Any Ares Arms Guru's in the house? Specifically - has anyone finished one of their 80% BILLET lowers?
I picked up an Ares AR10, 80% Gen-1 billet several years ago and I want to (finally) finish it.
I've done a few 80% AR15's and I wanted to step up to the 308 platform.
I also have a Juggernaut 'universal' AR10 jig. I will have to trim a small amount on the jig to accommodate a small lip on the top of the lower. This lip won't allow the jig to sit completely flat. Since there is no mil-spec on these billets, I expected a little trimming would be required. Easy enough in my old Bridgeport.
The potential problem I may have:
Looking at various drawings, I noticed there is a difference between manufacturers where the safety-selector/trigger holes are located. All these drawings reference off the forward take-down pin. The ONLY 'Ares' drawing I was able to find shows the distance between the forward take-down pin and the safety hole is 6.115", The Colfax shows 6.136" and the Quentin 6.160".
The Juggernaut jig I have appears to be set up for a Quentin spec. Although I have not drilled a practice piece yet, a rough measurement shows that hole location around 6.170" (Quentin).
Question:
Would I ruin the lower if I drilled it at the wider Quentin specs? The trigger/safety holes would be shifted back approx. .045" (according to the drawings). I don't know if this would cause any issues with whatever upper or trigger I get? I don't know enough about the AR-308 (or billets for that matter) to know if this would cause a problem. My AR15 builds were all forged lowers and mil-spec. This 308 build is my first billet and a whole different animal!
I have not purchased an upper yet, but most likely it will be an LR308 or something from Palmetto (or perhaps build from scratch). I wanted to wait until my lower was finished before I got the upper just in case I hosed the machining process. And yes, I could always buy a stripped upper but how much is a ghost ultimately worth? *priceless*.
Thanks,
Rare
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