The Modernization Of Dottie Continues Apace

Swapped the Vortex SPARC AR red-dot for a Vortex Spitfire AR.  Ditched the fixed A2 rear sight for a Magpul MBUS3; it's interesting that I'm OK with how this looks with the Magpul handguards where it was unacceptable with the A2 and A1 handguards.

The Spitfire AR is a 1x prism optic with an etched reticle which is much better for my astigmatic eyes than the Star Trek photon torpedo effect of a conventional red-dot.

It's a dot inside two concentric circles.

Disappointingly, it does not have a quick-detach and the base cannot be removed to install one.  Hopefully I will be able to use the irons through it.  Eyes crossed.

The etched glass protects me somewhat against battery failure and modern optics are getting ever tougher.  Vortex has an outstanding warranty too.

Tinker Tinker

I've tried all the rifle length handguards on Dissipator Dottie!

First is the round A2 style that came with the upper:

Then a set of USGI A2 handguards that look so similar to the ones that came with I can't tell the pictures apart!

I tried out an M5 RAS:

I was happy with reproduction triangle A1 style:

Now I'm trying out the Magpul:

I've long liked how the Magpul handguards have felt, I don't even mind how they look.  The rifle length is a bit too long for where I want my light, but it's workable on the other side.

ARs are, indeed, Lego for men.

The Latest Calculations

Did my favorite alternate calibers for the AR-15 with Gun Stats.

6.8x43mm SPC II: 115gr SMK at 2,550 fps is 6d-1 pi, 760/3,200.

6.5 Grendel: 122gr Hornady SST at 2,457 fps is 6d-1 pi, 670/4,700.

I scoured teh intertoobs for that velocity and a 16" barrel so that it'd be apples to apples as much as possible.  The 65Grendel Forum produced that velocity number.

What's interesting is the "starts slow, ends fast" Grendel party line is somewhat reflected in the shorter 1/2D and longer Max range.

These numbers are noticeably different from what I'd calculated before:

6.8 was 6d pi, 820/3,500

6.5 was 6d-1 pi, 800/4,400 

But not too dissimilar.  Close enough that I'm starting to trust Gun Stats because it's coming out closer to what I was figuring myself even if it disagrees a bit with some of the published numbers; which many are speculating got pulled out of someone's ass.

Update I: 

.280 British (7mm Mk Iz), which I did myself for the M1 Dean back for 3e (and has been often compared to 6.8x43mm SPC) comes out to: 6d-1 pi, 960/4,000, with the new rules.  It was 6d pi, 600/2,500 before in the 3e WW2 supplement All The Kings Men.

Update II: 

Referencing this post, I also recalculated .22 ARC and 6mm ARC.

.22 ARC is 5d+1 pi, 680/4,800

6mm ARC is 5d+2 pi, 810/5,700

Considering how many rounds I calculated for FuzzyGeff and .243 rounds, I'm surprised 6mm ARC flew under his radar. 

PMAG-25 LR/SR W (Black)

 For gaming purposes, I obtained a Magpul MAG292-BLK PMAG-25 LR/SR W.

That's a 25 round magazine for your "AR-10" with the SR-25 or DPMS magazine well.  The standard magwell now that the AWB is dead.

It sticks out a bit more than the 20 rounder.

The extra five rounds comes with a weight penalty; 1 lb. 12 oz. loaded compared to 1 lb. 6.8 oz. of the PMAG-20 LR/SR.  1.8 lb. vs 1.4 lb. in GURPS terms.  That changes the weight of the M1956A2, pictured above, from 11.7 lb. to 12.1 lb. as shown.  That also changes a load of 6 spare magazines from 8.4 lb. to 10.8 lb.  The more traditional 4 spares for a battle rifle goes from 5.6 to 7.2 lb.  You do go from 120 spare rounds to 150 (or 80 to 100 with the traditional loadout).

The cute little window is rendered a little useless by not including any numbers, but you can still check to see if there's any ammo in there with it. <-- This turned out to be incorrect, there are numbers, see this post correcting it.

