I built a new AR out of parts that I had, and I ordered a lower and a bolt carrier group from Palmetto State Armory and I had to wait to find time to shoot it. I went to the range near my house. Got there, pulled out the AR15's and set them up
I grabbed the *New* rifle and set it up and got ready to shoot. I was going to use the last of the crappy Tula ammo, I figured if it could shoot that it can shoot anything...
Well I loaded the first magazine, inserted the magazine into the rifle and let the carrier bolt slide forward and I *felt/heard* the round pick up, Went to turn on the Vortex Strikefire sight that the rifle has...and guess what...DRT* Yep, Dead Battery.
Spare battery, Will have to order more. Bad thing with Optics, they munch batteries. The new rifle does have backup iron sights.
Well I aimed the rifle and fired off several rounds of the crappy Tula ammo
The rifle actually shot well especially with the crappy Tula ammo.
Well I then loaded another magazine and continued firing.
I shot about 60 rounds at this point. I still had 60 rounds of that crappy Tula ammo left. I decided to switch rifles and grabbed the "original" rifle.
I knew the the older rifle didn't like the Tula so I had 100 rounds of Federal .223 to feed that rifle. I loaded several magazines..
I shot the old AR for 50 rounds, and it was real light to shoot,
Not bad for Iron sights. I moved the rear sights over a bit after I shot the pic.
there is several pounds difference between the new rifle and the old rifle. the New rifle if I shoot it standing unsupported, I would get arm tremors after a minute or to from the weight, I would have to find a different way to fire the rifle if I had to shoot it unsupported.
Well I continued shooting. I ran 120 rounds of my crappy Tula ammo through the New AR15, I had a couple of hiccups with the Tula and I have noticed that I had some magazine issues, the new rifle, I had to push the magazine to make sure that they are locked, this also happened with the old school GI magazine. I will pickup a Pmag and see if that helps.
All in all, it was a good time, this was the most ammo I have shot up in a very long time. The Tula I wanted to get rid of anyway because it doesn't play well with either of my AR15's. but I will replace the 100 rounds of Federal so my stock will be replenished anyway.
Looks like you had a great time and congrats on your new build working out. It certainly is fun building your own and then taking it out and have it work as desired.
ReplyDeleteHey Aaron;
DeleteYep it was fun building the rifle and having range time as you know :)
Never have been able to warm to battery powered optics on a firearm. But hey, I only gave up my iron sights and went to a scope when my eyes got to the point where I couldn't see the target well enough with irons.
ReplyDeleteHey Doug;
DeleteI will say that using optics make it faster to "put a bead" on the target and that is why I have backup flipup iron sights in case there is a problem.
That's excellent news! :-) And yes, get rid of that stuff... sigh
ReplyDeleteHey Old NFO;
DeleteAnd yep the tula ammo is now gone. I will look for a "Pmag" per your suggestion to see if that helps my magazine seating issue.
Sell the Vortex and put the money towards an AimPoint PRO and some better batteries and shitcan the aluminum GI magazines, they are garbage compared to the PMAGs.
ReplyDeleteHey Home gun training,
DeleteI got the Vortex because I have zero experience with optics, so I wanted to use an inexpensive optics to get familiar with the system since it is different than the iron sights that I normally use. The GI magazines I have had since my gulf war days. I have moved the GI magazines to my backup stack, and I use new "troy" magazines normally as a rule. I was using the GI magazines with the "old AR" that I had since 1991 and it fit the theme.
I would also suggest getting rid of the bipod since the gun is configured as a carbine and the weight seems to be an issue for you.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I will take the bipod off and see how it shoots, the bipod don't weigh much, but where it is located at farther from the center of gravity magnifies the effect. And now that the stupidity in Las Vegas, there will be a run on ammo again with the democrats screaming gun control again.
Delete