Palmetto State Armory

[warpig]

Anyone have any experience with the PSA uppers?

[VLODPG]

Yea,

Mine was one of their $399 specials.

I have over 2k rds(closer to 3k now) thu mine in the form of break in/zero/practice & a 2 day carbine class w/Jason Falla.

Only issues I had with it were the deliberate malfunction drills that we set up to practice stopage clearing!

So in summary,no malfunctions,accurate,reasonably priced: GTG in my book!

[rob_s]

There is a thread on M4C from a guy who got one of their stainless barreled carbine uppers that appears to have an overclocked barrel extension. Extensions are threaded on to the barrel and then blind-pinned in place. From there, a fixture is supposed to be used to drill the gas port to ensure that the pin and the gas port are properly aligned. Getting a pin and a gas port to line up properly but have the extension itself out of alignement is a strange situation to have, and I'm not sure where along the chain of custody of the parts this would have become an issue.

TDC of extension, TDC of barrel, indexing pin, and gas port should all be along the same plane, and opposite the centerline between the two feedramps. Somehow this didn't occur with the barrel in question.

[5pins]

There is a nice review of one just a few threads down.

[TripleBravo]

Does anyone know if they make their own barrels...I know the Hammer Forged barrels are done by FN...but what about the others like the SS one in question? Obviously QC is still their responsibility, but I'd like to know who ultimately put the barrel together wrong to begin with.

[Specialized Armament]

There is a thread on M4C from a guy who got one of their stainless barreled carbine uppers that appears to have an overclocked barrel extension. Extensions are threaded on to the barrel and then blind-pinned in place. From there, a fixture is supposed to be used to drill the gas port to ensure that the pin and the gas port are properly aligned. Getting a pin and a gas port to line up properly but have the extension itself out of alignement is a strange situation to have, and I'm not sure where along the chain of custody of the parts this would have become an issue.

TDC of extension, TDC of barrel, indexing pin, and gas port should all be along the same plane, and opposite the centerline between the two feedramps. Somehow this didn't occur with the barrel in question.

The index pin does not secure the barrel extension to the barrel. Torque is all that holds it on.

[rob_s]

The index pin does not secure the barrel extension to the barrel. Torque is all that holds it on.

Interesting. I was obviously under the impression that it was drilled down into the barrel itself partway. Any reason it's not just part of the extension then?

The weird thing about the Palmetto gun that had this issue is that the pin had to have been installed, and the gas port drilled, with the extension slightly off kilter. Which would mean it was either loose on the barrel or the whole barrel/extension assembly was rotated slightly when drilled?

[Specialized Armament]

Due to its location and size, a machining operation is not possible. It is easier and cost effective just to press the pin in. Most likely the barrel extension was loose when the gas port was cut.

ETA - We repair one or two index pins a month. You would be surprised at how many are sheared off in someones garage while trying to remove the barrel.

[Palmetto State Armory]

Does anyone know if they make their own barrels...I know the Hammer Forged barrels are done by FN...but what about the others like the SS one in question? Obviously QC is still their responsibility, but I'd like to know who ultimately put the barrel together wrong to begin with.

We do not make our own barels. Our barrels are made by FN and Wilson. The Midlength SS Wylde is made by Wilson, and the one in question was returned for warranty repair, fixed, and is currently in transit to the customer. The problem with the upper was due to an out of spec barrel extension (made by the same company who supplies them to FN).


Due to its location and size, a machining operation is not possible.

We have more than enough room at our main location. I'm not sure where you received that information.

[Hmac]

We have more than enough room at our main location. I'm not sure where you received that information.

I was under the impression that he meant size and location of the work pieces. ie...too small and awkward to use any conventional tool to machine the parts to match.

[Specialized Armament]

I was under the impression that he meant size and location of the work pieces. ie...too small and awkward to use any conventional tool to machine the parts to match.

Your impression was correct...

[twisted75gr]

My PSA has been great for me, all my parts have been of excellent performance and quality for the price offered.

No issue with reciever and barrell extension feed ramp line-up, smooth action. BCG and barrell properly tested per mil-spec.

My upper is the Dissipator version they offer.

All is good when heated up real good too.

I will defenitly look into them again when it's time for another AR project.

[Uni-Vibe]

There are a couple of guys who've posted on m4carbine.net, with pictures--their uppers were midlength but had carbine gas tubes installed. No way the guns could have been fired. Palmetto was busted: they obviously don't test fire their uppers, they just slap 'em together and move 'em to the customer. People bash Bushmaster but my bushies had much powder fouling and some brass on the bolt face when I got them brand new.

I wouldn't spend a dime with Palmetto.

[AR-10]

Wait, what?

How could you not notice a gas tube that is too short for the gas system?

That is an indication not only of the lack of test firing, but it sounds like the people building the uppers aren't even checking for gas tube alignment with the gas key which is sort of "critical".

[sdcromer]

Good products, good prices, and good people...... Wil be shooting my FN barreled 20" upper tomorrow for the first tme. Will report back.

[TedG]

I have been very pleased with my PSA upper. It's accurate and functions without problems.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i90/TedG954/2011-10-13.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i90/TedG954/2011-10-132.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i90/TedG954/2011-10-131.jpg

[ennbee15]

i like the look of that dissipator. i'm looking to put together one of those from psa after i finish up 2 builds. post a report on that thing. i'm seeing better reports on psa's qc, looks like they were having some growing pains. but only time will tell.

[Palmetto State Armory]

Every rifle/complete upper is test fired at our facility to ensure function before it is shipped out.

[lamarbrog]

Good products, good prices, and good people...... Wil be shooting my FN barreled 20" upper tomorrow for the first tme. Will report back.

I have had one of these uppers for a little while... It was a little weird, since it came with a round handguard cap... but I lubed it with some motor oil and put 500 rounds of various M855, M193, SS109, American Commercial, and Russian ammo through it. I have not had any problems, and it is clay-pigeon accurate at 100 yards. (Haven't shot it on paper for grouping.)

Since that 500 rounds, I have cleaned it and inspected it. No abnormal wear or anything of the sort. Really impressed with how little wear the 20" and rifle gas system put on the parts.

Much happier with this product than the High Standard/Interarms it replaced.