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Re: Spree...

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 10:48
by Ohio3Wheels
I would have to agree, I bought a S&W Victory Sunday and since I was at the range and my bag was still in the car I spent an hour getting acquainted. First I really like the pistol so far and it only stumbled on a couple of the rounds I had along. Out of 10 Remington Golden it couldn't chamber 2. I had also picked up a box of the CCI copper bullets just to try out. Of the 5 I tried I had 2 that didn't blow the slide back far enough to pick up another round or to lock the slide back. They could get better with more break in as they worked fine in the M&P AR15-22 that has had close to 1200 rounds through it. Probably all anecdotal as very small sample group. Best so far have been bulk packed Herters HP from Cabelas and CCI Minimags.

Stay well, make smoke,

Re: Spree...

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 18:52
by mr surveyor
I didn't know the S&W Victory was chambered for the 22 lr. Several year ago I had one that was actually stamped for .38 spl … it had been rechambered by the Brits for .38-200 (or some such). Worked o.k. as a "snake gun" for my day job, but being blued it couldn't hold up to my daily needs.

The Vic model was really some good stuff though.


jd

Re: Spree...

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 20:02
by Ohio3Wheels
I think the one you're talking about is/was a revolver. This a semi-auto.

Stay well, Make smoke,

Re: Spree...

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 21:20
by mr surveyor
Ohio3Wheels wrote:I think the one you're talking about is/was a revolver. This a semi-auto.

Stay well, Make smoke,

yep, I was thinking the original WWII "Victory" model. Had no idea they would regurgitate the name ..


jd

Re: Spree...

Posted: 26 Mar 2020 02:02
by Archer
Yeah, the Victory is Smith's newish midpriced target/plinker. I have a friend in Arkansas with one who says it is good but he thinks Smith may be over hyping it a little. Good to know the one you got seems to be working out.

I've heard good things about the M&P 22 handguns. I see the one on their website is the 'compact'. I don't know if it was a full sized but a friend of mine had one several years ago and he claimed it was the only .22LR he didn't jam. I have a couple friends with the M&P 15-22s that really seem to like them. I admit I haven't gotten one nor have I picked up a AR conversion unit at least yet although I might have some mags for the conversion. Part of that is I have a couple 10/22s and a couple lever guns plus a few more older .22LR semi auto rifles.

I don't know how my friend with the M&P 22 handgun did it but he managed to jam my Ruger MKII Govt which rarely has any kind of malfunction. I would almost bet he could jam the Smith 17 I had.
I accused him of being limp wristed when it came to .22 handguns.

Re: Spree...

Posted: 09 Aug 2020 13:41
by Archer
Found a MEGA MATEN lower receiver and decided to go ahead and get it.
I had picked up a 2nd MATEN upper with handguard a little over a year ago when Brownells was blowing them out for good prices but didn't realize at the time that ZEV had basically discontinued the MEGA line. There was some leftover New Old Stock that was blown out about the end of last year and I missed them. Either there's been some additional production or they found some additional NOS. I'm sort of betting it was new production although on a limited basis. In any event it allows me to build the .243 Win AR as a full up gun AND lets me potentially switch the .308 and the .243 uppers and lowers so I can build one with a Magpul PRS stock and the other as a carbine stock or lighter wieght rifle stock and then exchange the uppers depending on whether it's a long range bench day or a walking through the woods day.

Now I need some scope mounts...

Re: Spree...

Posted: 22 Aug 2020 05:23
by Archer
With a little luck I should be able to mount three of my scopes soon.
That'll be a .308 and .243 AR and a 6.5 Grendel.

Re: Spree...

Posted: 24 Oct 2020 02:03
by Archer
I'm feeling the need to post some updates.
Maybe some posts or a thread showing the parts and assembly of the Mega MATEN's.

I did FINALLY receive the 30mm scope rings for my ARs. That lets me mount 3 scopes. I'm thinking the MATENs and the 24" Grendel.

I also dug out a set of 1" AR height rings I didn't know I had but I don't have a 1" scope to put in them at the moment. Well, I've got one but the plan is to put it on a Remington 700 in 270 Win using the existing mounts/rings.

Found a couple sets of Medium 30mm rings at the same time that I'd forgotten I picked up. That was a bit annoying since I KNOW I've had these long enough that I could have used them some time ago on a couple bolt guns that I purchased rings for AFTER I had these on hand. Not a big deal as I got them on sale at a really nice price and they'll probably come in handy eventually. I could get a rail or a set of weaver bases for the Remington and use a set of them with my last unmounted 30mm scope and switch the 1" tube to an AR.

Re: Spree...

Posted: 04 Dec 2020 22:15
by Archer
Dug out my Aero Precision .308 Winchester AR build.

Swapped out the 333 Tactical rear camming latch pin for a Juggernaut Tactical Hellfire rear latch pin.
Left the 333 mag latch and modified bolt catch in place.
The ONLY reason I did this was to make cleaning the gun easier. I had to take the grip off the gun or clean from the muzzle with the 333 latch. 333 appears to be no longer in business. There part was better construction and finish but having to take the grip off to get the bolt out was not acceptable. Outside of CA respecting the 2nd I think combining the best of the 333 part with the Juggernaut part would be more to my liking but I don't think that's going to happen either.

