Crusader arms backland
- Thread starter Deathrawt
- Start date
The Crusaders have 2 locater pins on the upper, so when the upper is being attached to the lower, the pins slide in and then the main pin on the front can be pushed into place.
I took one of the rifles apart because a primer that wasn't seated properly fell out and was jammed in the bolt face. Clearing the primer was easy but the locater pins fell out. I used permanent strength Loc Tite and slid the pins back into where they belonged. 24 hours the Loc Tite had dried and everything was AOK in rifle function . I don't know if they are just pressed in or whatever but they should at least come loc tited from the factory. It's not a big deal but it's one of thoise things that could be better addressed at manufacture level.
RugbyDave is a top notch PRS etc shooter and took one of the (then new) Crusaders to do an accuracy test and got great results with the 75gr bullet he was loading. So I saw Dave at the range yesterday and we decided at the end of this summer he is going to do another accuracy test. By then both of the rifles will have 5000+ round count so it will be pretty interesting.
On the same note, I have several Ruger American .223 bolt action rifles. They all have minimum of 10K round count. They mostly get 55 gr bulk ammo fed to them but I have some good 75 gr handloads and if I get around to it I will do a accuracy test with these used and abused rifles.
I took one of the rifles apart because a primer that wasn't seated properly fell out and was jammed in the bolt face. Clearing the primer was easy but the locater pins fell out. I used permanent strength Loc Tite and slid the pins back into where they belonged. 24 hours the Loc Tite had dried and everything was AOK in rifle function . I don't know if they are just pressed in or whatever but they should at least come loc tited from the factory. It's not a big deal but it's one of thoise things that could be better addressed at manufacture level.
RugbyDave is a top notch PRS etc shooter and took one of the (then new) Crusaders to do an accuracy test and got great results with the 75gr bullet he was loading. So I saw Dave at the range yesterday and we decided at the end of this summer he is going to do another accuracy test. By then both of the rifles will have 5000+ round count so it will be pretty interesting.
On the same note, I have several Ruger American .223 bolt action rifles. They all have minimum of 10K round count. They mostly get 55 gr bulk ammo fed to them but I have some good 75 gr handloads and if I get around to it I will do a accuracy test with these used and abused rifles.
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GunsNotPuns
CGN frequent flyer
Good news everyone! If you want to piss away over $2,500 with taxes on the latest iteration of this piece of crap, your wait is almost over!
I’m not a fan of the stock either but at least they have a proper trigger group and grip on it now
On my orig one I put the A2 style stock on it and I like it but it won’t fit on this new one and an actual A2 won’t fit because of the Turkish/Benelli buffer tube/stock assembly
Hopefully someone comes out with something better for these
On my orig one I put the A2 style stock on it and I like it but it won’t fit on this new one and an actual A2 won’t fit because of the Turkish/Benelli buffer tube/stock assembly
Hopefully someone comes out with something better for these
Latest update:
I took a bit more careful look at the rifle to try to determine the random bolt lock backs and realized that there was minimal spring tension on the bolt release. Knocked the pin out and sure enough the detent was stuck too deep in the spring hole. I have been down this road with at least one AR15 and it appeared to be the same problem- The opening around the detent got peened over and was preventing it from extending properly.
I took out the awl on my multi-tool, poked the detent in with the point and reamed out the offending material with the blade part. I think last time I did this I used a tiny file and a small drill bit (used by hand) would also accomplish the same thing. It's really just a thin bit of material that needs to be removed. Since it's not uncommon on AR15's I'm sure someone has a Youtube video about it.
Anyway now #2 is running good.
Had this same problem with #1 Crusader the other day. Punched out the pin and the detent was stuck. Tried to just ream out a bigger hole but no go so I just got an appropriate size drill bit and slowly drilled out the peened over bit and it was an easy fix. This happenms on AR15's too...Not all of them of course but it's not like it's unknown.
Tried some Remington 55gr bulk ammo today and it sucked. I believe it is underpowered and/or inconsistent as it ejects but doesn't push the BCG back far enough so that when the next round feeds the bolt is hitting it half way and causing a jam. Not every round of course, but enough to recognize it was a problem with ammo and not the firearm. Federal, Hornady and PMC seem to chew right through just fine.
