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July 2023 ADC Newsletter #2
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Our first Black Rifle 101 class in Idaho was this weekend. We had nice weather with plenty of sunshine at Fremont County Sportsman's Club's 300-yard range.
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READING YOUR BRASS
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The AR-15's popularity is, in no small part, due to its ease of assembly and wide variety of available parts and accessories. Be aware though, just because they are so easy to assemble, doesn't always mean those parts work and play well together. One important way to tell if your AR and ammunition combination is working correctly is to read your brass. The brass below tells a story, what can you see?
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The red and white arrow shows primer seating marks, you don't see this in factory ammo, this is a sign of hand-loaded ammo. With hand-loaded ammo, immediately suspect over-pressure if you have function issues.
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The green and white arrow is an ejector "swipe." Soft brass or hot loads causes the brass on the case head to extrude into the ejector button recess in the bolt face. When the bolt rotates on unlocking, it shears the brass leaving a swipe mark.
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All of these brass show signs of a damaged firing pin tip. When a primer is punctured on firing, the hot, high-pressure gasses impinge on the tip of the firing pin and gouge the tip. That gouge causes those little "puckers" inside the firing pin indents that you can see in all these brass. The cartridge with the blue and white arrow shows where the primer anvil has been driven back through the cup. Time to replace the firing pin.
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The next image shows a few things, the flat primer (instead of rounded edges) is also potentially an over-pressure sign. You can have over-pressure with round primer edges as well though, or primers blown out of cases completely. The blackened firing pin indentation is a sign of excessive firing pin protrusion, excessive firing pin aperture in the bolt face, undersized firing pin tip width, soft primers, or gasses leaking through the firing pin channel.
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There are other signs of functional deficiencies in both ammunition and rifle that can show up in the brass. On your next range trip, fire a few rounds and give them a close look with a magnifying glass. If you see something that attracts your attention, send me an image and I'll let you know if it's a problem and what you can do about it.
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NEXT CLASS
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The next class we have scheduled is our 1-day Defensive Pistol Elements "lite" class in Idaho. This class will be held on Saturday, August 12 in St. Anthony at Fremont County Sportsman's Club on their lower pistol range. Bring a group of 2 or more and I will apply a discount to the class fee for every person in your party.
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Check out our classes page for more information.
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THE AREA OF OPERATIONS
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Spotterup.com is hosting a group-discussion podcast with like-minded individuals covering current events and how they affect us, our nation, and our world. I have participated in Episodes 1, and 3. If you are interested, you can find these on YouTube and Spotify.
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If pro-American, pro-gun, Conservative, Christian values aren't your thing, these podcasts might not appeal to you. You've been warned.
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THE ARMORY
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Last week, my gas blocks went from "in production schedule" to "engineering review." Hopefully that means progress. In the meantime, I am building up some other product categories and will be posting them for sale on the updated armory page ASAP. In the meantime, if there's something you are looking for firearms-related, send me a message or email and if I can get you a deal on it, I will.
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I do currently have in-stock Magnamatic carbon scrapers for the AR-10 and AR-15, and I finally have some of my AR-15 field repair kits ready to go. Prices below, flat-rate USPS priority shipping of $10.
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Magnamatic CRT-15 Carbon Scraper Tool
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The AR15 bolt is the beating-heart of the rifle. When carbon builds up on the bolt radius, it impairs bolt function. This tool helps you safely scrape the carbon enamel off the inside and outside bolt radius without damaging the surface. Works for AR15’s and AR10’s.
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$38.00 +tax = $40.28
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This kit consists of the most commonly worn, broken, or lost parts that will shut your AR15 rifle or carbine down. Contains a firing pin, firing pin retaining pin, cam pin, gas rings, and extractor assembly with mil-spec Viton O-ring. All parts are packaged in a convenient pouch that stows in most pistol-grip compartments. Also includes a broken cartridge extractor.
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$30.00 +tax = $31.80
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