JT303

Not too bad. BA barrel Vortex 25x combo. Fed 168 BTHP. Will work on some home made stuff in the future. Then I may be ready for 98's camp. looking forward to some fun and challenges soon !

FINALLLY.>>>>>>>> I finally got myself to the range to test out the re-drilled gas port and compressed buffer spring. All set up and test fired. No lock back !! Dang it. I opened her up just a bit so I probably have a little more room to go bigger. I must say that in advance, I pre-purchased the JP SCS and a odin works/carbine set up to have 2 contingency plans. I tested the JP Enterprise SCS bufer with the lightest spring and all steel buffers. BINGO !! Lock back no issues and nearly perfect 3-4 o'clock ejection. Decent distance as well. It should be noted that i oiled her bolt/carrier/CH more than most strip joint gals. (LOL) 🙂 I then test fired a string of 5. Dang, I was on. She printed nicely and the recoil with the Ultradyne beffer/JP combo felt like effortless. Going to say that it was flawless. No malfunctions. All on where it should be and the ejection pattern was all 3-4 oclock with a distance of from 4-7 feet. I took some videos and pics too.

Covid kicked my butt this year as well. I thought the initial shot was bad...... had been boosted but still felt like death.

Always looking forward to a great shooting expereince anywhere. I have learned a lot in my days, but theres always room for more and I never consider myself an expert. Stay humble and strive to be better than your adversary. Looking forward to coming out this fall.

Hee hee, Yeah, sometimes I think half of my military career was a jackass movie in the making. We did some dumb things. Definately looing forward to coming out this fall. 🙂

This "fun time you all have had" sounds about halfway between a jackass movie and Black Hawk Down (Or maybe Full Metal Jacket). Anyway, always good to meet fellow crazy (banana's) people in the shooting world. Lol Looking forward to the next adventure........

Lol. I am getting up there in age so no long term issues really to worry about as I am already there (lol). The wife also has dealt with both my carrer choices and the fall out from that as well. Psychologically, been married for long enough that Im pretty much bullet proof. Awesome deal on the price sir and will definetly make the trek out there. I am in the middle of middle age life choices and one is moving/having older cars that might not be up to the task, so maybe I will rent something. I will look at the fall season for sure (hopefully from a closer state). Looking forward to some challeneges that I havent yet done (or tried) except jumping out of a perfectly good airplane or chopper. (Go figure, I was in an air assault unit and dont trust aircraft or parachutes) The food sounds awesome, hopefully some good AZ BBQ. 😋

Ouch......Any Military or LE Discounts? LOL😜

Absolutely. I can see why the dessert is your home now. I will take the heat over cold any day. I did most of my Army shooting at competitions in various bases, from Camp Perry to Bragg to Edwards and even some remote Oklahoma sites. Few others as well. JSOC was one of my favorites along with Wilson match. Mostly a mixed bag of combat shooting and some precision. I think it was different 15+ years ago than today. Today's guns are more accurate than ever (again, thanks to math). True that once you are dialed in with your weapons MOA capabilities, there is only your skills and your math that really matter. Dope books are key to your success. I watch todays long distance unknown distance competitions and most use a cheat sheet guide right off the picatinny rail. Smart to say the least. Maybe this post is the wrong one for discussion in long distances, but there has always been this voodoo among precision shooters to leave your barrel a little fouled after your shooting practice. (Clean it, then shoot 5-10 more confirmation rounds). I have found this to be true for consistent accuracy then next time I shoot or return it to service-ready deployment. (Yes, I know the Army doesn't let you put guns back dirty) They never questioned my M24 though. I am a meticulous AR cleaner though for the more working parts. Still the barrel is your your money is made. 😜

