Mega Rad Gun Thread

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I found this on a Russian telegram channel of all places.

IMG_9562.MP4
Makes sense. Just like there's a significant amount of slavaboos in American gun culture, there's also westaboos in Russia. Let me preface this by saying that the Russian troll farms and disinformation campaigns are completely overblown and a form of lib schizo conspiracy theory, but it's important to remember that Russians do look at the cultural rift in the West and engage with it - if they're aware that they have a Western audience on telegram looking for information on the war, it's a successful op to push people's buttons even in small ways like this. Not any different from the American flags seen in Hong Kong protests.
Could be a legitimate cry for freedom, or just pure concern trolling from pro-Russian channels. Russian gun laws aren't that great and they fucking gassed hostages in that theater.
 
Makes sense. Just like there's a significant amount of slavaboos in American gun culture, there's also westaboos in Russia. Let me preface this by saying that the Russian troll farms and disinformation campaigns are completely overblown and a form of lib schizo conspiracy theory, but it's important to remember that Russians do look at the cultural rift in the West and engage with it - if they're aware that they have a Western audience on telegram looking for information on the war, it's a successful op to push people's buttons even in small ways like this. Not any different from the American flags seen in Hong Kong protests.
Could be a legitimate cry for freedom, or just pure concern trolling from pro-Russian channels. Russian gun laws aren't that great and they fucking gassed hostages in that theater.
I believe you referring to Beslan. What would have been way that SWAT or SOCOM handled it.

Speaking of gassings lol, Chechen terrorists and gassing them seem to be a common theme over there.


In addition to that school siege.

Wait, you were talking about the theater and not the school. Well seems like they love gassing in general.


I don't want to be held hostage by terrorists of Russian origin and being rescued by Russian special forces is going to be a coin toss.
 
Russian spec ops on rescues "10 bad guys 10 hostages? Bring 23 body bags"
Why?
BANG .... Bring 24.
 
I am at a bit of an impasse on this AR build, could use some thoughts. I am just a casual weekend shooter and this is my 2nd rifle and I wanted to do an accuracy build. Mostly just for fun and to have something different.

I wanted: 20+ inch .223 Wylde SS barrel, free-float handguards, nice trigger.

Built the lower. Went together absolutely flawless. Perfect function.

I ordered my first upper and it was assembled completely (nonfunctional) wrong. Great. Company ghosted me too.

Ordered a second upper elsewhere. It's decent but I have a couple of complaints: the feed ramps are not perfectly aligned. It feeds okay but it irks me because if I was doing the build I would have grinded them down to fit perfectly. Why am I paying for this. Annoying but whatever, Second issue, the free-float handguard is just barely touching the gas block. On a bipod there is going to be pressure on the barrel. So great, what is the point of having a free-float handguard then.

So then I stick the bipod on it. Oh wait, the gas block is in the way. Okay run it three MLOK notches back. That works but now it's annoying to shoulder the rifle, and it looks like a compromise on the balance. Maybe I could chuck the bipod mount in my mill and flycut half the MLOK raised bump off. It would fit up front then and (probably?) not come loose.

Or should I just send this upper back, hope this second company doesn't ghost me, buy the tools and do the upper from scratch myself and not make any compromises on the build. In the end would I notice a difference in accuracy?
 
I am at a bit of an impasse on this AR build, could use some thoughts. I am just a casual weekend shooter and this is my 2nd rifle and I wanted to do an accuracy build. Mostly just for fun and to have something different.

I wanted: 20+ inch .223 Wylde SS barrel, free-float handguards, nice trigger.

Built the lower. Went together absolutely flawless. Perfect function.

I ordered my first upper and it was assembled completely (nonfunctional) wrong. Great. Company ghosted me too.

Ordered a second upper elsewhere. It's decent but I have a couple of complaints: the feed ramps are not perfectly aligned. It feeds okay but it irks me because if I was doing the build I would have grinded them down to fit perfectly. Why am I paying for this. Annoying but whatever, Second issue, the free-float handguard is just barely touching the gas block. On a bipod there is going to be pressure on the barrel. So great, what is the point of having a free-float handguard then.

