Jard J180 Builds

[The Crover]

Just started building my Jard J180 receiver and found a few issues already.

There is no way to install an A1/A2 stock on this receiver, as the geometry of the receiver differs from an AR-15's lower. The dimple the stock would fit into on an AR lower to prevent rotation does not exist in the J180 receiver or trigger pack.

This will also impede instalation of sling loop plates commonly used with carbine buffer tubes. It seems the only stock options that will work with the J180 are collapsible stocks.

The barrel nut instalation is also difficult. Geissele reaction rods do not fit into the receiver as the stock tube channel is lower on the receiver than on the AR-15. There is about 1 cm difference between the center of the stock axis and the barrel axis. Magpul BEV block does not fit into the receiver, so the barrel extension locking lugs cannot be engaged from the inside of the receiver.

My first attempt to tighten the barrel nut of a BCM MCMR handguard involved clamping the barrel on a vice with wood blocks to prevent marring the finish. I was unable to tighten the nut using my torque wrench to BCM spec of 40 ft/lb without the barrel slipping in the wood blocks. The only way I managed to secure the upper was using some thick fabric wrapped around the upper itself to prevent marring, and then clamping the upper lightly near the barrel using the vice. I was then able to tighten the barrel nut to 40 ft/lb.

I'll continue to update this thread as I build my rifle into a working unit.

Update one: https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/2206810-Jard-J180-Builds?p=18395392&viewfull=1#post18395392

Range report #1: https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/2206810-Jard-J180-Builds?p=18398441&viewfull=1#post18398441

 

[jiffx2781]

I'll just keep shooting what I have.

 

[The Crover]

I'll just keep shooting what I have.

Sounds good.

 

[$kull]

You can use a sizeable picitinny riser on the rail and use that in a vice
, upper upside down, to torque the barrel nut

Don’t see the a1 or a2 stock being an issue since most would only ever want that for a rifle length gas system AND rifle buffer system to soften an ar’s recoil and enhance reliability.. both not factors for this rifle. Much better to have it fold, in my opinion, since it actually can use cheap folding Ar stock adapters meant for bolt guns and still fire folded. Others mileage may vary, if you are older than water, need to “retro” anything that takes a magazine in it, or have cheese string arms or whatever

But good you found that out for those guys.

I had success modding a bev block with a dremel to fit a modern sporter, will see if it fits this when it arrives and update and contribute to this thread.

 

[Ustauk]

Does anyone have an A2 stock, the MRA A2 end plate adapter for their Renegade/Maverick, and a Jard J180 build kit to see if the plate will work for then J180? It says it is proprietary to the MRA designs, but I wonder if it may still work on the J180.

 

[Ustauk]

I phoned Sylvestre, and they had run into the same issue as the Crover with another customer. The customer really loved the A2 stock, and came up with a permanent solution. The customer tightened the buffer tube to the maximum, and then used epoxy to permanently attach the A2 stock to the buffer tube.

I passed along the suggestion of the MRA A2 end plate adapter to them, and they plan on ordering one to test with the J180. In the meantime, they will note the current A2 incompatibility on the J180 web listing when it is created.

 

[Ustauk]

Edit, The Crover posted updated impressions himself.

 

[257hunter]

I used a mdt carbine to fixed adapter to solve a similar issue installing an ar stock on my contender carbine. Might work for you.

 

[The Crover]

After some struggles finding an appropriate stock for the rifle, the J180 is put together!

First impressions are...ok. The weakest part of the platform is the fit and finish. It is not anodized I think, it is a matte grey color and feels like parkerization but I don't think you can parkerize aluminum. There are machining marks in many places, and the trigger pack is assembled from 2 halves and bolted together. There was an abundance of packing oil on and inside the receiver, but it all wiped off easily.

The bolt cam pin track was marred out of the box. Looks like cycling and dryfiring the receiver might have caused the cam pin to strike the track, the marks are on spots the pin might not have reached if the BCG had been in the correct position in the receiver when stopped by the barrel extension.

Trigger is pretty decent out of the box, single stage trigger pull is on the light side with a short audible and tactile reset. It has a quirk where the trigger seems to lock up if the safety is set to "on" after the hammer is dropped but before resetting it. Only way to remediate is to remove the trigger pack off the gun and reset the hammer manually with the safety off.

Since the recoil rods and spring are higher on the receiver, the height of the receiver is higher than the height a standard AR receiver; this causes the receiver rail to be around 3-4 mm higher than a standard AR handguard rail I would guess. This in turn causes a very pronounced issue with AR-height optics, necessitating a higher comb on the stock to properly look through optics. Using a Magpul MOE stock and 0.5" cheek riser the AimPoint PRO can be used normally.

Last but not least is the issue of stock options. As I've previously indicated, A1/A2 stocks will not work on this receiver set. However, I found the Magpul fixed carbine stock will work as it interfaces with the geometry of a carbine buffer tube to prevent rotation.

Range report soon!

 

[The Crover]

From Over on Reddit, the Crover posted:

Getting a little ahead of yourself! I updated the post on Reddit with more info so yours is out of date.

I posted the complete comment here so not sure if you want to edit this one or delete the comment.

 

[Ustauk]

Getting a little ahead of yourself! I updated the post on Reddit with more info so yours is out of date.

I posted the complete comment here so not sure if you want to edit this one or delete the comment.

Edited to remove, thanks for posting the update.

 

[Wind of Pain]

After some struggles finding an appropriate stock for the rifle, the J180 is put together!

First impressions are...ok. The weakest part of the platform is the fit and finish. It is not anodized I think, it is a matte grey color and feels like parkerization but I don't think you can parkerize aluminum. There are machining marks in many places, and the trigger pack is assembled from 2 halves and bolted together. There was an abundance of packing oil on and inside the receiver, but it all wiped off easily.

