- Location
- Sherwood Park, AB
Check out this build form CGN user KDumur7
Spectre Ballistics Light Practical Carbine - NR Receiver Set
- Thread starter SpectreBallistics
- Start date
- Status
Ok. I finally got the LPC to the range yesterday and ran 60 rounds through it.
Specs:
- MRA V1 match 10.5" 223 wylde barrel
- Dlask linear compensator hand tightened with red loctite
- MRA V1 9.5" handguard
- Triggertech competitive 3.5 lb trigger
- MFT Minimalist Stock
- SBI 3D printed carbon fiber stock
- Brownells nickel-boron MP bolt
- Cross LAR-15 magazine
- 5.4 lbs as seen without ammo
- Total length with stock retracted is 27.5"
Assembly:
I had almost no issues with the assembly. The barrel fit well in the upper receiver and the barrel nut threaded on smoothly. Same was true for the buffer tube which also threaded in smoothly though I either lost of did not receive the set screw for the buffer tube. No matter as I have a ready supply of set screws. The machining and surface finishing on the LPC I received is every bit as good as the ATRS Modern Sporter. Spectre Ballistics has clearly taken a lot of pride in the quality of their product.
The gas rings on the bolt do not engage with the bore in the bolt carrier so there is a little bit of play there. I'm convinced this is intentional as the gas ring do not need to create as seal since there is no gas system, and a tight fit of the gas rings would only increase friction and make it more difficult to work the action.
I used a Triggertech 3.5 lb competitive trigger in my LPC along with a Triggertech ambi safety. When first installing the trigger there was significant binding between the trigger safety bar and the safety selector. I first thought the the holes for the trigger pins might have been slightly out of position but I tried the same trigger and safety in a different receiver and had the same issue. I filed a small amount of material off the trigger safety bar and re-assembled the lower. This resolved the issue. I have since tried another Triggertech safety selector with a mil-spec trigger and had the same binding issue so the real problem is likely the machining of the Triggertech safety selector. Either way, it works perfectly with a small amount of filing on the trigger safety bar.
The pivot and takedown pins installed easily, however the is a very small amount of play between my upper and lower receiver. I tried a set of MRA pins and those completely eliminated the play. I chose to stay with the TNA stainless pins because I prefer the oversize head on those pins. The play is so minor it is not worth worrying about and is not noticable when using the rifle. I had great getting the pins off the detent when trying to breakdown the receiver. I had to use a punch and brass hammer to get the pins started. I cut about 3/16" off the detent springs and now the pins release easily with my thumb and slide smoothly. I'm not sure if the spring holes a just a bit shallow, or if it's just the nature of the spring and detent that I used. Either way, they are butter smoother when I shortened the springs.
The Range:
I shot most of 60 rounds at 25 yards as I only had 3" targets and my eyesight is not the best. I did shoot some rounds at 50 yards but my red dot completely covers the 3" blur of a target at that distance. I will be going back next week with a variable optic to do some real accuracy tests, but your results will entirely depend on the quality of your barrel and ammunition.
The ergonomics seem identical to the AR. I tried the bolt knob on both sides of the rifle and found that I prefer to keep it on the left side of the rifle. When chambering a round I occasionally had some difficulty if I did not get enough forward momentum on the bolt carrier to slip the extractor over the rim of the casing. This would prevent the bolt from going into the battery position. When this would happen I was unable apply enough force to the bolt handle to get the bolt into battery unless I removed my hand from the bolt handle and smacked it forward with my palm. Even then is was difficult to apply enough force and I would instead have to drop the magazine, remove the cartridge, and re-chamber the next round. This did not happen often and only when I lazily pushed the bolt forward. I have since removed the o-ring from the extractor spring this has greatly reduced the force that is required to push the bolt into battery. I can now force the bolt into battery easily and I have seen no effect on extraction. The bolt now operates smooth and fast.