Both rifles went over 4000 rounds today. By August 31 they will both have over 5000 rounds, assuming they don't break.
Once again I've come to the conclusion that while I love AR's I kinda hate DI due to fouling. Piston guns just stay so clean. However, the Crusaders are performing far better than I thought they would, so that goes into the win column.
One other thing.... We were getting some failures to extract in both rifles. Which is understandable as they haven't been cleaned in hundreds of rounds, and they have had thousands of rounds so maybe the extractor and/or extractor spring is worn and obviously the chamber is dirty as hell.
So with an AR15 I would just disassemble the BCG and fit a new spring and extractor, maybe pop an O ring in there. But I've mentioned this before- the BCG disassembly on the Crusaders is mental...You don't just pull the firing pin retention pin and it comes apart. Remove that pin and everything still stays intact. There is a pin that holds the rat tail on and it's gotta be punched out. Maybe there is an easier way but I can't find it. And as the rifles came with no manuals I don't know. The pin is held in very tightly and I'm not sure it is even designed to be removed as I've applied plenty of punching force to it and had no results.
It would be nice if Crusader checked out this thread and informed us on an easy way to disassemble the BCG. This isn't my first rodeo with firearms.
Anyway, I doubted the extractor and spring were really done in by only 4000 rounds so I took the BCG's out and soaked them in CLR (which is a hot #### carbon remover if you didn't know- but must be used with caution) and all the fouling came off and it's extracting again
So with an AR15 I would just disassemble the BCG and fit a new spring and extractor, maybe pop an O ring in there. But I've mentioned this before- the BCG disassembly on the Crusaders is mental...You don't just pull the firing pin retention pin and it comes apart. Remove that pin and everything still stays intact. There is a pin that holds the rat tail on and it's gotta be punched out. Maybe there is an easier way but I can't find it. And as the rifles came with no manuals I don't know. The pin is held in very tightly and I'm not sure it is even designed to be removed as I've applied plenty of punching force to it and had no results.
It would be nice if Crusader checked out this thread and informed us on an easy way to disassemble the BCG. This isn't my first rodeo with firearms.
Anyway, I doubted the extractor and spring were really done in by only 4000 rounds so I took the BCG's out and soaked them in CLR (which is a hot #### carbon remover if you didn't know- but must be used with caution) and all the fouling came off and it's extracting again
Some great info on the Backland Gatehouse - keep it coming.
Your experience has somewhat helped my perception of the Backland and I still feel that of the 3 semi autos that I would consider (Carmel / Makasi / Backland) the Backland is the least likely to disappear via some sneaky backdoor Liberal tomfoolery that we have seen many times before.
Regarding the CLR tip, I actually tried this the other day on some parts that were well overdue for cleaning (see below
). I dropped them in some used CLR in a tub I keep around for breaking up hard water deposits and it turned them a weird bronze colour. They were only in there maybe 15 minutes. It seemed to help with the breakup of the Carbon but really I feel the ultrasonic cleaner did the bulk of the heavy lifting (thankfully).
As these parts are small I put them in Kroil for a bit and then did a couple of cycles in the ultrasonic and they were fine again.
Maybe new CLR is different but I would urge caution when using it on any part that you care about the aesthetics of.
Your experience has somewhat helped my perception of the Backland and I still feel that of the 3 semi autos that I would consider (Carmel / Makasi / Backland) the Backland is the least likely to disappear via some sneaky backdoor Liberal tomfoolery that we have seen many times before.
Regarding the CLR tip, I actually tried this the other day on some parts that were well overdue for cleaning (see below
). I dropped them in some used CLR in a tub I keep around for breaking up hard water deposits and it turned them a weird bronze colour. They were only in there maybe 15 minutes. It seemed to help with the breakup of the Carbon but really I feel the ultrasonic cleaner did the bulk of the heavy lifting (thankfully).As these parts are small I put them in Kroil for a bit and then did a couple of cycles in the ultrasonic and they were fine again.
Maybe new CLR is different but I would urge caution when using it on any part that you care about the aesthetics of.
Some great info on the Backland Gatehouse - keep it coming.
