Troy GAU5?

[joeyjoe]

@soxfan: great looking rifle! thanks for posting the pic.

For any interested, i received shipping notification for my XM177E2. As well, troy's website has a general note that states both the GAU 5 and the XM177E2 are shipping right now.

[YutYut]

The finish on my GAU upper has been wearing off for some reason. It's not anodized gray, just a gray coating over black anodizing.

[joeyjoe]

yeah, according to military arms channel, its anodized and then grey "film coated and lined per U.S. military specifications". If that is indeed the old GI spec, i wonder why they chose to film coat the rifles? they must have known that the coating would come flying off the guns.

When you say the film coating is wearing off, can you scratch it off easily with your fingernail?

[YutYut]

When you say the film coating is wearing off, can you scratch it off easily with your fingernail?

Not so much with a fingernail. I had it in a gun bag and the finish wore off on the edges of the charging handle and around the rear of the receiver where the hard edges are. Troy CS is looking into the issue and is going to get back to me.

[joeyjoe]

gotcha. let us know how it all works out.

[joeyjoe]

Well, I received my Troy XM177E2. Up until this point, i hadn't owned anything but BCM and Colt gear. Lets just say that i won't be making that mistake again. The lower on the Troy XM177E2 possessed a buffer detent cavity that was milled too far to the rear of the lower. As a result, mere hand cycling of the BCG caused substantial wear to the face of the buffer. In addition, the carbine receiver extension was out of spec (too long). As a result of the out of spec carbine receiver extension, the buffer could not properly bottom out in the receiver extension, causing the gas key to strike the lower receiver. Finally, the gas tube made what i would consider unacceptable contact with the gas key (just BARELY passed the subjective carrier tilt test etc.). Obviously, the first two issues (out of spec location of buffer detent cavity and out of spec receiver extension) are completely unacceptable. I contacted troy, they took the gun in for repair/replacement. As far as I'm concerned, replacement was the only acceptable outcome, as an out of spec buffer detent cavity cannot be repaired (forging is screwed). They sent the gun back and said it was good to go. The ONLY repair they did was to drop a washer/spacer into the out of spec receiver extension, in an effort to reduce travel space within the tube and prevent the gas key from striking the lower. Yeah, no thanks. The buffer was still smashing into the buffer detent (of course) and a washer/spacer is an unacceptable fix for an out of spec carbine receiver extension. They didn't touch the gas tube. So...I sent the XM177E2 back to Troy for a full refund. Thankfully, Troy has refunded my money and the customer service guy was cordial. Never shot the rifle so i can't speak to anything else. Obviously, that was a generally poor experience. Its a shame, as the rifle did look nice and was very light and handy. Anyone else have issues with out of spec receiver extensions and incorrectly milled buffer detent cavities? Just thought id share my experiences. I waited to post until i gave troy a chance to fix the issues. Again, I'm at least thankful that they didn't try to stick me with the rifle.

[YutYut]

Anyone else have issues with out of spec receiver extensions and incorrectly milled buffer detent cavities? Just thought id share my experiences. I waited to post until i gave troy a chance to fix the issues. Again, I'm at least thankful that they didn't try to stick me with the rifle.

Thanks for the heads up. I have both the GAU and the XM177. After seeing your post, I went to the range. The GAU is fine. I have the same problem as you with the buffer detent. The rifle shoots fine but now the buffer is gouged from it being too far deep into the extension tube. Will contact Troy in the morning.

[joeyjoe]

How about that?! I wonder if all of the XM177E2 lowers are out of spec? In addition, Make sure you pull that stock off and hold the receiver extension up against a known mil spec receiver extension. the out of spec receiver extension can cause the gas key to strike the lower (a big no no). Again, such a shame that there were so many issues with the troy xm177e2, as it looked and handled great! And you are most welcome for the heads up.