Much to my delight this Weds, I received my Norc CQ 5.56 from Lever.
The day it arrived, I had the pleasure of trying out one of those 22 conversion kits from Questar from a fellow in my club. It worked well, but I forgot to swab the barrel after running some CLP through it (whoops). Combined with the .22 LR - it was a dirty experience.
On Friday I took it out to the range and put 90 rounds through it. Basically shooting it without any modifications (I put a flashlight and a patrol sling on - because it looks cool - but I know, it has no practical purpose).
Of the 90 rounds, I had 1 FTF; but that was my fault, as I was shooting 55 gn FMJ's I had handloaded myself. My first batch of rifle ammo I reloaded myself, and I assume I did something wrong (Pics below) maybe someone can help me out. Basically, after a few shots, this round didn't chamber and the bullet was pushed back into the casing. My guess is I trimmed it way too much or screwed up seating the bullet somehow:
My only experience with AR-15s perse was using a C7 for about 8 years; and of course, that was only with an Elcan sight; so using the iron sights was kind of a gong show for me.
Here's 30 rounds of me trying to calibrate the windage and elevation dials on the sights that came with it sitting, supported at 25m... what you don't see are the 10 rounds where I missed the target all together because I had it ranged to 600m and the windage dial was cranked all the way to the right (it shows up in the second set of targets:
Here's 25m with a smaller target; it wasn't until 50m that I realized you can adjust the front site to lower your shots... whoops - AR n00b! You'll also notice the one shot on the very right - that was one of my first shots when my sights were all screwed up.
With my front site still way high, I moved to 50m - and surprise surprise, I was off the paper:
After lowering them a little bit - with my groups off the map, but at least enough for me to feel more confident that with a little more practice and effort I would hit my point of aim at 50m (I was starting to rush, it was getting close to the time to pick up my wifey). I'll also note that my vision is pretty terrible, and the target was very hard for me to see (I'm also wearing a weaker prescription of glasses - as a part of my vision therapy program - so seeing them was even worse).
Equally, this target back at 25m. By this point my eyes and shoulder were staring to get pretty tired; and I could barely see the centre point I was aiming for. The shots were a bit lower then where I think my point of aim was, but again - small target, poor vision, iron sights - it was too hard to tell.
Finally, some good ole fashion, better annihilating firepower just for fun; I stood up and put down 10 rounds as fast as I could:
Overall, as an AR noob - I can say I feel quite confident I could nail a figure 11, centre of mass at 50m with my new rifle on a consistent basis using the factory iron sights.
It was a big learning experience for me, and I'm sure there'll be much more learning to come, but at least I've made my start. I'm sure there's a lot of folks out there that want to pick up their first AR but are a bit turned off by a pretty hefty price tag ($2000-2500 for a used/new, western made AR, with 1000 rounds of ammo vs $1500 for a new Norc with 1000 rounds of ammo). I'll admit, the finish is very cheap, with little flecks of paint chipping off my ejection port cover already; but it's neat that it has an ambidextrous safety and mag release (although I am right handed). Flat top with detachable carrying handle, and a 14.5" barrel. Overall, I am very happy with my purchase.
Any (tasteful) comments or suggestions would be much appreciated.
The day it arrived, I had the pleasure of trying out one of those 22 conversion kits from Questar from a fellow in my club. It worked well, but I forgot to swab the barrel after running some CLP through it (whoops). Combined with the .22 LR - it was a dirty experience.
On Friday I took it out to the range and put 90 rounds through it. Basically shooting it without any modifications (I put a flashlight and a patrol sling on - because it looks cool - but I know, it has no practical purpose).
Of the 90 rounds, I had 1 FTF; but that was my fault, as I was shooting 55 gn FMJ's I had handloaded myself. My first batch of rifle ammo I reloaded myself, and I assume I did something wrong (Pics below) maybe someone can help me out. Basically, after a few shots, this round didn't chamber and the bullet was pushed back into the casing. My guess is I trimmed it way too much or screwed up seating the bullet somehow:
My only experience with AR-15s perse was using a C7 for about 8 years; and of course, that was only with an Elcan sight; so using the iron sights was kind of a gong show for me.
Here's 30 rounds of me trying to calibrate the windage and elevation dials on the sights that came with it sitting, supported at 25m... what you don't see are the 10 rounds where I missed the target all together because I had it ranged to 600m and the windage dial was cranked all the way to the right (it shows up in the second set of targets:
Here's 25m with a smaller target; it wasn't until 50m that I realized you can adjust the front site to lower your shots... whoops - AR n00b! You'll also notice the one shot on the very right - that was one of my first shots when my sights were all screwed up.
With my front site still way high, I moved to 50m - and surprise surprise, I was off the paper:
After lowering them a little bit - with my groups off the map, but at least enough for me to feel more confident that with a little more practice and effort I would hit my point of aim at 50m (I was starting to rush, it was getting close to the time to pick up my wifey). I'll also note that my vision is pretty terrible, and the target was very hard for me to see (I'm also wearing a weaker prescription of glasses - as a part of my vision therapy program - so seeing them was even worse).
Equally, this target back at 25m. By this point my eyes and shoulder were staring to get pretty tired; and I could barely see the centre point I was aiming for. The shots were a bit lower then where I think my point of aim was, but again - small target, poor vision, iron sights - it was too hard to tell.
Finally, some good ole fashion, better annihilating firepower just for fun; I stood up and put down 10 rounds as fast as I could:
Overall, as an AR noob - I can say I feel quite confident I could nail a figure 11, centre of mass at 50m with my new rifle on a consistent basis using the factory iron sights.
It was a big learning experience for me, and I'm sure there'll be much more learning to come, but at least I've made my start. I'm sure there's a lot of folks out there that want to pick up their first AR but are a bit turned off by a pretty hefty price tag ($2000-2500 for a used/new, western made AR, with 1000 rounds of ammo vs $1500 for a new Norc with 1000 rounds of ammo). I'll admit, the finish is very cheap, with little flecks of paint chipping off my ejection port cover already; but it's neat that it has an ambidextrous safety and mag release (although I am right handed). Flat top with detachable carrying handle, and a 14.5" barrel. Overall, I am very happy with my purchase.
Any (tasteful) comments or suggestions would be much appreciated.
