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Beiruty wrote:Very nice build. A classic.
We need to shoot your rifle side-by-side, next to my RIA AR-15 ATH.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/i1ItTJQB3OjJFyZa2

I expect your RIA will be more accurate. My A4 is strictly a milspec battle rifle. But it will still be fun to try them out together. Two different ways to sling lead down range.

jason812 wrote:You will like how soft a rifle configured ar will shoot. Not that the carbines have a lot of recoil but the rifles are noticeably softer. Get ready to hear the twang of the buffer spring.

That is what a JP Rifles centerless ground and polished buffer spring is for. Nearly silent and no twang. Using a quality buffer tube with good specs also helps a lot.

I'm running various high quality buffer tubes with the JP buffer spring and they are near silent.

cyphur wrote:

jason812 wrote:You will like how soft a rifle configured ar will shoot. Not that the carbines have a lot of recoil but the rifles are noticeably softer. Get ready to hear the twang of the buffer spring.

That is what a JP Rifles centerless ground and polished buffer spring is for. Nearly silent and no twang. Using a quality buffer tube with good specs also helps a lot.

I'm running various high quality buffer tubes with the JP buffer spring and they are near silent.

The buffer assembly's tube/spring/buffer, as well as the A2 stock, came out of a Rock River 24" bull barreled varminter my son used to own. It was a pretty high quality rifle. There's nothing particularly special about it other than that varminter was real reliable, in no small part to a quality buffer assembly. I don't remember if it boinged or not......it's been a while. I've gotten with my carbines and SPR to where I don't notice if there's any spring noise like that.....but that could just be good ear pro or progressive deafness. If I notice it enough to bother me, maybe I'll give one of those captive buffer dealios a try.

Anyway, I'm going to do a 25 meter zero for the iron sights tomorrow, which will also serve as a function test. So far, everything seems to be working. The cocked hammer holds, the trigger reset holds. The trigger is typical OEM abysmal. I haven't checked the weight although it's not the weight that's a problem. It's the gritty pre-travel before it breaks that's blech. Maybe I can stone that out of there. If it comes to it, I'll sneak a Geissele in there and nobody will be the wiser.

Range Report:

I went to Elm Fork this afternoon with a “honey-do” list...... Honey being my new rifle.

First Task: mount and zero the A2 carry handle and front sight. I used the official 25 meter M16A2/A4 sighting in target.....first time I’ve ever fooled with one of those. Here’s what it looks like:


The reverse side of the target is registered and marked for sighting in M4s instead of M16s. It worked pretty well. Just as advertised, in fact. The problem was in the user software, not the mandated processes or hardware. I got the front sight elevation sorted out, but when it came to the windage, I had a senior moment that lasted about 90 minutes.....and I couldn’t for the life of me remember whether to turn the rear sight left or right, if I wanted to shift the point of impact to the left. It was the oddest thing, and the adjustments didn’t seem to do what I wanted them to do. All logic fled me, and I couldn’t even think of trying to look up the instructions on my phone. Too much time in the sun? Who knows. Anyway, I did get it figured out eventually - that is to say, I got it properly zeroed, but the only problem being that to this very moment, I still can’t remember which direction to turn the windage knob to shift the point of impact where I want it to go. HOWEVER, I did manage to record exactly how hard to torque the side screws down when mounting it, and the screw position, before loosening them again to remove the carry handle and put it in my pack.....where it will stay pending an emergency need for another rear iron sight. With that information recorded, I could remount it if necessary and get back pretty close to the previous zero. Here’s what the carry handle sight looked like:


Next Up: mount and zero the MaTech rear BUIS - which is what will stay on the rifle most of the time. That was a piece of cake. If you don’t own one of these, you should. It was the easiest rear sight to adjust I ever worked with. The front sight was already copacetic from zeroing the carry handle sight, so I didn’t have to fool with that. And the MaTech rear sight allows adjustment for both windage AND elevation. So if your front sight post is properly adjusted, your done. I simply set the elevation knob to the zeroing mark between the 300 and 400 meter marks, verified that elevation was spot on, and then adjusted the windage knob a couple of clicks, and BINGO! I was dead center for a 300 meter zero. Here’s what the MaTech rear BUIS sight looks like:


Third Task: mount and zero my 4x32 BAC ACOG in front of the MaTech rear sight. Again, using the 300 meter point on the tip of the BDC post, but below the chevron (see image below), and aiming at the same 25 meters sighting in target, I was quickly able to get the ACOG to putting rounds dead center in the little silhouette in the center of the target.



My eyes being what they are, I obviously shot best with the magnified optic. But I also did reasonably well with the MaTech BUIS. I did the worst with the carry handle rear sight. I’m not sure why, unless it is the fact that the handle itself obscures some of the target, while MaTech does that less completely. I don’t know for sure, but I do know that I was much more confident with the MaTech sight. OTH, the carry handle sight was pretty much indestructible. So it has that going for it.

How did the rifle shoot? Not too bad at all for a gov’t profile barrel, and not being free-floated. It’s not a sniper rifle, but with the M855 ball I was shooting exclusively, I’d call it a legitimate 2-3 MOA rifle - so within mil-spec. I’d like to try shooting some 69 and 77 grain OTM through it just to see if it makes much of a difference, but I’m quite happy with the rifle’s performance. It never had a single malfunction of any kind. BCM makes really quality stuff, and the heart of this beast - the BCG, upper receiver, barrel, and fixed front sight were all BCM stuff. I came way with the impression of anvil-like reliability. I really, REALLY like this AR.

