[slowryde45]

Originally Posted by Dillinger

You just put it together - you should know what parts move and what parts don't.

I really like the RRA 2-Stage Triggers. They break clean and they are a direct drop in. Cost about $100 delivered and can be put in the weapon in minutes.

That said, you have a nice SHTF weapon there Junho, I don't think you need a $100 trigger that is more suited for competition weapons unless you just plain "want" one.

If you want to improve on the factory trigger, and not break the bank, you can order up this spring kit from Brownells for under $10 if you are a member. Easy to replace and cuts the overall travel and pull down. We use them a lot on budget builds to get a nice trigger for a field / home rifle.

JD

What he said...

J/K...here's a simple link:
http://www.ar15.com/content/guides/maintenance/

Do a search on AR-15 maintenance and cleaning and you'll find lots of info online. And like JD said, you just put it together, think about what you did and how everything fit together, what moves, where friction will occur, etc. and you'll be way ahead of the game in lubing up your AR. As for cleaning, invest in a good cleaning kit, it doesn't have to be anything too extravagant, just something that will work for you. As for cleaning solutions, it's really up to each person there what they think works for them. Myself, I like the CLP type products, cleans, lubes and protects. They are safe on just about anything in your gun, so no need to worry about where it might go or what it might affect. For heavy duty cleaning, you might want to look into some of the bore cleaners out there, again personal preference. But if you do regular cleaning after you shoot (key words - REGULAR CLEANING after every shoot), you'll rarely have to do any heavy duty cleaning. Unless of course you happen to run into a hoard of space zombies who's KAKA just hit your fan

As for upgrading your trigger...wouldn't hurt, as you probably got the stock trigger that came in your lower parts kit. As JD pointed out, about the most affordable upgrade would be the RRA 2-stage NM trigger. Check out:
http://ar15sa.fatcow.com/store/miscparts.html

Pete sells them for $88. No, they aren't marked Rock River Arms, but they are the same exact trigger assembly. That's how he keeps the price down. I have bought from him - with confidence and great results.

Good luck,
Slo

[AR Hammer]

I'd say the most common and LEAST USED item for an AR-15 is an AR specific cleaning kit.

Most of the problems that get sent my way are cleaning related, and since an AR can be difficult to clean without the correct tools, they don't get cleaned well, or often...

[KellyTTE]

Equipment:
Cleaning kit (mentioned)
Light (nothing fancy, a 35.00 Surefire G2 in a 1" Walmart ring screwed to the handguard).
Sling

TRAINING AND AMMO. TRAINING AND AMMO. TRAINING AND AMMO.

The rest is superfluous horsehockey until you can fight effectively with the weapon.

[Ram Rod]

Best mods? Get a Hogue pistol grip for it, the 'wedge', and the 'perma pin', then some ammo.

[KellyTTE]

Originally Posted by Ram Rod

Best mods? Get a Hogue pistol grip for it, the 'wedge', and the 'perma pin', then some ammo.

An Accu-Wedge? Those are POS. Seriously, they disintegrate over time and end up in your trigger group, downing the weapon.

[Dillinger]

Originally Posted by KellyTTE

An Accu-Wedge? Those are POS. Seriously, they disintegrate over time and end up in your trigger group, downing the weapon.

Where are you using your weapon?! Better yet, how are you getting to the point where your weapon is left inoperatable because a part has "disintegrated"?!

I have used weapons with the Accu-Wedge and I have used them without. I have NEVER found a weapon that was in such a state of owner indifference that a $2 part has made it inoperable. Never once, and I have seen some guns that get thousands & thousands of rounds a year through them.

For those unfamiliar with the product:

The Accu-Wedge is designed to go beneath the Take Down Pin, in the rear of the lower receiver, to add tension and create a better Upper to Lower match.

IF you have a sloppy fit between your upper and lower, this can be used to take up some of the slack & give you a better fit.


JD

[junho806]

Originally Posted by Dillinger

Where are you using your weapon?! Better yet, how are you getting to the point where your weapon is left inoperatable because a part has "disintegrated"?!

I have used weapons with the Accu-Wedge and I have used them without. I have NEVER found a weapon that was in such a state of owner indifference that a $2 part has made it inoperable. Never once, and I have seen some guns that get thousands & thousands of rounds a year through them.

For those unfamiliar with the product:

The Accu-Wedge is designed to go beneath the Take Down Pin, in the rear of the lower receiver, to add tension and create a better Upper to Lower match.

IF you have a sloppy fit between your upper and lower, this can be used to take up some of the slack & give you a better fit.


