Crusader Arms Crypto

JasonGTA said:
My early M16/ Model 602 clone is nearly complete, I should have it all together soon. I have a spare detachable A1 carry handle for anyone else building an early model clone up on the EE
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Saw the pics of the rifle in the EE ad - looks great with the A1 carry handle. Want to trade your spare A1 handle for an A2? ;)

R
 
FluffyFM said:
Yup, they are absolute garbage. I'll list all the issues I have with mine, absolutely mind blown it got out the door like this.

The gas block Screws were barely hand tight, and gas key Screws were nowhere near 55 in lbs and improperly staked as the staking made no contact. The dust cover didn't stay closed due to the dust cover latch cutout not being machined in and the magazine catch was not straight, the threaded part is bent quite a bit but still functions. The charging handle is one of those airsoft ones and mine appeared to be a reject part or blemished one as it had major machining issues and didn't even stay latched in since the latch was too short. The upper and lower have a crazy amount of machining marks and are majorly out of spec in many areas and even after fixing the charging handle issue it still would not latch closed due to a gigantic burr on the upper where the charging handle latch rides up to latch over. The handguard is also an airsoft grade handguard which looked like it was a reject part or blem of some sort, it had dents and scratches all over it under the anodizing. The castle nut was also not staked well, that being said they did stake it unlike a lot of other manufacturers, but the castle nut also has a huge rusty spot on it. The upper receiver picatinny rail is also majorly out of spec, it's not even close, so if you are mounting an optic that requires in spec rails for it to work good luck. The bolt catch is also out of spec, the hole for the roll pin is way too big.

Another issue caused by the receivers being out of spec was that with a 22lr kit you would get blasted with gas in the face and it made it almost unusable due to the rear buffer tower being cut down to low making a huge gap between the charging handle and lower.

Overall for $2000 which is even more than I paid for my blem raven 556 which is lightyears better than this thing I cant believe more people aren't complaining, I guess it's just that copium they are all huffing.

I knew all crusader arms products were bad I just didn't expect them to be this bad.
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Knowing all that in advance you still bought a complete rifle instead of building one with decent parts and a receiver set?
 
Are there any smiths who will work on them? Looking to get a receiver set for a 22ARC so probably need to have work done on the feedramps as well as debur some of the ####ty machining and most likely cerakote the ####ty anod
 
CobraGT said:
Finally had a chance to run my buddy's Crypto build this past weekend - unlubed, it was finicky with a variety of ammo at the start (it would consistently chamber a round, and would consistently fire the chambered round, but wouldn't reliably eject... it was often basically functioning as a straight-pull bolt action), but after I lubed the hell out of it, it worked just fine with brass-cased ammo. It still did NOT like steel-cased ammo, though.... same problem persisted with steel-cased.

As well, there's something wrong with the bolt catch - it won't engage the bolt reliably. I think the problem is either with the bolt catch itself (it's from a cheap no-name LPK I had in the parts drawer), though it's possible that it's something out of spec with the receiver itself. I'm going to explore this further.

Aside from that, it was shooting minute-of-clay reliably with irons at 100 yards.

So, overall, a bit of a mixed experience, but I'm still happy with it. I'm looking forward to getting it out again after I make some adjustments to it.

View attachment 883824
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I figured out what was wrong with the BHO issue - it was actually the result of the bolt carrier not moving entirely to the rear, meaning that the bolt was too far forward for the BHO to engage it. Why? Because the frigging no-name rifle-length buffer he has in it is a couple of mm too long! I've never run into that before. Once I deal with that I'll take it out again.

EDIT - trimmed the rubber at the end of the buffer back maybe 2mm, and everything appears to function properly now. We shall see...

.
 
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I'm working on my build, using the higher-end stuff I had left over from past AR builds. My impression on this receiver set, as opposed to prior sets I've seen:

- no issues with upper to lower fitment
- no purple tinge at all
- my Troy ambi mag release fits in this lower receiver.... it didn't work in the other one I built for a buddy
- machining seems about the same; no significant marks
- milspec port door doesn't stay closed on this upper.... disappointing, as it did on the other upper. Tried an aftermarket one, which also doesnt stay closed I'm going to have to file a bit of a notch for the door catch
- some high spots in the magwell that had to be filed down to allow STANAG mags to work. Weird. The other receiver set had the same defect.

So far:

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My new crypto had been sitting in the safe for about 3 weeks but finally got to the range yesterday for a sight-in. I put 165 rounds through it (about 145 old General Dynamics 5.56 and 20 PMC Green tips) with only one failure to feed due to an under-inserted magazine. Only issue I've found is my bolt release is REALLY stiff with a mag inserted. My buddy who bought a crypto at the same time as I did (serial number within 10 of mine) has a much lighter bolt release. I don't know exactly where it's binding up, or if it's just something that needs to "break in"?
 
Finished assembling this thing this morning. Only thing that sucks is that I was sure I still had a 20" barrel to use on it... turns out I don't. So for now I stuck an M4 barrel onto the upper, but now I can't actually put the completed upper on the lower to test it, as my understanding is that, were I to do that, it'd immediately become a restricted firearm. No fitting required, and consistent anodizing... looks a bit purple in photos, but not at all in 'real life'.

Lower:
ACE ARFX Entry stock assembly
Strike Industries Enhanced Lower Parts Kit w/ ambi 45-degree safety and oversize bolt catch/release
Troy ambi mag release

Upper:
BCM bolt
PSA bolt carrier
Colt (I think? Maybe Stag?) M4 barrel assembly
Strike Industries Enhanced Ultimate Dust Cover (which now does stay closed - not sure exactly why)
Strike Industries ARCH T-6 7075 forged hard anodized charging handle

Better quality parts in this one (Strike Industries is by no means top-end, but OK in my experience)]

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