tortuga

Got it covered, it turns out it is stripper red.

I knew I could count on you guys. I was hoping for something more like duplicolor #xxxx

Life got in the way and the TS .40 I bought new a while back has been neglected. I finally noticed that there is no paint on one side of the frame where it shows if the safety is on. You know, the little red dot. Probably didn't notice before because I don't look at the damn thing to tell if the safety is on, that is what your thumb is for. It didn't bug me at first but now it does. Anybody know what color paint that is? Told you it was a stupid question.

LGS has a salt-nitride finished Franklin Armory barrel for sale at a good price - $200; tried to search for their rep but no luck. I'd like to support a CA company and the LGS if this is a good find, any input? FWIW it is a 1/8 24" bull, been wanting to try one out on a varmint rig to see how it feels and peforms compared to a 20".

Thanks for the feedback. I bought the calipers from Dillon Precision 20+ years ago, not HF. I agree the hand-held depth rod technique is not best, took a bunch of measurements to compensate. Just trying to make the wheel rounder, maybe, but I thought it was interesting.

Thanks for the feedback. Again, I'm not measuring headspace - just looking at the difference between bolts and the potential effect on headspace. I figured that if the lug measurement would show how far the bolt extended into the extension, and what I called the "plunge" is how far back the actual breechface is. Lug depth - plunge + distance off the barrel extension lugs.

Thanks for the offer, trgt, first of all. No, I am not trying to measure headspace without a bolt/barrel combo. Just curious about the impact of changing bolts - I have been told don't worry about it, just buy good parts; my experience tells me to check it. As far as I know all the parts I have ARE good parts - but the range of measurements I get show that I could swap the JP with a Sabre and go from GO to NO GO. What's up with the LAR I'm not sure - gotta check that out.

So being new to the AR build game but coming from the varmint rifle game, I'm kind of obsessing over headspace. I get plenty of advice that says don't worry about it, just buy good parts but thought I'd check into it a bit more. Currently I have 7 bolts in my kit, and thought it would be interesting to measure them and see what the difference in headspace would be if I swapped them around. I measured the bolt lugs and the "plunge" from the face of the bolt to the breach face. 4 unused Sabre Defence bolts - lug width was .278 to .279, plunge was .121 to .122. This tells me the breech face should be .156 to .158 off the lugs in the barrel extension. OK so far? A lightly used DPMS bolt showed .277 lug width and a .118 plunge, placing the breech face .159 off the lugs. A lightly used bolt that MIGHT be a JP (go it with a JP carrier, but used) but might not be was .279 at the lugs, .125 plunge for .154 off the lugs. A very lightly used, if at all, bolt that came with a LAR Ops4 upper was the outlier; .280 at the lugs, .123 plunge for .167 off the lugs. Thanks for playing along so far. Here come the questions; First, Am I looking at this correctly? Second, If the difference between go and no-go is .003, isn't it kind of odd to find that LAR bolt would cause the headspace to be .013 less in the same barrel as another bolt? Third, All of these bolts seem to be of good quality and have little if any wear, but the extreme spread in resulting headspace is .013, if I am looking at this right - That seems like a LOT. Interested to hear your thoughts.

I am picking up parts for a featureless build. Among other junk I currently have a Hammerhead grip, an 8 year old doublestar lower that might be ready for the dremel, and just picked up a DPMS sweet sixteen upper with no nasty threads or other deadly device attachments. Test fit my ACE Socom stock on the Hammerhead and it felt pretty good, optics lined up good. Hoping to try it with a high stock and low stock once I get enough parts. The big question is this; the Hammerhead actually feels pretty good, but it would feel a lot better if the lower was clearanced a bit below the buffer tube threads. The buffer retainer hole limits what you can do back here, as well as maintaining the structural integrity of the lower to where the buffer tube won't crack off. With a stock mounted on the hammerhead, that is less of an issue. Considering that nobody thinks twice of grip reductions, trigger guard mods and otherwise shaving pistol frames, why not do the same thing with an AR? Somebody talk me out of this. The attached pic shows the approximate location of the buffer detent and the area shaved that I am thinking about.

A good comp is always worse on the people around the shooter than the shooter themselves. This is one reason for a 24" varmint weight rifle with a target crown; when you turn 45 degrees to take a shot you don't blow you spotters hat off, but you still see the hit.

Lots of great info in this thread, loved RTP's notes on what changes worked and how much. Don't see any reference to the CGW sear, which is one of my favorite parts along with a CGW hammer. Helps with weight and the feel of the trigger at a reasonable cost.

You had 7 above the center dot with one, 7 below with the other. I would say the POI changed.

Very nice find. If that upper throws up to many red flags at equipment check I would be nice enough to take it off of your hands. It would be right at home on my SP 01 lower. I mean "SP 01 Shadow". You, sir, are a true gentleman.

Great article, thanks for the link. They recommend checking headspace(bolt play, in the article), truing the receiver, tightening up the upper/lower fit, watching what you do with the crown, etc.. Very similar to a bolt action build.

Speaking of which....there would be some serious 'splainin to do with this setup