Betcha can't build just one (AR).

[nortac]

Not the best picture in my cluttered mancave. But it's ready for the range come next Tuesday. I had a beyatch of a time putting the handguard on. The barrel nut was a real PITA. The nut has four holes in the face that three pins on the GI barrel nut wrench are supposed to line up with, but they didn't! I could only get one pin in a hole at a time. And the outer edge of the hole had a very thin wall. So consequently, applying only one pin put too much pressure on the outer wall of the hole and deformed them, in fact one sheared completely through. The others were deformed enough that the Quantum handguard would not slide over the barrel nut. Some judicious tapping with a plastic mallet and a little Dremel work allowed the handguard to be forced over the barrel nut. It was very difficult to align the holes in the handguard with the threaded hole in the side of the barrel nut. The 8 screws used to secure the handguard to the barrel nut wanted to cross thread because of the misalignment issues. But eventually it all went together. I had read a review or two where others had trouble installing this particular handguard, so it wasn't just me. Once together, it was rock solid. But also heavier than it needs to be. I will certainly be replacing it when the Atlas handguard comes in. Not looking forward to taking it off. I will probably have to destroy the barrel nut when I take it off.

 

[OkieStubble]

That sucks, cuz that is a good looking Aero hand guard.

 

[nortac]

Thanks, it does look good and is very solid. As mentioned earlier, I may use it on another build, or not. Can't wait to get to the range and do the barrel break in and sight in the RDS and it's 3X magnifier. I still have to add the rail strips and angled foregrip. I hope it shoots as good as it looks!

 

[OkieStubble]

Thanks, it does look good and is very solid. As mentioned earlier, I may use it on another build, or not. Can't wait to get to the range and do the barrel break in and sight in the RDS and it's 3X magnifier. I still have to add the rail strips and angled foregrip. I hope it shoots as good as it looks!

What did you go with?

 

[nortac]

I got a good deal on the SIG Romeo5 and Juliet 3X magnifier. Not combat quality, hopefully better than the Romeo0 pistol sights! I may end up getting a LPVO eventually. I wasn't too worried about the ruggedness/quality as this is primarily a range toy for now. I'm not even entertaining putting BUIS on it at this time, but that could change. That's the Romeo5 on it in the above pic.

 

[OkieStubble]

I got a good deal on the SIG Romeo5 and Juliet 3X magnifier. Not combat quality, hopefully better than the Romeo0 pistol sights! I may end up getting a LPVO eventually. I wasn't too worried about the ruggedness/quality as this is primarily a range toy for now. I'm not even entertaining putting BUIS on it at this time, but that could change. That's the Romeo5 on it in the above pic.

Romeo 5 isn't a bad dot for $150. I have read people have more trouble with their mounts breaking on Romeo's and Crossfire's then they have with the actual dots.

 

[RandyC]

I was initially looking at the 224 Valkyrie but after some exploration figured out that what I actually wanted is a 22 Nosler. First. There's probably a Valkyrie, a 6.8 and some other things over the horizon.

Sent from my LM-G850 using Tapatalk

 

[nortac]

All dressed up and ready for the first dance!

 

[OkieStubble]

Looks good! I like the look of the bipod up front with the hand stop directly behind it.

 

[nortac]

Looks good! I like the look of the bipod up front with the hand stop directly behind it.

I've never used a forward angled grip before, not sure if I like it or will keep it. The bipod is attached to a quick release Picatinny rail by Kinect. Cool thing is the ability to add and remove the rail without tools. Pricey but worth the convenience.

Kinetic Development Group Kinect MLOK Rails Up to 30% Off — 3 models - https://www.opticsplanet.com/kinetic-development-group-kinect-mlok-rails.html?_iv_code=2A4-T8-MLOK-KIN5-100

The bipod itself has a QD attachment. Positioning of the angled foregrip was pretty much determined by the placement of the Pic. rail section. The use of the bipod is for sight in only, won't be used on a regular basis.

 

[OkieStubble]

I've never used a forward angled grip before, not sure if I like it or will keep it. The bipod is attached to a quick release Picatinny rail by Kinect. Cool thing is the ability to add and remove the rail without tools. Pricey but worth the convenience.

Kinetic Development Group Kinect MLOK Rails Up to 30% Off — 3 models - https://www.opticsplanet.com/kinetic-development-group-kinect-mlok-rails.html?_iv_code=2A4-T8-MLOK-KIN5-100

The bipod itself has a QD attachment. Positioning of the angled foregrip was pretty much determined by the placement of the Pic. rail section. The use of the bipod is for sight in only, won't be used on a regular basis.

