Wife's First Build: DD, Rainier, SAA, PSA, and Magpul.

[jet66]

Se had completed the lower a couple of weeks ago, so no 'before' pic of the lower parts. It's a Surplus Ammo & Arms lower with a PSA LPK and Magpul furniture. The upper was ordered in pieces from BCM and Rainier Arms. It's a DD mid-length LW CHF 16" w/pinned-on lo-pro gb, BCM BCG and Gunfighter CH (Mod 3, for better access under the scope.) The upper and rail are from Rainier Arms, with the rail being the 15" Evolution.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff122/jet1966/ARMods/IMG_1339smaller.jpg

It has a Troy Claymore on it for now, she wanted to try a brake and I had it in my box o' parts. At some point it will be getting a bipod for her to use for a little more distance shooting. I bought a set of BUIS for it, but she is going to go without them, for now. I originally bought the 1-4X SWFA for one of my carbines, but I've decided to stick with RDS (Aimpoint PRO on the way for me) on mine. She loves this scope, so that worked out for the best.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff122/jet1966/ARMods/IMG_1345smaller.jpg

She also wanted to try the AFG, after shooting someone else's rifle with one, so the jury is still out on that one. She didn't like the vertical grip, after trying a few located at different points on the rails.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff122/jet1966/ARMods/IMG_1341smaller.jpg

I assisted her with some of the nuances, like lining up the bbl nut for the gas tube and the final timing of the brake, but she did the bulk of the build. It really helps someone to see how the whole rifle works when you put all of the pieces together yourself. Being a trad. reservist and formerly active duty (USAF for both,) she has to handle weapons from time to time for qualifying, so she's familiar with the basic operation. This is the first time she's ever had one down this far to 'nuts and bolts,' so she has whole new perspective on it now.

[SpankMonkey]

That looks great. How does she like the rail?

[wahoo95]

Looks good. Why'd you choose the 15" handguard over say an 11"?

[jet66]

That looks great. How does she like the rail?

She likes the feel of it so far, but we won't be able to hit the range until Monday. Then we'll see what she thinks.


Looks good. Why'd you choose the 15" handguard over say an 11"?

She wanted as much of the barrel covered as possible, and with as light as this rail is, the extra weight is pretty much negligible. I have a 16" with a carbine-length rail and a 14.5 (pinned FH) with a RIS II M4A1 rail. After shooting both for a while, she liked having less exposed barrel and so she can reach out farther. She's not Amazon tall but she's above average height for a woman, so she's got a little extra reach.

Thanks for the comments. We'll see how it evolves, now that she has an AR rifle of her own. I'm expecting that we'll be moving that AFG further out, or completely off, before it's all said and done.

[deviljon]

Nice! Congrats.

[CodeRed30]

Hard to beat the SAA lowers. Solid dimensions and a great price point. I've used 'em on 5 different builds thus far.

[Vulture38]

Cool.

[jet66]

I went to zero the scope, had to just settle for 'close enough' today. Gusty winds made it hard to get a zero I was confident with so I zeroed it to at least be 'shootable.' Looks like it needs to come right a little more, maybe even down a bit, but I wasn't going to blaze away more rounds than I needed to with all of the wind. XM855 was used, fore-end resting, stock to shoulder, scope on 4X.

200 yds group, to see how 'close' it really was. (The benched+rest groups at 25 rough-zero and 100 actual always look 'pretty good'...)

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff122/jet1966/ARMods/D200yds.jpg

Observation on the build: Maybe it's because it's brand spankin' new, but this PSA trigger feels grittier than my first one and it makes the OEM in my 6920 feel like a match-grade trigger.

[krgwag]

How's the quality of the upper? Not to many places have uppers in stock but just saw Rainier Arms has some.

[jet66]

I also went with it because it was hard to find other good brands at reasonable prices at the time. (BCM was on my short list, but they were out of stock at the time.) It's very good, I don't see any discernible differences between my Colt or BCM uppers in terms of quality, fit and finish, etc. I'd buy another, as well as recommend them.

[BrigandTwoFour]

You said your wife loves the SWFA, I currently have a TR24 on my personal gun (which is very similar to this one). I have been eyeballing the SWFA 1-6 whenever it becomes available.

What's your impression of it?

[jet66]

So far, so good. It's the nicest optic I've personally owned, so I couldn't objectively compare it to anything of similar or better quality. I was looking at the Meopta ZD, but there was a group buy on SWFA SS kits set up with Sniper's Hide and a lot of solid recommendations for the SWFA. I got the scope, Bobro mount, cat-tail, and covers for about the same price the scope normally runs itself. (That was a year ago, so I doubt they still have that deal.)

It is quite solid, it feels very sturdy, and the zoom and focus rings are nice and tight, so no worries about accidentally bumping them away from where you set them. The zoom ring works best with a cat-tail, if you want to change things up faster and smoother. The glass is very nice, it's very sharp at 200 yards. (The longest range I have used it at.) It's a second plane reticle, I don't know if the 1-6 will be as well. At 4X the markings of the reticle are very easy to see, and with illumination on, the whole/visible part of the reticle is lit up, at 1X and illuminated, only the center portion is lit up.

With the illumination on and at 1X, it works well as a CQB/RDS-style optic, with very little abberation with both eyes open. There is some, vs. an Aimpoint or EOTech, but it's only noticeable if you look for it. It is a little less forgiving vs. an RDS/HWS if you are not looking 'just right' due to the tube length, of course.

I would certainly consider another SWFA in the future. I only gave it up to her because she was more comfortable shooting it than anything else she had tried (on other people's rifles) and I prefer the 'faster' dedicated RDS for quick up-close shooting.

[Bro KV]

Beautiful rifle, jet!!

[Andrew Jackson]

I want.

Tell the wife to keep with the AFG. I used one on my last deployment. Once I found the right placement for it, well it became indispensable. It is the forward grip for people who don't like forward grips. I liked how it helped me aim in the prone palm forward, kneeling with my palm using it how you already think to use it (palm up), and it allowed quick transition to use my magwell as a grip or reload.

[jet66]

Thanks for the comments! She's pretty happy with the way it turned out, there's nothing so far that she regrets putting on it or doesn't like the feel or function of.

She is still liking the AFG, so I think it will be staying. We did swap out the gritty GI trigger with an ACT, much smoother. Going to try and get to the range this weekend to try it out.

It does look like she'll be dropping the bipod idea, though. Once I found out that was just for times we bench shoot, I said 'just use the rest we already have.' So that should help keep the front-end lighter, and she can spend that money on something else, like a weapon light.