Palmetto State Armory Freedom Experiment

Prices have been dropping for a while on AR parts largely thanks to Palmetto State Armory. Since their online presence, prices for AR parts have taken a steady decline. Forged upper receivers that once cost north of $100 can sometimes be had for $40 during sale events. Lowers that once cost $100 now sell for $50 for a blem; $60 for 1st quality when on sale.

So imagine my surprise when I found PSA offering a 16" mid-length upper with a melonite lightweight barrel and MOE handguards at the princely sum of $199. It's not that I need another upper, but for the price it was really hard to walk away. It's not the fanciest upper ever, but assuming everything runs, it is quite functional as to weight and barrel finish. The lightweight profile places the balance of the rifle further back towards the stock and gives a faster and smoother swing when engaging moving targets. The melonite finish protects the barrel steel from corrosion better than most mainstream firearms finishes as well as provide surface hardening.


I'm not the most fond of the FREEDOM laser engraved on the barrel, but I really can't complain at $199. For less than the price of some entry level barrels, I have an entire upper sans BCG and charging handle. The upper comes assembled with a front sight pin assembly, A2 flash hider, crush washer, forward assist, dust cover, MOE mid-length handguards, and of course the useless sling loop on the bottom of the front sight base. I'm really not sure why anyone puts the USGI sling loops on front sight bases anymore.

You might notice that the upper is a slightly purple color. Although the upper was not listed as a blem, the color is off slightly. Again, I'm really not complaining at this price point; just making an observation. The upper is a standard flat top upper with M4 feed ramps and no T markings of any kind. Pure functionality and nothing extra. Everything appears to be assembled as it should be. The front sight base is pinned with two taper pins and appears to be aligned properly according to my finely calibrated eyeball. The forward assist is of the round style without a cross pin to secure the end cap from the shaft.
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The front sight base is F-marked and is of the proper height to co-witness with back up iron sights and red dot optics. The gas tube is of the standard unfinished stainless steel variety mated to a triangular handguard cap. There's really not much special about the upper other than the low price point. I didn't observe any burrs or tool marks in or around the barrel. In fact, the finish on the barrel is surprisingly nice.

 

The only con to the upper is the upper receiver itself. There are a few artifacts from either rough handling or the forging process pinged into the exterior of the left side of the upper receiver wall. This was obviously there prior to the anodizing process as all of the dents and bumps have been anodized over. There is also some finish that has worn through to bare metal at the rear takedown lug. This was probably from the assembly process. None of the noted cosmetic issues affect functioning, not even the purple tint of the upper.

I'll post an update once I procure a BCG and charging handle. So far I'm pretty impressed by the value this upper provides. No missing parts and everything looks assembled the way it should be. 

Holosun Paralow 403B Red Dot Sight

I recently learned about the Holosun series of red dot sights. What I really wanted was the Aimpoint T1 or H1 series of micro red dots to minimize weight and maximize battery life, but without the Aimpoint price tag. 

I know. You get what you pay for and that's usually true. The Aimpoint T-1 starts at $681.23 and H-1 at $618.00 from a reputed online retailer. The Holosun 403A retails at $169.99 and the 403B at $199.99.

I was already an EOTech user and as such hated changing batteries frequently even without steady usage. The vampiric drain from the EOTech 552 made it inconvenient to keep it ready to go at a moment's notice should life get in the way and you forget to change the batteries out. 

Despite offering a wide view, the EOTech was also heavier than the T1 or H1. Fielding a rifle for extended periods made me want an optic with as little weight and smallest profile possible. This inevitably lead my search to the Aimpoint T1 and H1 series of micro red dots. I had already tried the Aimpoint Micros via friends, but was I ready to plop down almost $700 for one?

After browsing a number of online forums and watching countless YouTube videos, I discovered a little-known manufacturer called Holosun. From what I could gather it appeared Holosun was one of the OEM manufacturers for Primary Arms red dots. If I had to guess I would say that Holosun is likely also the OEM for Leatherwood/Hi-lux on their Mirco-Max B Dot with the exception that the Leatherwood unit accepts a ARD on the objective with tethered caps and the Holosun branded offerings do not. It appeared Holosun was trying to make a better market presence in the US by going out under their own label.

Holosun claimed the same 50,000 hour battery life as the Aimpoint Micros. The YouTube community posted wanton abuse and mayhem being done to the Holosun. If all this were accurate the Holosun would be on par with more expensive Aimpoint micro dots as far as battery usage and possibly even durability. YouTube videos showed the 403A go for ocean swims, get frozen, get smashed by a hammer, and remount with an acceptable zero.


I recently had to stalk a mountain lion on foot at night with iron sights after it decided to sit on porches and eat things it wasn't supposed to eat. The whole time, I cursed myself for not having an illuminated sight on my work rifle. Trying to pick up a sight picture at night with iron sights on an AR type rifle can be challenging at best. It's even more difficult when what you are stalking is silently stalking you at the same time. Iron sights ultimately resolved the situation, but it took longer to acquire a usable sight picture and was less precise at night even with a weapons mounted light.

