, 1 ODG. More Scherr-Tumico micrometers for my upcoming classes. RCBS Uniflow Competition combo. And a pair of Vans running shoes from 1983 😂

Thanks for the info, @Cliff R . I’ll pick up some lighter loads before I shoot this one more. I realized from reading back that I need to clarify some of what I’ve said. The ammo I was shooting is M118 Match FMJ with a ‘79 headstamp that I bought locally. I also bought some M118LR with a 2019 headstamp from MidwayUSA, but I haven’t shot any of that yet.

Negative. Got it from Midway.

Well shiit..... Probably not the best choice to break it in with, then. I didn’t realize it would get hotter with age.

Appreciate the info, @Cliff R I have a couple pounds of Varget. I’ll grab up some of those Barnes bullets next time I’m at Gunstop.

Btw, it just occurred to me that I’ve got the gas block on this gun closed up right now, so I’m sure it’s overgassed AF. Might account for the swiped brass? Eventually I’ll tune it better, but for the moment I’m just glad it runs. I’m assuming that the parts need to be mated up better before trying to tune the gas system would be worth the time.

Thank you. First one I’ve done.

This plus about 1,200 Lake City primed brass is what I’ve gathered so far for load development. I see lots of quality time with a chronograph in my future.

So, after separating and bagging my brass from the range today, I found this little gem. I didn’t realize I had added in the automatic de-priming option when I ordered the parts 🤔 looking at it closer, there’s a hole blown right through it to the anvil. I’m unsure if I’m looking at an ammo issue here, or something else. I policed up all of the brass I could. I’m sure a few got away from me & got swept up. They’re pretty fastidious about keeping the range clean. Of the 54 empties of Lake City rounds, 1 had the pierced and extruded primer shown, about 1/3 of them show cratering, and the rest look (to me) relatively normal. The 3 Federal Gold Medal Berger 185gr rounds I managed to retrieve all look perfect on the base. 1 shows the barest hint of swiping, the other two none at all. Primers on each look picture perfect, no cratering, no piercing. All brass is showing the same gouges from the feed ramps. My first inclination is to pull the barrel off a try to polish away the edges right at the end of the ramps, but I’m trying not to go too far down the rabbit hole without seeing the whole picture. I’m thinking it wouldn’t hurt to soften the edges of the ejector, but again, I’m trying to take it slow here and think before picking up the tools. Is it acceptable? Is it a brass issue rather than an ejector issue? Primer issue on the Lake City rounds (1979 Lot 60-32)? Inquiring minds want to know. Last pic is just because I just like how the cut foam in the case turned out. Not perfect, but a damn sight better than I’d expected from doing the job using my wife’s electric carving knife and a healthy slug of bourbon. More to come, I’m sure. You guys will get sick of me before long at this rate. 😆

MidwayUSA has a Frankford Arsenal Priming tool and a handful of shell holders and Lee factory crimp dies on the way to me, and Mark LaRue got more of my money thrown at him for an LT204 Mount and a Trigger Action Chassis. Getting an Accu-Shot monopod in the mail soon, so I see an order for one of SAGE International’s dedicated PRS Gen 3 rails shortly.

Thank you, I’m liking it more and more. I chose the mags for COAL. The stainless 20 rounders and the Magpul MAG577 will both handle 2.83”. Thinking about it now, it was only using the stainless 20’s that I had out of battery issues. I’ll have to look into that more in the future.

Sitting in my truck in the shooting range parking lot. I’m calling it a success. Ran through 65 rounds. 60 M118 1979 vintage with zero issues. Tried 5 Federal Gold Medal Berger 185gr, and two of them didn’t go fully into battery without a small push on the assist, one by releasing the held bolt, the other using the CH. Bolt hold open on empty every time. Getting some swiping on the base and a scratch on the case. Thinking some polishing of the feed ramps is in order, unless someone has better advice. All in all, I’m thrilled with the gun. Today was all about function check, and it’s doing the job. It’s only a 25 yard indoor range, so it can’t stretch it’s legs at all, but all the groups were ragged holes or clover leaves. I’ll spend more time tuning the gas system and dialing the scope in when I’m in Michigan shooting on my family’s land. Will take pics later when I pull it down to check everything.

Update: Got a few more pieces of the puzzle together tonight. So far, so good. No hitches in the action. Need to get to the range for some testing. The mount is just a placeholder til my LaRue order gets here. Really liking the scope so far. Glass looks ridiculously clear. Any recommendations on breaking it in and helping surfaces mate? I’ve disassembled the BCG, cleaned it and lubed with CherryBalmz Black Rifle Balm. Gone over everything at least ten times making sure I’m not forgetting anything. Even still, I probably did and will come back from the range feeling stupid for something obvious.

I did the height estimate as it’s described on Accu-shot’s site. At minimum extension on my bipod and level, it needs about 5”. At full bipod extension and level, it needs 8”. This might work..... 🤔

Hope this is in the right section. If not, please move it and show me the err of my ways, oh 308AR modgods. I’ve been scouring the interwebs for a monopod that will work with the PRS Gen 3. Sadly, it’s been a mostly fruitless endeavor. I’ve yet to find either a variant that can direct attach to MLOK or one that will work with the rail (is really a rail?) under the MLOK cover. Closest I’ve found is Sage International’s PMRI-MR/G3 http://www.sageinternationalltd.com/SIL/PMRIMR-G3.html Not a bad piece of kit at all, but I’m trying to find some direct attachment solution. Anyone found something better?

45 minutes west of MSP airport here. Only know of the indoor ranges here. I do my long range shooting in Michigan and Arizona (not that I’ve gotten there much lately).

Truth be told, I got the M118LR for load development info. Gives me a known quantity to test in my gun for accuracy and function, chrono, and compare to other factory ammo I have. After that, I plan on working up my own load for it. I won’t be too surprised if it ends up being close to that M118LR, though.

@98Z5V Yup, that confirms it. Definitely in the right place. I haven’t had a problem finding the Salted Caramel Crown here. Which border are you barely this side of? Meh-he-co or Canuckistan?

Sounds like my bourbon collection might not be safe around you guys..... I knew I came to the right place 🤣 I need to stop sifting through gun websites when I’m bored... I now have 250 rds of M118LR on it’s way to me. FFS, I’ve already got over 1k of various rounds for a damn rifle I haven’t even finished yet. I’m a dumbass

@KINGOFTHEPOORS I hated the gap between the upper and the handguard enough that I swapped out the M5 upper for an M5E1 upper. I don’t know if it’s feasible to hone that much off the upper to make it fit flush. I can see where feed problems could possibly arise from an increased angle of attack as the barrel extension is pushed further inward. I can also see where it would be easy to take too much off and not be able to secure the handguard. Assuming you don’t already have the lapping tool for the LR308, I think the better solution would be to use the money to get the M5E1 upper like I did, instead of buying the hone and potentially just creating bigger headaches for yourself. As far as the barrel moving? Wow.... I cannot for the life of me see where that’s possible if it was properly installed and torqued. FWIW, I’m no gunsmith, and there’s a lot of guys here with far more experience than me. They can speak to those issues better than I can.

I wanna know where you got the BCG and barrel that cheap...

Just ordered one today with the throw lever and sunshade. Package deal for $299 + tax. Looked good to me, so I pulled the trigger (figuratively)

Would like to reliably reach out to 500-600. My preference is for mil, not MOA. Holdovers in mils just make more sense in my head. Trying to think in MOA is like trying to think in sign language to me: It can be done, but it’s going to be slow AF.