Ambi Side Charger--Initial Impressions

[alamo5000]

Here is an update for the review.

I did a short shooting session today. The first thing I did was open the adjustable gas block all the way up so that it would act as a regular gas block. For me the upper worked substantially better this way. Not only would the bolt lock back with an empty mag, I am pleased to report there was almost no side blow back on the left side of the upper. I even held my hand up palm open next to it while shooting and at best it felt like I was maybe trying to blow a smoke ring onto my palm. It was just a gentle wisp of gas escaping out of that side. Zero complaints about that.

As I said the gun seemed to function a lot better with just standard gas, at least in my opinion. If you were to run a suppressor on it then that might be a different story, but just for standard regular shooting the upper definitely passes the test.

I found that charging the gun was literally a snap. It was beyond easy. It took some time to get used to it, but after running some rounds, putting a new mag, tapping that handle, and off she goes. I was intentionally doing 3 or 4 rounds per mag so that I could test the whole mag switch thing. It has in fact in some ways grown on me to some degree.

That said the charging handle is easy to operate but depending on what you do you can in theory still snag the charging handle on other gear or clothes or whatever and 'un-charge' the rifle without actually ejecting a shell. In such cases (pretty unlikely but still possible) you would just have to bump it forward and be done with it.

I have found that when the cases eject they were hitting the right side charging handle. After I had shot some I looked down and noticed some small deflection marks on the charging handle. Not really a big deal.

All in all for the upper I say it's a matter of preference. For me, I am not sure if I would want a side charger, but if I did I would probably get the right handed version. That said the ambi one is just fine. There was no gas problems. No reciprocation problems of the handles hitting me or anything else. It is in fact much easier to use than standard charging. Still though in my non expert opinion this is a recreational shooting type of thing which in all honesty is where most shooters 'really' are, but for me if I was building a rifle for my sister or girlfriend or grandpa, mom, or little brother or whatever--- I would not even think twice about getting a side charger. It really and truly just makes the whole shooting experience a whole lot easier. Whether you do that left, right, ambi or whatever it's really a matter of preference. That said please note that I have not revoked what I said earlier about a dedicated lower, particularly for this ambi model. If there are other models of side chargers that don't require that proprietary bolt catch I would probably opt for that only for the sole reason so that I could swap uppers when and if i wanted to.

It grows on you for sure. Initially I didn't really think I would like it... but especially after today of doing about 20 mag changes and so forth... it has kind of grown on me for the simple fact of ease of use. Did I mention it was easy to use?

Now for the barrel... that thing is heavy as hell. SUPER heavy. For that reason alone I personally would not like it because it doesn't fit with the intention of what kind of rifle I am used to. But if you have some reason to need massively heavy barrel then go for it. If you run out of ammo you can club something with it. Everyone who picks up that rifle (with that upper on there) goes 'ughh' when they pick it up.

I did notice a couple of things though. Without even shooting it if I chambered a round then unchambered it I could see small scratch/score marks on the copper of my bullet. On every piece of brass that was fired I could see distinctive score marks where the brass was scratched up on the throat and on the shoulder of each round. It also seemed to me that upon visual inspection that the brass was more deformed than with my other upper. It seems that the chamber on this barrel hasn't been polished up like it should be. I don't know how much it's been shot or absolutely anything about it, but the chamber seems slightly over sized vs what I am used to. As a test I tried to run some fired brass through my resizing die and it took considerable effort to do it. It seems like aside from the chamber not being polished up that it is slightly large compared to what I am used to. I am not sure if it would be considered in spec or out of spec but the fired brass can be picked out of a pile of mixed brass and you would know which upper it came from. One thing I am certain of though is that chamber either needs to be polished up more or it needs about 1000 rounds through it to break it in more.

I tried to shoot this barrel from 100 yards and I was having a heck of a time. I couldn't hit the side of a barn with it. My target was 5 foot by 3 foot and I wasn't even hitting THAT at 100yards. After about 10 rounds I came up close to about 35 yards and I figured out at that range I was hitting low about 6". Once I figured that out I compensated some, adjusted the sights and was able to get a same hole 3 shot group at about 35 yards or so. It was literally a stacked clover that looked more like a single hole than a clover. I still have yet to figure out why when I get back farther why it was having such a hard time.

