AR disease strikes again

[mehavey]

Yeah, I had it going great ..... until the #$%^ metal actually solidified in the funnel tube.

[stagpanther]

Propane torch should easily free that up--even a high intensity heat gun can do the job, better inside the funnel than outside of it!

[P Flados]

I recently took the easy way out and did it while I had the the barrel removed from the upper.

One time I did get a chunk stuck. My fix was a slow steady heat up with a torch until it melted out.

[mehavey]

Funnels clear (no big deal).
I'm just working a mental Gedanken process to get it poured cleanly tomorrow.

[stagpanther]

I went out and shot a bunch of factory ammo today--the only stuff that I had consistent results with--a good seal with little to no gas leakage, no deformation and good accuracy/consistency as well as making a neat pile of cases at my 4:00--was hornady's 170 interlock American whitetail.

Im calling it quits and admitting defeat with this cartridge in an AR--I can't seem to find the right "mojo" to get a good timing/chambering consistently and don't want to spend the rest of my life searching for the "holy grail load." So it's coming apart and the parts are going to be devoted to another project gun. However, I've spent so much money on bullets and cases for this silly cartridge I did order a savage axis in 350 legend--never let it be said I'm not an expert and throwing good money after bad.

[9x19]

stag',

You Are Not Alone!

I'm working on a short AR in .45 ACP... just why I haven't yet determined.

[stagpanther]

I'm working on a short AR in .45 ACP... just why I haven't yet determined.

Please post your progress--I've always been a fan of the venerable 45acp and it should go great in an AR, probably less bolt thrust than a 10mm AR I would imagine (which I've built but can be a destroyer of bolt catches). I wish I could convince someone to make me a 9 x 25 Dillon barrel for an AR.

[9x19]

What twist rate?

Do you want to do a blow back?

Have you tried these folks?

http://www.x-caliber.net/custom-ar-barrel

[9x19]

I have a Foxtrot Mike's Glock mag lower ready for the .45 (8oz buffer, .308 carbine spring)

I have an Aero large caliber upper on the way, along with a 16" KAK barrel. That barrel will get cut and re-threaded (5/8-24) locally, but I haven't decided on finished barrel length yet... not longer than 10", nor shorter than 8" is where I'm at right now.

[stagpanther]

KAK makes good stuff.

[Siggy-06]

Ah AR disease. I just bought a completed upper and lower in fde from PSA for $350 during the new year. I didnt even need another AR, but for $350 bucks, why not?

[stagpanther]

why not?

works for me. Actually this experience and the 224 valk have caused me to put a self-imposed moratorium of 2 years from adapting new cartridges after their commercial release--my opinion is that American manufacturers can no longer be relied upon to "get it done right" and would sooner just get it on the market making money for them. Hornady might be an exception--I trust them to fully vet a new cartridge they develop.

[P Flados]

Two years. Not a chance for some of us. AR Disease just keeps nibbling away at you saying "you really ought to try XXXX (insert any number of crazy ideas here) with that wonderful modular platform".

I was looking at a 17" 9mm blank at Green Mountain for only $39 and thinking that a low power (357 magnum power level) 350L AR pistol could be just plain fun. You know, AR-9 on steroids, but actually cheaper.

We shoot a lot of Lee 120 gr TC "practice" ammo out of our Dan Wesson 357 max revolvers using around 8 gr of tightgroup. The 357 max revolvers are also pretty nice to shoot with cast 160s at around 1200 - 1400 fps. These loads are cheap, they have enough bang to be noticeable but none of the nasty blast that you get from full power H110 loads.

I can probably get these kind of loads to run in a 10" or so legend with a pistol length gas system and an adjustable block. The case would be much longer than needed to achieve the desired power level, but it would still work. On the plus side, the long case should feed much better than a 357 magnum length case.

Although the port would need to be big to cycle with the low power stuff, an adjustable gas block could be set up to allow use with full power 350L ammo. I have even been thinking over some kind of 2 position lever operated "throttle" in the gas block to make switching "modes" quick and easy with no tools.

Hum, that darn AR disease just will not let me alone.

[stagpanther]

Somebody has to draw a line someplace--otherwise specs and certifications become meaningless.

[P Flados]

You are correct for most folks.

Some of us folks do things like buy wildcat barrels. I was shooting my 357AR before the 350L was announced.

And some of us do even stranger things like make our own chamber reamers for rounds that do not even have a name.

Some are kind of wild, some are mild. All can be fun if you know enough and are careful enough.

[stagpanther]

You are correct for most folks.

Some of us folks do things like buy wildcat barrels. I was shooting my 357AR before the 350L was announced.

And some of us do even stranger things like make our own chamber reamers for rounds that do not even have a name.

Some are kind of wild, some are mild. All can be fun if you know enough and are careful enough.

