MickB

Blowback 9mm AR recoil impulse feels MUCH better when used with a hydraulic buffer. It is a very noticeable difference. Mick

What are you guys using for shim material? 0.001" stainless? Loctite I have plenty of. Mick

Grease the threads of the upper, then tighten up snug and loosen 3 times. By doing this you are seating the threads of the barrel nut to the upper. At this point, when you snug up again, you should have the tooth of your barrel nut at ~12 o'clock (or half way to clearing the gas tube hole) and ~30-40lbs. Tightening from this point will get you to 70-85lbs. While on this subject, I have a related question. How tight should the barrel extension fit in the upper receiver? Is a tight fit better for accuracy? How tight is good enough (should the barrel not drop out of the receiver when pointing down with no barrel nut in place)? Should I use Loctite or shim stock for a loose barrel? Does this even matter when the barrel nut is torqued to 70-80 lbs? Mick

Metalform never made orange follower mags. The Orange follower mags were made by C-Products and had reliability issues... Mick

In a Colt 9mm AR, it will feed just fine but will be held by the extractor just far enough forward for the firing pin not to strike the primer... Mick

Anyone know if a Bladetech holster will bolt up to a Safariland USPSA kit? Mick

Perfect. I happen to have one of Nordic's standard upper receivers sitting around. Hmmm.... Mick

LOL! Kurt, cooler in AZ means temps in the 70's. Setting up adjustable gas in AZ means setting it up when the weather is cooler, or going to an air conditioned indoor range. I learnt that lesson when I had my JP15 set up when the temp was in the 90's. Very next morning with temps in the high 60's-low 70's, the rifle became a single shot till I turned up the gas... What is this thing you call snow? Mick

That is because of the ambient temperature change now that it is getting cooler in AZ. You have two choices: Adjust it for lower temp conditions and leave it there, or have a regular AZ weather setting, then another setting for colder weather. Easy to do with a click adjustable gas block like the SLR SA7, more of a PITA with a regular metering screw type block, especially if you loctite the screw. Don't sell the rifle, adjust the gas... Mick

Can the upper be swapped for a standard upper with port door? Mick

Why is the Ladies' top prize half that of their male counterparts? Mick

Easter occurs during the last week of March, 2016. SMM3G has moved to first week of April due to this before.... Mick

SMM3G 2016. April 1st – 3rd, 2016 www.smm3gun.com Mick

Bevel some more. You're almost there.... Mick

I have stopped using a torque wrench. Army manual says 30-85 lb/ft torque, USMC manual says after bbl nut snug/loosen 3x, turn till the gas tube hole aligns. What I have found is that after the snug/loosen 3x of the bbl nut, the tooth (or hole) of the nut is about one third to half way there, and tightening from that position will get you into the 60-80 lb/ft range. Mick

And how does it compare to the SST 16 in terms of accuracy and feel? Mick

If you are having clearance issues due to the screws, then you can get low profile button head screws from your local hardware store... Mick

Definitely call SLR. First, clear the rifle, then clear it again. Then take the upper off the lower and place the top rail on a flat surface. The hand guard should run even with the top rail of the upper receiver. if it doesn't, you will see it very easily. If not aligned, remove the hand guard, reinstall, and using your flat surface, push down so upper and hand guard aligned - THEN tighten the bolts on the hand guard. Mick

if you're going 18" Nordic, then you don't need the adjustable gas. You can still run the lightweight BCG in this setup using a standard carbine buffer. if you choose a different barrel, then gas port may well be larger, in which case, you may want to add the adjustable gas block.... Mick

Brownells. They have a Wolff recoil spring calibration pack. Comes with 7 springs ranging from 9lbs up to 16.5 lbs... Mick

Stock STI Trojan 9mm comes with steel FLGR and flat topped slide as standard. Added VZ slim Operator grips and steel slim S&A mag well. Comes in at 42.7 oz with Chip mags, 42.5oz with Wilson mag. Only thing I don't have is an ambi safety added, but can easily do that by either losing weight off the grips or changing the FLGR to a GI set-up. Mick

Aero precision makes a non forward assist upper, and I have also found their lowers and uppers to have a fairly tight fit (within the half dozen or so that I have played with). Nordic uppers and lowers also seem to have a good, tight fit. Mick

We thank the following companies for sponsoring this year’s match. Look for lots of great stuff which will be given out by random draw; KE Arms - Overall Match Sponsor Carbon Arms - Gold Sponsor VLTOR Weapons Systems - Gold Sponsor POF-USA - Silver Sponsor Sun Devil Mfg - Silver Sponsor Dillon Precision - Bronze Sponsor Mick

^^ Yes, you can run as many different uppers/calibres as you want. That is the beauty of the AR system, one SBR'd lower will do just about all you need... Mick

Mark, please let us know the results... Mick Cerakote is just an exterior coating and has no impact on the bore. Melonite is a surface treatment that should result in a longer lifespan. I have one that is a few months old with almost 9K rounds on it and I will be doing the final accuracy test on it today before I send it back to SST.