The $500 AR 15 Project -- My Plum Crazy DPMS Sportical

The AR 15...  for many, it is the end-all be-all of rifle platforms.  And for good reason:  it can be just about anything you want it to be.  From short barrel patrol rifle to long range, heavy barreled varmint gun, the modular nature of the AR 15 lends itself to customization like no other weapon.  Stocks, handguards, pistol grips, sights, barrels, gas blocks, fire control groups...  there is nothing on an AR that cannot be made to match a particular shooter's preferences.  Even caliber is up for grabs:  the standard 5.56 / .223 can quickly become a .204, 5.45, 6.8, 7.62, 9mm, or even .22LR.  The choices are seemingly endless.

And in spite of this, I have never owned an AR platform.  And to be honest, until recently, I have not felt as though I have been missing anything.  I have been very happy with my .22s, my SKS, and my milsurps.  And I suppose I still thought of the AR in terms of the original M16s that our boys in 'Nam got saddled with -- clumsy, prone to jam, impossible to keep clean, and generally disparaged by those veterans who chose to share their stories with me about their time in the service.  Now, a lot has changed since the Sixties (thank God), and the AR has benefited from some technological enhancements that have made the platform much more reliable.  The direct impingement gas system still needs care and cleaning, but you need not be fanatical in your fastidiousness anymore.

Recently, I had a change of mind, and decided I would like to join the thousands of AR enthusiasts and see what I have been missing.  And to do so, I also decided to undertake a sort of self-imposed challenge:  to build a lightweight AR, and to do so for $500.

Now, those of you who have ARs know that this is a nearly impossible task.  Nevertheless, I had an ace up my sleeve.  There is a company in Arizona called PCF manufacturing who turns out polymer AR lowers (C-15) under the name brand "Plum Crazy."  These lowers are made of a "space-age" teflon-impregnated polymer, designed to near mil-spec dimensions, meaning that they will mate with just about any mil-spec AR 15 upper. And these lowers cost $130...  complete.  That's right, this is a complete lower, including fire control group, bolt catch, mag release, and six-position collapsible stock, all for $130.  Interestingly, the fire control group includes a polymer hammer and trigger, the mag catch and release are polymer, and even the take-down pin and pivot pin are polymer.  All of this equals reduced weight.

(Image courtesy of clark-corner.com)  Before I went Plum Crazy, I did a lot of research on the product.  I have had several polymer pistols, as well as polymer stocked rifles (a .30-'06 and an SKS, for example), so I am not too worried about the polymer not being able to handle the stresses involved.  Especially considering the majority of stress is absorbed by the upper on an AR.  I did come across a few instances of lowers that had broken, but for every bad experience I found, I read three or four positive reviews.  And more often than not, the naysayers were not owners of the Plum Crazy firearms, but "knew a guy who had a friend who's brother had one blow up..."  Not exactly dealing with raw data in that situation.

Most importantly, however, is that the company PCF Mfg. offers a 100% lifetime warranty on their products. I dig a company that will stand behind its product.  And even the few people I found who had experienced broken receivers (usually their own fault due to dropping the gun or torquing the receiver while trying to mate it to the upper) had found the company quick to replace their lower.  And they are made in the USA.  I figured it would be worth a try.  It certainly helps my bottom line, both with weight and cost.

Luckily for me, a local gun shop, Brackin's Gun Alley stocks the Plum Crazy (March 2013 update:  unfortunately, I can no longer recommend Brackin's Gun Alley, and I will just leave it at that).  I was able to pre-order one for $130, which means that after background and tax, I was out $153.  When I got the receiver, I was suitably impressed.  The lower seemed well made, and was thicker and stronger than I had imagined.  The finish has a few minor molding remnants on it, but could be easily removed.  The trigger was what astonished me, however...  while not a match group by any stretch, it is very crisp, with little to no slop, and breaks cleanly at between  4.5 and 5 lbs.  Extremely good for a stock trigger in this day and age.  The one thing that I found fault in is the safety.  An AR safety is designed such that it cannot be engaged if the hammer is in the forward position -- the hammer must be cocked back before you can put the safety on.  The Plum Crazy safety, however, can be engaged while the hammer is forward.  Not a deal breaker, but it means it is not mil-spec in this regard, and is something that prospective owners should be aware of.

