Well, it's finally together! I got the Ares Signature billet lower months ago, but between finances and PSA putting out the .308 kits with an eye dropper, it took until last week to finally get that ordered. 8 days from checkout to delivery; pretty good, considering PSA's reputation on shipping, although I've honestly never had a problem.

Anyway, the upper looks great. I don't know if PSA is doing their own barrels or having them made, but it is marked ".308 WIN 1/10 SS PALMETTO". It is, of course, the Midwest Industries SSK 15" hand guard. I honestly would have preferred the non-key mod version, but again, at the rate that these kits are being offered and how quickly they get snatched up, I didn't wanna wait for that one.

Anyway, here she is!



A friend of mine ordered the same kit, but they goofed his, included an AR-15 parts kit Mine was right, but that doesn't mean we were without issues.......

The Ares billet lowers are nice, and the price reasonable. But they are not exactly  DPMS "standard". Yes, the upper mates just fine, but the take-down pins are not a perfect match. Pin diameter is right, but the heads are too big to fit the recesses on the Ares lower, and those recesses are not deep enough for the pins. So I had to reduce the head diameters to .380", then bore the holes with an end mill deep enough for the detents to engage, which was about 0.060" on the rear and ~0.110" on the front. I also had to round the right hand vertical edge of the bolt catch a little, and since I actually want to be able to remove the thing, I use a partially smooth shank screw in the threaded hole of the lower, rather than the roll pin included in the PSA kit.

Other issue is the grip. Would not have been a problem with a standard A2, and an MOE or similar probably would have worked fine, too, but the trigger guard on this thing is .910" wide, so I had to substantially modify the UTG "sniper" grip to fit. And no, I wasn't being cheap; I actually like the fit of this grip in my hand better than any other AR grip I've tried, which is just about all of them.

So we finally got those things sorted out, and I attached the upper at the front take down pin. Then tried to close it........ The charging handle was coming into contact with the receiver extension housing well before the pin holes aligned. So off it came, and back out to the shop, where I removed 0.030" from the housing on the Ares lower. Finally, it was all able to come together. Everything was really tight at first, but after working the CH a few times, operation smoothed out. Chambered a round just to make sure it would, and I think we are go for launch.

I'm happy with it. The Ares lower is a nice looking piece, and you just can't beat the PSA kit at $719. Having said that, anyone considering that combination should be aware of the fitment issues. Of course, if you're buying an Ares lower, you ostensibly have the ability to do some light machining, since they are only sold as 80% lowers.

And yes, that's a cheapie optic. It's an NC star mk III 6x32, which I got for a really good price and just kept around. Actually not a bad little optic, one of the better ones they make. But it will be replaced, most likely with an Aimpoint PRO. Just gotta wait a little bit, let my finances recover. In addition to this one, in the last month I built my 22" bull barrel 5.56 AR, picked up a .300 BLK upper, purchased about $600 worth of ammo and reloading components, and other expenditures.

For those curious, the price breakdown as she sits:

Ares anodized billet signature lower: $170 shipped
PSA .308 SSK15 rifle kit: $737 shipped
UTG grip: $22 shipped
Magpul AFG2: $38 locally w/tax
Magpul ACS: $95 locally w/tax
NC Star Mk III scope: $60 locally

Total: $1,122

Not bad at all, considering my last .308 AR, an actual Armalite AR-10A2 carbine, was just shy of $1,500 after tax back in 2005.

I almost pulled the trigger on the same kit from PSA.  Waited a couple of hours and they were sold out.  From what I've read with AR-10 80%'ers, these small issues don't come as a surprise.  Thanks for the write up.  Making me wish I had pulled that trigger.  

Despite the snow and well below freezing temps, I did at least get a few rounds down range today.  Didn't feel like sitting at the bench to make itty bitty groups with the 155 gr A-Max loads today, but a couple magazines of ball ammo to ensure function test (and eliminate a couple rabbits that were too stupid to hide).

I was a little concerned that it might be finicky on account of a tight chamber (was difficult to extract live, unfired rounds), but the rifle ran flawlessly out of the gate.  Did a cursory 100 yard sight-in to roughly minute of pie plate, but really just wanted to function test the weapon.  Must say, I am pleased.  Not one hiccup, and one of the gentler recoil impulses of any .308 autoloader I've used.  Maybe I can take some of the credit there with my home made muzzle brake:



But I can't say for sure, since I never fired a shot with the birdcage.  My Armalite 10A2C had a bird cage, though, and had stronger felt recoil, despite being about a pound heavier (it had the STR stock, which doesn't feel a whole lot different than the ACS on this build)

So, a thumbs up to PSA on at least my particular specimen!