Now, on my next trip to ETTS, I’ll see about properly confirming the 300 yard zeros.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

cyphur wrote:

jason812 wrote:You will like how soft a rifle configured ar will shoot. Not that the carbines have a lot of recoil but the rifles are noticeably softer. Get ready to hear the twang of the buffer spring.

That is what a JP Rifles centerless ground and polished buffer spring is for. Nearly silent and no twang. Using a quality buffer tube with good specs also helps a lot.

I'm running various high quality buffer tubes with the JP buffer spring and they are near silent.

The buffer assembly's tube/spring/buffer, as well as the A2 stock, came out of a Rock River 24" bull barreled varminter my son used to own. It was a pretty high quality rifle. There's nothing particularly special about it other than that varminter was real reliable, in no small part to a quality buffer assembly. I don't remember if it boinged or not......it's been a while. I've gotten with my carbines and SPR to where I don't notice if there's any spring noise like that.....but that could just be good ear pro or progressive deafness. If I notice it enough to bother me, maybe I'll give one of those captive buffer dealios a try.

Captive buffers are bloody expensive. I just use the centerless ground springs - they are a lot smoother than normal springs and quieter.

For the buffer tube, as long as the concentricity is solid and the finish on the inside is smooth, then it should be fine.

cyphur wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:

cyphur wrote:

jason812 wrote:You will like how soft a rifle configured ar will shoot. Not that the carbines have a lot of recoil but the rifles are noticeably softer. Get ready to hear the twang of the buffer spring.

That is what a JP Rifles centerless ground and polished buffer spring is for. Nearly silent and no twang. Using a quality buffer tube with good specs also helps a lot.

I'm running various high quality buffer tubes with the JP buffer spring and they are near silent.

The buffer assembly's tube/spring/buffer, as well as the A2 stock, came out of a Rock River 24" bull barreled varminter my son used to own. It was a pretty high quality rifle. There's nothing particularly special about it other than that varminter was real reliable, in no small part to a quality buffer assembly. I don't remember if it boinged or not......it's been a while. I've gotten with my carbines and SPR to where I don't notice if there's any spring noise like that.....but that could just be good ear pro or progressive deafness. If I notice it enough to bother me, maybe I'll give one of those captive buffer dealios a try.

Captive buffers are bloody expensive. I just use the centerless ground springs - they are a lot smoother than normal springs and quieter.

For the buffer tube, as long as the concentricity is solid and the finish on the inside is smooth, then it should be fine.

After shooting it last Thursday, I noticed zero noise or anything else coming from the buffer. The rifle functioned flawlessly, and smoothly, and recoil was what you'd expect for a "full sized" AR15 - which is to say, negligible. I almost always develop a small crush on every new long gun I get.....for a while. But after a while, most will begin to lose their specialness, and sometimes one of them will join my "I'll never sell this gun" collection, just it makes me happy to own them. And although I try to buy nice things, high end quality isn't always the motivator. It's just that something in that gun speaks to me. My Ruger Gunsite Scout is one. My Remington 700 is the better more accurate rifle, but I'd keep the Ruger and let the Remington go if I had to choose. I have a well setup Marlin 30/30, and a beautiful Henry .22 lever action. I'll never sell the Henry, it's an heirloom I hope to give to my grandson some day. I like owning the Marlin, but I'd sell it without feeling too bad about it if I had to. I have a nice Stoeger Condor Competition over and under 12G, a nice Benelli semiautomatic 12G, and a Mossberg 590A1 pump action 12G. The Stoeger and Benelli are nicer guns, but I'd keep the Mossberg and dump the others in a heartbeat if I had to, because the Mossberg knows how to call my name. When it comes to AR15s, I also own an SBR, 2 nice 16" carbines, and a nice 18" SPR/DMR, but if I could only keep one, I think it would be this 20" A4 I just built.

I REALLY like this rifle. I should have built one a long time ago.

AndyC wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:...when it came to the windage, I had a senior moment that lasted about 90 minutes.....and I couldn’t for the life of me remember whether to turn the rear sight left or right, if I wanted to shift the point of impact to the left. It was the oddest thing, and the adjustments didn’t seem to do what I wanted them to do.

Remember this quick acronym - it helps: FORS

Front - Opposite
Rear - Same

In other words, if you move the front sight up, the bullet will go down (opposite) - or to the left left if you move the sight right (eg. on an AK, etc)
Adjusting the rear-sight, the bullet will go up if you move the sight up - and to the right if you move the sight to the right.

PS - if I'm ever taken hostage, let the Annoyed Boy take the shot, k?

That's the thing..... I actually KNEW all of that. I was just having a very VERY senior moment. Like almost needing diapers senior moment.....

AndyC wrote:
PS - if I'm ever taken hostage, let the Annoyed Boy take the shot, k?

Hey it was only a moment.

SQLGeek wrote:

AndyC wrote:
PS - if I'm ever taken hostage, let the Annoyed Boy take the shot, k?

Hey it was only a moment.

I’m actually qualified on my .308 further than TAB is with his .308. But, the truth is that I’ve got the old Mark 65 eyeballs with the aftermarket cataracts upgrade, and he has the much newer design Mark 28 eyeballs, and they are OEM. I’d probably want him to take the shot too.

You didn't spring for the bionic eyeball implants? You could have had 20/5 vision!