Maccabee Defense SLR information and updates
- Thread starter jiffx2781
- Start date
Use quality mil-spec components and not after market bling items or so called mil-spec parts from second rate manufacturers to avoid modifications. As I have said other brands also suffer from having to be modified.
Last edited:
Do you honestly think that when the holes are drilled that one or two pieces are out because the drill bit suddenly becomes out of speck? I could be wrong but can someone enlighten me.
I find that many first time builders have issues with the AR, SLR’s and MS’s. Not a personal criticism just an observation.
F22_RaptoR
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Edmonton, Alberta
Tool wear is a very real thing that can affect tolerances quite a bit. When you machine a part like that, you do multiple machining passes. The first passes use big 1/2" or bigger cutters to hog the material off as quick as possible. The next few passes are slower and use multiple bits. The tooling used on the drilled holes is NOT the same as being used to cut the picatinny rail, or the trigger box cutout. It shows they are over using tooling; meaning they are barely able to keep afloat. Drill bits, end mills and everything else used to cut metal are expendable. The higher precision you want the shorter the tool life is. If it's consistent you can even program it into the CNC machinery so the machines correct for tool wear - to a point. Eventually you have to bin it and get a new end mill or drill. If they are using drill bits for so long that it's causing a tolerance problem, that's a huge problem. It's a 5 or 10 dollar drill bit they're using for the small drilled holes.
Probably all the QR problems taking a big chunk out of their operating budget, this is why ATRS does 150 set runs or whatever at a time. small runs to ensure QR isn't an issue, and yes they back up for years sometimes but the quality difference usually shows, as does when they DO have a problem and how they fix it.
There are only a few things that actually cause issues with AR builds, and usually having a couple tools makes it extremely easy. But things like pins not fitting and gas tube holes being too small are a huge indication that MDI is running on very loose tolerances... This maybe can be acceptable for a first few runs but if it's consistent it means there is a problem at the manufacturing level... Junky machines, worn out tooling or cutting too fast. That's what you expect from Norinco, not a thousand dollar receiver set.
Well I guess that's good for you.
But for many others, myself included, there were issues, multiple issues.
For a $1000 reciever set, especially anything after serial # 100, those issues should not exist. Once issues are known they should have been rectified and not showing up again in Serial #s 500+. Adding to that, there most certainly should not be new issues introduced. This shows either a lack of knowledge, lack of QC, a lack of giving 2 sh@ts or all of the above. I had issues with mine, contacted MDI, they got back to me once saying they were going to look into my issues and then I never heard from them again.
Needless to say I sold it with disclosure and went in early on the other guys reciever set. I am infinitely happier and am happy to report some of the most beautiful anodizing and machining I have ever seen. Definitely worth the $1k entry fee.
The SLR is most certainly serviceable, you can get it together and it'll function fine, but same with NEA or Norc, none of which I would pay $1k for. At the price points of the other 2 you know what to expect. It's interesting too how some people and then 1 vendor had additional uppers or spare sets available before pre orders were filled. That kind of crap leaves a real sour taste in my mouth. The people who pre ordered were the ones who carried the company along it's journey and they should have been respected. Kudos to the other retailers like TNA who have had to deal with this crap and have gone above and beyond to make things right.
I just find it amazing at how some people defend this crap and continually suggest it's user error and there is no way that things could be out of spec and that those things don't matter. Quit belittling the people who spent their hard earned money on what should have been a great experience for them.
I wanted this company to succeed, I love innovative Canadian quality. It is unfortunate to see these issues and mentalities persist.
Last edited:
I don’t think their milling machines are clapped out, they look brand new. The problem was a rookie mistake with the annodizers. What they should have done was drill several different sized holes in a scrap piece and sent it off to the annodizers and figured out what size of drill they needed. They also messed up on the programming ie missing the pocket for the charging handle latch.
I believe their problems are from a lot of rookie mistakes.
Agreed.
Just piss poor planning.
Using everyone's machined sets to test out a crappy anodizing company wasn't the best plan.
Samples should have been sent at separate times to check for quality and consistency. Seems like drill bits need to be changed more often also.
I understand the percieved need to get to market but rushing things doesn't usually work out well. Would have been prudent to run a very small batch and conduct more testing and QC but I don't think they had the capital.
Too much too quick and not the best planning.
I am glad lots of people are happy with their sets but this one just wasn't for me.
Just piss poor planning.
Using everyone's machined sets to test out a crappy anodizing company wasn't the best plan.
Samples should have been sent at separate times to check for quality and consistency. Seems like drill bits need to be changed more often also.
I understand the percieved need to get to market but rushing things doesn't usually work out well. Would have been prudent to run a very small batch and conduct more testing and QC but I don't think they had the capital.
Too much too quick and not the best planning.
I am glad lots of people are happy with their sets but this one just wasn't for me.
I picked up two more receivers, one around #570 and one near #595, BOTH of them had undersize gas tube holes. A gas tube measures .180", my receiver near #460 had a .182" hole, these two measured .169". This was measured with a set of number size drills, and I very much know how to measure something. I checked the bolt catch pin holes with the same method and they were perfect, along with the dust cover pin holes. The undersize gas tube 'cloverleaf' is a real thing. I solved the non-critical issue and am moving on with assembly.
Is it just me of does this not seem seriously pathetic that a retailer has to make a video of how to re machine the crap they sell?
This sort of amateur workmanship on behalf of the manufacturer would kill most companies. This kind of pushes "some assembly required" to whole new level.
My question is why can't Crapabee get their crap sorted out?
Using the market to Alpha test was wrong, to continue to Beta test at the expense of the public is wrong, at what point will they finally get it right?
Glad I bailed when I did.
I now have just over 1000 rounds through my MS and have never looked back.
Last edited:
Absolutely zero issues with my "other" set, as mentioned earlier mine was beautiful and pins went in with zero issues.
I used roll pin starter punches on both sets, but my SLR required a second roll pin and a needle file along other things.
My ATRS serial is 006, now im worried stuff wont fit !
I think you'll be fine, and in the unlikely event you weren't, they will always look after you.
Last edited:
If you were following along and read what was posted by CSC, they clearly indicated that drilling out the selector hole on the trigger pack is UNNECESSARY but was included for those who have sub standard parts or experience a stiff selector due to using the torx bolt on the trigger pack.. Which is also 100% UNNECESSARY.
With all that said, it is odd that people are whining about the possibility of minor mods on a gun that never existed 18 months ago. Yet the constant need to modify, repair or replace parts on any Norc product is deemed acceptable. And don't tell me "Norc's are cheap and I expect there to be problems" BS. Cost of the item has no bearing on whether or not it should work.
I have never and likely will never own any Norc junk although it seems better than NEA/BCL junk so can't comment on the needs of correcting bad designs or out of spec holes and such.
Maybe IF Crapabee had spent a little more time alpha testing and getting it right to begin with, then employing some standard of QC having to take power tools and do a bunch of modification to their product to make it actually work as advertised, we would not be reading about how to correct the many deficiencies they seem to come with from factory?
