1st AR 15 Build

[horsepwr]

One of my buddies has a few AR 15's he has built and after shooting his a few times I got bit by the AR bug. After 3-4 months of shooting, reading, researching and learning, I decided to pull the trigger and get myself a rifle. After going back and forth for over 2 months my choice was to go with a piston gun.
I ordered an Adams Arms A3 16" midlength tactical elite piston upper w/ a 12" Sampson quad rail, Magpul front & rear BUIS in foliage green. Lower is a Franklin Armory, Magpul BAD lever, Mil-Spec trigger, Magpul ACS stock in foliage green. Still have a few more goodies still to go to finish it off.
Cant wait to shoot this bad hombre this weekend! Diggin' the AA upper and we're looking forward to seeing how the piston system operates, functions and shoots in comparison to my buddies DI gun, which runs extremely nice.

Adams Arms A3 Mid Tactical Elite




w/ Aimpoint Pro



with Leopold 3x9




w/ my buddies AR (Mega billet Upper & Lower)

[polymorpheous]

You obviously didn't do enough research. (At least not on this forum.)
Piston ARs are a solution looking for more problems.
In other words, they are not worth the money.

Who knows what that upper is really chambered in.
What is the barrel made out of?
MP and HPT tested?
Bolt material?
Shot peened and MP/HPT tested?

Your front BUIS is also backwards.
It is ill advised to place a polymer BUIS near the gas block.
You may also want to take that contraption off of the bolt catch. They tend to cause problems.

[TehLlama]

I wouldn't be so harsh in an initial look, but run it hard this weekend, and see if it's GTG in that regard.

The typical problem points for a setup like that are odd BCG wear, the same FTE/FTF problems from tight chambers in lesser barrels, mismatched action spring/reciprocating weight/BCG quality that causes short stroking or FTEs, and finally low quality LPKs also have been known to instigate problems.

The item I would change would also be the front MBUS - run a few magazines through that and the piston attachment on that port will get extremely hot, very quickly, potentially deforming those MBUS. Since they're not precision sights anyway, you're not giving up a lot by scooting them back.

[horsepwr]

As for research on this forum your right, I haven't been on M4Carbine much, more on AR15.com and talking to some friends and local guys with AR's. I am far from an expert and I can assure you that the chance for making a mistake is there. I got this upper yesterday at noon and we threw it together and snapped some pictures. Sorry, I was a little excited

As for my choice of a piston gun it is just that, my choice. I respectfully disagree that you think they are a solution looking for more problems. Not that I feel I have to defend my choice but I spoke with 3 people that I feel are extremely knowledgeable in regards to AR 15's and the pro's and con's of piston and DI guns. One is an instructor at Frontsite and a distributor/consultant to multiple Police Dept's. A Piston gun is worth the money to me, not you, me and obviously others.

Who knows what that upper is really chambered in.
Not sure what you mean....Am I supposed to question AA and doubt that the 5.56x45mm NATO that I ordered is something other?

What is the barrel made out of?
MP & HPT tested?
Steel, Melonite treated.

Bolt material?
Shot peened & MP?HPT tested?
4140 Chrome Moly Vanadium Steel and nothing mentioned about bolt being MP/HPT tested on Midway or Adams Arms site.

Front BUIS is backwards.
ill advised to to place polymer BUIS near gas block.
We threw this on in haste and I didnt go through a checklist before taking some pictures. I actually was wondering if a plastic (polymer) site w/ a piston gun was a good choice being that the heat could damage it and asked my buddy about this yesterday. The sites were some he had and we will probably upgrade these when possible.

