Colt 5/20 round mag

Something arrived in the mail the other day and it's just one more piece of the puzzle, a puzzle I'm still pretty far off from calling complete, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

The elusive 5/20 Colt magazine.....at least elusive in Canada.  As far as I know, there's no retailer that carries these, and they are a huge pain in the dick to source on EE, but I finally have one.  These are great for old school M16 clone builds, but also for Mk12 clone builds as well.  Now, the Mk12 doesn't have to have a 20 round mag, as they are often seen with standard 30 round mags in the wild, but I wanted to have a short mag in my collection, and getting one for my Mk12 clone build was the perfect excuse.

Compared to a standard 30 round mag.

Since these little bastards are so hard to find, I was considering buying a 20 rounder through Midway (their generic house brand), pinning it and having it imported, or maybe go through Brownell's and buying one of theirs, but finding one on EE was a total stroke of luck and it solved my dilema.  

Now I just need the right Leupold Mark 4 scope as well as an 18" Douglas Barrel.  Those might be a while though, and I'm not even sure they will ever happen.  The Leupold Mark 4 is a second focal plane scope, with limited magnification and desireable reticles....not to mention it's in MOA.  I find it hard to swallow the idea of shelling out $1,000 for a used one, let alone $1,900 for a new one, when there are a ton of superior scopes out there for that price range.

Anyway, we'll see.

Surefire Training Suppressor Tested

I finally got to take the Surefire training suppressor out for a test drive, and predictably, did not reduce the sound in any way whatsoever.  It was an interesting experience though, as I'd never tried devices like the Noveske Flaming Pig, or the Surefire Warden. 

The Surefire training suppressor adds a bit of weight to the front end of the rifle, and it also directs any blast forward, while pushing the rifle backwards.  It also creates quite a bit of flash forward too.

I tried the Surefire 4 prong flash hider and it reduces flash to a dot.  It's an amazing unit and I can see why certain branches of the military have adopted it.  Once I threw on the training suppressor however, it enhanced the flame forward, and probably directed some of the sound that way as well.

The result of using the fake can is similar to the real one, in that it really kicks the crap out of the flash hider.

I want this

Fixed carry handle rebuild

Well, my 20" fixed carry handle upper didn't stay intact for very long.  Because of lerch641 from CGN, I got it into my head to flat top my new A2 20" build. 

https://93zj.blogspot.ca/2017/10/2017-10-21-c7-fixed-carry-handle-build.html

Anyway, fairly straightforward to spin the flash hider off, and tap out the pins from the front sight base.

A little G96 on the barrel and a little wiggle will help get the front post off without scratching up the barrel.

Then it's just a matter of spinning off the delta ring assembly.

My first fixed carry handle upper, and it's homeless already.

I then had the brilliant idea of butchering by Colt Expanse competition 3 gun upper I built a while ago:

https://93zj.blogspot.ca/2017/10/colt-expanse-based-3-gun-competition.html

Off came the muzzle brake and the newly installed Midwest Industries free-float M-lok hand guard.

Comparison between the Colt Expanse barrel on the left, and the Olympic Arms HBAR on the right.

Olympic Arms A2 upper on top, the Colt Expanse upper below.

Sometimes when I haven't touched these in a while, I get stumped with the snap ring, because it requires a tool to time it properly, however I remembered the last time I had to do this, I just used a small punch and tapped it around until it was timed properly.

Then it was just a matter of slapping on the front triangle and gas tube.

A close up of the Colt Expanse upper, noting that it's stamped M4 at the front.

Tapping the pins back in place.  I probably should have used an F marked front triangle, but I was too lazy to dig one out of my spare parts bin and seeing if it had the same alignment.

Threw it back on my Colt Canada lower as well as a KAC M5 RAS.  Now I have no idea what this build is supposed to be.  It's not really a C7 build, and it's not really an M16A4 build either....sort of a mutt of both.

Square forge mark on the carry handle and upper, keyhole on the lower.

This is the result of tearing down my 3 gun upper (that I never even had a chance to use for three gun).  I took the Colt Expanse barrel and threw it onto the Olympic Arms A2, dug up some Colt factory hand guards and threw it on the lower of my Mk18 clone.

So, I have no idea what this build is supposed to be.  It's got a 16" barrel, but it would probably look better with a 14.5" barrel or something even shorted.

I'll need a permanent lower for that 16" upper, but I sort of dig that old school look.