I don't even know the twist of the barrel so its possible that it wasn't stabilizing a 69grain bullet. (All shooting was done with 69 grain Winchester Match factory ammo) It started raining and lightening on me so I had to call it off for a bit but that is pretty much today's range report. I still hold out high hopes for the barrel. I think if I can eyeball a one hole group at 35 yards then I should be able to get better accuracy at distance, but like I said my optic was WAY off zero. But even then at a 3 foot tall by 5 foot wide target I wasn't even scoring hits. *scratches head*

It appears like if I really want to give the barrel a run for it's money that I am going to have to take a lot more time to zero the rifle and play with it.

[UWone77]

I believe it's a Rock Creek Blank utilizing a 1:8 twist. I'll confirm.

Good update, if the barrel needs more time, I'm glad you're the one shooting it, as I know you'l be meticulous about it. How were the groups (even if they were all hitting low?)

By the way, I forgot to post this video... you know in case you didn't figure out how to operate the adjustable gas block. Purely educational

[SINNER]

Just when you think you know everything about gas blocks along comes a video you need to watch multiple times to get it all in.

[alamo5000]

I believe it's a Rock Creek Blank utilizing a 1:8 twist. I'll confirm.

Good update, if the barrel needs more time, I'm glad you're the one shooting it, as I know you'l be meticulous about it. How were the groups (even if they were all hitting low?)

By the way, I forgot to post this video... you know in case you didn't figure out how to operate the adjustable gas block. Purely educational

Boobies! I see boobies! LOL

I figured out the gas block from your earlier posts. I am sure I could tune it up some for optimal ejection patterns but my test today was to see if I would get gas in the face with the open side of the upper... which absolutely never happened. I would feel 100% confident telling anyone that they can run whatever gas block they need to with this upper. An adjustable one is nice to have but it's not mandatory for this even with both sides of the upper open.

Throw on a suppressor and who knows.

The barrel though did kind of leave me scratching my head. Like I said I had to move all the way in to 35 yards just to get a visible hit. Once I could identify that--- then the group was small. Substantially small. It was slightly larger than a single bullet hole--- so the group was about as perfect as one could ask for--at that range. When I aimed and fired I could see the impact and it was directly in line with my aim point about 6" low when I was at 35 yards. It was in perfect alignment.... So I repeated using the same aim point and got about a near perfect 'group'.

I should probably go out again in between rain storms and try to do another 100 yard shot or five... but it seems sort of baffling to me.

I will try to figure it out over the next week since I have some time off. I don't want to complain about the machine work just yet but the chamber polish would definitely come up if you were asking me.

[alamo5000]

Just when you think you know everything about gas blocks along comes a video you need to watch multiple times to get it all in.

HAHAA!!! LOL

All gun videos should be like this one.

[alamo5000]

With my RA barrel I had it relatively on zero within 10 rounds. Which is pretty par for the course for me. I started at 100 yards with that one and was able to get a hit then I was at least in the ball park and could adjust. With this one I wasn't even hitting my target at all.

Just so we are on the same page here... I went to home depot and bought some of the big foam insulation boards that are 4 or 5 feet wide and 8 feet long. I cut them into 3 pieces and stuck a target on there. Even if I didn't hit the zero mark I could identify where I did hit and make adjustments.... but at 100 yards I wasn't even hitting that big ass board at all.

After 10 shots I finally said to hell with it and moved in and got a very nice group.

I didn't get the chance before the lightening hit to get back to 100 yards and try again. If I am 6" low at 35 yards that should put me about 18" low at 100 yards... but like I said there wasn't even a mark one on the board after 10 tries.

I will try again soon to raise my aim point on my scope... but we will see. Initially like I said I don't want to complain about the machine work... but again for a meticulous person like myself I can see some possible shortcuts that might have been taken. I've never made a barrel or seen a barrel being made so I am reserving judgement....for now.

My suspicion is that the bullet isn't being stabilized somehow. I am not sure, but I will find out.

[alamo5000]

It stopped raining so I went out and gave it another shot. I cleaned the chamber as good as I could but you can still see the results below. All are shot with store bought 69 grain Winchester Match ammo.

You can see on the neck of the brass some gouging. It seems like this is going away the more I shoot but this is just one shell for an example. Every single shell is gouged like that. Some of the earlier ones were gouged even more than this, up to and even onto the shoulder. Some were worse but as I said, the more rounds I shoot they seem to be going away. But up until now each shell has several distinct gouges on the neck.




Today I had some confirmed key holing. These two were shot at 100 yards.



Towards the very end of the session I had spent up most of my allotted ammo for this test so I figured I would go for another group. I got the scope on zero (or as best as I could) but the best I could do was put 8 rounds into about a 2" or 3" group. This was shot off of a led sled the same way I normally shoot.

