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Thread: Simple iron sight gun

  1. #1
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    Simple iron sight gun

    I still qual with the M16a2 and a4 a couple times a year, and teach same. However, I only touch one a few hours per quarter. So I wanted to put together a similar rifle to keep up with that. That plan, however, went off the rails because I’m a habitual tinkerer. So instead, I built what I feel the M16a4 or a2 should have been. It still has rifle length irons and a fixed stock, so there’s still some training value.

    Recipe:
    PSA Dissipator 16” barrel assembly
    A1 stock
    DD A1.5 rear sight
    Aero no forward assist upper
    A2 FH
    BRT EZ Tune gas tube
    GGP lower
    Sionics LPK
    EDT2 trigger
    Colt or FN RE, buffer, spring
    DD grip
    Brownell’s 20’s
    Forward Controls Designs BCG
    Gasbuster charging handle
    BFG Vickers sling
    Magpul handguard

    Rationale:
    This barrel is the only PSA product I own. Faxon has discontinued their dissapator barrel, so unless I pay Adco to make one, PSA is the only game in town. It was on sale in the store, so I snagged it. Other than being drilled for Tula or some other garbage low pressure ammo it seems ok. Remedied the gas with one of Clint’s gas tubes. The barrel does not exibit the huge gap under the FSB that is found in internet searches.
    Everything was mounted and pinned correctly. It shoots straight, and groups as well as any FN or Colt M16 I have used. Zero’ing the irons was painless and was very close to center. The M4 cuts in the PSA receiver are not quite right, and snagged bullet points occasionally. First round in a fresh mag only. This occurred 3 or 4 times in 100 rnds. Remedied with Aero receiver. The barrel is labeled 5.56 Nato, but it does not measure out that way with Ned’s chamber gauge. It almost measures up, so I think its Wylde. I have no way to verify that, so I only run .223 through it. I’ve been using 55gr blems from Precision One. They are local to me and I I buy a 5000 rnd run from them a few times a year. I can recommend P1 without reservation for practice/competition ammo. PSA seems to have QA/QC’d this barrel well, but its still a hobby barrel. It will serve its purpose very well, and it has met my expectations.

    I like A1 stocks a lot better than A2 stocks because I’m not a wookie. I prefer the DD A1.5 rear sight because it is simple and near grunt-proof. Its basically a pic rail A1 sight. The Gasbuster charging handle is because thats what I have on hand. I put them on every rifle I own. Similarly, every AR I have and one of my AK’s wears a Vickers sling. I went with the Magpul handguard because it came on the barrel. I’m toying with the idea of swapping on a A1 handguard because They are light and I like the ergos.

    I went with the no forward assist upper because I have several of them and I hate FAs. I bought 10 a while ago and still have 5 in my garage. Sample of one, but I saw a forward assist roll pin break at an inopportune time on one of my Rangers’ rifle, and it tied the gun up, hard. Rationally I know its a fluke, but emotionally I have a hard time trusting them. I realize this is silly.

    I do not yet have the FCD BCG. Its using a parts bin BCG currently.

    The pics include a couple of configurations it was test fired in. I included a couple of pics with a commie gun for size comparison.

    https://imgur.com/a/fmw0QeX
    RLTW

    Former Action Guy
    Disclosure: I am affiliated PRN with a tactical training center, but I speak only for myself. I have no idea what we sell, other than CLP and training. I receive no income from sale of hard goods.

  2. #2
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    BTW, the surplus M16a1 stock that’s on it still has its rack number by the charging handle. I put rack numbers on any rifle that I actually shoot, out of habit. Knowing this one’s got history behind its rack number makes me very warm and fuzzy inside.
    Last edited by 1168; 01-29-19 at 12:12.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by 1168 View Post
    BTW, the surplus M16a1 stock that’s on it still has its rack number by the charging handle. I put rack numbers on any rifle that I actually shoot, out of habit. Knowing this one’s got history behind its rack number makes me very warm and fuzzy inside.
    Nice!
    I do a lot of Irons-only shooting still, so I'm down with this.
    I like it with the fixed stock too. I currently have Type D stocks (precursor to the Type E "A1" stock, but the same length) on both Retro and modern ARs and like them a lot.

  4. #4
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    I run an Iron sight Dissipator style gun almost every weekend. I get nervous about me eyesight/age and no longer being able to hit the 500 yard target... so I keep bringing the gun out to keep sharp.
    "What would a $2,000 Geissele Super Duty do that a $500 PSA door buster on Black Friday couldn't do?" - Stopsign32v

  5. #5
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    Looks like a nice handy rifle!

  6. #6
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    Owned a couple of Bushmaster Dissipators several years ago. Sold the uppers off, too heavy for me..... Was in a local gunsmith's shop awhile back and happened to see a Dissipator barrel- Lo and Behold it was one of my old guns barrels! I know because it had a nicked crush washer on it on the bottom of the barrel....Gunsmith said he had taken it off the rifle and put a bull barrel on the gun for the guy as he was making a prairie dog gun out of it.....

    Gunsmith owed me a favor so he gave me the barrel as a spare. It was a pretty heavy barrel so I had him turn it down and in doing so lost the front sight tower...it has two little notches where the pins used to be. I built a beater gun with it, Anderson receiver, Palmetto rail that came off a rifle a couple years ago, BCM milspec trigger that was replaced with an MBT, and odds and ends of furniture, BCM blem upper...... Gun shoots under 2" with good ammo so I'm plenty happy with it for the small amount I have in it.....So, I guess I only sort of have a "Dissipator" anymore.
    The truth can only offend those who live a lie.

  7. #7
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    Nice, I really like that. It looks like the distillation of a pure American rifle to me. Something to teach a kid to shoot with or grab for a long walk in the woods. Almost like a modern incarnation of an old 30-30 lever rifle. I bet it carries nicely balanced just in front of the receiver with a 20rd mag in it and no sling.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by markm View Post
    I run an Iron sight Dissipator style gun almost every weekend. I get nervous about me eyesight/age and no longer being able to hit the 500 yard target... so I keep bringing the gun out to keep sharp.
    I'm still in my 30's for a couple more years, but I have really atrocious eyesight so shooting irons is part of my regular "stay sharp" routine too.
    Sadly I don't have access to a 500yd range but if I can keep my five-shot groups under 4" at 100 yards with iron sights and XM193... or four or five five-round groups under a cumulative size of 5", I can usually live with that.
    Last edited by Circle_10; 01-29-19 at 17:03.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by grizzlyblake View Post
    Nice, I really like that. It looks like the distillation of a pure American rifle to me. Something to teach a kid to shoot with or grab for a long walk in the woods. Almost like a modern incarnation of an old 30-30 lever rifle. I bet it carries nicely balanced just in front of the receiver with a 20rd mag in it and no sling.
    Absolutely. Although, I am experimenting with slings.

    In case anyone is following this path, I just found that M16/A1 handguards don’t fit due to the middie gas block. I kinda want to do a proper 605 clone now.
    RLTW

    Former Action Guy
    Disclosure: I am affiliated PRN with a tactical training center, but I speak only for myself. I have no idea what we sell, other than CLP and training. I receive no income from sale of hard goods.

  10. #10
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    I love irons. It is simply more fun to shoot and hit the target with irons only. These new irons have surfaced recently and I have ordered them. By all accounts they really do add quite a bit of capability as compared to the A2 set up.

    https://ultradyneusa.com/

    It is claimed they are faster and more accurate.

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