That to me sounds challenging !! You don't often get the opportunity to train with those windy conditions at distance. I would certainly have stayed as well. Those that are turned away by less than ideal environments or conditions can't perform under the real deal later. Regardless of our unexpected type weather in the Midwest, we always trained. No one griped. Plus it makes it fun. Like you have said in many other posts, it math. There's a formula to hitting at any distance the cartridge is capable of reaching. I have lobbed a few 556 on target at 850 and made a few at 1000. That's the real sport of shooting. Its you, your rifle and the elements. I'm right there with you sir. (Being in the desert is at least warm-usually). I've had too many prone shooting days in the snow without my ground cover . 🥶

Of course ! It takes a few days to learn then weeks of practice and a lifetime of trial and error. But like anything, your point about the practical skills of spotting in conjunction with the 3 basics FIeldcraft, Marksmanship and Terrain Navigation (Route planning). Be good at all 3 to become an expert. Any less and the triangle doesn't stand up. 🔺

Maybe I have been spoiled? Always shooting at military ranges in the western half. Grass, trees, lots of greenery. But we did use mirage quite a bit too if you have open planes of area and desert like conditions. Mirage is one of the great ways to adjust for wind too. However, cold nights in that environment can nearly eliminate it. Leaving with nothing (unless you did your dope range card🙂) Ive seen the glimpse of the bullet base reflect off the sun in the right conditions as well. Well, for what its worth, if its hard for good shooters to shoot in those conditions, its hard for everyone. (Know your enemy's capability's as well as yours)😜. -Sun Tzu The good thing about the desert is its open and easy to see someone coming? Sorry, got off on a military tangent again.

Absolutely. Spotting is valuable to being a good shooter as well as spotting. Correct positioning. (Its never like you see it in the movies) Well most of them anyway. I always preferred directly behind the shooter and low.

Don't forget the spotters best friend is the ability to watch the trace at farther distance targets. I sometimes can pick up the trace in flight with softer recoiling rifles. I found myself almost getting little to no movement on bolt actions when I was really dialed in. Being able to see the shot after ignition is one of the most surreal moments in life. Your spotter should live for that too when you "send it". 👉 Being a good spotter takes in everything else EXCEPT the actionable parts of the shooter. (But he must also have solid fundamentals of shooting just the same) I used to watch and gauge wind and baro pressures pretty well. Gusts can be diminished by terrain but not when the bullet arc travel goes higher than the elevations. Was pure joy for me back in the day. I still catch myself looking at signs of wind in the trees and fields/grass. One of my goals is to build the most soft felt recoil AR308 to be able to bridge the shooter/spotter duties. Still haven't decided on what caliber would work best yet, but I get the feeling those 243 Win shooters know something more and they're not sharing secrets......lol😂

100% Fact. Your only as good as your spotter. 🙂

100 % Math matters. I was saving my next upper Ar build to swap out on my lower to be a Criterion (Maybe 24") heavy barrel. I may be switching gears to building a semi-race bolt gun instead in 6.5 caliber. I am way behind on the times when it comes to the 6.5CM, as I know its the best flat shooting plane trajectory round (over 308) but I'm old school M24. My initial goal was to build a solid sub-moa AR308 first to work the bugs out of the system and rate the performance vs a bolt gun. I have always been a bolt guy in HP and AR guy in (well, I just dont call 556 HP). You will have to school me on the dwell times, or if you have a blog/post on that already? Im convinced the muzzle device plays a part too. When I was young I had a 91 Mustang with DIY RAM air with juice (nitro) and some upgrades. Wish I still had it today. 😍

Wow. Another great piece of knowledge right there by 98. Seems pretty simple in the eyes of an engineer ! Make a bigger GB to compensate for higher pressures. I believe in the heavy contours and full barrel sizes for harmonics. Which is key to your accuracy. I often wondered if handguard manufactures ever figured out that you will need bigger handguards to compensate for the bigger diameter barrel and GB's. Hey, lets start up our own XL handguard Co. and retire.......lol 🙂

