Tack14

So just as a footnote... I got the forward assist plugs I chose to buy in, and they are really cool but just as an FYI in case anyone else was looking at them, where these are drilled for the forward assist roll pin will make it look like the forward assist is stuck pushed in all the time, vs. the amount of the button you would normally see sticking out. But otherwise they are OK.

Looks like a couple barrels have come in also here and there: http://arpartsfinder.com/instock/index.cgi?type=barrel&quant=25&s=308&min=&max=&sortby=duration-asc

Aero Precision 308 BCG's - nitrided and Nickel boron flavors - just came into stock at Aero Precision http://arpartsfinder.com/instock/index.cgi?type=bcg&quant=25&s=308&min=&max=&sortby=duration-asc

I can't (and won't) speak for Aero Precision stuff (I have not put my own hands on much of it) but there are Nitrided and Nickel Boron ones listed on AR Parts Finder as having come in stock at Aero Precision very recently: http://arpartsfinder.com/instock/index.cgi?type=bcg&quant=25&s=308&min=&max=&sortby=duration-asc

I resemble that remark. 🙂

Ah man... so I looked and, well I just about could but the way the body of the forward assist has that flat on the side that is about 9/16" long, it would let it slide around. However that does still have my "gears" turning a bit....

Just ordered some of these: https://www.tacticalgunparts.net/forward-assist-delete-plug-for-ar15-m4.html

Midway USA also has LANTAC nitrided 308 BCG's (E-BCG) in stock today $316 https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1019617249?pid=904440

Primary Arms has LANTAC nitrided 308 BCG's in stock right now (as of today)

Also, after pulling the forward assist the 2nd time to get rod unstuck again, I oiled up the BCG and charging handle that will be going into this one and with those in there, and slightly holding in the forward assist to ~"depth at rest" (with no forward assist pin) with my thumb I tried cycling the BCG manually by hand. It bumped or snagged on the forward assist a couple times, but once I moved my thumb to being more centered over the FA vs angled on edge of FA button to hold it in to ~"depth at rest", I seemed to be able to cycle the BCG without it hitting. It is VERY close, and I am only moderately certain that the clearance is there, or will stay there. I am not willing to gamble wrecking a high-dollar (LANTAC) BCG, upper receiver, and/or charging handle over having a working forward assist that I will likely never use (I have yet to use/need it on my AR15...). So I will get some of those Schuster fwd assist plugs, or *maybe* a different brand (I did find some made of steel that look just like a forward assist on the outside but nothing inside except a place for the pin to hold it in place). Thank you so much for that tip 392heminut. This is one of the great things about AR's over older battle rifles. I still love the M14 but there just isn't as much capability to customize with "off the shelf" parts. Even back in the day, there was only so much aftermarket stuff out there for them.

@392heminut now THAT is one beautiful, beautiful piece of Acetal. 🙂 CHA CHING Thank you very, very much. I will order some of those with my next parts order. Tack14 @98Z5V thanks! Interestingly enough the guy at MWI I talked to Friday said they usually take the gas key alignment bar the 308 URR's come with off for the ones they use on their benches and leave them off. 🙂

Yes exactly, that is what I'm worried about. Sheez. I guess I better call KAK and ask them what in the shinola is going on here.

Thanks jtallen83. The fwd assist kits I got from KAK are supposed to be AR15. That is kind of what it seems like, chinese finger puzzle, trying to figure out how I would get the rod out. 🙂 How to get something in there with such tight clearances to push the pawl out away from the rod so it unjams...

The gentleman in tech dept I spoke with at Midwest Industries says they have NEVER had this problem and they build and work on 308 uppers there with their own rods. He suspects my particular upper locates the fwd assist in a place that is causing this problem. Hadn't considered that but it makes sense. Hope my BCG's are gonna be happy.... guess I better find out.

incomplete edit on my last post, in the first paragraph I mean to say, "drops into that slot, well that is just going to further restrict movement of the rod inside the upper." Also, I watched a number of videos showing build of AR uppers before I ever grabbed the first pin punch and they ALL said put the fwd assist on first before installing barrel. I think dpete is right, brain fart design with this reaction rod. 🙂

Yeah, that slot the top bar sits into and screws down... of course if the pawl of the fwd assist drops into that well that is just going to restrict of the rod inside the upper. This really doesn't make sense, one should not have to remove fwd assist just to put their upper onto a reaction rod and be able to get it back off. @dpete Yep. This is the sort of thing that really ought to be in a @#$@#$m manual. Of course, there is no manual included. @98Z5V I am curious, I saw a post you had mentioned (after I had already bought this MWI one...) about you using a Geiselle (or however you spell it) reaction rod -- have you ever put a 308 Upper on it that had a fwd assist in the rear/lower position and seen the rod get stuck on the fwd assist? I am wondering if maybe I should get a Geiselle instead. It is probably too late to send this one back where I got it from but I'm going to try. AFAIC having to remove anything pinned on to be able to use your tool is a major design flaw. There is a reason some parts are pinned into place -- because you should never have to take it back off again unless you are doing a complete rebuild. Thanks, Tack14

It was the forward assist. Sticking in there JUST enough, I guess, to get in the way. Soon as I had that out the rod was no problem. Even after taking the top bar off so its just the reaction rod, the rod hangs again on the fwd assist. Maybe this one is sticking out more than they should be, or something. Odd. At least with the top bar off, I have about a .090-.100" deep slot running along the side of the bar I can hopefully slide something into to get between the fwd assist and the rod from the back end that will let me get the rod past the tip of the fwd assist. This seems like bad design somewhere unless my fwd assist is defective or something.

