What was the verdict? I bought a 16-inch Aero upper right before the Corona drama and have a 12.5 on order.Originally Posted by Nephrology
What was the verdict? I bought a 16-inch Aero upper right before the Corona drama and have a 12.5 on order.
Well, to be fair, I never had any malfunctions with the uppers before I sent them off for smithing. I only sent them out for GB pinning + disassembly/inspection out of an abundance of caution - I knew they didn't dimple their barrels for gas block set screws and heard sketchy things about their assembly quality, but no actual reason to be unhappy with the uppers.
If you're not worried about the GB slipping I'd leave it as is, or maybe just dimple it yourself and re-install the set screws properly. Sending it out for pinning was purely for peace of mind.
I just bought SLR jigs in .625 and .750 and dimpled my first barrel this week. This is one of those things that sure seems to me to make sense for the ~$32 the jig costs and as simple as it is. Even takes the fidgeting out of gas tube alignment, because if the gas port holes are lined up then everything else about the tube placement is baked in.
Well, right or wrong, here's the end result (for now) that's really a combination of all the advice above. BCM 16" Mid lightweight upper on the Ruger lower, wearing an Aimpoint PRO that a forum member very generously offered me a great deal on, plus some odd parts sourced from here and there, including the Ruger. The new upper was funded by selling the Stag upper and everything attached to it. Over time I'll make the various smaller purchases to get the Ruger set up as a good backup to this, including a serialized lower to swap in. That's all pretty easy to manage gradually with the initial cash dump for a new upper out of the way.
Needless to say I'm more than happy with this - shooting it side by side with the Ruger upper is a night and day difference, and there's a lot more peace of mind, even if a lot of it may be subjective.
very nice!
Speaking of which, I have "results" of my own, as well. Got my Aero uppers back from Retro Arms Works, who disassembled + inspected the uppers and pinned the gas blocks. Feel much more confident in the uppers than before - John did a very nice job with the GB pin.
I also swapped out the Toolcraft BCGs for Geissele M4A1 BCGs. Keeping the Toolcrafts as spares. Pictures of the Geissele BCG is below as well. Seems very well made - staking is quite nice.
Still waiting on the Meopta Optika6 1-6 scope to get in so I can replace the Vortex 1-4 on the Recce currently. Also ordered a pair of MBUS Pros from Amazon Warehouse at a pretty solid price - realized the plastic MBUS won't fit under the new LPVO. Once those two get here I'll head to the range to zero both rifles.
Last edited by Nephrology; 06-02-2020 at 04:11 PM.
A question from someone not up to speed on AR gas keys. I thought the purpose of staking the gas key was to stop the screws from rotating, and it is done by displacing metal so that the screws cannot turn. But the photo above seems to show clearance between the staked screws and the gas key metal on three of the stakes. As such, the screws appear be able to turn. I am used to an interference fit between screws and key with the screw head. What am I missing? Is it an optical illusion and the staking has displaced metal enough for the interference to the screw heads?
I am not an expert, but those look to be staked pretty nicely.
I found this image on the web from a Colt. That staking definitely stops the screws are turning.
There are various levels of staking. It can be done only aesthetically, and then it can be overdone. Something to keep in mind is that sometimes there is more metal displaced lower. I wouldn’t let a picture in the internet be my final determining factor as to whether a particular brand stakes well or not. Those screws aren’t really under any sort of major forces encouraging them to loosen, so it take ps surprisingly little contact to keep them from backing out.
Took the Aero uppers out today and zeroed irons/optics. Both uppers run great and shoot better than I can. Very happy with the end products. Posted photos in the "What did you shoot today" thread in the image gallery for those curious.
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