“CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?” The Trials and Tribulations of Building an AR-10 Pistol

So what do you do when everyone else finally gets their 7.5″ AR-15 pistols with single chamber brakes trying to be the loudest baddest dude at the range? You put them to god damned shame.

I stumbled on a shady shed FFL selling a bunch of Aero Precision M5 sets for the cheap on Gunbroker, so I decided to buy two (one for the pistol and another for future AR10 rifle build). But the problem with the AR-10 platform, or more specifically .308 ARs in general, is there are so many sub platforms that just don’t work together that it truly is buyer beware when ordering parts online.

For this build alone, I ended up having to replace half the standard AR15 lower parts which should have worked. Since the specs on AR10s vary so wildly, they often require custom fabrication and fitment to work.

So, after swapping out takedown pins, grinding down the bolt hold open, cutting the takedown pin springs to custom size, and going through 3 mag latches to find one that works, I had a working lower and a really expensive bolt in an upper.

You might be asking yourself “why didn’t the retard order a barrel too”? Well, it turns out no one sells ‘off the shelf’ 7.5″ .308 AR barrels. So, I ordered a custom barrel from Black Hole Weaponry for two hundred and sixtyish dollary doos and waited three months. Also, remember what I said about multiple patterns for the platform? I bought a dirt cheap handguard with rails that were DPMS low height for the top rail. And it turns out mine is DPMS high height, so I have a quarter inch step on my top rail which I knew was going to happen, but at least the rail was cheap. The rail is also meant to go over a carbine length system, so the gas block needs to be installed as usual with any AR build.

The above picture is just a quick comparison of the two range cleaners, but also check out my first attempt at a loudener there. That brake and my next few attempts were made using a dremel, a welding torch, and a Chinese made three chamber compensator off eBay. It’s definitely a learning process.

The left side of this airsoft tier brake blew off due to the gas going through the end of the gun, so I decided to take the idea and make it better. I made the W.D. Enterprises recoil eliminator.

Sick welds I chooched on there, and the bend on the middle brake chamber right? Well that bend is just from the gases running through this little pistol. With the adjustable gas block, I have it opened less than 1/32nd of a rotation on the set screw and I still think the bolt is going home too quick. In any case, here’s a video of the beast in action, so enjoy all two seconds of her.

What was that? Asking about what optic I put on this .308 AR tack driver? Well kiddo only the finest grade sub MOA Chineseium on my guns.