On the topic of the action I will say a couple of things. I am not a "mag-dump" kind of shooter but I did try to rapid fire the rifle. I found that I had to wait about 1 second after firing before I could easily extract the cartridge. If I tried to cycle the action immediately after firing, the casing would stick in the chamber and I could not move the bolt carrier. After 1 second (maybe a bit less) the casing would free up in the chamber and the action would cycle smoothly. I would also note that I was using cheapest Winchester 223 FMJ target ammo I could buy and the brass casings were significantly oxidized and not particularly smooth. I also found that I had to take care to ensure that the bolt reaches the rear stop position before pushing the bolt forward and chambering another round. If I short cycled the action, even a small amount, the bolt carrier would jam and I would have to release the forward pressure on the bolt and apply forward pressure again to chamber the round. This rarely happens, and not at all when you firmly and fully cycle the action.
After shooting 60 round (and cycling the bolt 5 or 6 thousand times in my living room
…) the anodizing has worn off the bottom of the surface that the bolt knob rides on. This is not surprising since the bolt knob supports the bolt and some friction will always be present here. I will be keeping this spot well oiled and do not foresee any future issues.
Final Thoughts:
Buy it. It's fun to shoot, you can have a NR SBR rifle, the quality and finish are superb, and it's made in Canada. For a SBR it is not as obnoxiously loud as I expected. This may be do to the Dlask linear compensator. All told, I love it. I have a history of buying a rifle, getting bored of it, and selling it. There are a few however that will never leave my collection. The TUF-22, the ATRS MSR, and now the LPC.
Specs:
- MRA V1 match 10.5" 223 wylde barrel
- Dlask linear compensator hand tightened with red loctite
- MRA V1 9.5" handguard
- Triggertech competitive 3.5 lb trigger
- MFT Minimalist Stock
- SBI 3D printed carbon fiber stock
- Brownells nickel-boron MP bolt
- Cross LAR-15 magazine
- 5.4 lbs as seen without ammo
- Total length with stock retracted is 27.5"
Assembly:
I had almost no issues with the assembly. The barrel fit well in the upper receiver and the barrel nut threaded on smoothly. Same was true for the buffer tube which also threaded in smoothly though I either lost of did not receive the set screw for the buffer tube. No matter as I have a ready supply of set screws. The machining and surface finishing on the LPC I received is every bit as good as the ATRS Modern Sporter. Spectre Ballistics has clearly taken a lot of pride in the quality of their product.
The gas rings on the bolt do not engage with the bore in the bolt carrier so there is a little bit of play there. I'm convinced this is intentional as the gas ring do not need to create as seal since there is no gas system, and a tight fit of the gas rings would only increase friction and make it more difficult to work the action.
I used a Triggertech 3.5 lb competitive trigger in my LPC along with a Triggertech ambi safety. When first installing the trigger there was significant binding between the trigger safety bar and the safety selector. I first thought the the holes for the trigger pins might have been slightly out of position but I tried the same trigger and safety in a different receiver and had the same issue. I filed a small amount of material off the trigger safety bar and re-assembled the lower. This resolved the issue. I have since tried another Triggertech safety selector with a mil-spec trigger and had the same binding issue so the real problem is likely the machining of the Triggertech safety selector. Either way, it works perfectly with a small amount of filing on the trigger safety bar.
The pivot and takedown pins installed easily, however the is a very small amount of play between my upper and lower receiver. I tried a set of MRA pins and those completely eliminated the play. I chose to stay with the TNA stainless pins because I prefer the oversize head on those pins. The play is so minor it is not worth worrying about and is not noticable when using the rifle. I had great getting the pins off the detent when trying to breakdown the receiver. I had to use a punch and brass hammer to get the pins started. I cut about 3/16" off the detent springs and now the pins release easily with my thumb and slide smoothly. I'm not sure if the spring holes a just a bit shallow, or if it's just the nature of the spring and detent that I used. Either way, they are butter smoother when I shortened the springs.
The Range:
I shot most of 60 rounds at 25 yards as I only had 3" targets and my eyesight is not the best. I did shoot some rounds at 50 yards but my red dot completely covers the 3" blur of a target at that distance. I will be going back next week with a variable optic to do some real accuracy tests, but your results will entirely depend on the quality of your barrel and ammunition.