As a side note, please don't feed mountain lions off of your porch. Doing so causes mountain lions to associate people with food and it can end poorly for both sides.

Shortly after that episode, I purchased the Holosun 403B. I had originally made up my mind on the 403A, but changed my mind because of the following things:

• The 403A uses a proprietary style of mount. The 403B uses Aimpoint Micro mounts.
• The 403B still maintains sleek silhouette of the 403A which allows a less obscured sight picture over the Aimpoint series with the battery compartment on the side.

I still have reservations about the battery mounting setup for the 403B. The battery slides into the side of the sight on a plastic tray on the right side of the unit. The tray is secured via friction and an o-ring. The o-ring comes pretty dry so I dabbed a little 100% silicone grease on it and plugged it in. Despite what the manual says (in broken English); the sight does not include a battery. Fortunately CR2032 batteries are common and available at almost any store for a nominal cost.

The Holosun comes packaged in an attractive cardboard box with cut foam inserts. Included are bikini scope caps, two torx wrenches, 1/3 cowitness mount,low-mount, tool for adjusting zero, cleaning cloth, instructions, and an extra battery tray. The caps double as field-expedient adjustment tools for windage and elevation. 

The finish on the Holosun is as nice as the Aimpoints and EOTechs I've handled or owned. The machining is clean and there are no tool marks to be seen. The difference in texture is due to the excess silicone grease on the housing.

This will likely deter a lot of buyers as the unit is "Made In China." Just keep in mind that Aimpoint is made in Sweden. 

The glass appears clear and free of aberrations. Some earlier users reported distortion in the glass.  

Only time will tell how this sight will hold up. I'm still somewhat skeptical one can find an alternative on par with the Aimpoint Micro series at a sub $200 price point. I'll post updates on how this sight compares as it gets more use.

After all this, I'm still not sure what a "paralow" is. Watch this space.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit the Manatee Gun Club range in Myakka, FL.  Notably they are the only open-to-the-public 1000 yard range in the Sunshine State.  I limited my shooting to 565 yards where steel targets and truck tires live on the berm.  Long story short, I brought my homebuilt AR-15A2 (FN 1x7 surplus barrel) and approximately 500 rounds of various steel cased ammunition. 

Steel is not as malleable as brass and thus does not expand to seal a firearm's chamber as well as brass.  As a consequence, there will be significantly more case blowback than a similar brass cased cartridge.  This is evident in the pictures below as you can see the amount of carbon residue stuck to the side of the steel casing I had to manually eject via cleaning rod. You can also see the nice section of missing case rim material in the approximate shape of an AR15 extractor. This can be a more common problem with uneven case coatings such as "lacquer" found on Brown Bear (not really lacquer) or "polymer" found on Wolf and Tula (who knows what this really is).

The moral of the story is the bring a good cleaning rod when shooting copious amounts of steel cased ammo.

Tactical Machining AR Lower / Palmetto State Armory LPK

I recently had the opportunity to assemble yet another AR rifle from random parts around the house.  After reading various reviews and having used most of the big name manufacturers such as Colt, Bushmaster, RRA, Stag, Armalite, Spikes, Superior, Essential, Mega, and Aero Precision; I decided to try another brand.  As this is a newer company, I couldn't find too many reviews about their stripped lower.  Out of the reviews I stumbled across, none of them seemingly had anything bad to say about the lower or the company.

Upon visual inspection, the lower showed excellent finish with none of the flashing left over from the forging process that Colt and Bushmaster love to leave on their products.  Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures before slapping the lower parts kit into the lower.  Everything went in as expected and took approximately 15 minutes to assemble.  I should note that the LPK used was from Palmetto State Armory and also exhibited excellent fit and finish.  Coincidentally, the LPK happened to be the cheapest set available as well.  It is head over heels better than the DPMS trigger parts I have used in the past.

 The lower is a low shelf with a properly beveled magazine well.  My only complaint is the FIRE and SAFE markings are a little larger than most manufacturers.  Everything from USGI aluminum to Magpul PMAGs drop free and seat properly in the magazine well.  Here is the clincher though.  Out of all the receivers I have used or complete rifles from "Tier 1" manufacturers, this lower has the best upper to lower fit with any number of upper receivers I have tried it with.  I do not know how TM does this, but I'm sold on the internal dimensions they use.  The upper and lower receiver assembly slide together with no noticeable play whatsoever.  This isn't the typical out of spec super tight take down pin syndrome some lowers exhibit. No accuwedge or foam earplug required for proper upper/lower fit here.

The dye used in the anondization is also a perfect match for the my A2 upper (USGI surplus) with a deep, thick, black hardcoat.

This is by far the nicest lower I have yet seen or used when it comes to fit and finish.  Could I do with no logo?  Sure.  But given that every manufacturer plasters a giant billboard on the side of their lower, this one was done with reasonable good taste.  No deer head on my rifle.