Has anyone else experience issues with Foxtrot Mikes upper. I had high hopes for it, waited for it like a kid on Christmas morning. Had looked around for a while, in the end I thought it would be easier to buy a complete upper and their YouTube videos looked great. Price was cheaper than I could build my own side charger. Plus some people on here had good things to say about it. I hope mine is just a bad apple because the concept is awesome.

I just received the 8.5 complete upper. I haven't fired it yet and not sure I will. At first glance it looks great, the machining and finish are clean. The rail to upper connection is seamless.  I love the side charge idea but this design or this upper leaves a lot to be desired. When mating it to the lower I had to force, tap it together. It was so tight I wasn't sure it was going in at all. The Takedown had to tapped in with the handle of a screw driver. The rear pin was fine. I tried other uppers on the lower to make sure it was an FM upper issue and not the a problem with the lower. I can fix this later. Next, there is not enough room at the end of the rail for the charging handle and BUIS. The piece that comes out of the rail  that is connected to the operating rod is so close to the top of the rail that it binds. I had to grind down that piece of the sight for clearance. Next and by far the biggest issue, It takes a lot of force to charge the gun. At first I thought it just needed lube or the parts worked in. Lubed the hell out of it and it helped at first, Charged it 10-15 times to help break it in and became harder. So much so that I'm worried about breaking something inside. I have other ARs and factory RRA 9mm, none of them come close to force this one takes to move.

Has anyone had similar issues? If so how did you fix it? I plan on contacting FM this week.

The charging handle on mine was a little stiff when i first got it, but I just lubed all the surfaces where there was friction and it smoothed right up.  It wasn't binding on anything, it just had very tight tolerances in the area where the handle rides back and forth.  I think if you get in touch they'll fix you up.  I love mine, it's a blast.

Have you shot it yet?  How does it function?

I’m experiencing the same issues with my 8.5.  The side charger seems really stiff and grating.  Have not oiled yet, but figured it would be easier to charge.  I do realize that I have a stiffer recoil spring than maybe other 9mm carbines so that may be some of it.  The BUIS issue in the front is super frustrating as this is a defensive weapon that needs fixed sights or at least some flip ups.  Looks awful but it’s front sight positioned to work with no impact to charging handle.  I have not fired this yet so I will reserve most judgement till then

Curious to see you guys got your uppers fixed.  I just got the 8.5in upper as well and I cant get the bcg to come all the way back.  Its traveling in the extractor right and I even put the upper on another lower and it cycled fine.  That lead to me believe its my buffer or buffer tube.  However, I changed my buffer tube and spring out with the same issue.  It will not come all the way back.