SLR15 Rifles AR-15 / M-16 / M-4 ARMORING COURSE
When: February 22-23, 2014
Where: Big Lake, Minnesota
We conducted a 2-day (16-hour) AR-15 / M-16 / M-4 Armorer Course in Big Lake, Minnesota. This course was hosted by
Element Arms. This was an "OPEN ENROLLMENT" course. This was our fourth course here, and we look forward to more. The training room with plenty of table space, decent lighting, and a white wall that we were able to project animated graphics of the weapons system, powerpoint detailed pics of gun parts, and especially when looking at finer detail things like machining, stress cracks & wear. The student base was a mix of gunsmiths, machinists, and shooters/gun enthusiasts, several had Military backgrounds.
Rifles represented in this course were many, to include SLR15, Colt, Bushmaster, Black Forge, Smith & Wesson, ATI, and several custom builds. The ATI was the Omni M4, which was built on a polymer receiver. This polymer receiver had a zinc base block in the receiver extension area, it was thicker in the hammer/trigger pin areas, and had a cover screw over the hammer/trigger pin holes. This was the first polymer receiver that we have had in class that was reinforced with a metal block.
Day-1: On day 1 we started with going through the course manual that all students are given. Students were supplied with their own set of basic tools that are necessary to do 95% of the work on their rifles (short of restocking and rebarreling, of which wrenches and sometimes fixtures are necessary), Slip2000 "EWL" Extreme Weapons Lubricant and #725 Cleaner Degreaser, etc. A short session of nomenclature was covered, at which time covered every feature and exterior piece of the rifle to include all the hidden design features that most people are not aware of, and everyone prepped the rifles for disassembly work. Everyone was taught the procedure series of checks that we recommend.
Next we covered the proper way to field strip a rifle from the user level, and how not to cause damage or premature wear on the rifle. Once field stripped, we showed how to do proper maintenance of where and what to clean, how to clean it, and why some areas need specific cleaning. During the maintenance with lots of myths dispelled (to include what firing pins designed for, and what they are not to be used for). Several of the rifles present were fouled, and lucky for everyone I had just finished an instructor week and had a heavily used M4 that allowed everyone to see fouling and how easy it is to remove using the proper method. Once user level maintenance was covered, we moved into armorer level for maintenance, inspections, and repairs. We went through the complete bolt disassembly, upgrades for reliability, stress on parts, life expectancy of parts, breakage, etc. Two rifles had metal injection molded extractor "MIM", of which we showed several hands on examples of these failing. This class had three bolt carrier key that needed better staking. The MOACKS staking tools that we supply were put to good use, and on a side note we have added the MOACKS tools to our armorer tool kits.
Everyone was introduced to the different types of gas rings, and we had on one of them present in guns at class, of which everyone learned of their proper installation order. The rest of the day was spent on understanding timing, and going through the entire lower receiver assembly, specialty tools and fixtures. All of the rifles present with collapsible stocks, none of them had their spanner & castle nuts staked, none had thread locker. We spent time on going through the cycles of fire, and the timing cycles of this weapons system, and what effects that timing cycle. Everyone disassembled their lower receivers, looked at sere engagements, springs, and how things worked.
The barrels represented were all 16". We did have several examples of shorter barrels, which allowed everyone to get a hands on look at timing and pressure issues. We also supplied several variations of different gas systems (to include several different mid-lengths), and some short barrels, which allowed us to go through the different personalities in how each of these systems run or don't run, and what the advantages or disadvantages are. Everyone was shown hands on explanations of how these effect timing/dwell-timing and diagnosis of issues.
Day-2: We started with a review of everything we covered in day-1, this included going back through explanations and demonstrations of timing, timing issues, dwell time, and how this pertains to how the weapons system runs smoothly, and when it isn't running then what it might be and how to fix it. A compete detail strip of lower receiver was gone through again, at which time we cover in great detail machining issues of what is good and what is not so good. We showed the quality differences between the Geisselle and other 2-stage triggers. Lots of troubleshooting issues are covered during this section. Once the lower receiver assemblies were completely put back together and things were working correctly, everyone was shown how to gauge the collapsible stocks, then properly stake the spanner & castle nuts, then all made sure theirs were put together correctly and staked. We covered full-auto, burst, and illegal street conversions.
The afternoon of this day we go through the entire upper receiver assembly. There were no piston guns present, but we covered the personality and features of this type of system, to include stress and troubleshooting. Everyone is allowed to rebarrel a rifle with they wish. When gauging, we found everyone's barrels were not mounted correctly, which results in premature wear and stress, of which everyone was able to correct them. On all of the barrels pulled, none of them had been put together to the Milspec from the manufacturer. Every barrel that was pulled, was remounted to Milspec, torqued, and properly indexed. The end of the day is finished up with everyone inspecting and gauging things like headspace, firing pins, chambers, 4 gas seals, etc. All the rifles present, except for the ATI, gauged and inspected correctly (The ATI gauged for .223, but not for 5.56).
Here is a brief overview of a few things that were covered:
History of the Weapon
Cycles of Function
General Disassembly & Assembly
Identification of Common Problems and Parts
Nomenclature
Identification of Group Components
Semi, Burst, and Full Auto Parts and Conversions
Complete Armoring Disassembly / Assembly
Barrel Replacement
Cleaning and Maintenance
Sight and Distance Considerations
Ballistic Issues
Barrel: Twist, Length, and Profiles
Gas System
Parts Interchangability, including Brands
Headspace
Firing Pin Protrusion
Trigger Jobs
Chamber Inspection and Issues
Troubleshooting, diagnosis & repair
Gauging, Inspections, Stress & Interval Issues
Accessories and Customizing
Tool Options and Selection
Iron Sights
Optics
SOP/MOD Accessories and Additions
CY6
Greg Sullivan "Sully"
SLR15 Rifles
TheDefensiveEdge.com
(763) 712-0123