The T97 Thread!
- Thread starter Clobbersauras
- Start date
My new to me modified Gen 2 made its first trip to the range today.
I must admit I was not expecting much, given the mixed reviews I have read online, but I was, well, very impressed.
The previous owner, a fellow CGN’er had done a lot of work to it.
His trigger job I have to say was excellent. About a 1/2” of travel (not nearly as much as a stock T97 trigger) but it broke very cleanly and was very much like a two stage trigger. Not a Gisselle by any means but probably around a clean 4 lb break and from the 100 or so rounds I fired it was very consistent.
He had also drilled a third hole for the gas at the zero setting (a smaller hole that the #1 factory gas setting) and ejection was about the same as the 10.5” AR I have and have had, which are just slightly over gassed with spent cases coming out around 2 O’ clock.
I am not sure what he did with the recoil spring but it was a lot lighter than factory T97’s I have fired (all GEN 1’s) and the action was surprisingly smooth.
It fed reliably from all my gen 2 PMAGS, Lar, Beowolf, stanag and the factory mag. IWI Lar mags would not physically fit in the mag well.
Accuracy wise was where it really surprised me. With a 2 MOA red dot at 25M rounds were almost touching. At 50 meters the group was around 3/4 of an inch. I couldnt stretch it out as I was just at an indoor range but I think this particular T97 may be comparable to a lot of entry level AR’s out there and expect it will group around 1 1/2 to 2 1/2” at a hundred with magnified glass.
Over all quite impressed and I must say that it felt quite a bit slicker than the RDB I nearly purchased (which I did not fire so I can’t compare actual function).
The one thing I want to do is get rid of the pinned A2 flash hider and install a threaded brake.
My 2 cdn pesos.
Markit
I must admit I was not expecting much, given the mixed reviews I have read online, but I was, well, very impressed.
The previous owner, a fellow CGN’er had done a lot of work to it.
His trigger job I have to say was excellent. About a 1/2” of travel (not nearly as much as a stock T97 trigger) but it broke very cleanly and was very much like a two stage trigger. Not a Gisselle by any means but probably around a clean 4 lb break and from the 100 or so rounds I fired it was very consistent.
He had also drilled a third hole for the gas at the zero setting (a smaller hole that the #1 factory gas setting) and ejection was about the same as the 10.5” AR I have and have had, which are just slightly over gassed with spent cases coming out around 2 O’ clock.
I am not sure what he did with the recoil spring but it was a lot lighter than factory T97’s I have fired (all GEN 1’s) and the action was surprisingly smooth.
It fed reliably from all my gen 2 PMAGS, Lar, Beowolf, stanag and the factory mag. IWI Lar mags would not physically fit in the mag well.
Accuracy wise was where it really surprised me. With a 2 MOA red dot at 25M rounds were almost touching. At 50 meters the group was around 3/4 of an inch. I couldnt stretch it out as I was just at an indoor range but I think this particular T97 may be comparable to a lot of entry level AR’s out there and expect it will group around 1 1/2 to 2 1/2” at a hundred with magnified glass.
Over all quite impressed and I must say that it felt quite a bit slicker than the RDB I nearly purchased (which I did not fire so I can’t compare actual function).
The one thing I want to do is get rid of the pinned A2 flash hider and install a threaded brake.
My 2 cdn pesos.
Markit
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Depends. My experience:
62 gr Federal patterns like a shotgun.
55gr XM193 (Federal and Independence) groups well, ~2.5 MOA
62gr Aguila 5.56 Groups excellently, might be capable of MOA
55gr PPU groups very well, at about 1.5-2MOA, but shoots so low and to the right I cannot actually zero my sights to match the point of impact.
Various plinking 55gr .223 : Unremarkable
Any problems reloading the dented violently removed cases? I haven’t tried working up a load yet as I don’t have any .223 dies and the t97 is my only .223 caliber rifle. I’d like to though, just concerned about brass life
I haven't reloaded any of them. I've heard of people saying you can but some of the dents are pretty severe.
Took it out for the first time today
Ran about 100 rounds of remming bucket through it with no issues. Gotta say its super fun and satisfying to plink with. Just was using irons today which I'm not practiced with by any means. Looking to put some sort of dot/holo/low power variable on it soon.
Ran about 100 rounds of remming bucket through it with no issues. Gotta say its super fun and satisfying to plink with. Just was using irons today which I'm not practiced with by any means. Looking to put some sort of dot/holo/low power variable on it soon.
SustainingGopher
CGN Regular
- Location
- An airport
anyone come up with a decent handload for their t97 yet?
ive tried a few different combos of 69 grain hpbt and have had mediocre results at best. looking for a good starting point.
ive tried a few different combos of 69 grain hpbt and have had mediocre results at best. looking for a good starting point.
Bassmaster
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- WMU 48 - Whitetail country
I wonder if you or any one else can elaborate on the drilling of this extra hole. This is the second time I've read about this and am curious. I spend a lot of time prepping this brass and want to re-use at least a couple of times but my Gen 2 is tossing my brass into the next time zone.
The brass is still dented on ejection, but not nearly as bad as some pics I have seen.
I will try and get pics up in a week and a bit.
BTW I tried to remove the gas plug today to take pics but it won’t come out. Rotated it all the way left and right and no joy. Any tricks involved?
Only piston driven rifles I ever used extensively before were FNC1A1 and FNC2 before we switched over to C7’s and C9’s and this is nothing like an FN gas plug.
Previous owner of this T97 said he drilled the zero port with a 0.0055 cobalt bit as the port selector is chromed and therefore very hard to drill.
If it gets dirty, I have to pry mine out. I spend a lot of time cleaning the gas system out so itl slide in/out nicely.
The extra gas port is just a smaller hole than the other options so it's less over gassed.
SustainingGopher
CGN Regular
- Location
- An airport
Mine was the same. But I watched a forgotten weapons video and you can put a 556 case into the gas regulator and pull it out with a bit of lube if it's super carbonyl. The regulator was originally designed to fit the 5.8x42..same cartridge the rifle is chambered in in its military config. But a 556 will fit as well. I guess they just didn't change it when they developed the civilian version. Also useful for changing positions when it's super hot.
I assemble a cleaning rod and use a hammer to lightly tap it out from behind.