Replaced the GI fire control (Hammer/Trigger/Disconnector/springs & pins) with a LaRue Tactical MBT-2S.
Pretty impressed with the LaRue parts. If they prove out for longevity and reliability then I'd say this is one of the best bang for the buck triggers for an AR out there. Of course I bought it a couple years ago on a Black Friday sale.

Re: Spree...

Posted: 10 Dec 2020 07:55
by Archer
So I've had two Mega MATEN builds on the back burner for a while.
The idea behind this is to be able to have a .308 and a .243 rifle where the uppers can be switched between a PRS stocked lower and a carbine stocked lower.

When I started the build a while back I decided the 24" .243 barrel I had lying around for a while was too blame heavy and the Midwest handguard nut was not lining up in the specified torque range so I needed to either use a different handguard nut, barrel shims or possibly lap the receiver a thou or two. I don't like the idea of lapping the receiver since it removes the anodize and on top of that ANY lapping compound used on aluminum is going to embed in the aluminum. I ended up ordering some shims since even if I wanted to make them myself they'd be a pain in the posterior.

Last evening I tore down the partial builds I had done and started digging through parts to see what I had and what I wanted or needed to change. The tear down removed the Mega handguard, punched out a gas tube roll pin, removed the gas block and gas tube, removed the ultra heavy .243 barrel.

This leaves me with a Mega MATEN matched upper and lower receiver set, a Mega MATEN enhanced upper and handguard and a second Mega Lower, a 20" .243 'heavy' barrel parkerized 1:8 twist 3.1 pounds, a 20" Rainier Ultramatch .308 barrel stainless 1:10 twist ~3.1 lbs. I won't be using the 5+ lb .243 24" barrel that I removed. Both barrels use rifle length gas tubes.

The old .243 barrel used a .950 diameter gas gland and I had a SLR Rifleworks adjustable block for the build just in case I needed the ability to tune the gas on the odd caliber. The new barrel takes a .750 gas block. I am going to try using a standard non-adjustable this time and see how it works. I can go adjustable if needed later. I was planning on using a standard low profile .750 gas block with the .308 barrel so both uppers will be built with the same gas systems parts.

Still going to use the Midwest Industries 15" High DPMS pattern keymod handguard on the MATEN without the enhanced handguard. I'm planning on using this with the .243 barrel so I'll see if the torque works out with that barrel. IF it doesn't I have the Bison Armory barrel shims to tweak it.

I'm going to be using VG6 Gamma muzzle breaks. The .243 will get the 6.5 which should work fine with the 6mm bullet and the .308 will of course get the .308 brake.

The Mega lowers have the pivot and take down pins already installed. They have an ambi bolt catch already installed.
I'm planning on using a Geissele SSA-E Trigger in one and a LaRue Tactical MBT-2S in the other one. Those include the complete trigger, disconnector and hammer with pins and springs in both cases.
The Mega uppers have the ejection port doors installed and there are no provisions for forward assists.
I'm planning on using ambi safety selectors.
I've got pistol grips with CA compliant Kydex wraps and/or CA compliant fins either comes with pistol grip bolts and lock washers.
(The trigger guards on the Mega lowers are integral like they are on most .308s.)
That's a large portion of the small parts needed to put these together.

I have some spare parts including 2 complete mag catchs w/springs and a couple .308 mag buttons. (the AR-15 buttons will work but I prefer the longer ones from Aero Precison for the large frame guns.)
I have a selector detent and spring or three left over from other builds.
IF I use those leftover parts I will still need to find:

2 buffer retainers and springs

Took a little digging but Several years ago I picked up a few backup kits of loose parts for the AR labeled 'Pins and Springs, AR Lower', 'critical AR-15 parts kit' and 'Essential AR-15 Parts kit'. I think they include a total of 5 buffer retainers and springs.
So I shouldn't need to bust open a complete lower parts kits for either of these builds.

I've got two Fail Zero .308 bolt carrier assemblies that are nickel boron coated.
The MATEN matched receiver set came with a Mega charging handle. It's a more or less mil-spec type. I prefer the extended charging handles. I've got another mil-spec, a BCM and a couple Radian Raptors so there's some choice as to what I end up using.

As I mentioned the stocks will be a Magpul PRS and either a Magpul Fixed Carbine or a Magpul MOE Carbine with a Strike Industries stock block strip. The PRS will get a rifle extension tube with a .308 rifle buffer and .308 rifle spring. The carbine will get a QD end plate and some combination of a .308 carbine buffer and .308 spring or a Heavy .308 carbine buffer and Springco orange .308 heavy buffer spring. I will have both of them on hand during testing in case I need to swap those parts out. My preference would probably be for the heavy buffer and spring but I will need to check them out at the range preferably in the cold. If needed as I said an adjustable gas block would be an option and the SLR Rifleworks ones have worked pretty well for me.

The plan is to scope both of these uppers. I'll be putting Bushnell scopes on them using Warne rings.
I probably won't be putting back up sights on either of them immediately but I'd like to eventually.
These builds won't be exactly light weight but they should be fun.