ACR Media and Info Thread

polskadude said:
Yup. Bushmaster just released factory 10.5" barrels. Doesn't get any easier then that. No dicking around and I'm sure its been tested and proven to work. I plan to keep my non restricted barrel incase anything arises.
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Hopefully those barrels make it north of the border for a half decent markup.
If anything arises I doubt they'll be approving converting it back to non restricted and letting it vanish from the books.
It's not really much dicking around to have one built, it just needs a slightly smaller gas port than an AR barrel because the piston system is a little more efficient than an AR. It's a simple build for a barrel maker who builds AR barrels.

If you want non restricted and restricted I'd suggest having 2 rifles but in all honesty I don't see any point in doing that as you can have an AR for way less money that will be lighter and just as accurate and reliable leaving a bunch of cash for ammo.
Also considering how much time it takes them to actually approve the change of status there isn't much point in having two complete gas systems since it only takes about 3 minutes to swap the gas system and you'll have at least a month (mine took 3 months) for them to put it through and change the status.
Going from non restricted to restricted would be the worst part of the wait process since you can't legally shoot it with the short barrel until you have the paperwork showing it's a registered restricted firearm. Going restricted to non is simpler since at least you can still go to the range with it while waiting for them.
If you prefer short restricted rifles and don't have crown or private land to shoot on my suggestion would be to sell your non restricted barrel to pay for having the short barrel made. If you just want a barrel it would probably cost around $500 but if you add the gas system parts you'll be more than doubling that. They'll probably be a lot faster approving making it restricted as well.
 
Hahaha, I love the advice how to solve issues that I don't have. Thanks for the help anyways.

I'm sure IRunGuns will have these for 599USD or less. No point paying the Canadian mark up if there is one.

I'm just glad their coming, enjoy your 18.5" barrels guys.
 
polskadude said:
I'm definetly surprised to read this. Did you give him a chance to fix whatever isn't working? My heron Arms barrel is perfect.
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It took him 3 months to do the conversion. The gun right off the bat wouldn't chamber a cartridge, I had to ram the charging handle on the bumper of my quad more times to eject a cartridge than it would shoot. I used factory Hornady ammo, maybe shot 8 times and I was f'n sick of it. The safety just spins now. It cost me $1100 to do the conversion, it should run right out of the box.
 
Have you given him a chance to fix the issues? My conversion took 3 months as well, but the actual barrel work was less then a week. The non restricted classification was 3 months wait.
 
polskadude said:
Have you given him a chance to fix the issues? My conversion took 3 months as well, but the actual barrel work was less then a week. The non restricted classification was 3 months wait.
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The bugs should have been worked out before he returned it to me. I'm not going to ship it for $150 (including insurance) each way for him to tinker with it. I'm going to cut my losses and get a factory barrel for it.

I have a 50 Beowulf that has been flawless from the start, it's not the magazines or the ammo.
 
griffin86 said:
It took him 3 months to do the conversion. The gun right off the bat wouldn't chamber a cartridge, I had to ram the charging handle on the bumper of my quad more times to eject a cartridge than it would shoot. I used factory Hornady ammo, maybe shot 8 times and I was f'n sick of it. The safety just spins now. It cost me $1100 to do the conversion, it should run right out of the box.
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So it won't chamber and won't eject and the safety is screwed up?
Did you contact Ian and describe what problems you're having? Did you have them change the trigger?
I'm particularly interested in the trigger problems, it's pretty much just a standard AR trigger that pretty much anyone can install, you sure you didn't f it up ramming it on the bumper of your quad?
I'm not going to say there's no way what you're describing isn't happening but I find it strange you are having so much trouble when Herron has done so many that have run trouble free and he test fires every rifle he works on from what I understand.

I've owned 2 Herron barrels and they've both ran perfectly, I'm now running a Questar stainless barrel which is also running perfectly.
Was just shooting it an hour ago :)
 
cr5 said:
So it won't chamber and won't eject and the safety is screwed up?
Did you contact Ian and describe what problems you're having? Did you have them change the trigger?
I'm particularly interested in the trigger problems, it's pretty much just a standard AR trigger that pretty much anyone can install, you sure you didn't f it up ramming it on the bumper of your quad?
I'm not going to say there's no way what you're describing isn't happening but I find it strange you are having so much trouble when Herron has done so many that have run trouble free and he test fires every rifle he works on from what I understand.

I've owned 2 Herron barrels and they've both ran perfectly, I'm now running a Questar stainless barrel which is also running perfectly.
Was just shooting it an hour ago :)
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Half way through the safety screwed up. I didn't hit the safety on the quad, the charging handle is a foot away from the safety and I would have to smash my hand on the bumper first because I was holding onto the mag well. . No they didn't change the trigger, it worked for about 300 rounds before I sent the rifle in to get converted.

The rifle didn't even chamber the first round, I think it was only able to chamber one out of the first magazine.
 
That's really strange, it's too bad you don't live closer, I'd like to have a look at it and fix it for you. I have an idea what is going on with the trigger but would be a lot of typing to walk you through it.
The chambering and jamming are another story.
Send me a PM if you want to try to figure it out.
If you're ever driving west past Edmonton area let me know and you could stop in.
 
griffin86 said:
It took him 3 months to do the conversion. The gun right off the bat wouldn't chamber a cartridge, I had to ram the charging handle on the bumper of my quad more times to eject a cartridge than it would shoot. I used factory Hornady ammo, maybe shot 8 times and I was f'n sick of it. The safety just spins now. It cost me $1100 to do the conversion, it should run right out of the box.
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What caliber?
 
cr5 said:
The chambering and jamming are another story.
Send me a PM if you want to try to figure it out.
If you're ever driving west past Edmonton area let me know and you could stop in.
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I believe it is a 450, if it is, it is a problem with the brass cases being slightly different. Ian makes a tight chamber for accuracy and unfortunately there is inconsistencies in case length and given there is no shoulder on a 450, it head spaces off the brass.

