Morning Win-Mag - well, that was a good trade between BFFs. Darn interesting piece you have there, didn’t know/recall there was a matching .22 cal conversion. Nice target btw..As my buddy was pulling the .45 conversion kit out of its cardboard outer box, I remembered it. But I had no recollection of the .22 conversion unit. And those oddball magazines are really rare, compared to military surplus ones.
The new M4E2 uses the stock DPMS trigger parts. I hone the bearing surfaces, carefully, on a diamond hone. If the hardening is proper, everything cuts smoothly, like glass sliding on glass. On substandard parts, the surface hardness goes away quickly, leaving the softer metal to "grab" and bite into the diamond hone. I've had consistently good luck with the DPMS parts I've used on four separate weapons. With the M-faux such a generic weapon now, almost all parts are made by a few OEMs. Even Colt now buys smaller parts from specialized companies, but inspects and tweaks them to meet their higher standards. Apart from a couple of smaller builders who mill their uppers and lowers out of billet, there are only two companies that provide the aluminum forgings, and sometimes do some of the initial CNC milling.
So again, some common-sense tweaks, and a bit of patience, pay off in a rifle that works better than most people would ever expect, even using a "stock" trigger (I have about an hour of labor into it), and GI ball ammo from 1972. I have no doubt that I can fire a decent group with this,even with the iron sights. But when you are building for a serious purpose, you don't skimp on quality optics. Just keep an eye peeled for the bargains that appear from time to time.
I'll have to get out some handguns so I can go to the range and humble myself. I'm just a rifleman stuck in a handgunner's world.
I took the new M4 to the range yesterday to sight in the Eotech that will wear from now on. I worked harder at my shooting, and have this nice 50 yard group, done with that big red holographic dot:
Yeah, that's a 30-round "score" of 300/25X. Again, fired from an unconventional supported position, with a bit more effort to uphold my end of the bargain. A clean trigger pull of 5 lbs helps a lot.
By chance, there were three other guys firing their M-faux also. Each one stopped by my firing point to ask why my rifle shot so much better than theirs. I didn't give them the old "Carnegie Hall" excuse (practice, practice), although going back forty years with the M16 system has a bit to do with it.
Instead I just said I made a few enhancements using readily available commercial products. I just didn't mention the gunsmithing skill that comes from doing several of these rifles.
I also realize that adding a target trigger to this rifle may not show any improvement in my performance. I may be maxed out with no further skill left to do even better with these rifles. It's humbling to realize that I may be building weapons that already exceed my modest skills. At least I know the performance is there in the rifle if I can ever move on to the next level.
The other thing that humbled me on the range was finding a fired S&W .500 case. I know the revolvers are hugh, but this was my first encounter with some of its ammo.
On the left is the puny .44Mag, and on the right is a skinny 5.56mm NATO. The .500S&W case is simply huge!
There are some sort of extractor marks 180 degrees apart on the rim, which is not typical of a revolver. I asked the guys behind the counter, and they couldn't recall what other type of firearm would use this round. One of life's little mysteries.