Magpul no longer includes a dust cover.  C'est la guerre.

THAT'S What It Reminds Me Of

Something about how Dottie looked was reminding me of another gun.

At first I thought that it was an AR-18, but it hit me today:

Dottie most resembles a Taiwanese T65 rifle.

 

It's similar, not exact, but...

I can relax now.

Back In Stock In All Three Colors!

If you're following along on the Dissipator Dottie adventures and want to participate, PSA has the uppers (sans bolt-carrier-group and charging handle) for $219.99 in Black, OD and FDE.

I've been very pleased with mine so far.

 

Proing

Got the Wilson Combat Accu-Tac flash-hider installed.

I like the retro-modern look of the AccuTac, and I've used them before.

Olive still sports one, albeit in 5/8-24 instead of 1/2-28 on account of being 6.8x43mm.

Because that upper used to be Dottie's, it seemed appropriate that Dottie return to wearing this model of 3-prong.

FuzzyGeff, has one on his Olga.

Will it make Dottie more accurate?  Probably not.  Does it do a better job of hiding the flash?  Very marginally vs the A2 birdcage I took off.  Does it look cooler?  Subjectively, yes it does! (YMMV)

Dottie, strangely considering I have a purple AR, has become the gun of whimsy.  Hardly a thing about her current build is to make her more functional.  But I'm ending up with a carbine that points well, shoots well and is very comfortable.

Accidental functionality in the pursuit of fun?  I will take it! 

Buffering

Something I like about my M16 clones, in addition to the fixed stock, is the buffer just works.

The rifle buffer is 5.2 oz.

The OG carbine buffer is 3 oz. and, over the years, they keep making it heavier to compensate for the extra bolt speed from the gas-port being so much closer to the chamber.

The H3 carbine buffer is, in fact, heavier than the rifle buffer at 5.4 oz.

An old timey solution was to use a 5.5 oz. buffer from a 9mm CAR-15.

One of the reasons I like the mid-length gas system is it works well with both the standard and slightly heavier H buffer (3.8 oz.); but Dottie has shown that the rifle stock and buffer work fine with this gas system too.

I think it's because the rifle buffer and spring are longer.

Semi-auto guns are a lot less sensitive to the buffer weight than full-auto.  While you're resetting the trigger, there's plenty of time for the gun to catch up.

What buffer weight should you run?

Check your ejection pattern.

Adjust accordingly!

Teardrop

Lavender Linda and Dottie have exchanged forward assists.

Three-prong is in her future!

It makes me giggle that I'm combining modern and retro on Dottie like I am.

A flat-top, middy-gas, R605 with a forward assist.

Anachronism

Dottie is a contradiction in terms in a couple of ways, on purpose, because it amuses me.

I glanced over where she sits and saw the round forward assist button and thought, "with the retro furniture, should I get a tear-drop forward assist?"

That leads, inevitably, to:

The big question is which three-prong flash hider?

Even saying, "a retro one," results in, "which one?"

Duckbill?

OG 3-prong?

Wilson AccuTac?

The OG is cheapest.

All of them give a tuning fork tone when the action is operating.

I think the finish on the Wilson matches the barrel's finish best. 

Oversight

 While the MBUS3 sights were functional, I didn't really like how they looked on Dottie.

I was resigned to putting up with function over form until I noticed that the American Defense mount puts the Sparc so high that don't have a co-witness and can readily see over the top of the rear sight to aim with the red-dot.

So I put the fixed A2 stub rear sight back on.  Arguably, it's more functional than the Magpul sight because it has a dial for range.

As I was putting the camera away, this angle caught my fancy for how it caught the red of the lens coating.

False Memory

There's a seller on GunBroker selling a lot of 15 large-round forward assist buttons.

I've long wanted one because I remembered the tank's issue M16A2 having this feature.

Before I spent the money on having 14 extra forward assists, I decided to see if anyone had bothered to document the serial number range for this early feature.

S/N 860,000 to 1,200,000 is the expected range according to the AI helper on the search engine.

