AR15.Com Archives
 First build - range report
MandM  [Member]
3/31/2012 8:43:57 AM
After 3 months of ordering and waiting and waiting some more, and ordering some more... the final piece of my puzzle arrived this morning and now she's all put together.

Parts List:

- RioGrandeArms.com 16" Mid-length upper. 1:7 twist, 5.56, FSC556 pinned/welded, no delta pack, no BCG
- Spikes ST-15 Lower
- DSA LPK
- Geissele SSA
- Magpul UBR (pinned)
- Centurion C4 12" hand guards
- Fail Zero BCG
- MagPul 15/20 PMags
- Mako TPod G2 (VFG/bipod)
- TA31H ACOG
- Troy tritium BUIS (DOA rear/ M4 front)

Took it out to the range after work last night. 250 rounds. Not a single hiccup. I thought I might have to go to a H2 buffer... but turns out the stock H buffer runs just fine and ejects at 3 o'clock. The FSC556 brake helps keep the muzzle down. Followup shots were fast. Recoil was manageable.

Troy BUIS were right on the money out of the package... no adjustments necessary. Which was a shock. The Geissele SSA trigger is sweet! I'm very happy with my build. It's everything I want it to be. Now to just get me somewhere where I can lob a few at 300 - 400 yards, just to see how she performs at longer range.

I assembled everything except the upper, and learned a whole lot while doing it. I'm glad that this time I had someone build my upper. (Here in NJ, I needed that brake pinned welded, and that's not something I'm ready to attempt just yet.) Everyone over at RioGrandeArms took care of me. The built a great upper, communicated with me at every step of the process, and even kept checking in to see when it was finished, long after the upper shipped to me.



Greg
RGIFFOUR  [Member]
3/31/2012 11:04:50 AM
Very nice build you got their..

I bought my upper from them as well.. a BCM Midlength barreled one.. running great after 640+ rounds since the end of January.

The 5 days shipping from date of order of mine was what made me .. sometimes the little shops just pay attention..
Engine400  [Member]
3/31/2012 1:29:04 PM
Wow, that is an awesome build! Very nice job, I love it!
EvilPooky  [Member]
3/31/2012 4:50:27 PM
RioGrande Arms are great folks. Can't believe that Charles was responding to my crazy emails on a Saturday and Sunday night.
Pma531  [Member]
4/1/2012 1:53:19 AM
Nice gun man. I'm from jersey too. Where do you shoot?
MandM  [Member]
4/1/2012 8:25:22 PM
Sometimes the customer service and attention from smaller shops just can't be beat! (After I sent Charles the email of my range report, He and I started talking about the NEXT build... even though I already spent all my build money. )

Been spending most of my time lately at RTSP. (Bullethole is closer, but RTSP is MUCH nicer. Less cramped too.) A couple of my buddies in South Jersey go down to Range 14 at Ft. Dix. (I'm taking this down there to go shooting with them in a few weeks.) I'm also trying to figure out which range I'm going to join... Shongum or OBRPC or ANJRPC... I gotta spend some time and "do the math" regarding how far away, cost etc. But I know that now that I have this beast I'll want to go somewhere with at least a 300 range. Plus my girl is really getting into shooting with me so a "family" membership somewhere will probably be more cost effective.
Jconnet  [Member]
4/2/2012 9:51:05 PM
I also am from NJ and just recently started using riogrande for my builds. In the past month I've got 3 14.5+1.5" uppers with yhm lightweight rails. Each one I ordered took less than a week and a half to receive. Nice work on the pinning/welding and indexing on the brakes.