Which is greatly appreciated. I never jumped into Frog Lube because of the reviews that claimed it fails in cold weather. With the addition of this review, I'll definitely steer clear now.
How many here have built a AR platform rifle ?
- Thread starter honeycutt
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Yes...Frog Lube fails in cold weather. I live in Minnesota, applied it to a Colt AR15, and was impressed with it's characteristics during the Summer months. When Fall rolled around I put the rifle in storage to gather my heavy artillery for white tail and bear seasons. December I retrieved the AR15 for coyotes. Saw some of the hardening described earlier but nothing to alarming yet. Drove 2 hours north to my favorite spot. Got set up before dawn, about 8 inches of snow on the ground and temp was -18F. No wind. Just under 2 hours into the hunt a good sized critter walked into my kill zone. Not even a click. Locked up solid.
The cold had more or less caused the frog lube to congeal and somewhat harden. Took the rifle home, stripped all of the frog lube off, went back to my usual petroleum based lubes, and I was back in business. I realize -18 may seem a bit extreme to those south of the Mason-Dixon line, but its the environment I often hunt in, and if it don't work where I hunt it wont be found on my firearms.
The cold had more or less caused the frog lube to congeal and somewhat harden. Took the rifle home, stripped all of the frog lube off, went back to my usual petroleum based lubes, and I was back in business. I realize -18 may seem a bit extreme to those south of the Mason-Dixon line, but its the environment I often hunt in, and if it don't work where I hunt it wont be found on my firearms.
Your experience and a few past experiences with the newest whiz bang lubes is what has kept me from trying the frog lube on more than one weapon........it's a lot of time and effort for something that doesn't work, and you don't know if it works or not until maybe months later.
Been here, done this. Sounds like you are going into the testing with eyes open as I did. Denatured Alcohol works well in stripping the gun before applying the frog lube also. I thought at first, that Frog Lube was going to work for me. If it's applied and then the gun is taken right out and used, it works great.
I took a Colt Commando on a weekend tactical course a couple of years back, that I had did the whole frog lube thing to. Range temperatures that summer, were around 105 degrees. So the frog lube worked great and the gun seemed to stay and run with just the right amount of "wet" that you would want for a 10 1/2" barreled AR.
It worked so well, I ran home and put every gun I owned thru the frog lube process. The problem came, the minute I stored those guns. The lube dries in storage and turns into a thick, oxidized brown, I dunno, looking for a better word, Gunk? Goop? Paste? It turns into a dried, sticky and crumbly mess.
When I pulled a gun out of storage to use, you can't use a petroleum based product, it just rolls right off of the dried frog lube. You have to lube with more frog lube. the problem is, when that gun heats up again, the now, wet frog lube, mixes with that old dried, sticky crumbly frog lube, that has been painted into every crack & crevice and turns into some kind of weird mud layer.
I'm kind of stubborn, so when I decide to like something, I stick with it. I tried sticking with frog lube as long as I could, but it gets embarrassing when the class you're instructing gets held up, because my own bolt, keeps failing to go all the way into battery.
I finally went back and stripped the froglube from every gun I own, again...
I know petroleum based products are carcinogenic, smelly, oily and things of that nature, But I learned, if something's not broke, don't fix it.
Also, Frog lube seemed, to time consuming for me. You have to totally strip and heat your gun metal to apply, but If you get your gun dirty, the lube doesn't seem to clean as well as it should or stick very well, unless you re-heat the gun up all the time. Blow dryers take too long, and I got tired of my wife telling me to keep my gun parts out of the oven.
I know there is ymmv for everything, this was just my personal experiences with it.
My wife bought me a 556 Gen 3 noveske mid length upper for Christmas and I found a Gen 3 lower that I assembled with a Geissele SSA trigger, BCM mil spec buffer tube, H buffer with Springco blue spring, B5 sop mod bravo stock, and a BCM mod 3 grip. It was fun putting it together. One day I'll build a full rifle from the ground up.
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- #25
Cool- Marcos1
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- #27
I need a poster like that. Where did you get it?
I went that route a few years back, making two mid length rifles with White Oak barrels, Geissele triggers and Rock River receivers. One is standard 5.56 the other 6.5 Grendel, both are set up for fast shooting with Aimpoint 3 MOA red dot sights, and shoot better th
a I can.
I've made two AR Pistols in .300BLK. one I used a spikes lower, and a bunch of AAC parts. The other I used whatever was cheap on an SMI lower. Building guns is fun. I'm set on AR's though, I'm getting back into .308 platform
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- #30
When I get through with this build I have sites set on a ar-10 next.
