First off, I know that much of my workmanship on this build is rough. My access to the "correct" tools is somewhat limited, but I wanted to do as much of this as I could by myself. This isn't a safe queen, it is a functioning rifle that I intend to drag through woods and swamps. The colors are a little unusual as well. I don't think most people would put a black anodized upper on a tan cerakoted lower and rattle-can just the handguards some other color, and then throw in bits of orange string for good measure. I intend to use this rifle to hunt deer, and a few of my friends that I will be hunting with are borderline FUDD types, so I will have that going as well.



Now for some actual gun talk.

Last fall I missed a shot at a doe. Three times. It was standing still, broadside, and less than 50 yards away. Two friends and myself looked for any sign that I hit it for close to an hour, but none of us found a single drop of blood, or any other sign that I hit it. Looking back on it there are several factors that I believe contributed to those missed shots.

I don't blame the gun (30-30 Winchester 1894), I blame myself for not being familiar enough with it both in ergonomics and sight picture. I know that on its own that rifle is plenty accurate. In addition to all the other factors, I was shooting from a slightly awkward position. All of the shooting that I have done with my 1894 has been standing or from a bench. My experience with AR-15s is a little more diverse (right hand shooting, left hand shooting, shooting crouched, shooting prone, various drills using a VTACS barrier, etc.). After the season was over with nothing to show for it, I decided to start an AR-15 build from scratch based on everything I've learned from carrying other rifles in the woods.

I deliberated on caliber for quite a while. I narrowed it down to .300 Blackout, 6.8SPC, and 7.62x39. Since I don't reload, and I already have a bunch of 7.62x39 and a few rifles already chambered in it, I decided to go with 7.62x39. I bought a 16" M4 profile barrel made by ESS. I wanted a longer sight radius than what the barrel offered, so I made a dissipator barrel out if it. This is where the WECOG fun begins.

I cut down the original FSB and ground down the edges with a belt sander so that it would fit under standard A2 handguards. I bought a new .750" FSB, and slid it onto the barrel, along with a triangle handguard end cap and a 3/16" tension pin to hold them together. This held the FSB in place while I dimpled the barrel through the bottom hole in the FSB (the hole between the sling mount ears). I tapped the hole to 8-32 threads and put an 8-32 set screw in place. Then I drilled the area just above the bayonet lug and installed a 3/32" tension pin in place.




The FSB seemed fairly secure, but I felt that the little tension pin should be replaced with something a little more sturdy. I drove out the pin and drilled the FSB and barrel for a 1/8" dowel pin. It was a very tight fit, so I pressed it in with a vice (I don't have an actual press, but I intend to now that I have run into a situation where it would have been nice to have one).



A little while back I made a tool for squeezing sling mount rivets. I think it turned out alright.

One of the things that gave me trouble in the past is the color of the sights. Using a set of gray-ish iron sights to shoot at a gray-ish deer that is surrounded by gray-ish trees seems dumb to me. I replaced the front sight post with a Hi-Viz green fiber optic sight, and I painted the large aperture of an MBUS rear sight bright green.




I wanted to use a linear compensator to make it a little quieter on my end. I installed a Simple Threaded Device compensator on the rifle. I also wanted to minimize my contact with metal, since it is usually cold around here in November. The lever, hammer, and receiver of my 1894 get cold soaked quickly, and if I am not wearing gloves, or even if I am wearing fingerless gloves, it becomes uncomfortable, even painful, just to old onto . I went with standard A2 plastic handguards and a Magpul MOE pistol grip. I haven't held onto this rifle bare-handed in the cold yet, but I believe it will help. I might even toss a hand warmer into the MOE grip if it will fit.

The first time I took this rifle to the range to sight it in, it was unpleasant to shoot. 7.62x39 isn't exactly a big-bore magnum, but I left the range with a sore shoulder after only 40 rounds. My shoulder had a light bruise, and I could see the texture of the stock butt pad in the bruise. I started a thread here asking about adding weights to the rifle buffer to slow it down, but the general consensus was to try an adjustable gas block instead. Since I was already on a roll with dissipattor FSB install, I decided to modify my existing gas block to be adjustable. I drilled and tapped a hole in the side and installed a 6-32 set screw.




