worn anodizing in pivot pin hole on brand new Daniel Defense upper

[Androctonus]

Hi guys. I just got a DDM4 V7 upper. On inspection, it all looks near perfect besides the pivot pin and takedown pin holes. Each of those has the anodizing already worn through in spots. The pivot pin hole is worse. I tried to get a good picture. The anodizing is patchy and it looks like the aluminum in the hole is maybe a little marred too. It's got a very rough look to it.

The upper's been attached/detached from a few of my lowers maybe a dozen times. Funny thing, the upper locks up near perfectly with my lowers. Not too tight, but no wiggle. Think I should contact Daniel Defense about this? Or is this just chipped finish? I don't really care about the latter.

[grizzman]

I would be absolutely amazed if attaching/detaching the upper a dozen (or several dozen) times would cause the amount wear in the anodizing shown in your photo.
What did they look like before you began attaching and detaching the upper?

My guess is that after the anodizing was applied, DD performed some additional QC testing and determined that some remediation was needed in those areas, and
removed a bit of material (and anodizing). If this is the case, then it's a good thing, since they seem to be dimensionally correct. This wouldn't be the first time, and
certainly not the last, that a dimension was modified after the anodizing step.

[Androctonus]

Unfortunately, I didn't look at the pin holes before attaching the upper to a lower. I was too excited. But, I agree that the attaching/detaching I did probably wouldn't have caused the wear, even without applying lube first. My other two uppers don't look near like that after much more use.

I wondered if DD did some work on the holes. It doesn't really look like incomplete anodizing. I'm just concerned about the pin holes wearing out faster in the future due to the removed anodizing. But, the aluminum there should still be hardened from the anodizing?

[HKGuns]

Shoot it.

[bp7178]

It's fine.

[flenna]

Shoot it.

Ditto.

[Androctonus]

Thanks guys. I talked with DD and they said they do indeed hone pivot pin holes for a good fit.

[georgeib]

Thanks guys. I talked with DD and they said they do indeed hone pivot pin holes for a good fit.

Thanks for updating. You bought a great rifle.

[Sry0fcr]

Thanks guys. I talked with DD and they said they do indeed hone pivot pin holes for a good fit.

FPNI. They're feeding you a line. More than likely they found a dimensional issue during assembly where the pins wouldn't fit and the holes were reworked and never re-anodized. The lack of anodizing isn't likely to affect the fit, form or function of the gun itself but they sent it out anyway.

[Androctonus]

FPNI. They're feeding you a line. More than likely they found a dimensional issue during assembly where the pins wouldn't fit and the holes were reworked and never re-anodized. The lack of anodizing isn't likely to affect the fit, form or function of the gun itself but they sent it out anyway.

Yeah, maybe they fed me a line. I was a little surprised to find such a thing on a DD upper, but, as long as it is a non-issue, I'm good with it. Worse things could've happened. The gas block is straight, the rifling looks good, no gas port burrs, the bcg and barrel extension look great. I never assume I'm getting a perfect rifle or upper just because I spent big bucks. I've had function issues straight out of the box, from a well respected manufacturer after they did function testing. They took care of it though.