That's different. You know in advance you're on your own and thus accepting the risks. Instead, we have marketers rolling out their latest "XX mm ultimate the enemy and game will drop dead in shock just knowing you have it" cartridge before it's really been thoroughly vetted and standards settled on.

[stagpanther]

My ptg go / no go gauges finally arrived (they were machined 12/19) and the measurements confirmed what a custom rifle manufacturer told me; the go measures 1.71 and the no-go measures 1.714. That's about .006" that the the no-go will still close on (if the case trim is the often recommended 1.700). All load data I've seen has a case trim length of 1.70 or 1.701; winchester and starline brass typically comes at 1.701 to 1.704. Only hornady's brass comes in a "true" 1.710 length as far as I know. I wonder (not very hard) if that has any thing to do with their ammo's better sealing and consistency (scratching my bald head)?

[stagpanther]

Still waiting for the savage 350L to come in--apparently in takes Bud's a long time to process e-checks, even though the money came out of my account the next day after I ordered it.

In the meantime, an 18" Tromix barrel in 22 Nosler came in to take the place of the 350L barrel, the only other part I don't have on hand to put a new rifle together is a .625 gas block, which should be in soon.

[stagpanther]

Well, my spectacular knack for getting defective parts strikes again and my 22 Nosler fantasy dies quick death; a 5.56 bolt will not properly time to the extension.

[stagpanther]

It occurs to me that my post about the Tromix barrel may be mistaken as a general statement of quality dissing Tromix's products--I want to hasten to add that I would--and have for many years--recommended Tromix products without hesitation as being ideal parts for the foundation of a top-quality build--my 458 socom build using their parts has operated flawlessly, accurately and is one of my favorite builds. It's always possible I messed up the install some how--but I don't think so--and I told Tony I'd eat crow if it turns out it was my bad after all.

[stagpanther]

After almost two weeks my savage axis in 350 L finally arrived. I couldn't believe how dirty it was, took an hour of running patches through it to get all the carbon deposits out--couldn't get the bolt completely clean. Called savage and asked how much test ammo they run through these things nowadays--I was told one to two magazines. Looked more like 20 to 30 cartridges to me. I also noticed Bud's dropped the price of the rifle immediately after I ordered mine by about $30. That always gives you a special feeling.



It looks like the "runt of the litter" with an 18" barrel, but it's nice to see Savage has finally stiffened the stock up so it doesn't flex with the slightest pressure. Why am I posting this here you might ask? First thing I did was use the PTG gauges to check the headspace--and sure enough the bolt would NOT close on the 1.714 no go--whereas an AR's most likely would. That's not to say the AR is out of compliance, but I had a sneaking suspicion the tolerances would be tighter on a bolt gun.

It just so happens one of the GS on the way home from picking up the rifle had a DNZ Game Reaper one-piece mount/ring for the axis on their shelf--I always wanted to try one out--so there it is holding the loopy that had formerly resided on the 350L (soon to be 22 nosler) AR build.

[9x19]

Congrats on the bolt gun!

All of my 45 ACP parts have arrived and I dropped the barrel off on Monday to get it cut and threaded 5/8-24.

I've decided to go with 9" as I don't think you gain anything from any longer barrel, but 9" does show a decent increase in velocity over the 8". Plus by the time I hang the Octane on the end, it's back to 16".

The main reason I bought a 16" barrel and getting it cut is the 10" barrels were harder to find and actually cost more (8" and 16" are easy), and the few I did find were threaded .578-28 which does not match with my Octane... so in any case I'd have to either pay for barrel threading or buy a new mount for my Octane... I chose new threads.

[stagpanther]

PCC and pistols can be funny beasts. You probably already know this since you have some in 9mm I think--but the performance can get "unpredictable" when you start pushing those bullets so they start out supersonic and then go transsonic within a close range. I find I have trouble resighting between 25 to 100 yds with 9mm as easily as it might be with rifle bullets--my labradar unit sometimes gets stumped trying to crunch the numbers on 9mm carbine trajectories and will just give up and shut down (it starts out as a "rifle" velocity distance" and then goes "pistol velocity distance" within a short time)

[stagpanther]

CMMG 22 nosler barrel came in today, so the 350L AR re-incarnation is complete. Actually, a couple of AR uppers should be coming in soon, so the 350L AR may return at some point. : )

I did several 224 valk builds when it first came out, and I've always wanted to have a "showdown" between the two--now I can do that.

[44caliberkid]

I'll be watching your Nosler build. I built an upper and put it another rifle's lower. Fired 4 or 5 rounds of Nosler factory ammo to zero the scope then packed it in, too cold out. I'll build a dedicated lower for it soon while I'm waiting for winter to depart. Maybe you should start a new thread on the Nosler vs. Valkyrie. A friend gave me a big ziplock of Valkyrie brass and his reloading dies and he's looking for a new project.