Tack14

nice! Gonna have to figure some glass out soon. FFP is definitely a checkbox here too.

There have been some crazy deals lately. especially on AR15 parts. Primary Arms has been having pretty regular 12% off sales. AR15discounts.com has been having big sales and RightToBear still, I think, has a 17.76% off sale.

wow thanks @98Z5V - will look into that. I still consider this one "in progress" lol.

Welcome Desert dweller from TX

ordered a couple of the AR10/SR25 Radian Raptor R0007 charging handles from Primary Arms while they had them in stock, will keep the Battle Arms Development RACK ones for rainier days / later builds, and some misc small spare/wear parts, springs, pins etc.

droool.... looking good!

haha, glad this worked out. With my KAK LR-308 upper and BA barrel for first 308 AR upper build, it was kind of a loose fit, easy to rotate etc. and i was a bit disappointed. Although the barrel nut is holding it fine

This will probably be considered a big deal for some.... Primary Arms has Radian Raptor R007 (black) AR10/SR25 Charging Handles IN stock!!! https://www.primaryarms.com/radian-ar10-sr25-raptor-ambidextrous-charging-handle-black And right now, unknown how long, a SAVE12 sitewide 12% off coupon code as well...

Not sure how long it is going to run but Primary Arms has a 12% off sitewide SAVE12 coupon code they put up today. They have a smattering of things in stock like LANTAC 308 E-BCG's, etc.

Hi Jim - that is good to hear. I could have probably forced their AR15 jig front pin the rest of the way through but it was really solid with a KAK front pivot pin stuck through. Good point about the anodizing adding thickness -- I could believe that might have been a factor. Also neat trick there with the cardboard. I did something similar to go back and hit one spot on a trigger oval cutout at the bottom a little better, putting inward-facing masking tab around the outside of the trigger guard. Tapmatic wax - cool! that would be way less messy than cutting fluid, no doubt.

Hilarious. I love it.

sorry, i missed BCG in that. grr

I have been hearing reports of some people being able to find primers at gun shows etc. but for most part finding them online anywhere has been pretty bad the last few months. But I learned a trick about a particular place lately and also talked to them. Midway USA has been pretty consistently getting some primers in stock, different kinds from day to day, most days for the last couple few weeks. But they sell out really fast, and they limit to 1K of a particular brand/type per order and will also not let you order more of that brand+type for 7 days. (which, I can understand, they are trying to make sure everybody has a chance to get some, rather than a couple/few enterprising types get 'em all and gouge everybody else re-selling them). The trick I've been seeing be true lately with Midway is, check inventory early in the morning a couple times, around 8am - 8:30am central time. You can pick "Primers" (general category) and often times the Availability filter works (ie, show me only things in stock) but sometimes it's not super accurate. Things that don't show up in stock when you are looking at ALL small rifle primers, for example, might actually BE in stock if you go to that particular product's detail page, at least for a little while until it sells out. I talked to them about a week ago and they said also sometimes around 12pm they will get more in/orderable. I've not seen that much but the early mornings have been pretty good lately. They also explained that their email alerts are essentially first-come, first-served basis, so people who set email alerts up for a particular product coming back in stock before you did will get the email in stock alert first, but once they run out of stock, the emails stop being sent. Eventually you'll get your email alert. But when I found a box of what I was looking for, it was before an email alert got sent to me about it. I just happened to look one morning just about 8am and they were showing in stock, so I ordered em and got em several days later. About a week later, I did get an email about a certain brand/type I had set a reminder up for of those. So the trick I learned with Midway USA is, if you have time to search for a couple minutes each morning around 8am-8:30am central, keep checking until the kind you want shows up. Don't give up! Eventually you'll get lucky and you just may find what you're looking for in stock before your turn to get an email alert about them gets sent. Cheers

Just my opnion based on what I've seen this year. YMMV I bought an Aero assembled (AR15) upper receiver group not too long ago. Came with a blue dot sticker on the end of the box which I couldn't help wondering if it meant something was wrong, even before I opened the box. The pinned FSB was quite poorly timed/aligned which also meant the gas tube wasn't coming straight through the upper -- and no chance of a nice meetup with the gas key without bending the tube which frankly I was not going to do, this was supposed to be built by professionals and the FSB was totally F'd for a build I have every intention of being for iron sights shooting only. So I was wholly unimpressed. I boxed it up and sent it back. This was my 2nd attempt at buying an already-built upper assy from one of the big "proudly made in USA" assembly house brands -- the other came from the Columbian gorillas building stuff with sledgehammers a few weeks before. Some outfits just don't deserve the F'n parts supply lines they have nearly exclusive access to, they way they beat them up slapping 'em together. The good that came out of that for me was, deciding and learning how to build an upper assy my damn self, other than needing someone who could properly pin an FSB to a barrel for me. So of course your mileage may vary but for me, I will be staying away from that brand. I have seen both good and bad said about their 308-specific parts, specs/tolerances on their DPMS-pattern uppers for example. I guess I'm still in search of the perfect 308 DPMS pattern upper but the KAK ones work with a few caveats.