JD

i actually put one in my lower receiver as well
gives it a nice tight fit
will it disintegrate?
it would be kind silly of them to make it with something that would disintegrate so easily
i think i'll keep it in there...

[ranger_sxt]

Originally Posted by Dillinger

Where are you using your weapon?! Better yet, how are you getting to the point where your weapon is left inoperatable because a part has "disintegrated"?!

I have used weapons with the Accu-Wedge and I have used them without. I have NEVER found a weapon that was in such a state of owner indifference that a $2 part has made it inoperable. Never once, and I have seen some guns that get thousands & thousands of rounds a year through them.

This is a common occurrence in training classes, where the round count often exceeds 500 rounds a day. This is common piece of advice amongst the training community...

As far as the part making the firearm inoperable, what happens when a loose primer gets jammed up in the hammer/trigger/sear? The gun no worky. Same thing with the AccuWedge when it breaks...

Originally Posted by Dillinger

For those unfamiliar with the product:

The Accu-Wedge is designed to go beneath the Take Down Pin, in the rear of the lower receiver, to add tension and create a better Upper to Lower match.

IF you have a sloppy fit between your upper and lower, this can be used to take up some of the slack & give you a better fit.

JD

And what exactly does that do for you?

[Dillinger]

Originally Posted by ranger_sxt

And what exactly does that do for you?

And again we are confronted with the frequent quotes of the Black Rifle and all it's "flaws".

Let me ask you this, would you take your bolt gun out of the case, loosen the action screws, say two turns, and start shooting for groups?

I am hoping you would say no to that question, since the very reason for those ( 2 ) action screws are to keep your barreled action securely in place in the rifle stock.

The part you hold, the stock, is not the part doing the actual work. The action being the part firing the bullet, the bullet entering the lands and grooves of the rifling, causing torque, which leads to harmonics.

If your action can jump all over the place in your stock, you are not getting the most stable shooting platform.

The same basic principles are found in the AR. If you remove the upper from the lower, as it was designed, and you put the upper in a vise and cinch it down good and tight in a safe and secure manner, it would be possible to send a round downrange. You would have to manually strike the back of the pin to set off the primer, and the bolt would probably come back halfway across the parking lot, but it would be possible to do.

The vise is the same as your front fore grip on the weapon, that is your only point of stability. The pistol grip, the stock into your shoulder and your spot weld on the stock itself are ALL part of the Lower.

Now, can you exert as much or more pressure than the vise in the scenario? I am going to say probably not, but there are some big boys out there, so who knows.

Basically this, from a pure, shooting platform standpoint, the better the mating between the upper and the lower receiver, the tighter the overall fit is between the two, the better overall accuracy you are going to get out of the weapon.

Is this as big of an issue today as it was, say, 10 years ago before AR Upper and Lowers were being mass produced with CNC driven production facilities?

Absolutely not. The receivers today are of a whole different breed of quality than those that could be had a generation ago.

Do you need one in an AR you built for CQB, where you stand in a doorway as a bullet hose with your C-Mag running full tilt? Again, probably not.

Then again, what if you are building a 20", bull barreled, 800 yard varmint slayer on a modest budget?

To categorically dismiss a part without examining it's application and what it actually brings to the platform is biased and unfair. To repeat a statement, and apply that across the broad spectrum of uses for the product is niave to say the least.

Anything that builds a more stable shooting platform should be examined, and implimented, if you are building with an intent to focus on accuracy.

If you personally don't like them, great. If you have personally seem them disintegrate into a molding, crumbling mess that took a perfectly good AR and turn it into an expensive club, well, I'm sorry.

I just can't adhere to the blanket statement that they are a POS and should never be used.

JD

[KellyTTE]

Originally Posted by Dillinger

SNIP
If your action can jump all over the place in your stock, you are not getting the most stable shooting platform.

SNIP

Basically this, from a pure, shooting platform standpoint, the better the mating between the upper and the lower receiver, the tighter the overall fit is between the two, the better overall accuracy you are going to get out of the weapon.

I'll quote Zak Smith on that theory (re: Accuwedge)

Zak Smith
Posted October 03, 2007 09:44 AM
My main 3Gun rifle uses a Eagle receiver from the late 80's. It's loose on all my uppers, including my MSTN upper. However, even with that "slop", it has delivered 1/3rd MOA groups. Conclusion- receiver slop is not an accuracy issue on AR-15's.

Plenty of Marines shoot 500yd expert quals without the accuwedge and yes an accuwedge melted down and made its way into the FCG during a Colorado clas w/ Pat Rogers in 2007. Quite simply an AR's ability to be customized leads to changes that are personal, practical and foolish.

I'd say the vast majority of crap people put in their ARs are in the foolish column.