Not sure how to take your post Mr. Poly.....Are you blasting me or is your motive to criticize with intent of self gratification? I'm obviously not a professional, an expert or someone that is interested in being either. I want to have fun shooting a nice gun with some friends, I wanted a piston gun so I bought one. What I did not do was spend an extraordinary amount of time, that I do not have, online researching on what to buy, what parts everyone else likes/dislikes, etc. I did talk to some people I felt gave me some good solid advise based on their opinions and experience.....I went with that. If this gun falls on its face then I'll send it back and get another one. If I dont liek the piston system I'll get a DI. I'm not interested and have zero care to impress anyone or feel I have to validate my choices (in what gun I like/want/buy or any other decisions) in hobbies or equipment. I team rope, a lot, sometimes for a hell of a lot of $$$, and there are all kinds of choices in ropes, saddles, what kind of horse your ride, etc. I dont bash anyone that is different from me, thats their choice and if it works for them then hey right on.

I assumed, and maybe I was wrong, that this forum is for information and for rookies like myself to learn. As in all other things in life you dont learn or become and expert overnight. I dont assume buying my 1st AR15 is any different.

Seems like there are a lot of strong opinions on here and other forums. Thanks for your reply, if I took it out of context then my apologies.

[horsepwr]

Exactly my plans TeLlama. We're going to pound this little bastard Saturday and see how she runs! I'm hopeful that we dont have any FTF/FTE and I can come back and report that she is a smooth runnin' shooter.
Someday I'd like to upgrade to a better barrel and trigger, but all in due time. I'm assuming the front BUIS might get tweaked/wasted being on a piston gun but we shall see how it fares. For now I'll slip her back and see how that helps.

Thanks for the info and I'll report back after the weekend on how she runs.

[polymorpheous]

Ar15.com is a bad forum for technical information.
Stick with M4C and we'll get you squared away.

Manufacturers of lesser quality and lack of standardized quality control tend to have tight chambers.
i.e. not a true 5.56 NATO chamber.
4140 barrels usually have a 1:9 twist, another indicator of lesser quality.
Unknown bolt material, not HPT/MP tested is another. Big give away.

Read the sticky threads at the top of the technical subforums.
I promise you will learn more from those threads than your whole time on Barfcom.
You may even be able to teach a few things to you AR gurus.

[horsepwr]

Lol, okay Poly now I'm going to hold you liable to square me up and edumahcate me! I'll try to stay away from Barf.com too
I'm pretty sure my AA came with a 1:7 twist but met me confirm that. Bolt material is 4140 Chrome Moly Vanadium Steel, not sure if this is sub-standard/junky or if the Melonite coating is crap or gtg.
Sounds like HP/HPT testing is the way to go.

[polymorpheous]

Bolts should be Carpenter 158.
Melonite is considered a good finish.

[polymorpheous]

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=7009

[DeltaSierra]

Not that I feel I have to defend my choice but I spoke with 3 people that I feel are extremely knowledgeable in regards to AR 15's and the pro's and con's of piston and DI guns. One is an instructor at Frontsite and a distributor/consultant to multiple Police Dept's.

OK, let me get this straight...

You have been shooting for only a few months, and your "extremely knowledgeable" friends consist of a Frontsight instructor (cough) and a guy that sells guns to cops...

You just completely lost me...


First, I can tell you from personal experience that Frontsight is a scam, as are their instructors. I wouldn't take their advice if my life depended on it, and to think that one of their instructors is "extremely knowledgeable" about AR-style rifles is quite a funny thought...

As for the guy that sells guns to the local PDs - generally, gun dealers don't know a thing - they talk big, but in a majority of cases they haven't a clue as to what they are talking about.



I guess what I am trying to say is that you need to consider the sources. You come on here acting all high-and-mighty because your "buddies" told you to get an op-rod rifle, and get all defensive when you are told that an op-rod is a solution looking for a problem. What you need to understand is that many of the posters here have years of experience with small arms, and their opinions are based in experience rather than the "theory" that many "instructors" and "dealers" operate on...


Personally, I have experience with op-rod driven carbines. At best, they do nothing better than a DI rifle, and at worst they can develop issues that a DI rifle wouldn't...