Straight pull AR and extraction

[safetyfirst]

Quite so LR, given you can shoot them in semi auto 22,22wmr plus lever release .45, 9mm,.223 and straight pull 233,308,6.5 Grendel/creedmore,300 blackout,50 Beowulf etc etc.

Watch the bank balance with lego though....

[longrange223]

I know, it's addictive. :) Only .22 LR and .223 for me though. Cheaper rounds means more rounds. :)

Have any of you tried your straight pull AR's without the buffer spring? These guns seem to function fine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z50ej-eszA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVN6YAOszzA

[safetyfirst]

Hmm. I kinda like having that spring to keep the bolt closed on the explosion in front of my face but perhaps I'm uneducated. I guess the charging handle helps here, I don't know how locked an AR breech would be without its buffer.

You'd have to hand feed rounds too like the guy in the video but I guess it works!

What I have done is pulled the buffers (but kept the tubes) from semi auto .22's as they add weight and are functionally useless as far as I can tell.

It lets you fit interesting stocks when you don't need a buffer.

[dromia]

Gosh, you know there's no other kind of rifle that can cause people to become so rude as an AR on this forum.

Please just let people buy and shoot whatever they like, if you see a thread about a rifle you don't like then please allow people the freedom to discuss it without having their thread derailed.

I don't think anyone is trying to stop anyone buying a pretendy AR, I don't sense any form of firearm bigotry on here. There are certainly strong preferences but I haven't seen anyone on here saying that people shouldn't have any legal gun they want, well not since nfrancis was posting here.

I think the thing with pretendy ARs is that many people just cannot fathom the attraction, the Lego reference has been made many times about pretendy ARs and again many people fail to see the attraction of this, must be fashionable is all I can put it down to.

Buy, shoot and enjoy your pretendy ARs all you want and the membership here will be happy for you although no doubt some of us will still be a tad puzzled an amused.

[DaveB]

I used to have no love for ARs, in spite of having carried a C7 in the army, but eventually I started to shoot Service Rifle. The ARs have a huge advantage compared to say SKS or SLRs in terms of accuracy, and the lighter calibre speeds recovery from recoil, so eventually I realised I was never going to get into the upper half of the pack without one. Once you get one though, they multiply. We just call it BRD (Black Rifle Disease). Now I have three, and a spare upper that I will do something with one day.

[dromia]

Do you have proper ARs in NZ or are they pretendy ones like we have here.

I'd have a proper one in a heartbeat if I could. However when it is just another single shot there are other far more interesting guns out their for me to play with.

[joe]

I have to ask what is wrong with a bolt action .223.

Not as fast as straight pull AR except maby an Enfield or a blazer

[joe]

Thanks for the replies. I'm both considering purchasing a straigt pull upper, or convert one of my semi uppers to straight pull. Buying a finished one is of course the easiest. After some searching I've come up with the following manufacturers. Are there any other right side chargers that I'm missing?
- Bradley Arms
- Lantac
- Lewis Machine & Tool
- Southern Gun Company

Is a "slickside" upper preferrable? The LMT design in the picture below has kept the forward assist and part of the case deflector, but maybe that will be bothersome and get in the way when cycling the mechanism fast?

chamber polishing and carefully tuned bolts etc. The trick is to buy an upper from someone who makes them specially for straight pull operation I'd say.

I am wondering about building my own upper using a regular barrel, so this is interesting. I will try to close the gas port on my rifle next time I'm on the range, and see if the extractions are tough. Hopefully that will give an idea if chamber polishing could be a thing.

If building one yourself, remember to remove the gas rings from the bolt and installing a POF roller cam pin can smooth things out.

Did a little reserach on the POF roller cam pins, and it seemed like they were meant for piston uppers. In case of a DI upper with a gas key, the gas key has to be taken off to mount/ diassemble the roller cam pin. That's not optimal for maintenance. Another option I found, that maybe could have worked, is the Hydra-Fire Roller Cam Pin, which can be assembled/ disassembled on regular bolt carriers.

Does anybody happen to know what threads the different manufacturers use to connect their handles to the carrier? I read on some U.S. forums that side chargers using 1/4"-20 screws (1.270 mm pitch) more easily stripped, while this seldom was a problem with 1/4"-28 (0.907 mm pitch) due to finer threads. Armi Dallera Custom use M6x1 threads on their side chargers, which is quite fine. So if I were to do this project myself I think I would choose either two regular M5x0.8 or M6x1 hex screws. Common is always nice, easy to repair and find spares.

Pictures below are of a homemade side charging handle lent from a forum post at snipershide. Wonder how hard the carrier surface is.

With regards to the lmt, just get them to mill away the forward assist !

[DaveB]

Do you have proper ARs in NZ or are they pretendy ones like we have here.

I'd have a proper one in a heartbeat if I could. However when it is just another single shot there are other far more interesting guns out their for me to play with.

No, we have proper ARs here in NZ. You can even have them on your basic (A Category) firearms licence provided they do not have a 'freestanding pistol grip', flash eliminator, bayonet lug, or a magazine that holds (or even appears to hold) more than 7 rounds. So you can't pin a 30 round magazine to only hold 7, for example, and still meet the requirements.

If you want those features, you need an E Category licence, which requires additional more thorough vetting, a heavier (6mm steel) safe, better security, a good reason to own (i.e. competitive shooting in a Service Rifle association), and annual serial number checks and annual re-inspection of your security arrangements.

These are the same requirements, by the way, to own a pistol in NZ.

[dromia]

Pretendy ARs/real ARs is like comparing apples and oranges.

Glad you can have real ones that makes understanding your enthusiasm for the type much clearer and certainly something I can identify with..