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

[LCoan]

To me SOPMOD stocks are pretty heavy. If would've went with either a Magpul MOE or UBR.

[PrivateCitizen]

To me SOPMOD stocks are pretty heavy. If would've went with either a Magpul MOE or UBR.

Correct me if I am wrong, but does a UBR not weight more than a SOPMOD?

[LCoan]

Might...Not much of a difference, but it seems the UBR is better. But, that's my preference

[JSantoro]

Where weight is on a design can have more impact than how much. For many, the way a particular stock balances the gun for that person affects the way it feels that has little to do with overt weight.

Two swords, both the same weight, one curved, one straight. They'll feel different when you swing them just because they're shaped differently.

[kaiservontexas]

Howdy Nexus and welcome to the AR world!

[Nexus7]

Hey kaiser, good to see another 'familiar face.'

Well the upper arrived today, the gun is assembled, and I just got back from my first quick trip to the range (150 rds of Walmart Federal 55 gr and Rem. UMC 55 gr). It was a lot of fun to shoot and I was immediately impressed by the accuracy.

An update on the current configuration: I ended up swapping out the ergo grip because the finger grooves started annoying me. I went for the hammer forged barrel, probably due to some bias I have from the AK world. The SOPMOD stock might not be the perfect stock, and it's certainly not the cheapest, but I have no problems with it from a functional stand point and it doesn't strike me as exceptionally heavy. I really like the sealed compartments for my tactical cigars and Slim Jims.

A few issues:

1 - I wish I could say it shot with no malfunctions, but I did have a stovepipe while rapid firing the fourth mag. It was either with a 30 rd C-Products stainless mag or USGI aluminum mag. I am wondering if this was due to the mag, maybe that the lower came with a carbine buffer rather than an H buffer, or maybe because I did not install the BCM extractor O-ring because I read really quick before leaving for the range that it's not necessary. Also, I lubed up the bolt carrier pretty liberally, but I did not lube inside the gas key because I did not realize at the time that I was supposed to. Any guesses at what caused the failure?

Other than that hang up, which I imagine will be ironed out by my next trip to the range (with 500 rounds of Silver Bear, mind you) I had a lot of fun.

2 - Is it normal for the hand guard to have maybe 2 mm of rotational play and 1 mm fore-aft? Also, the hand guard vent holes don't quite line up with the holes in the heat shield. Is that normal? Since I heard it takes 4 hands, I asked the guys at the gun shop (which can remain nameless since I'm otherwise grateful) to help me install it. They had tremendous difficulty with it and didn't get it installed until after taking it to the back room, so I can't help but wonder if maybe it's damaged. (lol).

3 - The upper and lower rattle ever so slightly on the assembled rifle. I saw a picture of someone's disassembled AR where they had an O-ring stretched over the lug for the front take-down pin. Would this eliminate the rattle? Is it worth doing? I don't made the slightly mismatched finish on the upper and lower, but it would be nice to get them mated up more solidly.

Big thanks to the forum.

[JSantoro]

1- Ammo and mag are the first things to look at. C-prod aren't well regarded, and UMC, if I recall right, is fairly low-pressure ammo. Not automatically The Answer, but try to isolate those two factors before looking at the internal stuff.

2- Some movement in the handguards isn't out of the ordinary, and the delta ring will be tight for some time. There's a simple handguard removal tool you can get, if it comes to that. Vent holes....not sure. Next time you have the handguards off, check the corners of the heat shield to see if they're firmly in the slots that they mount to on the inside of the handguard. Unless they're moving, should have no impact on performance.

3- Not an issue at all. Do a Search using the word "Accuwedge." You'll see uppper/lower slop asked about a couple of thousand times. Unless the fit is so loose that the bloody takedown pins are walking out on you, or some nonsense like that, it's also no impact on either performance or accuracy.

Happy shooting!

[Nexus7]

Thanks Jim!

[spamsammich]

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.

[fdxpilot]

A few issues:

1 - I wish I could say it shot with no malfunctions, but I did have a stovepipe while rapid firing the fourth mag. It was either with a 30 rd C-Products stainless mag or USGI aluminum mag. I am wondering if this was due to the mag, maybe that the lower came with a carbine buffer rather than an H buffer, or maybe because I did not install the BCM extractor O-ring because I read really quick before leaving for the range that it's not necessary. Also, I lubed up the bolt carrier pretty liberally, but I did not lube inside the gas key because I did not realize at the time that I was supposed to. Any guesses at what caused the failure?

Other than that hang up, which I imagine will be ironed out by my next trip to the range (with 500 rounds of Silver Bear, mind you) I had a lot of fun.

I think much of your problem is probably the UMC. While I have never used any of the Russian steel-cased ammo in my 2 5.56 ARs, when I first got my LMT, I shot a couple hundred rounds of UMC, thinking I got a bargain at Bass Pro. I had numerous FTFs and a couple stovepipes. Since then, the worst (actually not bad, but lowest quality) ammo I have used is Privi XM193, with no malfuntions over a couple thousand rounds. I also use IMI (Isreali Military Industry) and Lake City XM193 as range/plinking ammo. For hunting varmints, I use Hornaday 55gr VMax or SSA 64gr SP, and Hornaday 5.56 75gr T2 TAP for my home defense ammo. My SHTF stash is all TAP or Lake City XM193.

I also have a BCM middy, mounted on a DD lower. It eats up that XM193. So should yours. Lake City is getting down to the $320-345 range for 1000rds, which is a bargain compared to a year or so ago.