Thanks shooterrex for the reply. There are 3 screws that go through the top of the add-on piece, they screw through the add-on piece and into the body of the reaction rod a bit. It probably isn't hanging up on a bolt hole, I think those screws/bolts go partway into the rod but rather into blind holes. But it wouldn't surprise me if that ?indexing bar? (sounds fancy hehe) being there interferes enough with movement of the rod that it could be contributing to it jamming against the fwd assist. WIll see what I find when I get the fwd assist pin out enough to get the FA out. thanks! Tack14

My neck is getting a little achy from the stack of dunce caps I am waving around. 🙂 Has anybody else ever gotten a reaction rod STUCK in an upper? Just got barrel torqued down and checked feel/fit of a few things afterwards last night, gas tube/block, handguard, linear comp etc. Needed to get a couple more taps on the gas tube pin this morning and when I finished that up I went to pull the reaction rod out of the upper and it is stuck, mechanically. The rod I have is a MW Industries 308 one. There is a removable top section that keeps it indexed with the charging handle area of the upper (this prevents rotation), I had it on there when it put the rod in last night. The upper receiver is built (ie dust cover and fwd assist are installed) and it really feels like maybe somehow the pawl on the fwd assist is hitting the reaction rod somehow, but maybe it is something else. It doesnt jam until you just about have the reaction rod out of the receiver. I don't know 100% that it is the fwd assist but there just aren't many things in there right now - dust cover is flipped open and not in the way, obviously BCG isn't there, the barrel is in. Gas tube/block, handguard etc has already been pulled back off, so its just built upper receiver, barrel, and barrel nut with reaction rod. I can slide the reaction rod back forward just fine and slide through whole travel OK, just at the very end about where the bolt/barrel "cog" machined into the end of the rod is about to clear the forward assist, it gets stuck. If it is the forward assist pawl getting stuck somehow against the rod I suppose I could drive the fwd assist pin out and remove it -- I would prefer not to but I am not sure I could sneak anything between the rod and the fwd assist pawl from the rear to try to make it push away from the rod, not much clearance betwen the rod and the upper. There is a position of the reaction rod's travel just a bit ahead of as far back as it will come back before it hits whatever is stopping it that allows me to push the fwd assist in what would probably be enough to drive the fwd assist roll pin out. Anybody else have any better ideas? Odd, this. It just seems like something that shouldn't happen with a reaction rod. Thanks! Tack14

Larue Tactical makes some good mounts, all different kinds, I have a few of them and they're definitely "no BS". They get a good bite on the rail but if adjusted right they won't chew it up. https://www.larue.com/category/larue-mounts/scope-mounts/ Another I looked at some years back is PRI / Precision Reflex. https://precisionreflex.com They make some pretty serious boltgun mounts and make really heavy duty rings all different sizes too. I haven't looked at them in a while but back years ago they were cheaper than some of the usual suspects. Leupold always scared me away with their pricing too.

Yeah the KAK uppers I got have the forward assist more to the rear and are DPMS high. That's a good idea on covering what the brass bounces off of with something. I saw some pics of a build someone did one time that, aside from all the other reasons it caught my eye (the ODG/black color scheme for example), was that they had used some time of a textured rubber material that evidently had some type of adhesive backing on it. They cut a small piece perfectly shaped to the shell deflector face on the upper, and another just the perfect size of the raised center hump on the dust cover. I thought those were really neat ideas. I'm sorry I should have mentioned that yesterday I totally forgot. Definitely nothing wrong with preventing the dings to your brass in the first place!

Very nice g roup. I don't know much about quality of mags but read many many many good reviews about C Products/Duramag stainless steel ones so I bought those. Not seeing many out there right now from authorized dealers but did get a few before all went out of stock.

Dustbuster hold on to that brass, maybe times will not always be bad for finding primers. But those dings will very likely be smoothed out almost entirely by the resizing die. My M14 puts a diagonally shaped ding in almost the same spot as it bounces off the hump on the op rod (which is there by design for this very purpose) which is prety much same place, just a bit lower, and I got/get that ding in about the same spot every time whether it was factory ammo or "final tuned" handloads. The process of the brass going through the sizing die will help "pop back out" those dings somewhat, and the rest will come back out the next time you fire that round, it will fire-form to your chamber. Just keep an eye on things and look out for signs of thin case walls etc. Any reloading manual worth its salt should have example pictures of signs of case wear, case head separation etc. to watch for. This is one advantage of re-using military brass if you can find some that isn't waaaaaay too oversize from the MG's they were fired from. It is thicker and in my experience with the old '14 it can usually take being resized and reused a few more times. Congratulations with your build it looks like you are getting there with the sight in's.

That's purdy!

Yeesh reminds me I should see how Duramags fit in an HSGI Taco. Will prolly work, M14 GI/checkmate mags work in 'em.