My M16A2's serial number was 6,300,574, apparently, well past when they changed to the current small-round forward assist.

HOWEVER!

The first M16A2's start at 6,000,000!

Others have found that the large round lasted to 6,280,000; which also places my rifle just outside the range of the early feature.

The last colt M16A2 (or XM4) is (approximately) 6,590,478.

FN M16A2's run is 7,000,000 to 7,429,766.

At least for US Property marked guns.  Other serial number ranges for M16A2 are around for export usage. 

Form Over Function

I have had a KAC 600m folding sight on Kaylee since I first changed her over to a flat-top.

Over time she has become, more and more, an M4 clone.

The issue back-up sight for an Army M4 is a Matech BUIS.

I have finally gotten one!

With an M9 bayonet, because Army clone.

Folded:

Deployed at 200m:

Deployed at 600m:

The Matech BUIS is not known for its durability, but it is the correct rear sight for the clone, so...

It's a little heavier than the KAC, 3.4 oz. vs 2.0 oz.

The range adjustments are way easier to see, though.

It's Already On The Gun

When I was dithering about buying a retro set of handguards for Dottie, I had put them in the cart then closed the window.

This triggered Brownell's to start sending me emails asking if I was still interested in the item.

Obviously, I was because...

I checked out, paid, waited for shipping, and installed them.

I'm still getting emails asking if I am still interested and to hurry because stock is getting low.

Glitch in their matrix. 

More Lancer L5 AWM30 Information

Internally it's a constant curve design.

Accepts USGI stripper clip spoons and any compatible system (like a StripLULA). 

The spring is a bog-standard USGI spring.*

The baseplate comes off to the rear, which means that if the gun lands on it; it is not forced forward off the gun, like PMAG Gen M2 MOE and earlier.

While it does not drop free from any aluminum lower I own, it does drop freely from a KP-15 lower. 

It's got an excellent set of grippy nubbins along the bottom half that helps you get and keep a hold on the magazine should it not fall free. 

You read how many rounds are left by looking at the round that's next to the number instead of a painted section of the spring.

25 rounds lines up with a rib between the 20 and 30 marks.

Compare with the markings and photos of the TMAG-30 in this post.

How it compares to the TMAG-30.

 * It should be noted that the current USGI spring is not the bog-standard USGI spring.  With the tan and blue followers they changed the top loop of the spring and where it passes through the follower.  See this post for details.

SPARCly

It would appear that Vortex is either discontinuing the SPARC AR or is getting ready to replace it in the lineup.

Either way Palmetto State had them marked down from $270 to $70.

I already had an American Defense mount that's compatible with it laying around, so...

Dottie gets a red dot!

That, of course, means the fixed rear sight needed replaced with a Magpul MBUS3.

Still quite handy at 9 lb. with the optic.

Bravo

Remember this post?

Based on weight, Bravo is the Lancer L5.

Make your plans for use accordingly. 

A Thought Occurs

We used the M16A1 in Granada.

Remember, the M16A1 that was garbage and got everyone killed in Vietnam?

Odd.

Of course, the M16A1 of 1983 wasn't quite the same weapon as in 1964.

The barrel and chamber had gotten chrome lining.

The buffer was completely redesigned.

The troops were better trained in how to clean and maintain them.

But the M193 ammunition was the same, just in case you were still blaming the powder for the problems in Vietnam.

The product improvements were real.

An-Dissipation

If you've been enjoying reading about my Dissipator project, Palmetto State Armory has them on sale again.  In OD or FDE.

You'll need to find a bolt carrier group and charging handle, but if you're buying uppers from PSA, you know where to get those!

If you're reading this months or years after the initial post, those links will likely be dead.

Triumphant Return

The Lovely Harvey has overcome her fear of damaging her robo-shoulder and taken Kevina to the range! 

Considering she has not had this carbine to the range in more than a decade...  Not too bad a group.

I got the M1956A2 zeroed with the new 5x scope too!

 

Gotta say, that Faxon barrel is pretty sweet.