Finally... a .308 AR, PA-10.

[wyntrout]

Thanks, Greg. I did mention the damage in an email to PSA, but heard nothing back... no biggy, since it was in an unnoticeable area that I could touch up. It was just luck that the damage was limited to that area.

I took the IMI stock and add-on rubber pad off my still unused MechTech .45 carbine and put it on the PA-10 lower. Then I sold the MagPul one that came with the lower at the last show we vended at. I'm pretty sure that I swapped out the recoil parts for the .308. The AR15 buffer is too long... the problem with the bolt not locking back when I received the upper and tried on the lower. I have spares for those coming in with my CDNN order.

I still have the wire stock for the carbine and ordered add-on aluminum pop-up sights for the carbine's long top rail. Maybe somebody will buy it like that next chance I get to vend at a show. There's no place to attach a sling at the end of the receiver or on the wire stock, though.

The Morocco Temple where our favorite, though smaller venue, show was held has been sold, so I don't know where the next show will go.

We really lucked out on the weather this trip. One of these days we're going to run out of that luck, though. I don't want to travel in blizzard or blizzard-like conditions! My vehicle can handle a lot, but it can still be stuck in one of those jams of traffic stuck in deep snow. Or, we could be hit by people traveling too fast for conditions!

We were watching the weather and could have cancelled our northern routing and visits on the way back, and stayed further south. Last year we had to stay further north to avoid the flooding in Texas and Louisiana by keeping on I-20 until we were east enough to step down to I-10. We have to make allowances for Mother Nature!

[wyntrout]

I got a Radian Raptor Ambidextrous Charging Handle and after installing that, my AR-10/PA-10, M4 style is complete. The charging handle is much easier to access and use than the smaller left-side-only stock version. I took some more pictures and weighed everything.

The M4-style PA-10 upper has an 18" barrel and weighs 8.5 pounds when assembled to the lower with the IMI stock. Adding the Bushnell TRS-25 brings the weight up to 8.93 pounds. A loaded 10-round MagPul magazine weighs .764 pounds and a 20-rounder 1.41 pounds, so the total with the 20-rounder is 10.23 pounds. The flip-up rear sight works with the Bushnell red dot.

The rifle with the Tru-Glo 1-6x Scope weighs 10.23 pounds and adding a loaded 20-round magazine brings the total up to 11.64 pounds... still over 1.1 pounds lighter than the 20" M-Lock upper. The scope weighs 28 ounces and the flip up sight doesn't work with it. The scope would have to be all the way forward and then it looks at the bottom of the scope's eyepiece, not through it. On 1x the scope can act as a red dot with or without illumination, and with a red or green reticule. I like the scope and the BDC turret for the .308 at 168 grains is installed. The elevation and windage can be adjusted without tools or removing any caps. The turret body is pulled away from the scope about 1/8" or so and then you just turn the turret as required. The direction is marked on the top of the turrets. Just push the turret body back down to lock it in place.

I prefer the red dot sight since I can use it out to 100 yards around here... and, it's much smaller and lighter.

I needed some pictures for insurance purposes, so I put everything out with the rifle.

One of these days, when we have warmer weather, I need to get to the other side of town and try sighting in this rifle and a few others at 100 yards or so. I really need more of a platform than I have at the usual range... hardly a "benchrest" condition.

At the rear of the receiver and ahead of the castle nut, I added a dual sling attachment allowing me to use my single-point sling or my "trickier" Ready Tactical Sling.

[wyntrout]

I added a Radian Raptor Ambidextrous Charging Handle and a Trijicon Tritium Front Sight Post, but I still haven't fired the shorter rifle. The popup sights, the Bushnell TRS-25, and the LASER bore sighter all seem to line up well. The red dot is coincident with the Trijicon dot and centered in the small rear peep sight, so it should work for close range.
I really like the Raptor for working the bolt... much easier... and from either side or both.

The AR-15 front sight tool I bought(upper left in photo) doesn't seem to fit, but Trijicon included a thin-walled sight tool with 4 and 5 prongs which works well with the 4-pronged end.

For home defense, I think I'm better off with the red dot sight. It's lighter and makes for a cleaner-looking weapon system. I haven't sold the 20" upper and still think about just mounting the scope on it, but would rather sell it.