haewired Posted May 21, 2019 Report Share Posted May 21, 2019 Just thought to drop a review on this upper. There doesn’t seem to be much I formation out there so I thought to share. Just at disclaimer, I’m just a amateur enthusiast so there’s always a chance that I’ll be wrong in my assessment. So please correct me if i’m Wrong. This is the JP Enterprises PSC-19 non-reciprocating Side charging upper patterned after the DPMS LR-308. The first thing I noticed was the beautiful machining and how the side charger glided on the upper. It’s a very attractive upper with all the bells and whistles. Now normally it comes with their Low Mass Bolt Carrier, but I specifically asked for their Full mass Bolt Carrier. They obliged my request without question (Awesome service!). The BCG seemed to glide in the upper as if it were a combination of glass and butter if there’s such a thing and that’s without any kind of lubrication! This isn’t my first side charging AR style rifle. I also have AR9 with a Gibbz side charger. Gibbz also makes a 308 side charger that looks pretty good, and I wouldn’t mind trying that out someday. This side charger is clever in design as it’s amazingly low profile, smooth operating, robust, and large enough to handle without being to small. I’ve have other firearms that is side charged and if you didn’t place your hand properly or if you pulled in certain way they would bind and make it difficult to cycle. Not the case with this rifle unless you’re grossly out of alignment when pulling on the handle. I also really like the fact that the handle has a spring that keeps it tucked in the stowed position instead of swinging around. When the Charging Handle is in the stowed position, it’s pretty much locked in place as you’ll see in the pictures. There’s no chance it’ll shift around when operating the rifle. Just remember to stow the side charger in the forward position if you lock the bolt back. If you forget you still may get smacked when you release that bolt. On an AR15 it would sting, but a 308? It will probably leave a mark. Ok, that’s all the good stuff. Now for the challenging parts. JP only guarantees fit and function with their lowers (rightly so). So I can tell you from experience that it will fit the JMT Enterprises’s Equalizer Polymer lower (I do not recommend this lower), and it will fit the Juggernaut Tactical lower both with some minor shaping of either the upper, lower or take down pin. I would prefer shaping the latter just because I want to keep my upper and lower intact as much as I can and pins are replaceable. If you noticed the rear of the receiver, it appears to be “Beefed up” or thicker so to speak. If you have a lower that tapers off at the Receiver extension ring like many lowers do, it will look slightly out of place because the upper’s beefed up rear end will not match the lines of the lower. A bit of an eye sore nothing more here. In order to install a barrel, JP purposely undersized the barrel extension bore. This requires their proprietary “Thermo-Fit” installation process. From what I hear this process was a closely held secret but now JP has broadcasted this protocol on YouTube for anyone to see. Really it’s nothing more than taking a blow torch and heating the receiver up just enough to open the bore up. I’ve had some success with a Dewalt heat gun but a vise and blow torch makes things easier. It is a very very tight fit, and it’s supposed to contribute to accuracy. As far as I can remember I think the temperature was about 250’ F when the upper was ready to accept the barrel which pretty much slid in. Just make sure that the barrel is fully seated in the receiver because once it cools down it’s going no where fast! I don’t know what the process would be to fully seat the barrel if this is the case. I don’t know if a barrel nut could provide enough force to fully seat a barrel. I wonder what the procedure would be or remove the barrel? JP’s tolerances are very tight! I found this out after I had my upper Cerakoted by a certified applicator. The side charging handle had to have all the Cerakote removed on all the bearing surfaces, and barrel extension bore. There was absolutely no way around this. Other areas that were very tight is the gas tube orifice and take down tabs. If you have one Cerakoted, make sure the applicator (or you) masks off the Barrel Extension bore and all the bearing surfaces of the side charger to save yourself a lot of extra work. Stripping down this lower for Cerakote wasn’t difficult. The Forward Assist was standard but the dust cover pin and spring had to be destroyed. I had to very carefully take my Dremel cutting wheel and cut off the spring and cut out a notch on the dust cover pin so I could slide the rod out. Unlike the AR15 style upper, it looks like once the dust cover pin is installed, it’s pretty much permanent because there’s no way to get it out without destroying it. That’s why I replaced it with a Strike Industries dust cover. If there’s a secret that I don’t know about please share with me. Overall, I’m very happy with this upper. It’s slick, well thought out and very functional. Only major drawback is the price ($1200) but then again this is a package deal. You’re getting a hell of an upper, Premium Bolt Carrier and bolt (Valued at $445), standard charging handle, and a robust deluxe non-reciprocating side charging handle. If you do buy one make sure you’re ordering the correct upper. They have the SR25 pattern as well. I hope this helps some of you in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haewired Posted May 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2019 Some last minute things I forgot to include: If you look at the receiver where the side charger goes. You’ll see what looks like Cheverons going down the bearing surface. I believe those are relief cuts for debris to fall into if the rifle should ever get dirty. Good thinking if you ask me! The side charging handle is made up of four main parts. You have the slide, Handle, Pivot Post, and spring (I made up some of these names). The hardest part is removing the two screw on both ends of the pivot post. Both screws are installed with permanent Locktite, so I had to take a cutting wheel and cut a slot big enough for the blade of a standard screwdriver on both ends. Some heat would have helped here but I managed. Proceed with caution in this case if you decide to take it apart. This forum doesn’t afford much opportunity to edit posts does it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belt Fed Posted May 21, 2019 Report Share Posted May 21, 2019 Nice, I like the side charger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haewired Posted May 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2019 (edited) Ah, this receiver also has a high profile rail/tang. I’m using a Juggernaut Tactical rail and the JP receiver is slightly taller than the rail (Proud). You can see this in the pictures. No such thing as Milspec, right? 7 minutes ago, Belt Fed said: Nice, I like the side charger. Thanks! Edited May 21, 2019 by haewired After thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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