So what kind of LSP are you, and by the way we doubt that's your real name, if you don't even shoot? Good question, punters. To set the record straight I headed for the range this morning.
There it was, hot as an oven under the Texan sky, and I was on a mission. Viz. Zero in a new and specially crafted AR15. But at what range? There's plenty of pros and cons to the 25, 36, 50 and 100 yard zero, and beyond, but I went for 36 because that's where the shooting bench had been moved respective to the nearest available target.
After a quick bore sight, the weapon was on paper in the 9 ring and I dialed up twice to hit the X on the third shot. Awesome, rifle and optic worked, except that wasn't quite true. Sure, the gun was on but it wasn't cycling. Why? Because the cunning armorer who'd put the beast together hadn't installed its gas block correctly, it wasn't aligned with the barrel's gas port, turning the DAR (Deadly Assault Rifle) into a one shot wonder.
Huh. After a few shots on a steel turkey I moved over to .22 plinking with a Ruger American. A heavy metal bird took a beating along with a small spinner, and then it was time to head for home and a serious meeting with Block, Tube, Pin, Barrel & Co.
You see, the builder of this gun somehow forgot, perhaps he was distracted, that he was working with a 16" barrel. He thought he was assembling an 18" setup and labored accordingly. This meant the gas tube was too long and when fitted to its block didn't align with the barrel's gas port. No hot gas working that famous impingement system, you see, and thus no BCG cycle. What to do?
Stare in slack-jawed, NRA consternation at the offending article and the sheer, brazen, literal incompetence of it all? Take it to a shop and ask them to fix it? Or do it yourself. I chose the latter route. It's not hard. Remove the hand guard, tap out the gas tube's retaining pin with a cleverly small hammer and roll pin punch, then loosen the gas block, slide it forward to the awesome Surefire SOCOM muzzle brake, which demands a suppressor, and remove the gas tube.
Well done, you're nearly there. Next step, produce a gas tube for a 16" barrel, clean it, mine was dirty, and press the tube into the gas block. Make sure the retaining pin holes on tube and block align, then tap the retaining pin back in. Replace hand guard. Done.
At least that's the hope. It looks right, but I'll test the offending article out tomorrow on another range at a church shoot. It'd better work or there'll be trouble, and then some.
#2A,
LSP