Within the same manufacturer there is small variances and if you try switching between Hornady and Remington ammo it is even greater.

So you either have to reload and make the brass identical or open up the chamber to allow for the inconsistencies
 
Brian46 said:
I believe it is a 450, if it is, it is a problem with the brass cases being slightly different. Ian makes a tight chamber for accuracy and unfortunately there is inconsistencies in case length and given there is no shoulder on a 450, it head spaces off the brass.

Within the same manufacturer there is small variances and if you try switching between Hornady and Remington ammo it is even greater.

So you either have to reload and make the brass identical or open up the chamber to allow for the inconsistencies
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Even that is a little strange, I've never run a chamber reamer but my understanding is that there are no adjustments, you buy a reamer for the chamber you are going to make and run it into the bore till it bottoms out. If this is the cause of the problem as in he stops a couple hundred thou short of bottoming out to create a "tight" chamber I think that is stupid, these are semi auto rifles and need a little wiggle room to run reliably and run different ammo without headaches and frustration for the owner. The gain in accuracy would be so small it would be almost impossible to measure and since in this case it won't work with the factory ammo he's using it's impossible to measure.

Griffin,
Did Ian tell you what ammo he tested it with? Have you switched to something else?
I would call Ian and arrange to send your barrel and bolt to him so he can inspect the chamber and fix it if necessary. Sending the barrel alone should save you a bunch of money on shipping.
As for the safety, google how to take it apart, you only need to remove the safety as if you were going to remove the trigger pack from the rifle then pit it back in, I'm pretty sure it's just installed incorrectly or has popped apart. It should be an easy fix.
If I had it here I could fix it for you (if it's what I think it is). It's very simple to do once you've seen it done.
 
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cr5 said:
Even that is a little strange, I've never run a chamber reamer but my understanding is that there are no adjustments, you buy a reamer for the chamber you are going to make and run it into the bore till it bottoms out. If this is the cause of the problem as in he stops a couple hundred thou short of bottoming out to create a "tight" chamber I think that is stupid, these are semi auto rifles and need a little wiggle room to run reliably and run different ammo without headaches and frustration for the owner. The gain in accuracy would be so small it would be almost impossible to measure and since in this case it won't work with the factory ammo he's using it's impossible to measure.

.
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the variance in case length on cartridges that head space of the end of the case is the problem. I had the same thing happen with the cases sticking when I tried the Hornady vs the Remington I had sent with it for the build. My understanding is that on a cartridge with no shoulder, headspace is more important for accuracy than if it were shouldered.
 
Brian46 said:
the variance in case length on cartridges that head space of the end of the case is the problem. I had the same thing happen with the cases sticking when I tried the Hornady vs the Remington I had sent with it for the build. My understanding is that on a cartridge with no shoulder, headspace is more important for accuracy than if it were shouldered.
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Makes sense but a reamer should be made to SAAMI spec and all cartridge manufacturers should be making their ammo to SAAMI spec, I have pistols that headspace off the case mouth and there is some +/- room where they still function fine, making the chamber dimensions so tight in a rifle like this makes little sense, reliability with any factory ammo should be the first consideration with accuracy coming second during the build for a customers conversion. If I was building one for myself and knew I would only use one type of ammo or that I would only be using handloads that I very meticulously prepared then a tight chamber would make sense but if building for someone else I would leave things a little loose unless told otherwise by the owner.
If this were my barrel I'd be sending it back for a free repair, this is not an acceptable situation to be put in after spending that much money on a conversion. Unless of course Ian specifically stated that the rifle would only function with Remington ammo and the owner decided to run something else anyway. If it's the latter then it's a whole different story.
 
cr5 said:
Makes sense but a reamer should be made to SAAMI spec and all cartridge manufacturers should be making their ammo to SAAMI spec, I have pistols that headspace off the case mouth and there is some +/- room where they still function fine, making the chamber dimensions so tight in a rifle like this makes little sense, reliability with any factory ammo should be the first consideration with accuracy coming second during the build for a customers conversion. If I was building one for myself and knew I would only use one type of ammo or that I would only be using handloads that I very meticulously prepared then a tight chamber would make sense but if building for someone else I would leave things a little loose unless told otherwise by the owner.
If this were my barrel I'd be sending it back for a free repair, this is not an acceptable situation to be put in after spending that much money on a conversion. Unless of course Ian specifically stated that the rifle would only function with Remington ammo and the owner decided to run something else anyway. If it's the latter then it's a whole different story.
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There is a reason Herron conversions consistently shoot better than the other conversions available.

You dont seem to grasp the problem, the variance of case lengths within the same box of Remington ammo can be far greater than anything you see with cartridges that have a shoulder from the same manufacturer.

With anything custom like this, that really no smith but him is doing in canada, you have to expect that it may need to go back to him unless you want to pay for a few hundred rounds and his time to put the rifle through all different kinds of scenarios and ammo types up front
 
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