The ergonomics seem identical to the AR. I tried the bolt knob on both sides of the rifle and found that I prefer to keep it on the left side of the rifle. When chambering a round I occasionally had some difficulty if I did not get enough forward momentum on the bolt carrier to slip the extractor over the rim of the casing. This would prevent the bolt from going into the battery position. When this would happen I was unable apply enough force to the bolt handle to get the bolt into battery unless I removed my hand from the bolt handle and smacked it forward with my palm. Even then is was difficult to apply enough force and I would instead have to drop the magazine, remove the cartridge, and re-chamber the next round. This did not happen often and only when I lazily pushed the bolt forward. I have since removed the o-ring from the extractor spring this has greatly reduced the force that is required to push the bolt into battery. I can now force the bolt into battery easily and I have seen no effect on extraction. The bolt now operates smooth and fast.
On the topic of the action I will say a couple of things. I am not a "mag-dump" kind of shooter but I did try to rapid fire the rifle. I found that I had to wait about 1 second after firing before I could easily extract the cartridge. If I tried to cycle the action immediately after firing, the casing would stick in the chamber and I could not move the bolt carrier. After 1 second (maybe a bit less) the casing would free up in the chamber and the action would cycle smoothly. I would also note that I was using cheapest Winchester 223 FMJ target ammo I could buy and the brass casings were significantly oxidized and not particularly smooth. I also found that I had to take care to ensure that the bolt reaches the rear stop position before pushing the bolt forward and chambering another round. If I short cycled the action, even a small amount, the bolt carrier would jam and I would have to release the forward pressure on the bolt and apply forward pressure again to chamber the round. This rarely happens, and not at all when you firmly and fully cycle the action.
After shooting 60 round (and cycling the bolt 5 or 6 thousand times in my living room
…) the anodizing has worn off the bottom of the surface that the bolt knob rides on. This is not surprising since the bolt knob supports the bolt and some friction will always be present here. I will be keeping this spot well oiled and do not foresee any future issues.Final Thoughts:
Buy it. It's fun to shoot, you can have a NR SBR rifle, the quality and finish are superb, and it's made in Canada. For a SBR it is not as obnoxiously loud as I expected. This may be do to the Dlask linear compensator. All told, I love it. I have a history of buying a rifle, getting bored of it, and selling it. There are a few however that will never leave my collection. The TUF-22, the ATRS MSR, and now the LPC.
- Location
- Sherwood Park, AB
You can pull your gas rings off and put a 5/16 o ring on your bolt to really make it smooth. But by design the gas rings don't seal. One more reason it can't be converted to semi auto.
Oh I'll have to try this. Thanks
trigger'06
CGN Regular
- Location
- Abbotsford B.C.
Hi SBI, did you ever manage to get any testing done with steel cased 7.62x39?
- Location
- Sherwood Park, AB
We did do a bit of testing. Had stiff extraction, which we think is related to being a cheap barrel. We will be getting a Faxon to test with shortly.
Range Warrior Accessories still has a few 7.62x39 barrels made by IBI in stock. I have one and it's a beautiful barrel with a mirror smooth chamber. I suspect one of those will work exceptional in your platform.
Griffin Armament M4SD
Rainier Arms 18" 223 Wylde
ALG EMR V3 12"
Vortex Viper
Aero scope mount
Geissele trigger
A2 stock
Check out this build form CGN user KDumur7
That's f'n ###y!
Thanks!
NavyShooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- XMU Local .303
I'm looking forward to my phone call.
Note - if anyone in the Halifax area needs help taking your old upper receiver apart, feel free to get in touch with me. I have the tools/technology.
NS
Note - if anyone in the Halifax area needs help taking your old upper receiver apart, feel free to get in touch with me. I have the tools/technology.
NS
- Location
- Sherwood Park, AB
You will receive an email, not phone call.
Also, due to the May 1st gun ban upper receivers are prohibited and can't be transported except for specific conditions. People taking apart their uppers must do so at home.
- Location
- Sherwood Park, AB
We're ready to ship as soon as they're back from the anodizers. Boxes are sitting labeled and ready for receivers. We're waiting just as impatiently as you!
By "labeled and ready" do you mean with SBI corporate logos or delivery labels? Has the second batch "ready for payment" emails gone out already?
- Location
- Sherwood Park, AB
We have not sent payment emails. We will not send them until we have the receivers back from anodizing.
Sunchild2071
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Glen Park, AB
Good, then I know I didn't miss the email. I've been checking regularly since I got the first email.
NavyShooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- XMU Local .303
I haven't gotten my first email yet....does that mean I'm not in the 2nd batch?
NS
NS
- Status