Now that I had my lower, I needed an upper to go with it.  In keeping with my light weight requirement, I knew I was going to be looking at a pencil profile barrel, most likely the minimum 16".  I also decided to look at some "slick side" receivers:  receivers that do not have the forward assist, shell deflector, or dust cover.  As a lot of AR fans will point out, these uppers are not mil-spec, but then, neither am I.  I am not going to be heading out to the sandbox anytime soon, so I really do not need the dust-cover...  this is a plinker, plain and simple.  Forward assist is just a way of getting a few more shots in before cleaning your gun, or for forcing a frozen bolt forward in sub-zero temperatures, and is not necessary for my purposes, either.  And lastly, as a righty, the shell deflector would do me no good at all.

So, keeping this in mind, I decided to go with the DPMS Sportical 5.56 upper from MidwayUSA.  The Sportical is designed on the lo-pro receiver, meaning flat-top, no sights, and a railed gas block.  It is designed for someone who is going to add optics to their AR (which I am...  I have a red / green dot sight that needs a good home).  It also comes with your choice of pencil profile or heavy barrel, both in 1 in 9" twist.

(Image courtesy of midwayusa.com)  Well, it just so happens that MidwayUSA had these uppers on sale for $360.  So I ordered one.  I got it via UPS today, and I assembled the lower and upper this afternoon.  Having read about the tight fit many Plum Crazy owners were experiencing, I was poised to expect a difficult time assembling the rifle.  It was not to be, however:  the pivot went together quite easily, and the rear of the receivers popped right together with just a little pressure from the heel of my hand.  Both pins went in snugly, and the two halves fit as though they were made for one another.

I finally had my AR.  And I came in just over my goal of $500, at $513.  Well, almost.  I forgot the magazine.  A quick trip down the road to the gun shop fixed that.  Add a 30 round steel magazine for $14, and that brings us to a grand total of $527.  If it weren't for Tennessee's insane sales tax and the background check, I would have made it.

So, I didn't make my goal of $500, but I came close enough to make me happy.  This rifle isn't going to make the front page of ARF.COM, and I am sure that many AR purists will turn their noses up at it, but it fits me well.  I quite like it so far.  Especially the way this gun shoots.  It is almost ridiculously light, just over 6lbs with red dot and 30 round magazine.  I may look at adding back-up iron sights at some point, but for now, for my purposes, the red dot is sufficient.  I think it is going to be a great little rifle.  I have put 25 rounds through it (Federal .223 bulk box 55 gr. FMJ), to sight in the red dot, and to break in the barrel, cleaning after each round per the instructions from DPMS.  Each round chambered and fired flawlessly, spent brass was positively ejected to my right, and the plastic lower hasn't blown up yet.  When I get through the break-in process, I will post some pictures or a video of how it is shooting.  It may be time to break out another Osama bin Zombie target!!

Update:  I picked up a set of iron sights at Tri-Cities Gun Depot this week, and switched them out for the red dot.  Here are some pictures of the Plum Crazy Sportical setup:

MetroArms American Classic II -- EGW magazine catch and Pearce grip insert review

This episode of Shooting from the Hip is a follow-up to my review of the MetroArms American Classic II model 1911 pistol.  Specifically, I recently completed my first two upgrades, and I wanted to share with you what I changed, as well as why I did so.

