My Del Ton Plan B

[lifebreath]

Here's my revised Del Ton plan "B." I have begun implementation already and should complete it by mid-week next week.

1. Keep Del Ton as a beer can killer, plinker and training device for my two boys.

2. Obtain KAC SR-15 IWS.

3. Take a couple of carbine classes over the next few months.

Had a nice talk with the KAC dealer, who happens to be a friend of my brother, and who I had met years back. His warehouse is just 45 minutes away and he lives here in my same town. Didn't even know they existed.

He sells a whole range of products and brands (and I'm sure that some of you have dealt with him) - so I asked him for his honest opinion of the Del Ton. On a scale from 1 - 10, he ranked it about a 5, and gave me a very informative education on all of the details of why, including a bunch of stuff I hadn't even seen posted here. In any case, it's awesome to find such a great resource so close to home.

I would still like to run the Del Ton hard to see how it holds up under pressure, but I imagine it will be hard to pry the KAC away long enough to do so. If I do, I'll let you know how it runs.

Thanks for your "helpful" input ... ha ha!

__________________
By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. - Confucius

[christcorp]

When you say you'd like to run the Del-Ton hard; do you mean with a lot of rounds, or physically hard. E.g. Crawling, diving, running, dirt, sand, water, vibration, shock,??? I.e. Would you take it through military training type courses or simply run a few thousand rounds through it? Thanks. mike.

[rob_s]

Interested to know the things the dealer told youthst you hadn't seen discussed here.

[lifebreath]

Originally Posted by christcorp

When you say you'd like to run the Del-Ton hard; do you mean with a lot of rounds, or physically hard. E.g. Crawling, diving, running, dirt, sand, water, vibration, shock,??? I.e. Would you take it through military training type courses or simply run a few thousand rounds through it? Thanks. mike.

That's a great question, and when framed that way, I would have to rephrase as "moderately hard," meaning run it through a 2 or 3 day defensive carbine class or similar shooting 1500 rounds, in addition to shooting it regularly for practice, probably 100 - 200 rounds each time.

[lifebreath]

Originally Posted by rob_s

Interested to know the things the dealer told youthst you hadn't seen discussed here.

I would guess most of it has been discussed here, but I can't read through every thread. The obvious, which I've read here, like MP/HP testing, extractor components, etc., plus more subtle indicators of attention to detail like machining marks, quality of fasteners, etc.

[bkb0000]

Originally Posted by lifebreath

and gave me a very informative education on all of the details of why, including a bunch of stuff I hadn't even seen posted here. In any case, it's awesome to find such a great resource so close to home.

i'm gonna tell you right now... if it hasn't been discussed here, and isn't in a sticky, there's about a 99.99% chance its voodoo.

i'd suggest posting up any "new" info on quality here, to be reviewed and assessed by guys of solid reputation. "dealers," in general, are absolutely notorious for bullshitting.

[Iraqgunz]

I wouldn't be worried about a few machining marks, rollmarks, or anything else. You can have one that is perfect in every way and the prettiest rollmarks money can buy, and it would still be a POS if they cut all the other corners. It's not really about form, it's about function.

Originally Posted by lifebreath

I would guess most of it has been discussed here, but I can't read through every thread. The obvious, which I've read here, like MP/HP testing, extractor components, etc., plus more subtle indicators of attention to detail like machining marks, quality of fasteners, etc.

[lifebreath]

Originally Posted by Iraqgunz

I wouldn't be worried about a few machining marks, rollmarks, or anything else. You can have one that is perfect in every way and the prettiest rollmarks money can buy, and it would still be a POS if they cut all the other corners. It's not really about form, it's about function.

Agreed. The old Soviet Makarov pistols come to mind - rough finishing, but almost impossible to create a failure. I would think (perhaps erroneously), myself being in the manufacturing realm, that attention to small details that most people would not notice would correlate more often than not with high overall quality.

[TOrrock]

I think you'll enjoy your KAC and get a great carbine.

[SomeOtherGuy]

Originally Posted by Iraqgunz

I wouldn't be worried about a few machining marks, rollmarks, or anything else. You can have one that is perfect in every way and the prettiest rollmarks money can buy, and it would still be a POS if they cut all the other corners. It's not really about form, it's about function.

My Daniel Defense has about the same machining marks as my Del-Ton, and of course I wouldn't put them very close together for inherent quality or attention to detail. I was actually surprised at the machining marks on the DD Omega-X rail, but they don't hurt anything.

I have a CMMG upper that seems very cleanly machined. But it only fits* with one out of four lowers that I try it with - it's apparently slightly out of spec. Just a demonstration of how looks don't always mean quality. (*fits, as in I can mate upper/lower with no significant effort. With another one or two lowers I can push the takedown pin using unreasonably high force, and with other lowers I cannot mate the CMMG upper to the lower with any amount of force; the same lowers work 100% with any and all other uppers I own)

[lifebreath]

In light of the Delton Bolt thread and my recently acquired appreciation for that which I now know that I did not previously know, I will add an element to my plan:

Step 1.5: buy a quality bolt for the Delton.

Looking forward to picking up my KAC SR-15 this evening.

The Delton is being relegated as a trainer for my boys.