Here we go again...

NavyVet83

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Well, here I go down the rabbit hole.... again....
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Turned out real nice... I know I can. This is going on a 12 or 13 year hobby for me. Took a 2 year or so break. Now I have 2 lowers to finish. One of them i dunno what it's gonna be. This one I'm doing right now is gonna be a complete high end build. Decided to go ahead and out do myself and any other rifles I've done before lol
 
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Keep us posted on your progress. Which jig are you using? I have milled a few using the 5D Tactical router jig and I’m very happy with the results. I’m thinking about making another one and finishing it with burnt bronze cerakote.
 
Keep us posted on your progress. Which jig are you using? I have milled a few using the 5D Tactical router jig and I’m very happy with the results. I’m thinking about making another one and finishing it with burnt bronze cerakote.
Im using a 10+ year old 80%Arms Easy Jig Gen1. Lol... she's an old girl. I've done a lot with it. A box full of upper receivers came in today. Pictured is the one that fit the best.
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I’m thinking about making another one and finishing it with burnt bronze cerakote.
You'll be ahead of the game if you buy your receivers already in BB instead of black and paying to have them done.
This was bought as 80% lower and upper in BB.
Google 80% BB. There are several vendors.

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Cerakoted and most other finishes recommend 100-120 grit aluminum oxide or garnet to give the surface teeth. Bead blasting and shot peening makes the surface smooth and the paints, sorry, coatings won't stick as well.

Home anodizing may be completely different. No idea what that calls for.
 
Cerakoted and most other finishes recommend 100-120 grit aluminum oxide or garnet to give the surface teeth. Bead blasting and shot peening makes the surface smooth and the paints, sorry, coatings won't stick as well.

Home anodizing may be completely different. No idea what that calls for.
Anodizing creates a honeycomb-like matrix on the surface of the part. Color can be added, then the honeycombs are sealed. I have anodized a few small junk parts, but not a rifle. It’s not too difficult. You just need some battery acid, lead plates and aluminum wire for the aluminum parts, buckets and hot plates.
 
So im expecting/Assuming this to turn out to be a pretty nice rifle. Daniel Defense handguard, barrel and furniture, BCM MK2 Recoil Mitigation System (buffer kit), Rise Armament Rave240 3.5lb trigger, Fortis MFG Brake, ordered....
 
I took BB to mean bead blast. It is an option on some receivers.

I have purchased BB and raw before. I knew that I would have to grit blast before Cerakoted. Bead blasted does look nice out of the box. Raw looks, well, raw. After a quick blast, the swirls and machine marks are gone just like on the bead blasted parts. Little known fact. Aluminum starts to oxidize pretty quickly. It developed a hard crust of aluminum oxide that paint won't stick to. If I'm really serious, I'll use Alumi-Prep and Alodine on it before painting. That is the aircraft standard.

Anodizing is supposed to be a good surface for paint retention. Type III (hard coat) anodizing is not easy to do at home.
 
I took BB to mean bead blast. It is an option on some receivers.

I have purchased BB and raw before. I knew that I would have to grit blast before Cerakoted. Bead blasted does look nice out of the box. Raw looks, well, raw. After a quick blast, the swirls and machine marks are gone just like on the bead blasted parts. Little known fact. Aluminum starts to oxidize pretty quickly. It developed a hard crust of aluminum oxide that paint won't stick to. If I'm really serious, I'll use Alumi-Prep and Alodine on it before painting. That is the aircraft standard.

Anodizing is supposed to be a good surface for paint retention. Type III (hard coat) anodizing is not easy to do at home.
Should have spelled it out I guess.
That upper/lower set was purchased as an 80% and it was already Cerakoted in Burnt Bronze.

Get them here. 15 Cerakote colors to choose from, plus raw.
 
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Didn't want to go super high end on the optic just yet, but I did order a Sig Sauer Tango MSR 1-10x28. Everything shows to be delivered this week as of right now.
 
Milling the lower didnt turn out as pretty as I wanted, but its good nuf... lol.. Can't really do anything else until my order from Daniel Defense shows up.... But anyhoo
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Not the Tango6T I really want, but I am in the middle of finding/buying a house while Im building a gun. Ugh... so ill settle for this one for now..
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I've found Sig optics to be pretty good. Reasonably bright in dim light and rugged. The BDX line when paired with their Kilo rangefinder and the iPhone app is the bomb. You literally cant miss a long shot. Even on a steep slope. It’s like cheating.
 
So I said screw it, and ordered everything else to finish this build. Once the parts come in, ill get pics but I used the calculator on my laptop and did some math to see total parts cost to build this thing. Turned out better than I thought it would. It likely helped that some of the parts I already had planned, happened to be on sale.
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Rookie mistake. Never, ever, not one time, add up everything. Especially don't leave a digital footprint that spouses may find and blow it for everyone else.

This is how you play it. I got a sweet deal on this barrel. $159 marked down from $400. I had most of the other parts just sitting around. A couple more bucks for some pins and springs. That's all I can think of... I built this sweet rifle for like $300, tops.

Your wife does it too when she gets a shipment of makeup and stuff. You really believe that sample was only $10? It's how the game of married life is played.
 
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