Hey there 98Z5V --- Yea, I was talking about the spring-loaded detent ball on the customized pins 5D includes with their Router Jig Pro kits (that are used in place of the AR15 or DPMS 308 lower front pivot pins while holding the lowers in their jig assy). 2 different AR15 ones they sent were just too tight to work with an AMT AR15 lower. The 2nd one they sent was a little better but still couldn't even be tapped all the way through without having to apply WAY too much force. hehe there was no danger of that pin falling back out by itself and needing the ball detent 🙂

Hey DustBuster, Yep there have been so many first times for me on all this but it has been pretty fun. I'm trying not to damage finish too bad on anything.. Milling out went pretty well with the jig and a Dewalt 611. It worked out pretty well on AR15 lower just using tightest actual front pivot pin I had that would go into/through with the lower in the jig. By the time you tighten down all the screws per the instructions and cinch down the vacuum hose/receiver extension, it is solid. I did some test assembling of a couple before milling the lowers to get an idea of weight/balance/feel. Upper for the shorter 308 is just about ready, just gotta wrap up the set screw dimpling for the gas block. (wanna sink the set screws deeper if possible so they aren't sticking out the bottom of the gas block). I have a couple diff kinds of trigger groups but so far I've installed and tried out a KAK stock trigger from one of the AR-15 LPK's The one I put in is actually pretty darn smooth/crisp for a stock mil-spec trigger group from an LPK -- really wasn't expecting it to break that clean. But I had read that in the reviews about KAK's triggers too. Haven't put it on the gauge but it feels like about 6lb, maybe 6.5 and not really feeling any creep. I wanted to start off putting one of those in the lower first, I'd be least upset if I messed up one of the parts of those since I have some extras there. But I'll be on lookout for an ACT and something a little nicer for a bigger build with some glass on top, not too sure just yet which one, need to research. I'll be throwing a set of anti-walk/rotation pins on too. Hadn't read up on those much before, I figured they were just for people whose pin holes were a little oversize from wear (mine seem to be about average mostly, comparing to a factory built one) but after reading I realized its a good investment for consistency of trigger group performance and also good insurance against having a FCG oops at an inopportune time and against future wear. The Gen2 KNS side plates fit/clear the cutouts around the mag release and mag catch on an AMT 308 lower just fine BTW. The shop vac did a good job but as some of the better tut videos out there on the tube suggest, the lower the end mill goes, the less will get sucked up into the vacuum. I got lucky and found a size of vinyl tubing (1.25" ID) that cutting about a 2" piece off of was the perfect adapter to fit onto the blue hose adapter/receiver extension "lock nut" and attach the vacuum hose too. I ended up having the vacuum around the vise holding everything up every few passes (was trying to not let the shaving pile up too much). Looking forward to getting to the range soon!

In retrospect i would say that the 5D router jig pro is a pretty good setup, but your thumbs may end up hurting a bit from guiding the router depending what/how you are doing. I really wish 5D Tactical had a complete spare parts list on their site, so you could "clicky click" your way through having some spare parts for the jig. Since clicky-click ecommerce seems to be their favorite type of doing business rather than answering emails or talking to customers, so when your jig kit costs $329 plus rotary expendables, etc. you really also ought to have the complete parts list available to clicky-click order spare parts from. I didn't lose or break anything but imagine if you lost one of the two depth keys for #1, #2 or #3 depth. A $1 part missing and bam you are out of business. (this is why companies need human presence in their support) One gotcha or thing to be careful of is drilling the safety and pin holes. At least on mine, there was enough slack in the hardened drill guides that if you aren't careful, you could drill off-angle and end up with a left-side and right-side hole for one of the pins, or your safety selector, that are mis-aligned. I drilled from each side and stopped once the bit came through that side, rather than drilling all the way through. Especially when I saw the potential for misalignment with amount of bit angle the drill guides would allow. If you're going to have drill guides and brag about how long yours is (reminds me of another sort of measuring contest) then they ought to not be oversized diamter enough to be able to get off alignment. In my opinion... The way I did mine after some reading I had done elsewhere was use carbide-tipped jobber length drills from McMaster to start the holes (get through the hardcoat anodizing) without dulling the 5D black and gold bits, and then switching the bits out to the "black and gold" bits behind them to finish the drilling. Worked out pretty well and the carbide tipped bits are still nice and sharp, as are the 1st set of black and gold bits I bought. Cutting oil also used for the drilling. Pretty happy overall.

