Newb warning: Can anyone give me the 'go-ahead' on these parts? (or any advice)

[kaiservontexas]

Yep need better ammo and mags. The accuwedge stuff is a non-problem seeking a solution to noobs used to other things. Think of it as that Glock thread on the akforum where the person was asking why they could see through in-between the frame and slide.

[RogerinTPA]

Using a heavier buffer with underpowered ammo and shitty mags on a middy is a recipe for cycling issues. Leave the gun alone and get better mags and ammo. All of my middys ran fine on carbine or H buffers. I've found carbine buffers to be more friendly with shitty ammo.

Agreed.

I use carbine buffers on midlengths and H buffers on carbine lengths. Both function very well with eastern european steel cased ammo (wolf, barnaul, brown bear, silver bear). Sell or trade the CProds for Pmags or good USGI Aluminum like DSG, Bravo (both D&H mags with different floor plates) OKAY or NHMTG mags (they are produced by the same manufactuerer) with MagPull followers. For Christ sakes, do not add an accuwedge.

[Nexus7]

Thanks for the tips.

I removed the hand guards. Apparently the heat shields were kind of mangled. I bent them back into proper shape so that they are straighter and so that they aren't touching the plastic except at the tabs and aren't touching the barrel, and reinstalled them (which was actually pretty easy--go figure) I also might have flipped the top and bottom halves. Anyway, now it seems a bit better, or at least it isn't bothering me.

As for the lower and upper having slight play, I won't worry about it.

Luckily, I don't have a bunch of those C-products mags, or the Walmart UMC ammo. I have p-mags coming in the mail, but for the sake of driving straight from the shop to the range to test fire the gun, I bought 2 USGI mags, 2 p-mags and a C-products mag off the shelf. I was hoping I could get away with buying a cheap mag but I guess not. The UMC and Federal brass was just what they had in stock at Walmart on my way to the range. If I stop there for ammo again soon, I'll just stick with Federal.

From what I've heard, Russian ammo is underpowered, so I hope I don't run into problems with that too, because I would like to avoid plinking with spendy ammo. In line with what you are saying Roger, I've heard people say, 'If your AR can't shoot wolf, there's something wrong with your AR,' so with good mags, I'm going to assume it will be fine. Anyway, I guess there isn't much use in speculating any further. I'm going to head back to the range as soon as the case of Silver Bear arrives and blast off half of it in one session. Hopefully with a little testing, I can simply chuck a bad mag, avoid the UMC, and proceed trouble-free. Thanks again.

ETA 8/26: Well the Silver Bear still doesn't arrive until tomorrow, but since I was dying to take the gun out again, I picked up 160 rds of some overpriced Wolf and S&B ammo at a local place and blasted it off at the range, this time without using the C-Products mag or the UMC. It ran perfectly. Not that any of you were expecting it to fail, but I will probably post again after giving it a little 500 round steel case 'torture test' this weekend.

[Nexus7]

Not that anybody was eagerly awaiting an update, but since I've been to the range a couple times since I last updated this thread, I thought I would do a little recap.

So far, I have put about 1,200 rounds through the rifle, and as you already know, I've had some mixed results. My first trip with the USGI, P-Mags, and a C-Products mag with Federal XM193 and Rem UMC didn't go that well, as I had a FTF, which based on the forum's counsel, I have blamed on the UMC and C-products mag. Next, I went to the range and blasted off a couple hundred rounds of Wolf and S&B FMJ with no issues, using only USGI D&H mags and P-mags.

My next trip was with a case of half Silver Bear FMJ and half HP. I fired about 450 rounds and had many failures with the hollow points, particularly with the USGI mags. Almost one FTF per mag as the HPs jammed up against the feed ramps.

Today, I just got back from firing another 450 rounds of S&B, Wolf, and Silver Bear FMJ, and also some Silver Bear HPs. This time I brought only the P-Mags, and the gun ran like a raped ape, alternating between slow fire and mag dumps, with some cool down periods as I shot pistols. I cleaned and lubed it yesterday, but the gun didn't get any new oil today.

My findings: Silver Bear HPs and D&H USGI mags don't mix with this rifle, but it shoots the HPs fine with P-Mags. C-Products mags and Rem UMC failed, and I have yet to test which one was really the culprit (and I won't bother finding out, because avoiding both of the above in the future will be easy enough).

The gun seems to run perfectly with cheap FMJ, ie., Silver Bear, Wolf, and S&B through USGI or P-Mags. Offhand, as I have been shooting it so far, it is more accurate than me. I am very happy with the rifle, and I owe the forum a big thank you for helping me make these first few steps into the AR world. THANKS.

...and back to lurking I go...

[VaniB]

Funny you should say an LMT Defender with SOPMOD stock, and a 20" barrel with a BCM upper. This is exactly the configuration of what I'm currently working on.

To me, it gives the best of both worlds that I'm looking for; a 1-7 twist WOA barrel gives me long range accuracy and rifle reliabity that I desire, while the SOPMOD gives more flexibility for CQB when compared to carrying an A2 stocked full length rifle.

I've also seen photos of such 20" carbines as a common configuration of the Canadian Military.......perhaps not such an implausible configuraton after all? (Not that I'm saying anything used in conjunction with a French based military has been of historical excellence )

Good luck with your new rifle. Enjoy.

[Nexus7]

Yeah, I'm really happy with the 16" mid length, but I am still interested in getting a C7 type configuration at some point. I wouldn't mind seeing a range report after you get yours running. I think my next AR will probably have a pencil barrel, but I'm really not sure which gas system, as I have a few different ideas in mind.

[VaniB]

Yeah, I'm really happy with the 16" mid length, but I am still interested in getting a C7 type configuration at some point. I wouldn't mind seeing a range report after you get yours running. I think my next AR will probably have a pencil barrel, but I'm really not sure which gas system, as I have a few different ideas in mind.

This 20" project is looking to take FOREVER. I couldn't believe that there wasn't one cotton-picking upper (out of 5) to fit tightly on it at the gun-show! Not sure if I'll ditch the LMT lower, or send it back to LMT and ask them to hand fit an upper and sell it to me. I might end up using the tight RRA NM A4 upper/lower combo. Yea.....I'll eventually let you know how it goes. LOL