Mrgunsngear: Palmetto State Armory 10.5'' Nitride 5.56 AR-15 Pistol: Best Truck Gun?

[MistWolf]

So I proved this morning that mine works fine with an H2 buffer and milspec recoil spring, using both 5.56 and .223. In fact I'm about to order an H3 buffer to try next.

It's been my experience that if you're going to go with an H3 buffer, it's better to switch to an A5 system with the A5H2 buffer, or to a rifle RE assembly to take advantage of the better spring length/compression.

[czgunner]

I ran mine this morning. I have it on an Aero lower, using an SBA4 brace.
I swapped a MILSPEC spring and H2 buffer in.
Running Wolf Gold, I’m getting 4:00 ejection.
Went back to a standard weight buffer with no change to ejection.
Had a few failures to feed with my Surefeed mags, but that seems to have cleared up.
Anybody know the gas port size?

[MistWolf]

I ran mine this morning. I have it on an Aero lower, using an SBA4 brace.
I swapped a MILSPEC spring and H2 buffer in.
Running Wolf Gold, I’m getting 4:00 ejection.
Went back to a standard weight buffer with no change to ejection.
Had a few failures to feed with my Surefeed mags, but that seems to have cleared up.
Anybody know the gas port size?

Before fussing with the gas port size, make sure your extractor & extractor spring is in order.

[Caduceus]

Post erased, this is talking about a 5.56 gun. I was discussing a 9mm.

[Doc Safari]

Over the weekend I took mine to the range again. There were a lot of people there and another guy was shooting the same thing, but it was having bolt-over-base malfunctions. During the course of a conversation among several of us (most of the people I didn't know), it turned out he had put his together from the upper kit and an Anderson lower. I mention that just in case it's relevant.

One of the other shooters is a guy I've run into before. He carries a big plastic bin of spare parts to his range sessions. He questions the guy having the malfunctions and it turns out the guy put an H2 buffer in his pistol just like I did mine. The guy with all the parts says, "Let's try a plain H buffer. I think I might have one in my kit here." It turns out he did. The guy having problems put it in his pistol and it ran 100% for over 100 rounds. He handed the buffer back to the guy with all the parts and said, "I guess I know what I did wrong."

The thing is: Mine worked perfectly with an H2 buffer and his worked better with an H buffer. During the conversation I found out he was shooting Federal .223 from Wally World just like I was, so it wasn't an ammo issue. I'm assuming it's not magazine related as he claimed all his mags were good. I think it may be a case of inconsistent gas port size.

My pistol came complete; he says he put his together from a complete upper and complete lower. So I'm guessing that's the reason for the malfunctions: too heavy a buffer with probably a smaller gas port.

The point is evidently these PSA pistols are inconsistent and you may have to wring yours out to learn its little quirks.

[tehpwnag3]

I would have suspected a bad mag over a lighter buffer. On adjustable gas systems, you can turn down the gas and still not replicate those malfs.

Over the weekend I took mine to the range again. There were a lot of people there and another guy was shooting the same thing, but it was having bolt-over-base malfunctions. During the course of a conversation among several of us (most of the people I didn't know), it turned out he had put his together from the upper kit and an Anderson lower. I mention that just in case it's relevant.

One of the other shooters is a guy I've run into before. He carries a big plastic bin of spare parts to his range sessions. He questions the guy having the malfunctions and it turns out the guy put an H2 buffer in his pistol just like I did mine. The guy with all the parts says, "Let's try a plain H buffer. I think I might have one in my kit here." It turns out he did. The guy having problems put it in his pistol and it ran 100% for over 100 rounds. He handed the buffer back to the guy with all the parts and said, "I guess I know what I did wrong."

The thing is: Mine worked perfectly with an H2 buffer and his worked better with an H buffer. During the conversation I found out he was shooting Federal .223 from Wally World just like I was, so it wasn't an ammo issue. I'm assuming it's not magazine related as he claimed all his mags were good. I think it may be a case of inconsistent gas port size.

My pistol came complete; he says he put his together from a complete upper and complete lower. So I'm guessing that's the reason for the malfunctions: too heavy a buffer with probably a smaller gas port.

The point is evidently these PSA pistols are inconsistent and you may have to wring yours out to learn its little quirks.

[Doc Safari]

I would have suspected a bad mag over a lighter buffer. On adjustable gas systems, you can turn down the gas and still not replicate those malfs.

He had a table full of mags and swore they had been 100% with his other AR(s).

[tehpwnag3]

Stranger things, I suppose.

He had a table full of mags and swore they had been 100% with his other AR(s).

[1168]

I’ve had that type of stoppage when using too much action spring. At first I though it was a bad mag, but I couldn’t isolate it. Less than a year old Surefeeds, Pmag 30 M3, Pmag 20 M3, and an assortment of older, but good USGI, Surefeed, and Pmags. I can give more detail about the troubleshooting and solution if y’all like, elsewhere. The stoppages didn’t occur until the gun was filthy.

Last page someone mentioned PSA staking. About a month ago I went digging through a box of lightly used (WTF?) BCGs that PSA Mt Pleasant had on clearance. Much to my surprise, they all appeared to have good staking. The bolts were marked MPI. The “style” of the markings varied, possibly indicating multiple origins. The inside of one of the bolt carriers was lubed with copper anti-seize, which I only mention because I found it hilarious.

The real reason I’m posting again in this thread: yesterday I was googling around for reviews on Hornady Frontier 5.56 68gr, because I found some for cheap. All I could find was a couple threads on TOS of dudes that blew up their PSA rifles with other weights of Frontier 5.56. One of them said he has a 5.56 chamber. Well, I immediately thought “hmm, maybe”. As a sample of one, I checked the chamber on my one PSA barrel when it was new with one of Ned’s chamber gauges. It is absolutely not a 5.56mm NATO chamber, even though that is what is stamped on the barrel. Again, sample of one.

Additionally, one of the pictures of a ballooned case head made me curious about headspace.

I only shoot .223 in my PSA. I did buy the Frontier 68gr 5.56 ammo and shot it through my BRT, and have no signs of excess pressure.

[Doc Safari]

Not knowing much about the guy having problems at the range, I can only stick to the facts:

1. He had a table full of aluminum mags, most had either the gray finish or black like some USGI style mags.
2. He had a mixture of 20 and 30 rounders.
3. He said he was getting at least one or two bolt over base malfs per mag
4. We verified he was using Federal 200-round packs from Wally World (which is what I was using also).

When the "parts guy" took out his H2 buffer and installed an H buffer, the gun suddenly ran 100% for the next five or six thirty round mags. He was convinced enough his problem was cured that he thanked us and packed up his stuff and left.