Looks good on there. Is it too heavy to leave on?

 

[nortac]

Looks good on there. Is it too heavy to leave on?

If you are referring to the bipod, yes, plus I move it around to different guns as needed. If you are referring to the Kinect MLOK rail, no, but again I move it around to what ever gun I need it on. I mean the whole idea of this build is to have a light weight carbine, shave ounces wherever possible.

 

[OkieStubble]

If you are referring to the bipod, yes, plus I move it around to different guns as needed. If you are referring to the Kinect MLOK rail, no, but again I move it around to what ever gun I need it on. I mean the whole idea of this build is to have a light weight carbine, shave ounces wherever possible.

I hear ya.

 

[nortac]

Ok, so I took her out to the range this morning to begin the break-in process and dial in the red dot sight. All went well initially. No function problems with the new build. Handloads using the Tubb Final Finish projectiles were a bit anemic, but they are supposed to be, sometimes the bolt didn't lock back on an empty magazine, but that's the loads , not the rifle. So the process is to shoot five rounds of the Tubb abrasive impregnated bullets and clean the bore and repeat the process until all 50 such rounds, with progressively finer abrasive compound, are consumed. I was using cotton cloth cleaning patches hand torn from a pair of old cotton scrub pants. I had shot a total of 15 rounds, 5 rounds at a time and went to swab the bore again. The piece of cloth I had torn for my cleaning patch was a bit too large and resisted my efforts to push it through the bore. Not to be outdone by a small piece of cloth, I decided to apply my superior strength to the matter , and like the complete "egit" I am, managed to stick the cleaning swab in my barrel such that it could not be dislodged at the range! D'oh! So I had to cut short my range session short after only 15 rounds. The recalcitrant obstruction was easily removed when I got back home, no damage done, except to my ego. Tomorrow's another day, I'll be back for the RSO pistol match tomorrow anyways. I did do a bit of pistol practice afterwards, so it wasn't a total loss of a range trip after all.

 

[nortac]

Oh, and @RandyC , I think I'm going to really like the LaRue MBT trigger! Won't really know until I shoot it in a match or two, but from shooting 15 rounds from the bench, feels really nice!

 

[nortac]

I was initially looking at the 224 Valkyrie but after some exploration figured out that what I actually wanted is a 22 Nosler. First. There's probably a Valkyrie, a 6.8 and some other things over the horizon.

Sent from my LM-G850 using Tapatalk

I'm not up on all the various .223 alternatives, what about the .22 Nosler gives it an advantage over the .224 Valkerie?

 

[RandyC]

The Nosler seems to have a slight edge on velocity with the lighter bullets, slightly more case capacity.

Looking at the comparison articles the big shortcoming of the Nosler is that it's proprietary brass.

Sent from my LM-G850 using Tapatalk

 

[OkieStubble]

Oh, and @RandyC , I think I'm going to really like the LaRue MBT trigger! Won't really know until I shoot it in a match or two, but from shooting 15 rounds from the bench, feels really nice!

This is interesting news to hear.

 

[OkieStubble]

View attachment 1152056

Ok, so I took her out to the range this morning to begin the break-in process and dial in the red dot sight. All went well initially. No function problems with the new build. Handloads using the Tubb Final Finish projectiles were a bit anemic, but they are supposed to be, sometimes the bolt didn't lock back on an empty magazine, but that's the loads , not the rifle. So the process is to shoot five rounds of the Tubb abrasive impregnated bullets and clean the bore and repeat the process until all 50 such rounds, with progressively finer abrasive compound, are consumed. I was using cotton cloth cleaning patches hand torn from a pair of old cotton scrub pants. I had shot a total of 15 rounds, 5 rounds at a time and went to swab the bore again. The piece of cloth I had torn for my cleaning patch was a bit too large and resisted my efforts to push it through the bore. Not to be outdone by a small piece of cloth, I decided to apply my superior strength to the matter , and like the complete "egit" I am, managed to stick the cleaning swab in my barrel such that it could not be dislodged at the range! D'oh! So I had to cut short my range session short after only 15 rounds. The recalcitrant obstruction was easily removed when I got back home, no damage done, except to my ego. Tomorrow's another day, I'll be back for the RSO pistol match tomorrow anyways. I did do a bit of pistol practice afterwards, so it wasn't a total loss of a range trip after all.

Nice read.

 

[nortac]

Tanks! I at least I got my RDS roughly sighted in at 25 yds. Of course the loads I was shooting for barrel break-in will strike the target at a different point than the loads I'll be shooting later on, so further adjustments will be needed later when I shoot full velocity loads.