So then I stick the bipod on it. Oh wait, the gas block is in the way. Okay run it three MLOK notches back. That works but now it's annoying to shoulder the rifle, and it looks like a compromise on the balance. Maybe I could chuck the bipod mount in my mill and flycut half the MLOK raised bump off. It would fit up front then and (probably?) not come loose.

Or should I just send this upper back, hope this second company doesn't ghost me, buy the tools and do the upper from scratch myself and not make any compromises on the build. In the end would I notice a difference in accuracy?
Just buy a better handguard and mount it yourself. If it doesn't touch the barrel, you can't negatively affect anything. Most of the time it's extremely easy if you have the right wrenches.

Plus, you get self-satisfaction and save money.
 
I hate to buy new parts for a new build I'm not entirely happy with.

To me the calculus is: do I redo the entire upper receiver from scratch or just live with these minor compromises and call the project done?
 
I hate to buy new parts for a new build I'm not entirely happy with.
my opinion:
1. use rotary tool to smooth and polish feedramp geometry
2. ditch cheap handguard and get a shorter one (stiffer) attached via jam nut at the base of the barrel, or use a free float tube of reasonable length that's open ended (i like JP's Mark III handguards) to avoid issues with a bipod (which should only have the rifle resting on it, not someone pulling down on the rifle) and interference with a gas block. while you are doing work on the barrel assembly, i usually use a low profile gas block so the free float completely clears it. for customers that want a front sight, i'll recommend a PRI folding one, or will use a standard pinned A frame with a shorter free float tube. there should be 1/8" clearance from the tube to the gas block to account for deflection during use.

Screenshot 2022-04-29 063400.jpg


for the MLOK tube, shorten it and use for a carbine-length barrel or something upper later on for backpack plinking or a dedicated .22LR build or something weird like 6.5 creedmoor.
 
^ That's the bipod I got.

Doesn't swapping free-float handguards involve taking the barrel off?

If so, at that point I have to buy all the tools so I might as well just redo the build I would think.

How big of an impact on accuracy would it be to just leave it as is?
 
Doesn't swapping free-float handguards
it can, depending on how it's attached. clamping, threaded lock nuts, or designs that use the standard barrel nut do not typically need the barrel removed.

the purpose of a free float barrel is to prevent unwanted deflection of the barrel from outside forces. if you can control for those forces easily enough, then you don't need to change anything.
 
I am not getting the clarity I was hoping for to make this choice easy.

So I think what I am going to do is I'm going to go ahead and order all the tools needed to build an upper, something I should have done a long time ago, keep the upper I have, but tear it apart and rebuild it right with a new handguard (and polish the feed ramps too). I guess I could send the whole unit back and start from scratch but that probably isn't going to accomplish a whole lot. I'll eat the cost of this handguard as a lesson in paying someone else to do something I could do with more care.

I guess this project will drag out a bit longer but I think in the end having the confidence of having done everything right will be worth it.

Here's the rifle as it sits:

Screen Shot 2022-04-29 at 8.29.20 PM.png


I guess I can either go shorter or longer on the handguard to get around the gas block interference. Will have to marinate on it a bit and decide what I would rather do. It's a sweet rifle, and it shoots well. Just need to get the handguard situation resolved and stick a good optic on it and I can call it done.
 
that's a clamp-on free float that uses a threaded nut as the interface, with only the clamping force on the bottom three screws keeping it on and the nut's outer profile to prevent rotation. this type of clamping can deflect or move because the force acting on the tube is a lever to slowly overcome the clamping screw's compressive abilities. they are inexpensive and effective, however they cannot support much stress at the barrel nut and if improperly installed can be loose or poorly indexed.