BTW I also did some reading etc and saw a few people say they were not having as good fortune with the stock (5D) carbide end mills lasting very well. Found somebody out there selling replacement cutters and drills for various 80% jig kits including replacement thermal fit cutter for the router jig pro, but with a Zirconium Nitride coating. From sounds of it this coating greatly enhances the life of the cutter and ease/quality of cut -- but I read mixed reviews of their shipping times, etc. and not good reviews at all about ability to contact them. This led me to more reading about Zirconium Nitride coatings, and it sounds like a legit and significant improvement. Already had a couple ready mills from 5D but after reading the feedback from some people that theirs dont last very long before they dull, I went looking for somebody I've dealt with before with Zirconium Nitride coating as an option on their end mills. Turns out Kodiak Cutting Tools sells them. Prices are in same range as the stock ones 5D sells, and best I could tell they are compatible specs (length of cut, flutes, diameter, etc.) as the other aftermarket one, just a tad longer OAL so I ordered one just in case... nice quality looking piece. But ended up not needing it right now. I did use cutting fluid the whole time, dribbled a few drops around and spread with finger before each pass, probably helped some. This is the kodiak one: https://www.kodiakcuttingtools.com/viewproducts/carbide-end-mills-3-flute-stub-length-45-degree-zrn-coated-for-aluminum&parttohighlight=5449442

Thanks for the additional replies. Out of curiousity I decided to see if tapping with a mallet would get it to go. Long story short, neither pin they sent would go all the way through. I got it almost the whole way through, it was starting to come out the left "ear" but it was super, super tight the whole time, even oiled up. Un-naturally tight. :) The good news was it did not do anything to the receiver, it seemed to be harder than the pin. Anyway it's OK. Got past it. :)

So, 5D *DID* send another jig takedown pin (custom part normally supplied with the jig) along with an actual AR takedown pin. They never did reply to any of my emails, but at least a replacement came in the mail. The replacement jig takedown pin they sent goes a little farther into the lowers' front pivot pin hole, but still won't go all they way in. The AR takedown pin they also included, of course, works, but the ones from my KAK LPK's provide a tighter fit. Maybe it is not a bad thing to have a couple different sizes of pins, pick whichever is the tightest fitting one that will actually go into the lower you are working on. All in effort to keep the lower from moving in the jig while working on it.......

Yep. I hope Texas continues to stand up. But I am also not ignorant of the fact, reality and documentation that we have some RINO's in high places.

Lonewolf McQuade aaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahhahhaha!!! Thanks DustBuster. I was thinking about that same kind of thing, like you would do to lap your scope rings. Also considering just using one of the actual front pivot pins from an LPK gotta see if that will fit/work with their jig.

No worries shooterrex. I should have explicitly stated that somewhere, the takedown pin supplied with the kit to hold the front of the lower in the jig or something.

Am really starting to think "give little guys a chance" as somebody somewhere said recently. Seeing how the big guys are still higher for most part than others on price per round, could be a good opportunity to help more populist-minded companies not willing to tie up their production capacity selling gummint contracts which of course we all understand especially after the 0-bama administration and Sandy Hoax is to kill the civilian ammo supply. I would just be happy to find some small pistol and small pistol magnum primers... am set pretty well with primers except these.

Thanks guys. And @DustBuster thanks that is a great idea just use a 1/4" bolt instead (which will of course be < .250") and tape wrap as needed to snug up the fit. Then I don't have to find somebody else's jig front pivot pin. I really want to avoid modifying my receivers' front pivot pin holes to accommodate a bad $1 part if at all possible, since that would affect fit/wobble, am happy with how uppers fit on those lowers now with real front pivot pin. I haven't put dial calipers on the pin yet to confirm, but comparing fit of actual front pivot pin from my LPK's to how the 5D takedown pin from the jig kit, it is very very close. Probably just a couple thousandths would do it. But rather than muck around with trying to reduce dia of this pin with a detent ball sticking out of the side, I admire the simplicity of just using a bolt. And I also agree with the review thing. I have looked at 80% lower completion jigs for a number of years before pulling the trigger on this one, and didn't have a problem paying the asking price for the multiplatform AR15/308/etc kit with the results people get with this jig if they are not morons (there is a 1h long youtube video out there of somebody totally wrecking their lower with one of these, but because he didn't follow instructions or have any common sense about machining and tooling, even with the very impressive collection of tools, presses, etc. he showed off on the video) -- but I also expect them to stand behind their product when something isn't right. While I am a highly specialized IT engineer by profession a lot of my daily job is still basic customer service 101, and this is a big one: Don't set expectations you can't fulfill. I can take being told "we don't have any of those right now until our next production run at the machinist comes in, ETA 2 weeks (or whatever)" a whole lot better than "we will have this out to you by the end of the week" and then when you fail to deliver on those expectations you set, you tell an even bigger lie and say "it will be sent out by close of business today". Then when you shut down your customer service/sales/support phone line, but never answer any of the emails you tell people to send if they need some help -- all while spamming your inbox with more sales sales sales promotional spam, what other conclusion are people with functional brains supposed to come to? "take the money and run" operation AFAIC. As a certain manufacturer of 80% lowers has apparently come to realize over the last couple months, gouging people even if there may be a time coming soon that you can't buy these products anymore is a great way to lose all of your business.