First SBR -- 11.5" lightweight middy

[cosme9242]

Interesting point I've never thought of about using different BUIS's. I guess the OCD is the cause. I actually found a front MBUS Pro in my parts bin had waited a month or two so I could buy the matching rear.

[henschman]

lol, the folding sights are the last thing I thought people would be talking about on this build. If anything, I figured most comments would be about the unconventional mid gas on an 11.5" barrel. I've had that KAC rear sight for years, and it has been on several FSB rifles (including a buddy's M4 in Afghanistan), so I never needed a rail mounted front to go with it. I recently put together a few projects with free floats over low pro gas blocks, including this one, and just bought a bunch of MBUS Gen 2s for them all without thinking anything of it. I'm OCD about a lot of things, but guns aren't one of them. I guess I have more of a tool mindset toward them than a lot of people.

[bnanaphone]

Henschman,

Have you checked out SilencerCo's webstore? They are running a sale right now, which ends very soon, and you can get muzzle devices for GREAT prices!

I added a link that may save you some time, check it out. I just snagged two threaded barrels and saved $66 per barrel off their regular price.

SilencerCo Webstore

Oh yeah, nice SBR too!

[Stengun]

Howdy,

Nice lightweight build!

Back in the "Day" the entire reason the military used the M-16 Commando is for a smaller, lightweight version of the M-16 rifle and nowadays people want to add 3-5 pounds of "stuff" to their CAR which just doesn't make any sense to me.

Paul

[henschman]

I got to the range and shot it for the first time today. Once I got the gas block set, it ran like a sewing machine. The gas needed to be on the 7th position from closed for the bolt to lock back on the bolt catch with an H2 buffer. I really love the SLR gas block and its click adjustments. It is much, much better than the JP gas block I have used before, which had no detent on the set screw and required loc tite or super glue on the screw to keep it from moving, and even then was an iffy proposition and had lots of gas leakage.

I was at a 25 yard indoor range that didn't allow positional shooting, so I couldn't do any real accuracy testing, but the rifle shot really nice. Recoil was basically non-existent. I'm not sure how much of that is due to the mid gas and how much is due to the brake I had on it -- probably mostly the brake (it was a Kel Tec brake from the parts bin that came on a PLR-16 I used to own) -- But in any case the rifle was exceptionally soft shooting. It produced significant blast and flash at the indoor range -- I had to put my plugs in a little tighter after the first shot!

I am very pleased with the rifle so far. I am very much looking forward to seeing what it will do from field positions and at greater distance. I am looking forward to getting my suppressor out of NFA jail. I am also really looking forward to running with this rifle at the Pawnee Winter Run 'n Gun (10K run with rifle and pistol stages along the way).

[Stengun]

Howdy,

Pretty cool!

We needs pics! And a vid of the muzzle blast and flash would be nice too!

Paul

[Brahmzy]

An 11.5 middy. Dang I bet that's a nice shooter.

[henschman]

I'll be shooting the "Rifleman's Quarter Mile" with her tomorrow. I'll let y'all know how she does.

[Rayrevolver]

I built a similar rifle (with Vltor A5H2) and started a thread below:
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...rel-Discussion

I let this guy shoot it a few rounds so I could take some video with the Gemtech Trek attached:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcsRjZk-df8

At some point I will try an LMT E-carrier and see if it changes the amount of gas needed. That said, I remember about 7 clicks when I shot it unsuppressed, and now leave it at 6 for 223 pressure ammo suppressed. I guess there is not a whole lot of change in the settings for this combo of SLR+11.5 Mid.

[henschman]

Yep, I read that thread prior to buying mine. It was good to be able to see how well a KMR 10 goes with the barrel. Your vid makes me look forward to getting my can, which hopefully will be approved sometime this month. I'd be interested to see a pic of your complete rifle.

I shot mine out to 500 yards today with XM193. It delivered just under 20" (just under 4 MOA) 5-shot groups at that distance with irons co-witnessed through an Aimpoint tube, from prone monopodded. That equates to slightly under man-sized groups. Groups were better at closer ranges -- around 2-3 MOA at 100 yards. I consider it decent for cheap ammo and short radius irons with a fat post. I could probably do better with the Aimpoint... but today was all about getting the irons zeroed and come-ups comfirmed for distance shooting. The Run 'n Gun I'm doing at the end of this month has a 500 yard stage, so I wanted to be sure I could get the hits with this thing before I decide whether or not to use it for that event. Looks like that's an affirmative.

In other commentary, the data my Strelok ballistic calc app spit out was highly accurate. I just ended up tweaking elevation up one click from what the data said to use at 500.

Also, I wrung out my other Faxon barreled rifle (16" middy gunner, free floated with a 1-4x scope). I shot a bit better with it than I did with the SBR, as expected.