The bolt cam pin track was marred out of the box. Looks like cycling and dryfiring the receiver might have caused the cam pin to strike the track, the marks are on spots the pin might not have reached if the BCG had been in the correct position in the receiver when stopped by the barrel extension.

Trigger is pretty decent out of the box, single stage trigger pull is on the light side with a short audible and tactile reset. It has a quirk where the trigger seems to lock up if the safety is set to "on" after the hammer is dropped but before resetting it. Only way to remediate is to remove the trigger pack off the gun and reset the hammer manually with the safety off.

Since the recoil rods and spring are higher on the receiver, the height of the receiver is higher than the height a standard AR receiver; this causes the receiver rail to be around 3-4 mm higher than a standard AR handguard rail I would guess. This in turn causes a very pronounced issue with AR-height optics, necessitating a higher comb on the stock to properly look through optics. Using a Magpul MOE stock and 0.5" cheek riser the AimPoint PRO can be used normally.

Last but not least is the issue of stock options. As I've previously indicated, A1/A2 stocks will not work on this receiver set. However, I found the Magpul fixed carbine stock will work as it interfaces with the geometry of a carbine buffer tube to prevent rotation.

Range report soon!

Considering the fit/finish is a let down, it photographs very nicely. Mine arrived today, have not yet had time to take it out of the box.

 

[dwightfehr]

Hi all, i talked to Jard today and told him that the finish was a big improvement from the J48, he said that on the 180 they bead blasted and then anodized it.

 

[Guppy3]

The bolt cam pin track was marred out of the box. Looks like cycling and dryfiring the receiver might have caused the cam pin to strike the track, the marks are on spots the pin might not have reached if the BCG had been in the correct position in the receiver when stopped by the barrel extension.

The cam pin will normally produce wear on ar15's, but should be minimal and not cause issues cycling.

Trigger is pretty decent out of the box, single stage trigger pull is on the light side with a short audible and tactile reset. It has a quirk where the trigger seems to lock up if the safety is set to "on" after the hammer is dropped but before resetting it. Only way to remediate is to remove the trigger pack off the gun and reset the hammer manually with the safety off.

Ar15 triggers normally do not go to safe when the hammer is down, this is normal.

 

[Ustauk]

Hi all, i talked to Jard today and told him that the finish was a big improvement from the J48, he said that on the 180 they bead blasted and then anodized it.

It reminds me of the finish of the secondary manufacturer of a competitor's 180 based fire arm; the original has a darker finish, while the later introduced secondary partner had a similar colour to the J180. I wonder if they use the same kind of anodization process?

 

[The Crover]

Ar15 triggers normally do not go to safe when the hammer is down, this is normal.

I'll try to replicate the issue, but I'm unsure if the safery is the culprit. What I mean by "the trigger seems to lock up" is literal, the hammer becomes stuck halfway between the cocked and fired position. At that point the bolt cannot be cycled, and the only way I've found to fix the issue is popping the takedown pin on the trigger pack, pulling the pack off the receiver, and pushing down on the hammer while wiggling the safety.

 

[Northern Shooter]

How does the fit/finish compare to the latest batch of MCR's?

 

[Wind of Pain]

I just pulled my receiver set out of the box. Besides the oil and grease (which isn't a bad thing) I feel pretty good about the fit and finish on my set. The Anodizing is darker than both of the Canadian 180 variants I currently own and enjoy. After a bath in some G96, I'm pretty confident the finish on my unit will look pretty good. Definitely better than a few others in the safe.

No really obvious exterior machining marks. When compared to the other domestic 180s, I would say the finish on my individual set is superior.

Like Crover, my set has similar marks/light marring along the inside of the cam track, however, after cycling the action a bunch I didn't notice it getting progressively worse. We all know this is a wear point in any similarly designed receiver set. I'm cautiously optimistic that some break-in over the weekend will get all the internals smoothed out.

YMMV

 

[AbHobbyist]

Gents

The Crover

Your build is coming along nicely!!

My receiver set arrived today and I look forward to working with.

It seems the J180 is similar to the J48 for stock assembly choices.

For those who want to use a fixed stock or one that needs an end plate, as suggested previously I used an MDT "Carbine to Fixed Stock Adapter", On my pervious J48 build.

I was using a stock off a Ruger RPR and it turned out like this:

However on my particular adapter I did have to shorten the adapter screw as I found it impeded on the rubber grommet at the rear of the receiver, so use caution when trying this as your mileage and results may very!!


As for the Fore-end rail being lower than the upper receiver rail, this situation opens up a lot of possibilities for optics mounting and you may not need to use a typical AR optics mount which is 1.50" to center of optic usually!!

Might I suggest an ADM mount of the SL variety that is only one 1.10 to center of optic and meant for bolt guns might work in this case. Further if one is careful you may even be able to use standard scope rings.

My preference would be for the ADM SL variety as you can get those mounts with 20 MOA cant built into them. For a barrels with a chamber in 223 wylde this may not matter, but I understand that that the not yet available in Canada

builders sets with the 0.441" Rim Dia. X .125 Bolt Face Depth can accommodate cartridges like the 6.5 Grendel (Type 1) & the 6 mm ARC, where 20 MOA Cant might be useful.

Who knows!! Maybe you can fit a 224 Valkyrie into this receiver set!! Now there is an excellent cartridge!!

These are just my thoughts and I look forward to others sharing theirs as well!!

regards

AbH

 

[AbHobbyist]

I just had another though......Speaking of MDT ......... I wonder if one of their SCS - Skeleton or Composite Carbine Stocks might not be the answer for the J180!!

regards

AbH