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Posted: 2/22/2025 9:19:50 PM EDT
[Last Edit: BobR1][Edited]
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What I have is a Palmetto State Armory 7.5 Inch, 5.56 NATO Pistol. The Factory Handguard is a 6 Inch Length, made by Midwest Industries. It is equipped with a Carbine 6 Position Adjustable Buffer Tube, however the SBA3 Pistol Brace was missing when I bought it. (Probably removed while they were not legal) I installed an SB Tactical SBA4X-01-SB Adjustable Brace. (SBA-4 Black) This version of the Brace looks about like an M4 Stock from the side view. I replaced the factory Installed A2 Flash Suppressor with an UltraDyne Athena 5.56 Lineal Compensator. For Optics I have an UltraDot 6 Red Dot mounted on a Leupold MK AR Cantilever Base using Warne 30mm Maxima Vertical Split Rings. The UltraDot 6 is equipped with Butler Creek Scope Caps supplied by UltraDot West with the sight. The Sight Height above Center Bore is just a shade under 3 Inches. For the testing so far I am using a MagPul AR-M4 10 Round Magazine. Today I was also utilizing a Harris Bench Rest Notch Leg Bi-pod. For a target I started out with a Cardboard Silhouette with a Bright White Foam Desert Plate as the aiming point. NOTE: When sighting in a Red Dot I have found that using a Bright White Target works out the best of any target so far. Center the Red Dot on the White Aiming Point. I started off at 25 yards. After a few adjustments the AR was zeroed close enough to move back to 100 yards. At 100 yards I kept all three rounds fired on the Desert Plate Target while making sight adjustments. We still have snow on the ground, and today we had a clear bright sun shiny day. I had the 4 MOA Dot selected, and the Brightness set all the way up at 11 "Maximum". Between the Snow and Bright Sun Light the Dot could have been brighter. I needed to put up a Bright White "Larger Size" Dinner Plate so that I could better center the 4 MOA Dot on the Aiming Point to get an even better Zero. The 4 MOA Dot against a Desert Plate did not produce enough of a White Halo around the Dot to get it centered very well. I was interested in seeing what 55 grain Ball Ammunition would do out of the 7.5 Inch Barrel. My plan so far is to practice with 55 Grain Ball, and use 55 Soft Points OR 55 V-Max Bullets for Carry Ammunition in the Pistol. The ammunition I selected to shoot today was 55 Grain Ball, Winchester White Box, Q3131 Head Stamp WCC 99. The average velocity for 10 rounds recorded with a Garmin Chronograph was 2,450.96 FPS. The Brass was ejecting at approximately 1:30 - 2:00 O'Clock. The Brass was also displaying swipe marks indication that the AR was Over Gassed. Easily corrected with an Adjustable Gas Fixture. I also fired Three Handloads with Sierra 69 Grain SMK Bullets. These loads were not a maximum load. The average velocity was only 2,028.77 FPS. Not very Impressive. The UltraDyne Athena Lineal Compensator quieted (For The Operator Atleast) the AR Pistol down enough that Flanged Ear Plugs were sufficient. It was still loud, but manageable with only Ear Plugs. This was what I was hoping for using the UltraDyne Athena Lineal Compensator. WHAT DO I THINK ABOUT THE PALMETTO STATE ARMORY PISTOL? The Engraving on the Lower is very Clean and Crisp. The Upper and Lower mate up very well. Nothing has been Boogered up during assembly. The Upper/Lower/ and Midwest Handguard are all color matched very well. I would not expect any better Color Match. All Controls function perfectly. Fit and Finish on everything on this example is very good. So far it has ran 100%. ZERO Malfunctions. The Bolt and Carrier, along with all other parts look to be Mil Spec. I own a Colt, a Rock River, and have Aero Parts on another build. I have not detected anything to indicate that the quality of this build is sub-par to any of them. From what I have read the PSA is considered to be a Budget Gun. I have not detected anything that I would consider to be a Budget Build about this AR Pistol. So far I am 100% happy with my purchase. I will try and shoot another group with it tomorrow using a larger White Plate to Halo the Red Dot much better. I would like to determine just how accurate this 7.5 Inch Barrel Pistol is. MOVING ON My reading has indicated that the velocity loss using the 7.5 Inch Barrel hurts the performance of the 5.56 Pistol a lot for Self Defense. My first round of testing last week with a "POS" BSA Low Power Scope, that I had laying around was extremely disappointing accuracy wise. After my Range Day today, It now appears that the accuracy issue was 100% Scope related, and not the Gun. This accuracy issue from the first round of testing, plus the velocity loss issue with the 7.5 Inch Barrel prompted me to make an order for a 11.5 Inch Government Profile Ballistic Advantage Barrel. That Barrel should be delivered the first of next week. I have in hand a Carbine Gas Tube and non-adjustable Gas Fixture for the new barrel. My current plan as of today, is to install the 11.5 Barrel utilizing the 6 Inch Midwest Handguard, and see how much the velocity comes up. I will then make a determination if the velocity gain offsets the Handy Length of the 7.5 Inch Barrel. If I end up keeping the 11.5 Inch Ballistic Advantage Barrel on it. I will run by Stern Defense and pick up a 10 Inch M-Loc Handguard for it. More to come as I progress. Bob R |