Now, you may be asking yourself why, if I like the ACII so much, I felt the need to change something.  Well, for one thing, it is a 1911, after all, and one of the beautiful things about this pistol is that it is a platform that begs one to customize it to one's own preferences.  From grips, to sights, to triggers, hammers, even guide-rods, there isn't much on the 1911 that cannot be tweaked to fit the individual shooter.  In this particular case, my first upgrade was to add a Pearce rubber grip insert.

(Image courtesy of pearcegrip.com)  Now, while I am a big fan of wood grips on a 1911, the slim aspect of the 1911 doesn't fill my hand very well.  I have big hands, and I am used to double-stack guns that are wide enough to fit my hand well.  Part of the attraction of the 1911 though is the slimness, making it a good carry pistol, easy to conceal, so I did not want to lose that aspect.  My choice, therefor, was to try the Pearce grip insert:  a rubber insert that adds finger grooves to the frontstrap, while not greatly altering the thickness of the grip itself, and still allowing the use of the wood stocks.  Installation could not be simpler:  simply unscrew the grips, put the grip insert on aligning the precut holes over the grip screw bushings, then replace the grips.  The insert is cut generously, leaving some trimming to be done, but an X-acto knife makes quick work of that.

Range time with the new grip definitely showed a difference in the handling of the pistol.  The rubber grip afforded me a firmer grasp on the firearm, and it seemed to point more naturally.  Whereas before I installed the Pearce grip, recoil would occasionally cause the pistol to shift in my hand, I found that this was no longer the case with the new finger grooves.  Speed and accuracy of follow-up shots increased perceptibly.  I am curious as to whether the grip will prove to be durable, since the rubber under the stocks is rather thin (by design, of course), but time will tell.

The second modification I made to my ACII was to install a new magazine catch.  The one issue I have had with the pistol is that on a couple of occasions, it has failed to chamber a round when I have manually racked the slide.  I have not had this issue when using the slide release, only when "slingshotting" the slide.  This issue has been mentioned on a couple of firearms forums, as well.  It seems that the magazine catch on the ACII may be a bit low, allowing the magazine to sit a fraction of an inch lower in the magwell than normal.  This causes the top round in the magazine to have a bit of a higher jump to make it into the chamber.  Not much of an issue with round ball, but it can cause hollowpoints to jam.  As I intend to use this gun for home defense and possibly self-defense, it must reliably cycle hollowpoints.

One solution to this problem that I discovered on the M1911 forum (a great place to find information about this amazing weapon platform) was to change out the factory mag catch with a replacement that is machined to hold the magazine higher in the magwell.  One such product is manufactured by the company EGW, or Evolution Gun Works.  The HD Higher Mag Catch is available in either blued or stainless, is milled from solid 4140 Chromoly steel, and is designed to hold the magazine .020 inches higher than a standard mag catch.

While the company states that the part should fit "in most good quality 1911s," like any other "drop-in" 1911 part, some fitting is often required.  This was the case with the ACII:  a couple of minutes of light grinding and buffing, and the catch fit perfectly.  And it works as advertised.  The factory catch allowed the magazines to sit just a fraction of an inch lower in the magwell, and I could hold up on the bottom of the magazine and it would move ever-so-slightly up.  With the EGW catch, the magazine base is flush with the bottom of the magwell -- a nice, tight fit, holding the top round in a more direct line with the chamber.  Hand racking the slide several times with three different magazines showed that the rounds fed much easier into battery.  Pressing the EGW catch still allows the empty magazines to fall away freely, as well, so there should be no issue with tactical magazine changes.

After another 50 rounds (Federal 230 gr. FMJ) through it today, with no failures of any kind, the American Classic II by MetroArms continues to impress me.  It is definitely worth looking at if you are interested in a 1911.  I would also recommend looking at what EGW has to offer, with respect to aftermarket 1911 parts.  The website is easy to navigate, ordering was simple, and delivery was fast.  Three things I look for in an online seller.  You might also check out what Pearce has to offer, not only for the 1911, but for a variety of other pistols as well.