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View Full Version : CMMG Repair Experience (so far) LONG



D.S. Brown
02-04-10, 22:39
So I'm new here right.

Okay so in August of '09 picked up a CMMG 16" Carbine. Got it at a good price due to range discount where I work part time. Didn't really shoot it much. Never been a rifle guy but these M4 style guns have been growing on me.

Obviously didn't hang out here much either.

So I put 100 rounds down range shortly after buying the gun. From a seated bench firing at a LARGE rifle target 25 meters down range I was grouping LOW LEFT outside the huge circle, any more I would have missed paper altogether. I'd forgotten about some of the sighting in process from my Army days as a dirty nasty leg, so I used the rear sight for both windage and elevation adjustments. Rear sight is very high and the windage is adjusted 30+ clicks right of center to be hitting center mass. Embarrassing, I know right. Something I vaguely remembered about my battlesight zero's on various A2's kept niggling at my conciousness.

So after putting on some Magpul MOE stuff, and lurking around here, as well as reading the 300 meter sighting-in instructions in the provided FM I realize I was mistaken.

So back to the range a few weeks ago and bring the sights back to their original configuration and create my crude battlesight zero. Gun is still shooting at the same target, same position at the same distance Low and to the left almost off paper. Now I may have been slow about the original sighting-in process but not my dime and washer drills from the Army. My trigger pull was good. Anyway 8 clicks down on the front sight and 32 clicks to the right for rear windage and I was hitting dead on center mass of said target.

Something didn't seem right. I thought it might be my 42 year old versus 22 year old eyes affecting the shooting. So on 1/23/2010 me and a buddy of mine go to the range. I bring said CMMG. He brings a cobbled together M4 of various parts from different manufacturers, none of whom are anywhere near to the left of "the Chart."

I have him shoot my rifle with both the battlesight zero and the adjusted to center zero. He has the exact same experience target wise with said gun, very low left with no adjustments, and center mass with adjustments. Then we both shoot his M4 with no sight adjustment at all, from the same bench at 25 yards at another rifle target. We both shoot about a half inch above center. When we switched his upper to my CMMG lower I shot the same. When we put my upper on his lower we went straight back to severe Low left ville.

So I send the rifle back to CMMG on 1/26/2010 with a detailed note describing what I've mentioned in the last 3 paragraphs. They sign for it on 1/28/10 at 10:30, and someone in their repair department signed for it at about 2:30. That same day at about 6:30 I got an email from UPS stating that it was in transit being sent back, (btw they neglected to include my apartment number on the return adddress, so I had to call them Monday so they could call UPS to correct it before a Tuesday delivery). Hmmm fast diagnostics and quick repair turn around, with a minor address glitch.

Get the rifle on 2/2/10. Go to the range. The invoice said they replaced the barrel and carry handle and shot the gun, (for reliability apparently, more in a second), this was restated to me in a latter phone call, though earlier with a different person my barrell had only been re torqued, and the carry handle replaced. Hmmmm. I settle in to fire at the same rifle target at the same distance from a bench rest, no sight adjustments at all. Upon careful inspection of my 4 shot group I notice that I have a nice tight group, LOW AND LEFT IN THE EXACT SAME SPOT AS BEFORE! I shoot another 4 shots with the same result and then have a friend of mine shoot 4 shots as well with the same results I had! I packed up and left.

Long story short I left an ugly message on their customer services line. The next day I get a pre paid shipping invoice from CMMG to ship the gun back AGAIN! I have never had to send in ANY gun I've owned for warranty work once, let alone twice. This whole time I keep hearing the mantra of buying quality once, cry once. I'm not as anti CMMG as many, but when I send anything back to be fixed I expect to be taken seriously and have whatever it is fixed correctly the first time. It is the first round of customer service that is leaving a very bad taste in my mouth. I feel as if some incompetance was combined with gross liberties being taken with the truth. Just sayin.'

I know this is long but any thoughts you have would be most appreciated.

Best,

Dave

Volucris
02-04-10, 22:48
So it grouped low left without rear sight adjustments and then you fixed it by adjusting it?:confused:

I had to make rear sight adjustments with my BCM rifle as well. It's called zeroing the rifle. I'm really not sure why you sent it back to CMMG.

rjacobs
02-04-10, 22:56
So it grouped low left without rear sight adjustments and then you fixed it by adjusting it?:confused:

I had to make rear sight adjustments with my BCM rifle as well. It's called zeroing the rifle. I'm really not sure why you sent it back to CMMG.

I dont think hes bitching about having to zero the rifle. However 32 clicks of windage is really crazy. That means the FSB is canted from something.

D.S. Brown
02-04-10, 23:16
I sent it back because:

1.) I thought that having to adjust my front sight down 8 clicks and my rear sight over 32 clicks to the right from center, to move the strike of the round up and over several inches from a seated bench rest position at 25 yards a bit much, considering that,

2.) I remembered from my time in the Army not having to make such drastic adjustments with the front and rear sight on my A2's, maybe 2 or 3 clicks in either direction, and yet,

3.) When two other people shoot my rifle with the same results, i.e. battlesight zero = Extremely low left several inches at 25 yards vs. the above adjustments, (8 clicks down for elevation, 32 clicks right for windage), to be hitting center mass, and furthermore,

4.) When I and my buddy shot his Franken M4, (same shooting session), seated from the bench at the same style of target, at 25 yards, no adjustment to his sights at all, (frontsight flush, rear sight centered), and we were hitting about 1/2" above center each time,

5.) I think something might be a miss with my rifle, based upon these previous experiences and observations.

Best,

Dave

dcollect
02-04-10, 23:32
Yep 32 clicks is nuts... send it back again...

masternave
02-04-10, 23:41
I have to say... I have a CMMG 16" I bought about a year ago, and I had the same problem. My FSB was noticeably canted to one side, and my rear sight was windaged a goooood long way to one side. When I had some gun smithing done (got a rail installed,) the smith straightened it up, and now it's all good.

That said, my brother's CMMG bought at the same time is just fine.

Sorry about your pain brother. Have you looked to see whether your local gunshop can fix this for you? Maybe the wait won't be so bad.

Belmont31R
02-05-10, 02:52
CMMG is well known for this type of thing, and Ive read plenty of crappy CS stories from them.


I believe it was ADCO who said putting a CMMG barrel on a lathe is like watching a wet noodle. Their barrels are often drilled off center (bore to outside) so the bore is not centered in the barrel.


Hope everything works out for you.

Romad816
02-05-10, 10:28
I have bought uppers from them with loose barrel nuts, and canted FSB.

I like to support local guys but have since starting building my own rifles as with anything else, if you want it done right.... do it yourself.

Remember911
02-06-10, 17:00
sorry to see nothing has changed over there.