Your experience has somewhat helped my perception of the Backland and I still feel that of the 3 semi autos that I would consider (Carmel / Makasi / Backland) the Backland is the least likely to disappear via some sneaky backdoor Liberal tomfoolery that we have seen many times before.
Regarding the CLR tip, I actually tried this the other day on some parts that were well overdue for cleaning (see below
As these parts are small I put them in Kroil for a bit and then did a couple of cycles in the ultrasonic and they were fine again.
Maybe new CLR is different but I would urge caution when using it on any part that you care about the aesthetics of.
View attachment 1181072
That reminds me, I don't think I've cleaned my Versamax since the fall of 2024.
Mine may have been even longer than that. I honestly cant recall when I last cleaned it and it showed.
I have ran that thing like a rented mule. I typically take it to the range every time I go and run at least 100 rounds, matches are north of 100 rounds per day. Even on the low end it's seen ~5000 rounds since it was last apart. It was pretty ugly.
Wow, it's been a busy week with about 1500 rounds fired from the 2 Crusaders. 5000 round count is going to come up faster than I thought! 
We've been running PMC Bronze 55gr which is our favorite range blasting ammunition. No firearm malfunctions although we had a couple of primers fail to ignite. When struck again a couple fired, a couple didn't. Hard to say it's a firearm malfunction when 1496 of the 1500 rounds went bang as intended. I've seen hundreds of factory ammo fails so even though I find PMC awesome they aren't infallible.
I've outlined all the problems I've had with these rifles in this thread and in the end none of them were insurmountable, although I hated that one really really needed to be "broken in." I never had to send either one for warranty although I still think Crusader should do a Youtube with a detailed BCG disassembly video.
I know some people have had real problems with these rifles, especially the Gen 1. But at this point I can comfortably say these rifles are not "garbage." They need a bit better QC for a few minor things. I am sure some people are still going to get a Friday afternoon lemon rifle, but overall this platform is working for me right now. There are lots of things to dislike about this rifle but the criticisms mostly revolve around how they have been built to navigate our current gun laws.
I've got 2 Carmels on order and after extensive use of their other products I have extreme confidence in IWI products, so I am looking forward to them. But right now the Crusaders are banging away with minimal issues so I'm pretty happy that a true "cope" gun is working so well. Fingers crossed that nothing self destructs in the next few weeks and I have to eat my words! LOL
And yeah, the price may turn some people off- everyone has different levels of tolerance for disposable income. I still remember the good ol days when you could get a 100% perfectly functioning AR15 for $750. And I also remember when we were buying BNIB Chinese SKS for $75 each.
We've been running PMC Bronze 55gr which is our favorite range blasting ammunition. No firearm malfunctions although we had a couple of primers fail to ignite. When struck again a couple fired, a couple didn't. Hard to say it's a firearm malfunction when 1496 of the 1500 rounds went bang as intended. I've seen hundreds of factory ammo fails so even though I find PMC awesome they aren't infallible.
I've outlined all the problems I've had with these rifles in this thread and in the end none of them were insurmountable, although I hated that one really really needed to be "broken in." I never had to send either one for warranty although I still think Crusader should do a Youtube with a detailed BCG disassembly video.
I know some people have had real problems with these rifles, especially the Gen 1. But at this point I can comfortably say these rifles are not "garbage." They need a bit better QC for a few minor things. I am sure some people are still going to get a Friday afternoon lemon rifle, but overall this platform is working for me right now. There are lots of things to dislike about this rifle but the criticisms mostly revolve around how they have been built to navigate our current gun laws.
I've got 2 Carmels on order and after extensive use of their other products I have extreme confidence in IWI products, so I am looking forward to them. But right now the Crusaders are banging away with minimal issues so I'm pretty happy that a true "cope" gun is working so well. Fingers crossed that nothing self destructs in the next few weeks and I have to eat my words! LOL
And yeah, the price may turn some people off- everyone has different levels of tolerance for disposable income. I still remember the good ol days when you could get a 100% perfectly functioning AR15 for $750. And I also remember when we were buying BNIB Chinese SKS for $75 each.
apexanimal
CGN Regular
- Location
- Vancouver Island
Looks like the optic plate on top would interfere with the charging handle.
