Finally got my buddy's 02 running. Unfortunately, we cannot confirm exactly what was causing it. So, we originally had the 18.5" Christiansen Arms AR10 Carbon Fiber .308 barrel on there, but my buddy wanted to try the 18.5" Ballistic Advantage 6.5CM barrel.
When we lined up the base of the aftermarket barrel with BCL's factory barrel, we noted the gas block was set further back on the barrel.
As a result, the gas tube would sit deeper in the upper receiver, but neither of us had any idea if this would affect cycling. Both after market barrels were the same in this respect, so I wasn't sure changing barrels was going to affect cycling in this case, but he wanted to try it so we threw it on.
They are advertised as 18" barrels, but when I measured the .308 CF one from end to end, it was exactly 18.5", and the 6.5cm barrel is longer. I swear, sometimes Canadian gun laws are so fucking retarded.
I also noted that his BCG was bone dry the last time he took his rifle out, so I lubed up the BCG with CLP. We threw on a Vortex Razor HD Gen II and grabbed a few boxes of Hornady 147gr ELD Match and drove it out to the Abby range to test her out.

Alex shot the four groups on the bottom sheet.
4 round group, so not counting this one.
Since he was pretty satisfied that his rifle was finally running properly, I took it for a test drive and shot 1 group on the top sheet:
I'd say that's ok for a semi auto NR rifle.
I took a few other rifles out for fun, but didn't try to shoot any groups. I found out though, that my Norc M14 doesn't seem to like Norc ammo, It was cycling Hornady Steel Match just fine, but not the 7.62 for some reason.
I’ve invested in inexpensive parts in the past and I’ve even
used airsoft accessories on real fire arms thinking I would save money. In the end, those parts failed and I ended up
buying the real deal anyways. From my
personal experience, I recommend staying away from cheap airsoft scopes and red
dot sights. I’ve also had bad luck with
scope rings and bipods meant for airsoft (fake Atlas bipods) so I’ve learned to
stay away from those as well.
Recently, I’ve learned to always follow the manufacturer’s
recommended torque specs. I found out
the hard way with a set of Primary Arms scope rings I bought recently and
over-torqued the keeper screw nut and ended up stripping the keeper screw. I’m sure this could have easily happened with
a set of more expensive Leupold or Nightforce rings, but then again, I might have
paid more attention to the torque specs if I paid more money for the rings,
lol!
These are a set of Weaver Tactical 6 screw scope rings that
I’d purchased a long time ago for a scope that I’d long since sold. I’m not sure if it was the new owner that may
have over-torqued it, but after a few rounds of .308 through the rifle it was
mounted to, the nut came off the scope rings.
It looks like the keeper screw snapped and you can still see a bit of it
inside the nut.
This is a Champion pivot bipod. It’s basically the same as Blackhawk or Caldwell
in that they’re all clones of the Harris, except these are probably all made in
China. Not a horrible bipod if you don’t
abuse it, but the mounting screw stripped on me and this bipod failed me after
a few years of use. I’ll probably
replace these with Harris bipods eventually.
The Vortex bubble level wasn’t cheap at the time, but I
guess the older ones were inexpensively manufactured in China. This level was on a scope I bought several
years ago, and the bubble has gotten bigger over the years.
So, I finally got around to getting my Mk12 Mod 1 clone build out to see how it shoots. I knew the Colt HBAR that it was built around shot well when I had the barrel encased in Primary Weapons Systems (PWS) parts. I'd only shot it once and I recall getting a decent group but I didn't measure it and wish I had. The Mk12 Mod 1 clone had a Leupold 3.5-10x40mm FFP with Leupold's fine TMR reticle and I was shooting 75gr Hornady Steel Match, and I also tried out a few rounds of 77gr Federal Gold Medal Match SMKs.
I also dragged my M14 EBR out to see if I could get it to shoot reliably. The last time I had this rifle out was in December of 2016 and it wasn't functioning properly. Shells weren't ejecting properly and I had my buddy Roy take a look at it. The shells were getting caught on the nut of the keeper screw of the scope rings. I've since switched out the rings and scope and made sure the nut was on the opposite side this time (opposite of ejection port side). The M14 was equipped with a Leupold VX-R Patrol 3-9x40mm SFP with Leupold's TMR reticle (a lot fatter than the fine version on the Mark 4) and I was shooting 155gr Hornady Steel Match.
I went with a few buddies to the Abbotsford Fish and Game Club this past weekend. I think most of us have grown tired of the Port Coquitlam District Hunting and Fishing Club (PCDHFC) as it's gotten pretty crowded, and at times, a bit fuddy.
The Abby range had no wait time, plenty of lanes, and it was self governed. It was a nice clean range and I would definitely like to go back.
It's a shame that it maxes out at 100m, but for zeroing rifles and shooting groups, it was good enough.
There were plenty of benches to shoot off of, but there was also amble space to lay down right beside your bench to shoot prone
The first thing I shot was my M14. I really wanted to see if it was just the scope ring issue that was causing previous malfunctions. I know that my buddy Roy had diagnosed that as the issue, but I wanted to make sure. I had a couple of cheap 7.62 rounds left in the magazine and decided to send a few for a rough zero, but a few of them actually failed to eject properly.
Crap....so, I got out the 155gr Hornady Steel Match and my worries disappeared. After I got a rough rough zero on a rock at about 75m, I decide to zero the rifle at the 100m target. I shot a 5 round group that looked fairly respectable and went to my rifle sized targets.
I probably should have measured this one, but it looks like it's about 2"?
Anyway, the best group I could manage with the Leupold VX-R was 1.7" at 100m. Maybe I could have done better with more magnification and a finer reticle, maybe not. I've read a lot of frustrating first hand accounts of people trying to squeeze accuracy out of these things. Rack grade M14s came with no accuracy guarantees, and from what I've read match grade M14s can come with a guarantee to produce 2" groups at 100 yards. There are accounts where some people have poured large amounts of money into these things (not even Norinco) in their "Ultimate Builds" to which produced 1" to 1 1/4" groups. Some custom builds have been known to produce 1" or less, but I don't think I'm going to chase that unicorn. I talked to Roy about it and he assured me the groups my rifle was producing was good for an M14.
My Mk12 Mod 1 clone build performed as well as I expected. I managed a .875" group at 100m, but I honestly think this rifle could do better with more magnification. At 100m, it was hard for me to see the target, even with the fine TMR reticle. That being said, it is supposed to be a clone build, and wouldn't be right with one of Leupold's higher power Mark 4s. Actually, the Mod 1 was more commonly seen with Leupold's 2.5-8x36mm Mark 4, not this one, but I think I'll just settle for close enough.
Overall, I'm happy with these two rifles. I think it was a successful day for me in that I managed to get both rifles zeroed. The bonus was that both of them produced groups I was satisfied with considering the ammo and glass. The Mk12 Mod 1 will always be a range toy considering the AR's restricted status, but maybe I can take the M14 out to plink with at further distances.
