First shots!

Took MrsZ and the Delicate AR to the range last night for the first shots.

Loaded up a mag, she sat down behind it, loaded, pulled the trigger ... *click*


That was the loudest click I've ever heard.

Turned out it was just barely out of battery, enough to keep the hammer from hitting the firing pin. Forward assist did nothing and the charging handle was too tight to pull, so I ended up popping both pins, thumping the bolt carrier on the bench to seat it, re-setting the hammer manually, and putting it back together. It went bang that time.

Seems like it did that for the first round on every new mag... Eventually I realized that I'd neglected to really scrub it and lube it after I finished the DuraCoat work, and that was probably a significant portion of the problem.

We put about 50 rounds through it with good overall results; it's got a good battlesight zero with the cheap-ass green dot sight I had lying around - and the Eotech I ordered should be here today. It's been thoroughly lubed now, and hopefully the next range trip goes better.

 25m. The five off by themselves are the sight-in shots, all the rest ... aren't.

This is what 40 rounds of XM193 does to a DuraCoated brake. It's pretty clear that it will burn a lot of the color off around the gills, but it's not flaking or peeling, which was my primary concern. A lot of that is powder residue and should come off with a dab of Hoppe's.