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Posted: 1/7/2007 6:27:30 AM EDT
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After a year or so of study, and getting into the shallow end of NFA via the SBR process, I took the plunge and bought a RDIAS this summer. Finally got it picked up this weekend. It is a J.C. Benjiman (JCB) all steel unit that was sold to me as essentially new. Based on the wear/finish, I think that is likely the case. The piviot pin for the trip is staked in two locations, spring tension is pretty light (like a ballpoint pen spring) but the top of the trip is quite square. I know from haunting M60 Joe's web page that rounded designs are sometimes easier to just drop in and run. I don't have a host for it yet, debating whether to modify a Colt 6921 SP to run it or buy a Bushmaster lower and just build a disposable host that will use mil spec parts. In any case, I would like to thank the folks who contribute to this forum (and other forums, subguns, uzitalk, etc.). Without your widsdom I never would have made the plunge. http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y245/GPSIG/DSC01270.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y245/GPSIG/DSC01271.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y245/GPSIG/DSC01268.jpg |
Very nice piece I recommend the "disposable host" method. That's why we bought an RDIAS instead of a RR, isn't it? I bought my steel unit about 2 years ago and dropped it in a BM. It's great to be able to go to the range, let friends try it out, do some C-mag dumps and not worry about the host getting scratched, dropped, blown-up etc. Try that with a RR! Finally after 20,000+ rounds, the BM still runs well but I'm building a new host on a Doublestar lower, anyway. Again, good choice and congrats!  Enjoy your investment and leave the RR's in the safe. |
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I've had my JCB for a year now, and probably run 6-8000 rounds with it so far. It had a chip out of the top of the trip, but a local guy made a new one, and a spare trip for $100, and it's been running ever since. I am also curious what the going price is now, would you mind sharing with the board what you paid? Mine was $10.5K in Nov. of 2005 I believe. |
+1 !! I _just_ got a BM M4A3 host for my DIAS. I was disappointed that it didnt "drop in" and I had to take a dremel to the receiver just behind the thickened spot where the auto-sear hole wouldbe. Got myself a 14.5" barreled A3 upper and..I cant wait til the weekend!! My long term goal is to get an MGI lower and be able to use 7.62x39, x51, .223 and whatever else they come up with! mine was 10k in sep 06. Edit: BTW, is there a good place to buy more sear trips online or in TX? I want a few to try some customizations, but I don't want to cut the whole thing from a block of steel. Thanks. |
| my intentions are to pick up a few dpms lowers for my DIAS. they are so cheap right now that it cant hurt to have a couple put up for those days when AR lowers are getting pricey and the DIAS needs a new home to abuse. Is there any reason to choose bushy over DPMS besides questionalbe tolerances that some have problems with on the DPMS guns? |
Purchased it with a host that I later sold, but the base price was about 20 percent more than you paid. I was willing to pay a premium for an all steel unit (although I recognize there aren't any documented issues with AL), and based on recent advertised prices I think I am already in the black if I wanted to sell...but I never will! |
I've run mine in two different DPMS lowers without any problems. It's currently in one now, which I bought from Steve when he was doing his own thing running Tom Sawyer Emgraving. It has a Stag Auto lefty bolt & carrier, Stag lefty upper, 11.5" Oly barrel, Bushy ambidextrous full auto selector, DPMS heavy buffer, Colt Auto lower parts kit, etc. and it runs like a champ. All these pieces parts fit the DPMS like they're supposed to, and work perfectly. As always, YMMV. |
Most Bushy lowers are made by LAR and have the same dimensions as the other LAR's (Ameetech, DPMS, CMMG, Double Star, Fulton). Some BM lowers were (still are?) made in house. I've only dealt with the LAR"s and they've been drop in for my unit so your BM may be a house lower (if ser. # starts with "L", it's LAR) or your DIAS may be a little off. In any case, a little grinding in that spot won't hurt anything. Better to grind a $120 lower than grind a $10,000 DIAS!
+1 to the poster who recommended www.m60joe.com. He's seen an example of pretty much every makers DIAS at one time or another. Send him an email with the makers name, pics and dimensions of your trip and he may be able to make one just from that without having to actually send the unit. |
Sorry, I missed your post when I read this thread today... As I posted to the other guy, DPMS lowers are made by LAR and are therefore, the exact same as the "L" prefix BM's (except cheaper )
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There's a steel unit on subguns right now going for $13,500: Link to subguns ad |
sold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
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I am trying to get an idea of how many DIAS untils JCB made. Do you mind sharing a rough idea of your serial number? Mine is in the mid-teens, and the highest I have ever seen (in an ad on Sturm) was either 018 or 019. So I figure he must have made at least 20, but don't really know. |
I thought the same thing... That you had bought it. Wow! I can see prices at $14K to $15K easy by the end of '07. If anyone ever thinking about wanting one, suck it up, max the credit cards and do it now. |
I will say that it's in the 150's. Trivia, John C. Benjamin (JCB) lives here in my hometown, Portland, OR. I've actually talked to him on the phone a few times. He's building custom barrels if I recall correctly. He got into a beef with the ATF in the early 90's and as a result I think they pulled his machine gun manufacturing license. Don't quote me, though. I've recently acquired two of the Ciener .22 conversion kits, and they are a blast. I'll bet that in the past two weeks I've shot over 2K round of .22 using my DIAS with the kit, and can't wait to get back out and play some more. Think about it, for a few hundred bucks, you can have a .22 bullet hose that costs about $20-$40 per 1K of ammo! There is a guy in Idaho who is fabricating some 30 round mags for the Ciener kits, and the trial one I've been using works perfectly. Here's a link to a thread on this forum that is discussing the .22 kits and mags. www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=15&t=307965 |
| Talked to a guy today with a JCB in the 180ish range. So at least that many of them out there. His doesn't have the pin staked, you can push it out with a punch. I have seen both staked and unstaked, I wonder if they came both ways from JCB or if the stake marks (or lack of marks) indicate a sear that has been worked on. |
First congratulations! I've begun researching this whole arena myself and will do more as saving for a purchase like this will take awhile.  Noob Question: In looking at the pictures I did not see any serial numbers, I assume they have them right? Otherwise how would you connect the Form 4 to the part. Thanks. ETA: In looking again at the first picture maybe that is the serial number, it's is difficult to tell I've never seen one of these things. |
Yep. Serial number and such is on the bottom. |
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I bought a Broadhead coupla years ago. I picked it up when the paperwork went through; it was handed to me in a little ziploc. Call it NIZ. I paid $5500? Somewhere in there. I thought, as I'm driving home, "You are the biggest dumb ass in existence. Look at how much cash you just paid for a stupid widget." It is the king of my modest collection, and would be the last to go, for all the standard reasons. There's just too much you can do with it. It has the rounded trip, which I believe has made it 100% plug-n-play. I've never timed it, and the most I've ever had to do with a host is apply a little 320 grit paper to the lug so it slides on firmly. DPMS and Bush lowers work great. A DIAS won't get any cheaper, and I'm not saying that in some stupid attempt to jack up the price, because barring a financial disaster in my household, I'll never sell. I believe they are now on par with a clean M16-A1, and will someday be more valuable. |
Don't know about documented, but a couple of years ago there was a pictorial thread in this forum about the repair of an aluminum RDIAS, where the steel pin tore up the holes, and it had to be rewelded and redrilled. I bet that will never happen with yours! 
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Is this the pic?:  It was fixed by m60joe. I could be wrong but I think this is a steel unit. |
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