I assembled the J180 on last night, the only piece I need yet is my Magpul stock with cheak riser (on order). I put my XCaliber 204 barrel on, this barrel was a tack driver on my MDI SLR, this weekend I will try the loads that worked good with that barrel on the MDI. The finish is not as nice as the MDI but is a big improvement from the J48s I have owned.
The design of the J180 seems a lot better, but we will see how it holds up, the week spot on the j48 was the timing plate that sat in the bolt carrier and ran on the top of the receiver, the curve on the timing plate was not correct and it wore badly on the upper receiver. The J180 uses a bigger timing pin that runs in a slot in the side of the receiver, the timing pin comes out of the bolt and is more like the size of the pin used in a AR15. the size of the pin and slot on the J180 will hopefully solve the problems that the J48 had with timing. Another big improvement over the J48 is the way the charge handle is held in by the operating rods. It is real nice to dissemble and clean, I wish the trigger housing was one piece VS the 2 piece that they are using on the J180 now. The only fault I found on mine is that if the safety is on and you try pulling the bolt back you will jam up the bolt, hammer and safety and will have to remove lower and flip hammer back with your thumb. Sorry I don't know how to post pics. Thx
