How does the leade in the bore affect accuracy and what’s the difference between a 5.56 and a .223 chamber?
First, lets define “leade”… “That portion of a firearm’s barrel immediately in front of the chamber where the bullet travels prior to contacting the rifling”. The closer the ogive (another definition: an ogive is a pointed, curved surface mainly used to form the streamlined nose of a bullet or other projectile) of the bullet is to the start of rifling the more accurate the bullet is – theoretically. I.E. the smaller or “tighter” the leade, the greater the accuracy. So it depends on the load and which cartridge (.223 or 5.56) has the bullet seated out farther. I don’t think you will notice much difference in accuracy between .223 or 5.56 in a 5.56 chamber. The bullet depths will be similar, it’s just that 5.56 is higher pressure, and therefore not safe to fire in a .223 chamber which has a tighter leade.
What is the average trigger pull of your rifles?
Are they adjustable? Our standard triggers average around 7 pounds pull and our Varmint Exterminator models average around 5 pounds. These are non-adjustable, single stage triggers.
Will the headspace be affected if I change out the upper receiver of my rifle?
When installing a barrel on a new upper the headspace does not need to be set. Headspace won’t change with an upper swap as the headspace is already set between the bolt and barrel extension.
Will my Diamondhead rear sight co-witness through my EOTech with the fixed front sight base on the rifle?
The Diamondhead Rear Sight should co-witness fine through your EOTech with the factory fixed front sight base that is on the rifle.
My gun shoots too high, what can I do about it?
We use standard front sight bases and carry handles calibrated to index with standard front sight bases. All rear flip sights (to my knowledge) are calibrated to index with “F” marked front sight bases. Therefore when removing a carry handle to install a rear flip on one of our rifles with a full front sight base, a .040” taller front sight post is needed. Sometimes people ask if a carry handle will zero with a front flip sight on an SRC.
Our carry handles don’t index well with a front flip sight. You can probably get the gun on target but the front sight post has to be pretty much bottomed out to do this. It works much better with a mil-spec carry handle that is .040” taller as all front flips are built to this slightly higher spec. Mil Spec carry handles are available from a number of sources – check on-line to find them.
Our Carbon Fiber rifles are a little different in that the upper receiver rail is .040” taller than normal. So using a front and rear flip on those guns requires a taller front sight post in the front flip. However, with our standard carry handle and a front flip with a normal front sight post, they index just fine.
Can I mount a large caliber upper receiver on my Windham Weaponry lower?
Our receivers are the highest quality forged 7075 T6 aircraft aluminum and will have no problems handling the .50 Beowulf or the 6.5 Grendel.
Will DPMS fire control parts work in your rifles?
The DPMS AR parts should fit our rifles fine.
How do I break in the barrel of my VEX rifle?
To break in our stainless steel barrel, do the following:
- Fire one shot, then clean your barrel. (Repeat this step 5 times.)
- Fire three shots, then clean your barrel.
- Fire five shots, then clean your barrel, and you’re done.
What are the torque specs for the barrel nut and the flash hider?
The barrel nut should be torqued between 31 and 80 foot pounds. The flash hider should be torqued between 15 and 20 foot pounds.
How do you verify the indexing of your rifles?
We laser boresight them at a range of about 25 yards. This tells us if the barrel is indexed properly or not. If the laser beam is outside of the front sight post, we know there is a problem and we correct it. If it is touching the front sight post, we know it’s okay to ship.
Are your lower receivers low shelf? – or high shelf? What’s the difference?
Our lower receivers are low shelf. The low shelf lowers are better suited to using a drop in auto sear (NFA rules apply of course). High shelf lowers have to be milled down to use a drop in auto sear.
Do you use M16 or AR15 carriers?
We use M16 carriers in every gun we sell except the guns that go to the ban compliant states. The ones that go to the compliant states are AR style carriers. The only difference is the length of the tail end of the carrier. The AR style carriers are cut back farther. In an M16 rifle it is this tail section that trips the auto sear.
Can I use a bolt carrier group from another company in my WWI rifle / upper?
Any mil spec bolt carrier group will work in our rifles but if you are using a different company’s bolt we recommend having the headspace checked. We check the headspace on all of our barrels and bolts 100% but we can’t guarantee how other company’s bolts are going to fit. Have the headspace checked to be safe.
Is it possible for my rifle to fire out of battery?
No, it is not possible for the rifle to fire unless the bolt is fully closed and the bolt locking lugs are locked into the barrel extension. If the bolt is retracted at all in the carrier, the firing pin cannot reach the primer. But – as always – if you are going to pull the trigger, make sure the gun is pointed safely downrange.
How is your barrel steel tested?
The AMS 2301 Magnetic Particle Test is performed on 6 samples from each heat of 80,000#. Individual hot roll bars are tested with a Magnetic Flux Leakage Test, and the turned/polished bars are Eddy Current Tested with a Circograph.
Why are there marks on my brass deflector?
We test fire all of our rifles and uppers for function before they leave here. The marks you see are from the test ammo hitting the brass deflector. Ejection paths can vary a little bit so on some guns you will get more marks than on others. We have found that the Tactical Advantage (Part # CLEANER-TACADV) we sell seems to do a decent job removing brass marks. They can also be scrubbed off gently with oil and gray Scotchbrite. Another suggestion is to put a small square of Velcro on the brass deflector to protect it. If you want to remove the Velcro, any glue residue can be removed with gun solvent, and the brass deflector should look untouched.
What kind of optics are on the CDI rifle on your website?
The optic on our gun in the website picture is an EoTech EXPS2 with a 4 power magnifier. The magnifier can be swung out of the way and the sights can be co-witnessed with the iron sights. This is a great tactical set up. If you are shooting around 25 yards or less, the magnifier is not really necessary. The sight is very quick and easy to see and is adjustable for different light conditions.
I saw a video on line of one of your rifles and they were saying the trigger pull got heavier as the gun got hotter. Is this true?
We get a lot of inquiries regarding that video. The first rifle we sent, he reported that the trigger pull was something like 20 lbs. after the gun got hot. I had him send that rifle back to me so I could do my own test on it. I weighed the trigger pull with a Lyman trigger pull gage cold and it averaged about 7 lbs. I then dumped about 150 rounds or so through the gun as fast as I could pull the trigger and got it smoking hot. Weighed the trigger pull again. It was still averaging 7 lbs. Since this test, we’ve had one other customer claim the same thing. I did the same test as I did on the first gun and got the same results. Personally I think it’s trigger fatigue and completely in the imagination of the reviewer, although this is disputed. Until I can make the trigger pull get heavier in my own tests I’m going to continue to believe it’s not possible for the trigger pull to get heavier as the gun gets hotter. And I’ve got ARs so hot in tests that the handguards were melting off. If someone can prove me wrong I welcome it, but I just don’t know how it’s physically possible, and it just doesn’t make any sense to me.
Is it normal for AR15s to has some ‘wobble” or looseness between the Upper and Lower Receivers?
This “play” is normal – some have more than others – some have almost none. There are plus and minus allowable tolerances between the two. These allowances have to be made so that all uppers will fit on all lowers which is required in a mass production scenario. If they were custom built guns, they could be individually custom fitted to minimize that play. If you feel that the play is too excessive I can probably find an upper lower match that is better. Sometimes all that needs to be changed is the upper receiver but sometimes the lower has to be changed as well. This can be a problem for people in state which require AR15s to be registered. Another simple option is an Accuwedge (available through Brownells) which is a little rubber wedge placed behind the rear takedown pin. This is very effective at tightening the fit between the upper and lower receiver.