You going to build one, or buy. I've been on a waitlist for a Deserttech MDR for two years that's supposed to be here in July/August. Im hoping that actually comes to fruition.
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- #32
I have been bitten by the building bug.
I built my first lower in March. Just a PSA parts kit with trigger- Anderson Arm lower. PSA 16" Upper completed assembly.
I have two more lowers to build on. Lowers for $35 if you bought three!
Will spend more on the next one but have been happy with this guy. Got some nicer upgrades over all the entry level rifles for a little less than what they would have cost.
Ended up running 300 rounds through it first time out and no hiccups. Cleaned fine and it is waiting impatiently for me to take it out again.
I have two more lowers to build on. Lowers for $35 if you bought three!
Will spend more on the next one but have been happy with this guy. Got some nicer upgrades over all the entry level rifles for a little less than what they would have cost. Ended up running 300 rounds through it first time out and no hiccups. Cleaned fine and it is waiting impatiently for me to take it out again.
Built 2 last year... price of the most basic AR here at the time was extortionate. Exchange rate was sweet, so got everything i needed to build a .223 and a .300blk imported for the price of 1 gun here... Both 14.5". Rainier Arms Select barrels. Noveske recievers. 2 stage match triggers... Some other bits and bobs to tart them up a bit.
Lot of fun learning how to do it and what to use depending on your need. If had to do it again would have made the .300 shorter barrel. Big suppressor on the end really adds some length! Damn quiet though
Lot of fun learning how to do it and what to use depending on your need. If had to do it again would have made the .300 shorter barrel. Big suppressor on the end really adds some length! Damn quiet though
- Thread starter
- #35
Which triggers did you use?
Im sure you already know, but building an AR-10 is a bit different than a 15. There's a lot of part incompatibility with AR-10 platform rifles, so make sure everything you get works together.
OK Honeycutt, where exactly in Alabama do you intend to take 600 yard shots at coyotes? Man call them doggies in closer before you shoot! They are not fur covered ninjas after all. They are just canines that are pretty easily fooled into approching a good call.
I have hunted all there is to hunt in our state and have never once needed a gun that could shoot over 200 yards. Heck most shots I have taken have been under 100 yards! I shot a ground hog once at 300 yards but it was necessary to stop him from denning up in an earthen dam for a lake. He just kept digging deeper and deeper, we would fill the den with concrete and the next day there would be a new one right next to the old one.
It took two all night stake outs to get that one shot just after sunup when he was making his way to his daytime hideout. It was one of the luckiest shots I have ever made. I spotted him as I was about to get up to leave he was in a full out sprint towards the woods. I turned and saw him pointed the gun and as soon as I saw a flash of him I pulled the trigger. One shot bowled him over in a heap and two long nights of sitting in the cold damp air had paid off.
I still don't know how the bullet and the ground hog met at that spot!
Really looked hard at the Geissele... but went with Rock River 2 stage match triggers. Came down to price in the end.... good triggers for the $.
Built my first one this year. Spike's lower (of course with the Punisher logo!) Palmetto lower build kit with Magpul stock and grip. Radical Firearms 16" complete upper, in .556 bolt carrier group, 1 in 7 twist. Opted for the single top rail vs. the quad.
I was aiming for $600 price point for a fully functional AR, and I actually accomplished that. Granted with the optics it put me over, but not by much. Picked up a nice Primary Arms red dot from a friend, with a quick release mount for a good price.
Stuck with the stock trigger but I did polish it up. Honestly did that before I assembled and tested, so I'm not sure what it really did for me, but it doesn't feel "gritty" like many folks say the stock triggers feel. Bit different getting used to a single stage trigger, but it works for me.
The only thing (other than copious amounts of ammo and mags) that I want to add is some kind of fore-grip. Holding the mag well is just a bit too close for comfort. I'm a big guy so having both hands so close to the body gets a bit annoying.
I was aiming for $600 price point for a fully functional AR, and I actually accomplished that. Granted with the optics it put me over, but not by much. Picked up a nice Primary Arms red dot from a friend, with a quick release mount for a good price.
Stuck with the stock trigger but I did polish it up. Honestly did that before I assembled and tested, so I'm not sure what it really did for me, but it doesn't feel "gritty" like many folks say the stock triggers feel. Bit different getting used to a single stage trigger, but it works for me.
The only thing (other than copious amounts of ammo and mags) that I want to add is some kind of fore-grip. Holding the mag well is just a bit too close for comfort. I'm a big guy so having both hands so close to the body gets a bit annoying.
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- #40
I'm looking at a CMC 2 stage trigger. The gun shop had a gun for sale with a CMC installed in it. They let me dry fire it and man it felt great.
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