Me and Mr. Dremel had a go at the upper and a old charging handle I had laying around, after a little grinding and polishing there is no more resistance with the CH. The only downside it that the CH is esentially mated to the upper now.

The ejection port issue was solved by swapping out a colt ejection port cover with the one I bought at the show, seems the colt cover and my unnamed upper match up perfectly.

Turns out the upper is an old one that used to be Sold by quality parts, its cast, but from what I was told, it is very good, and will not give me problems.

No problem with the forward assist, I was overreacting

Now I'm happy

I found a A1 upper yesterday at a fun show, it was in mint but used condition, paid $120. first thing I noticed is that it felt a little light, it was stripped, so i didn't think much about it. Anyway I assembled it today and 4 problems showed up. #1 The ejection port "thingy", the piece that is machied to accept the ejection port detent was off center by 1/8", this makes it VERY hard to close the cover unless I manually slide the cover to the rear before closing it. #2 The charging handle barely fits it the upper without significant forward force, read: push like a mother fucker. This got better the more I played with it, but still sticks. #3 The fwd. assist depresses anywhere between a 1/8" to 1/4" before moving the bolt forward. Unlike my other AR that seems to move 1/8" or less. #4 The upper looks to me to be cast, but I'm not sure. Here is why I think this. - Some surface inprefections, such as scratches and something that looks like sandpaper marks below the finish, There are also some areas that look like they are pitted, also below the surface. - No markings on the upper. - The outside of the upper where the bolt cam pin rotates in the upper to lock the bolt in place lacks the 1/4" verticle mark, seen on most uppers. Well that about it. All my USGI parts fitted perfectly. If the upper was/is used and was refinished, is it possible that ths finish is too heavy to allow the movement of the CH? Any ideas? Thanks

Regarding the charging handle, separate the upper from the lower and remove the handle.  Look down the channel and see if the receiver walls are parallel.  The previous owner may have tried to use the vise to clamp on the upper (upside down), when he removed the barrel.  You may be able to see where the handle is rubbing.

I tried that, and everything seemed ok to me.

Do you have another charging handle to try?  Is it clearing the gas tube?  If these check out OK, the upper must be warped or out of spec.  Maybe someone else can offer some ideas to salvage it.

$120 for a stripped a1 upper is way too much.

Bushmaster sells a complete a1 upper for 129 and you can find cheaper ones than that.

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