The BBT brought me 2 packages today: my new RRA upper receiver, and the Model 1 kit that I was expecting, on schedule after I changed my order from the backordered lightweight car kit.  

The fit and finish on the upper and barrel arent' too bad...no one is gonna mistake this for an Armalite, but after I rubbed some clp in wherever I could, it really doesn't look too bad.  I ordered the LE stock at the last minute, and it sure is a little stubby thing.  The quality of this piece is cheap, no question.  It feels a little bit rougher than the name brand stocks I have.  The buttplate is pretty cheap feeling too, but it mates up ok.  

Bolt and bolt carrier seem ok, but everything was in need of some CLP.  The charging handle is REALLY cheap...there's no way I'm gonna fire that rifle until I take some 0000 steel wool and smooth it out some.  It does slide back and forth ok, no snags/hangups, and after I put copious amounts of CLP all over it, the action racks fairly smoothly.  

The upper is REALLY tight, after I get one pin in, I gotta pound the other one closed with the spiffy delrin takedown pin tool I ordered with my receiver.  NO wobble at all once I get the pins in.  

I took some quick pics, but they're not the best, but without further ado, here is Fenian15's Hoopty Hybrid Rifle in Search of an Identity lol:







The full length pics all turned out bad, so I posted the close up ones.  

hmmm...red Xs...what's up with that?  

My Model 1 kit was tight too.


BTW: I cant see the pics!!~

village photo seems to have shit itself for the moment. I can't even log get to their home page.  

Heard their small parts are Chinese? Any verification?

Dont know,
none of the parts were stamped "Made in ____"

I guess you could email them or post in their ARFCOM forum.

glad they finaly got something out to ya...everyone brags about there barrels and uppers but never comment about the small parts us mil-spec....dont mean made in the usa mil-spec

The kit made it here in pretty short order after I spoke with the guy on Friday...too bad they didn't have the light barrels...this puppy is pretty heavy, all things considered.  Guess if I want a light weight rifle I'll just have to build another [:D]

did your safety/selector lever work ok?? i have had some problems with them as the detent locks up into the milled protion of the safety selector and they dont move.  had to cut the spring to release tension so they would move from safe to semi.

Romancenturion, I haven't put those parts into a lower yet...I had one already made up, an Eagle lower with Armalite parts I bought last week.  Needless to say, the Armalite parts fit perfectly...I got the whole thing together basically with a brass hammer and a plastic punch...although I did use the takedown pin detent tool...VERY handy.  

I'll put the other lower together tomorrow, and let you know how it is.  

Okay, I built the lower with the Model 1 parts.  There is a significant difference in the pieces between this kit and the Armalite...no surprise there.  I needed the roll pin starter punches and roll pin punches...everything was MUCH tighter this time around.  

The disconnector spring was bigger than the others I've seen, making it just a tad trickier than usual to get the pin all the way in, and I had to cut a couple coils off the front pivot pin spring, it was a smidge too long.  Other than that, no real problems.  Believe it or not, the trigger actually feels better than the Armalite kit...but it may have the strongest hammer spring I've come accross.  Anyway, the trigger breaks fairly clean; even though there's a good deal of resistance, it just feels better than the Armalite kit.  

The selector switch seems to be fine...it seemed tight at first, but now after playing with it for a couple of minutes, it's loosened up fine.  

I don't have a whole lot to compare it to, but I would rate the Model 1 kit adequate, and good for folks on a tight budget.  If I can afford another one anytime this lifetime, I may check out the J&Ts, just for comparison's sake.  BTW, what do they charge for shipping on those kits...I just went to get a delta ring assembly from them, and they wanted $13.95 for shipping it UPS GROUND!