[alamo5000]

Here is a follow on to the previous post with some additional thoughts. Please note that I am not a professional and these are only my opinions.

First, whoever machined that barrel needs to be whooped with a wet noodle. To me there isn't any kind of excuse for them being sloppy and not taking off all the burrs and rough edges from the inside of the chamber, which to me there were several very obvious ones. If it's leaving gouges in your bullet and down the side of the brass that's a sure sign someone somewhere forgot to do something that they were supposed to do.

The chamber of the rifle seems to work fine. There was no feeding issues or any of that but I would think a qualified gunsmith with the right tools and gauges and stuff might should take a look at that. I am personally not qualified to say if it's in spec or not. It's something that I personally have a question about and part of that stems from the problem mentioned above.

I think if I ran another hundred or two rounds through the rifle and ran them really hard it would fix a lot of those 'oversight' issues mentioned above.

I also think that despite what that group looks like (to me it isn't very good) that this particular barrel might not like the 69's. It might be a 45 or a 52 grainer. The barrel profile and the weight and all that all play into the harmonics. With a different grain bullet or maybe a different powder charge this thing might tighten up like a banjo string. I shot a group that looked like the one above with my other barrel... then I added .2 grains to my charge and I hit the magic button and then they didn't look like that anymore.

I think there are two distinct issues. The first is that I very well might not be using the right ammo even though what I used was 'Match Grade'. Some guns are particular about it especially when you are talking about extreme accuracy. It took me a month or two testing 50,55, 60, 62, 64, and on and on grain bullets until I settled on 69. I haven't gone through any of that with this one. The point is, if you are going to buy a weapon, GET TO KNOW THAT WEAPON. Get familiar enough with it so that you know these things, which is of course a process and depends highly upon your needs and expectations. Of course my personal bar is set pretty high when it comes to barrels.

The main part regarding the barrel though is why shells (spent or not) came out looking mangled. No matter what, that is not good. It's not so bad now, but the first few times....it left something to be desired.

[alamo5000]

Here are some final thoughts on the two major components as I am pretty much wrapped up on the T&E on this one.

The upper reciever

I find it extremely easy to use. It does take some time to grow on you but it works just fine. I wouldn't even hesitate to build a side charger for anyone who you want to make shooting a more enjoyable experience. Pretty much restating what I said before, a girlfriend, a mom, a grandpa, a little brother... just about anyone who may have a challenge or may not really be 'in to' shooting... I think it would be an excellent place to start. For more advanced shooting the downside is the charging handles can possibly snag on gear, or if you are shooting in odd positions or up next to a tree for a rest there is a very minor potential for interference with the action. For law enforcement or military... I am not either one, but if I was stacked up outside of a door ready to go in the ambi or side charger would not be my first choice. All in all for what I think it was intended for (recreational shooting) it very much excels. If you're like me and end up taking first time shooters (or not so frequent shooters) out I would say for sure it's worth having one of these around.

The only major downside is the proprietary bolt catch which forces the use of a dedicated lower and prevents upper swaps without possible substantial effort (particularly if your lower uses roll pins). I am not sure if other models (say the right side charger) do not use that proprietary bolt catch. But if you use a dedicated lower I see no issue with the upper receiver.

The barrel

The jury is still out. Personally I do not like it merely because it's extremely heavy. I still don't understand the need for a super heavy barrel like that. If someone knows or has ideas please clue me in. As for some of the initial issues... some of those issues have lessened to a great degree as I put rounds down range but I still am not really digging it. Out of the box though if I bought that barrel I would probably be sending it back. I think for the intent of the upper receiver a standard barrel weight would be a much better fit.

Any questions or comments please don't be shy.

[alamo5000]

You can see on the neck of the brass some gouging. It seems like this is going away the more I shoot but this is just one shell for an example. Every single shell is gouged like that. Some of the earlier ones were gouged even more than this, up to and even onto the shoulder. Some were worse but as I said, the more rounds I shoot they seem to be going away. But up until now each shell has several distinct gouges on the neck.

The gouges you see on the neck there, there were several that over time have somewhat disappeared. When I first got the barrel I chambered a round and there were a lot of gouges even for some reason on the copper of the bullet. If you ejected an unspent shell it had gouging like that. It's almost like there may have been metal shards in the chamber that were not polished out.

I never ran the rifle real hard or put a substantial amount of ammo through it but the gouging issue is clearly going away, but as I said, out of the box it's not for me for a number of reasons.