So hot on the heels of my recent IDF mutt carbine, I've but together an A1 style rifle. The build process had some hiccups this time around, as is detailed in a thread in the technical discussion forum. Basically I had some problems getting the barrel nut aligned properly and the entire build ended up being delayed by about a week while I waited for some barrel shims to arrive. I was skeptical they would actually work, but lo and behold using two of them allowed me to correct the issue I was having and the rifle was successfully assembled yesterday evening.



While it is assembled and functional, there are a few minor changes that still might occur.
As soon as I can lay my hands on an A1 style lower I'll be swapping to one of those.
In the meantime, the Type D stock may get replaced with a Type E and I'll probably try to clean out the DIY color filling from the selector markings.

Upper receiver is NDS/Brownells with teardrop FA from Fulton Armory and rear sight kit from Windham Weaponry (With an A2 aperture substituted due to personal preference on my part.). Port door (Incorrect, I know.) and BCG and the weld spring and snap ring are from Bravo Company. Slip ring from Brownells. Handguards are surplus.

Barrel is a 1:9 4150 chrome lined unit from AR15 Sport. I had been holding out for one of Brownell's 1:7 retro barrels, but got tired of the ever increasing wait times due to recalls and whatever else. I know very little of AR15 Sport but they seem to get good feedback on their barrels and the specs listed on the site seemed satisfactory. I also wasn't crazy about going with a 1:9 vs a 1:7 but honestly, 99.99% of the 5.56 I have is either 55 or 62grains so a 1:9 is really quite adequate for me. The odds of me suddenly stocking massive quantities of 77 grain 5.56 is pretty unlikely.

Lower is a Stag, with a surplus Type D stock on it. As mentioned, I have a Type E that I may put on it instead.

I function tested the rifle today. Only two mags fired today because my glasses kept fogging up, but it worked.

You can kind of make out the smoke coming out of the top of the handguards.

The "05" is a stand in for the rack number I may stencil on there. Looking at all the pics of old ARs over the years made me decide I wanted rack numbers on this one. Why did I pick "05"? It's my fifth AR. Seemed to make as much sense as anything else. My Type E stock actually came with a label maker rack number of "197" on it, but I sort of like the painted ones better from an aesthetic standpoint.

Some additional thoughts, based on my limited range session, it shoots very nicely. I'm not sure what it is, perhaps the way a 20" pencil barrel + fixed stock balances, but when shouldering this gun it almost seems to "float" into place, VS my carbines which, while lighter in absolute terms, don't seem to balance in quite the same way, even if they are lighter overall. I have a 16" midlength with a gov't profile barrel and fixed A1 stock as well, which is a very well balanced rifle but shouldering it doesn't feel quite the same as this rifle with it's lightweight 20" barrel, the handling of the fixed stock middie isn't really "worse" per se, just "not the same".
Also of note, this is my first 20" rifle, and after years of handling carbines I developed some level of general "awareness" of how much clearance I typically need around objects when maneuvering or carrying the weapon, so I need to get accustomed to doing that with a longer rifle now too.