First shots through my PSA AR47 "semi build"

[stagpanther]

Got a break in my work this morning to go out and get some bullets down the bore of my AR-47 "semi-buiild" featuring a lower I threw together to handle the PSA AR 47 blem upper I bought for $140. I did put a NIB carrier group in the PSA upper which headspaces and cycles perfectly.

I grabbed 10 left-over mid-power 123 gr SST handloads that I did for my PSAK and the Franklin Armory 10 round 7.62 x 39 mag that I bought.

First failure happened immediately--the Franklin mag would not fit the magwell--I assumed that since ASC made it--and the Stoner mag I also bought that fits just fine is also made by ASC--that it would go in fine. Nope. Having the choice of going back home and getting the Stoner mag--or impatiently bashing the Franklin mag til it finally went in--I elected the latter.

Stupid is as stupid does.

Primary Arms recommends that their scope be zeroed at 6x at 50 yds, which I did. I elected to leave the illumination off since it was very bright out. The very first two shoots were used to get on paper and near zero. Here are shots 3-6 at 50:



Looked OK to me; so I moved out to 100 yds without changing a thing and got this with shots #7-10



The first group at 50 would have been just above MOA without the obvious flier; in the 100 yd group it would have been under MOA without the flier. OK--contrived scoring I admit--but for a rudimentary upper with a standard delta-ring glacier handguard and pinned front sight post, this is pretty impressive to me.

My preliminary opinion based on just these few first shots--between the PSAK and the AR 47: No contest!

After I got home I had to put the magazine in a vice in order to get it out of the mag well. The primary culprit I discovered were the tabs on the rear of the magazine which only took a few seconds to grind down on a grinding wheel. Now it fits just fine--though still doesn't quite drop free by itself when pushing the mag release.



My final verdict: I have a new hunting AR.

PS--I'm now wondering just how well the PSA barrel can shoot in a freefloat build and trigger-pull of 3 lbs or less. lol

[stagpanther]

Pretty basic rig. My bathroom scale says the entire outfit weighs 8 lbs--about the same as my AK--although it feels lighter to me for some reason

[stagpanther]

Few more shots today, I know the gun can shoot better--I'm having a bit of a hard time getting the rifle to stay still through the whole shot.

[sevt_chevelle]

Interested in seeing what it can do with some cheap Wolf ammo.

[stagpanther]

Interested in seeing what it can do with some cheap Wolf ammo.

I generally don't use low-end wolf or Tula in any of my rifles--but I ay try some of the Wolf premium if I ever come across it. I reload almost all of my ammo--part of the fun (at least until I get too lazy).

[stagpanther]

Found an MOE handguard in my spare parts bin--so what the heck. I know the rifle is butt-ugly.



Bought some Midway 123 hornady spire point blems--they were on sale though I can't figure out what's wrong with them. Here are shots 21 through 25 down the barrel using brass that had been fired by my AK and a mild load that I had developed for my AK--26.6 grs of RL 7. 5 shots at 100 yds--yes, it' cherry-picked you could say--but at this point I'm pretty confident in saying that the limitations what the rifle can do are mostly due to me at the trigger.

[stagpanther]

Considering you could piece this together for about the same price as an AK--or less--I'd give this a vaery hard look. PSA still has the upper (WO BCG) for $149--though if I were to do it again--and I just might--I would simply buy the nitride barrel for $99 and build the rifle from scratch. Nonetheless, I'm very happy with the results of this "little experiment."

[stagpanther]

This is the PA reticle, actually works pretty well though I stil haven't worked out the size ranging thing--nor the speed/drift estimate dots which are geared towards an "average" of target 8.9 mph movement speed.

[jetinteriorguy]

I have worked up loads using RE7, H335, and Accurate 1680, and while all were excellent the Accurate 1680 is the real deal. I love it so much in this caliber I bought 16 lbs and will buy more if I get the right deal.

[stagpanther]

I know that--but 1680 is very thin on the ground these days.

Take that back--found it in stock at Midway--got some coming my way.

[CarJunkieLS1]

OP get yourself some CFE BLK. Thank me later it's been the most accurate powder and also fastest that I've tried. I tried them all in my AR Stoner 7.62x39. CFE BLK gives me over 2400fps with any 123 grain bullet in my 16" barrel.

[jetinteriorguy]

Yeah, it took me a while to find 1680 as well, but a local gentleman had two 8 ponders for $160.00 ea and I scarfed them up like that. Although if I had to consolidate powder, I could just use H335 for both my AR15 and AR47 and be very satisfied with accuracy.

[stagpanther]

OP get yourself some CFE BLK. Thank me later it's been the most accurate powder and also fastest that I've tried. I tried them all in my AR Stoner 7.62x39. CFE BLK gives me over 2400fps with any 123 grain bullet in my 16" barrel.

I think we're chasing each-other around on different threads--I posted in a reloading thread that I got a good supply of both 1680 and CFE BLK due tomorrow. I've been very satisfied with RL 7 for the most part with the exception that being a stick powder it gets a bit annoying getting it tickled into the case to compress well in higher power loads.

[stagpanther]

The CFE BLK arrived yesterday along with some bulk remington 125 gr SPs--they were a bit bashed up but I threw together some ladder loads which I'll try to test today.

[smee78]

Looks like a good setup, I also love my AR47 I built. I was surprised what a good shooter these are and are fairly cheap and accurate.

[Nathan]

Where are you finding reasonably priced brass?

[stagpanther]

Where are you finding reasonably priced brass?

Various ways of going about that--one of them is find cheap loaded ammo that uses brass and recycle that. I started out by buying a few bags of PPU 7.62 x 39 brass--it's cheap and appears well-made--but you will likely have to do some uniforming to make the cases consistent. I do that with every reload anyway--so no big deal to me.

Lastly--and it's the road I've ultimately chosen for the rest of my x 39 reloading--and in fact what I do for most of the rifle calibers I reload for--I bite the bullet and buy lapua brass. It's probably the most expensive stuff you can get--all I can say is is that in the long run I've always found it to be worth the extra expense.

[stagpanther]

Today I received delivery of 125 gr cavity back "controlled chaos" bullets--as well as an 8 lb'r of 1680--This should be interesting .