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The UltraDyne Athena Lineal Compensator is approximately .75 longer than an A2 Flash Suppressor. It is well worth the slight addition to Overall Length from my observations so far. It redirects enough noise forward that the 7.5 Inch AR is shootable with ONLY Flanged Ear Plugs. Even if I end up going with the 11.5 Inch Barrel, I will reinstall the Lineal Compensator on it. Another thing that I plan on doing is weighing the Buffer to determine what I have installed. If I end up keeping the 7.5 Inch Barrel, I will need to address the Over Gased issue with an Adjustable Gas Fixture, Heavier Buffer, or possibly with a different Buffer Spring. I will need to research this more before doing anything. Bob R |
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panthermark The 300BO is another option. One could stay at 8 Inches with reasonable performance going that direction. I was seriously considering going that direction. The fact that I have several thousand 55 grain Ball Bullets helped me stay with 5.56 NATO. I load for my brothers 300 BO now. A Barrel and a few more 300 BO Magazines would have one up and running. I use 300BO Mags in my 300 HAM'R AR. Ballistic Advantage has the 300 BO 8 Inch Barrel on sale for around $80 the last add that I saw. I may order one to have to play with. The good thing about having an AR15 Tool Box is swapping barrels on one is no issue at all. The 22LR would be a blast. I have a 16" Tactical Solutions 22LR Upper that I have had for years. I have the Tactical Solutions Upper on a CMMG Lower. I had the Tactical Solutions Upper before CMMG started doing 22LR Uppers, and Inserts. I rebuilt it in 2023. It now has a MagPul MOE Stock, and Stern Defense M-Loc Handguard. I also removed the front sight tower. It looks totally different than it did with Colt Carbine Plastic Handguards and a front sight. The UltraDot 6 was on it until this week. It now has a NEW Athlon TALOS BTR GEN2 1-4x24 30mm Scope. I have it set up with a Bipod Stud as well as an 1913 Rail Section to mount a 1000 Lumen Light for Night Carbine Match's. Bob R |
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The Dinner Plate did not help any. Still around 4-5 Inch Group. The Dinner Plate did not Halo well either. I got to thinking, I have not put a new battery in the UltraDot-6 in a while. I may start with a New battery. Then up the aiming point size a little more. Possibly use a 5 Gallon Bucket Lid as a pattern on White Poster Board. Sighting in my 480 Super RedHawk with a 30mm MatchDot, I have not had issues with a Desert Plate. It might be the Battery is low. If I were really serious about just how accurate the barrel is, I have a HAWK 6-24 Scope that I could mount on it. I plan to leave the UltraDot-6 on it, so I will probably keep working with it. It is shooting well enough for close range use. My main concern is the velocity numbers 3,200 FPS Ball Ammo (20"), running 2,450 FPS (7.5") is a huge velocity loss. I may need to get some carry ammo loaded, and put a few rounds into my Fackler Water Box, and see what I get for Bullet Expansion, and penetration at 50 yards. More to come as I work with it. Bob R |
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I got a minute, and changed the battery in the UltraDot-6. It came right to life again. Where I am at: My 11.5 Ballistic Advantage Government Profile Barrel came in. I picked up another Gas Fixture and a Carbine Gas Tube from Hunt's Long Range. I stopped by Stern Defense and picked up a 10" M-Loc Handguard. The UltraDot-6 is back up to speed ready to go, after installing a fresh battery. I will move the UltraDyne Athena Lineal Compensator to the new barrel during installation. Now I just need so time to swap barrels. The plan for after Church today, is to clean some Cedars out of the East/West Fence along both sides of the gravel road. Yesterday I was cutting up plywood and boards to rebuild the 20 each 4'x4' Target Frames on the 600 yard line at the Range. After that I had work to catch up on the Lease. Between Snow, Ice, Rain, and Mud the lease project had been stalled until yesterday afternoon. I believe we have a Rain Day coming up shortly, that should get me some free time in the shop to change barrels. I will also change the stock on my 14.7" M4. I had changed to a Rifle Buffer Tube and a Mag Pul MOE Stock a little over a year ago when I did a major upgrade to all of my AR's. I am planning on putting the Carbine Buffer Assembly back on it along with the original Vltor Stock that had been on it for years. I had the M4 perfected to start with. More to come. Bob R |
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