Screenshot 2022-04-29 182124.jpg
Screenshot 2022-04-29 182211.jpg


notice the shape of the nut and the threading. this is why it "slips" as the bipod will deflect the tube upwards against the clamping force of the screws on the bottom using the front of the upper receiver as a wedge.

jam nut style designs (a bit old school and kind of heavy comparatively speaking, there are many variations out there) are stiffer and because they are fully threaded, are much less prone to deflection.

Screenshot 2022-04-29 182355.jpg


another option are externally indexed and retained handguards (typically with screws surrounding the barrel nut where the connection is made):

Screenshot 2022-04-29 183009.jpg
 
I have no idea what I am looking at! Club Sandwich I'm going to hit you up as I disassemble this and re-assemble it.

From what I gather, these handguards often come with their own proprietary tools to assemble--which I do not have since it came pre-assembled. Is that something I am going to run into or is it just those three machine screws on the bottom and it comes off? What's that black tube looking piece off to the right on the first pic?

Can I get an inventory of what tools I need to work on upper receivers?

- Some sort of barrel nut wrench?
- vice block?
- Crush washers and shims?

I don't know what I don't know.

I already have a full complement of normal tools, torque wrenches, roll pin punches, etc.
 
From what I gather, these handguards often come with their own proprietary tools to assemble--which I do not have since it came pre-assembled. Is that something I am going to run into or is it just those three machine screws on the bottom and it comes off? What's that black tube looking piece off to the right on the first pic?

Can I get an inventory of what tools I need to work on upper receivers?
while many free float tubes use a special wrench (or crow's foot) to install and remove, many are also just threaded or clamped in place with some screws. for the one in your photo, i doubt it needs any special tools other than an AR-15 armorer's wrench for the barrel nut itself (which is the black tube piece that is threaded onto the upper receiver and holds the barrel in place). in the picture, that "black tube" replaces the item in the diagram below marked "BL-16 Barrel Nut". and the Delta Ring, Weld Spring, and Barrel Snap Ring are omitted. the replacement barrel nut is torqued into place (35-70 ft-lbs) with the armor's wrench or the proprietary wrench, then the free float tube is slipped on and the machine screws tightened after indexing. there may be some variations on this with locking pieces or extra screws or something, but that's the general idea.

a "BEV" block from Magpul and an AR-15 armorer's wrench should be all you need other than the normal assortment of hand tools (screw driver, allen keys, non-marring hammer, torque wrench, pin punches, et c).

Screenshot 2022-04-29 223648.jpg
 
while many free float tubes use a special wrench (or crow's foot) to install and remove, many are also just threaded or clamped in place with some screws. for the one in your photo, i doubt it needs any special tools other than an AR-15 armorer's wrench for the barrel nut itself (which is the black tube piece that is threaded onto the upper receiver and holds the barrel in place). in the picture, that "black tube" replaces the item in the diagram below marked "BL-16 Barrel Nut". and the Delta Ring, Weld Spring, and Barrel Snap Ring are omitted. the replacement barrel nut is torqued into place (35-70 ft-lbs) with the armor's wrench or the proprietary wrench, then the free float tube is slipped on and the machine screws tightened after indexing. there may be some variations on this with locking pieces or extra screws or something, but that's the general idea.

a "BEV" block from Magpul and an AR-15 armorer's wrench should be all you need other than the normal assortment of hand tools (screw driver, allen keys, non-marring hammer, torque wrench, pin punches, et c).

View attachment 3232213
BEV block is awesome and I recommend it.
 
I finally got some bakelite grips for my Bulgarian mak. Couldn't be happier 8)
Team Bulgi mak! I posted before but I got my slide that was chewed up cerakoted and fuck me is it great. I still love the gun so much. It's a handy pistol.

True story when I was 18 or 19 I bought it (legally speaking my dad did as my state required 21 for pistols) because it looked like a PPK that I could not afford at the time.

I then converted to 380 with a threaded barrel but well that was gay and islamic. Then back to 9x18 it got rusty and just redone.

I really like my mak and it brings me happy and reminds me how much I've learned in this hobby.
 
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