I could have taken my time an smoothed out the cuts on the gas block, but since it was going to be hidden under the handguards, I just cold-blued it and called it good. I turned the screw all the way in and backed it out 1/4 turn. I loaded a single round in my magazines, and backed the screw out 1/4 turn each shot until the bolt would reliably lock open. This really helped make the rifle more comfortable to shoot.

For the last few years, I have run into situations where I felt I was using the wrong gun for the area. I have been up in a stand overlooking a swamp while holding my open-sighted 1894 30-30, and I have been on drives through the woods carrying my 30-06 with a 4-12x scope. I decided to buy a scope with a quick-detach mount so that I could easily configure the rifle to the situation at hand. The scope is a Bushnell Banner adjustable zoom scope (not top-of-the-line, but I have had good results using a similar scope on a different build) and a Burriss P.E.P.R. mount. I put flip-open scope covers on the scope, but I have had problems getting the front cover to stay closed. Even after removing the spring, the front cover would come open easily. Since the front cover is a see-through model, I decided to use come camo wrap to hold it closed. It isn't a great solution, but it works, so I'll leave it as is for now.

The lower receiver is marked "MULTI." Since it is different from all of my other builds (5.56mm), and because the caliber markings on the barrel are covered by the new front sight, I installed a "7.62x39mm" marked magazine release by NDZ Performance



This is my WECSOG AR-15 build so far:



Last winter I decided to make a pouch to put on the stock. I bought some Mossy Oak printed fabric and spent several hours cutting and stitching together a pouch to securely hold a folding knife. I also bought some metal grommets and a hand squeezer, which I used to attach the pouch. I used blaze orange (again, haters gonna hate) 550 paracord, which was threaded through each grommet and laced onto the stock. Since the fabric is cotton, I sprayed it with a waterproofing treatment before  attaching it to the stock.

I painted the handguards to blend in a little better with the place that I hunt. I placed both handguard halves on some newspaper and painted them brown. Then I placed some oak leaves that I found on the handguards and painted everything gray. I put some twigs on the handguards and the leaves pand painted everything black. Once the paint dried a little I brushed everything off and let the paint harden overnight. It didn't turn out as sharp as I first thought, but I am still happy with the result.

Interesting build. like it

In!

I like the gas block idea, I've thought about doing that to my vz-58 that is over gassed. I love the 7.62x39 for deer, it is actually an excellent deer round, I looked into the .300 blackout but you can't reload it for as cheap as you can buy 7.62x39 ammo ( just the projectiles are more expensive than loaded 7.62x39).  The caveat is that x39 is needs a bit more tuning to run correctly, mine is super accurate, 1.5" groups with $4.50 a box factory ammo, whats not to love .

If your interested in locking your gas block adjusting set screw in place, McMaster-Carr has Hollow Lock (Jam) Set Screws.

I've gotta ask -- what is screwed onto the muzzle? Is that one of the tube like flash hiders that directs the flash and noise straight forward and if so where did you get it?

I like the self-made gas adjuster!

I was going to ask about the muzzle device too. Inquiring minds and fellow WECSOG grads want to know.

Excellent post OP!

I like it!

Hope it works out for you as planned.

Thanks for the compliments everyone. This has been a slow build, but it has been fun.

As for the muzzle device, it is a linear compensator made by Simple Threaded Devices. They make them in two sizes, including a 1/2x28 threaded model and a 5/8x24 threaded model. Like the name says, it is simple. It looks like an introductory machinist school project, but the work itself looks nice. I haven't done any side by side comparison on noise reduction from the shooter's perspective, but it does seem quieter that I expected. Yesterday at the indoor range a shooter next to me fired a .308 simultaneously with me, and for a moment I thought my rifle had "kaboomed."

Nice job. I built one three years ago, a FG dissipator in 6.8. A1 stock, Troy grip, A2 handguards, lo pro gas block and clamp on FSB on a ARP barrel

Recently refitted it with a Minimalist, Apex 14" Gator grip and more FG paint.. Weighs 6.6. about a pound lighter now.

My paint was auto color fast dry slobbed on with a foam brush and oversprayed with matte clear. It's getting an variegated patina.

Picture here post #429: http://68forums.com/forums/showthread.php?17898-6.8-rifle-picture-thread-2011/page43

That is a nice rifle, I really like your adjustable gas block mod.