I didn't know that Armalite was bought out at all. Would love to own a surgeon rifle one day for that reason. They work ! 🙂 Found this: In 2013, Westrom sold ArmaLite, Inc. to Strategic Armory Corps, owner of AWC Silencers, Surgeon Rifles, Nexus Ammo, and McMillan Firearms. Strategic Armory Corps was formed to acquire and combine firearm companies "Strategic Armory Corps". Strategic Armory Corps. SAC Firearms. Retrieved November 10, 2015. https://www.sacfirearms.com/ My only gripe is Armalite HQ was in IL. Nothing works like it should in this state...............lol (but that's politics for ya)

Yes sir. Just wanted to make sure I dont exceed a max amount of Gas that could blow a tube/block or cause unnecessary damage to the bolt carrier/key. I believe that with my ultradyne muzzle break, its taking a lot of recoil out of the barrel vs a standard device. I should really get a chrono one of these days. Gonna give it a test run with it opened up a little.

Absolutely correct. I didn't have that great of an experience with the KAC SR25 (M110) in my service time. BUT they were early models. Functional more yes than no, tunable yes, effective, yes. But also (back then) having to ONLY use what 762 was around (de-linked stuff...yikes). And in my humble opinion, didn't think it was really optimized for M118LR which was the best you could get. (You know Geneva conv rules and all). But it was better than my M4 and M108. (Personally, I liked the M240B). Also, big fan of DD. Quality control is key. Profit margins even effected old Uncle Sam too. I think it still does to an extent. Yet, these company's' today (including the once mighty Remington) all cut corners on perfected systems. These companies all want the big Gov contracts too. Funny how Proof perfected a great barrel, and got a G contract. (Makes me want to go work for them). I guess I would have to say, if I owned a manufacturing company that wants to make a great AR308/AR10, I would take the best of the best working systems and just make those standard measurements. Do the hard break in work and make sure each and every system goes out the door with a broken in barrel and guaranteed to meet what the customer truly wants. If its not broke, don't fix it. Right? If it doesn't work, fix it and make sure every other one is too. (SIG P320 unintentional discharge issues ring a bell?) Sadly, everyone has to be unique and have their "own" specialness. Stay safe

Perfect. Crossing my fingers that its opened up enough to lock bolt. If not, I will do just that. Never had a problem with undergassed on a new gun ever before. Of course, most has been in 556 but I had the opportunity to use and carry the (under 60 serial numbered) KAC M110 when they were first deployed. The only issue with that was having 2 zeroes to deal with (1 with suppressor, 1 without). But thats a story for another post. Will get back to you on progress and update the pics. Stay safe

98. Drill worked super easy with 2.2mm bit. Its miked at 2.19mm(.086) now. Little oil on the bit and I used an old cleaning rod with some double sided tape to catch any little filing that could fall. Worked like a charm. (Took longer to set up than drill). All back together and I will also put xtra oil when I go test hopefully later this week. If I still experience a problem with undergassed, do you suggest opening the port any further or no more? Thanks all

😆 And also Manufactures use substandard parts.

Scary reviews and comments.........yikes. I am a big believer in barrel break in's. (Having shot and been taught by AMU and service time). Ripping off 200 without cleaning? Well, good luck with your accuracy after dropping a few grand.

98 said it perfectly. Balance your Gas and Recoil system. Funny how manufactures all make such different unique parts for their own "flair" version without "truly" testing/reliability. I don't claim to be an expert on anything but something tells me that some manufactures TEST their system quantitively rather than individually. I think of it like car manufactures. There is quite a big difference from one car brand to another. Some are built to last yet many aren't, but they don't tell that to the public. Building a 308 is challenging but I wanted to learn how to fix it myself. Learning how the system works yourself is self-teaching you how to become more skilled and knowledgeable in the platforms. Sure, go ahead and pick any AR15 brand out there and most will work, but of all I have seen in my life the quality and build varies from one extreme to the other. Thanks to the many here that continue to help and refine the issues that can occur. Without this forum? You'll be back to buying "Hayes" manuals just to figure out how to change your tire. Stay safe.