Ballistic Advantage review

[Megawatt maker]

I just finished a AR build. PSA stripped lower, Del Ton upper, CMMG trigger group, Magpul grip, Rise ambi selector and anti walk pins. Midwest Industry SO series handguard (larger inside diameter to accommodate the .936 inch bull barrel.) CMMG buffer tube kit. Light and heavy buffer have been tried.

Ballistic Advantage custom bull barrel 24" long, no muzzle break, 1-8 Twist 223 wylde chamber.

Superlative arms adjustable gas block.

Ballistic Advantage Nickel boron bolt carrier and bolt.

Ballistic Advantage is owned by Aero, and Aero's Barrels are all Ballistic Advantage. The bolt and carrier were both made by toolcraft, but have the Ballistic Advantage logo laser etched into it.

The problems......
The adjustable gas block is a royal PITA. The alignment is perfect, I purchased a jig to drill the dimples in the barrel, and this jig takes all the guess work out of location...although I of coarse verified it at least 8 times before I drilled. I know its correct because the powder residue that leaks from it clearly leave pattern that shows every is perfectly centered. Anyway..there in only ONE...ONE setting that works. One click in..no extraction, one click out...no chamber (extreme overpressure).

Ok..the problems.....

The bolt carried was STIFF....I MEAN VERY @#$%&^* STIFF...The bolt barely rotated in the slot. I actually had to break out the Dremel and lightly polish everything to make it pass the "flip" test...ie free move bolt within the carrier. Before I worked it...Flip it all you wanted...the prick wouldn't move.
Before I worked it...it wouldn't extract, chamber...operate...it was a straight pull bolt action. STILL is an understatement. Oil...dry...it sucked. Once polished, it functions....SOMEWHAT.
The problem...exact same load...same weight powder, same primer, same bullet...DIFFERENT BRASS (although very close in weight..its how I sort my brass...by headstamp AND weight)..it either won't extract, or won't chamber...no matter how the gas block is set.

Lake City...Winchester brass, both work fine.

Federal, Remington, Hornady, Frontier, and CJ headstamp (China brass....its good stuff and I have a barrel if it) all malfunction.

I've never seen this one yet.

Any year Lake city...runs like clockwork. As does Winchester brass...both my reloads and The little factory Winchester loads I have...

Its very strange. Never heard of an AR being this brass picky before.

Anyway...far as accuracy goes....its a !@#$%^&* Kick a## Tackdriver...when it functions.

Thoughts? Ideas? as to why it hates certain brass?

 

[troy fairweather]

You using a small base fl die?

 

[N555]

Go, no go gauges?

 

[redcon1]

I just verified the proper function of my superlative arms bleed off AGB on Friday. I thought I was having issues with it but it turned out to be something else. I just needed to snug down my trigger tech trigger better. Once I did that, I adjusted it out 4 1/2 turns per the instructions and it worked great. Before that, I too had to shoot it as a bolt action and it shot great that way. I plan on fine tuning it this week. I always thought the gas rings were supposed to hold a bolt carrier's weight when they were new and tight and if they wouldn't do that, you should think about replacing them.

 

[sevt_chevelle]

You have a bcg that you broke out the Dremel on and you wanna blame the brass?

 

[Megawatt maker]

You using a small base fl die?

Dillon dies...so yes.

All my loads chamber just fine, All function fine in other rifles. Its only on this rifle, that certain brass doesn't work. All brass is the same length..I use the same equipment on it all. RCBS case trimmer..with 3 way cutter head. The Lake City goes through the Dillion super swager in the only difference.

Its damn bizarre!

 

[Megawatt maker]

You have a bcg that you broke out the Dremel on and you wanna blame the brass?

Then why does Lake city and Winchester work...and nothing else?

It was a problem...but now its nice and loose as a bolt carrier should be. It could still be the problem...IDK.

 

[Megawatt maker]

I just verified the proper function of my superlative arms bleed off AGB on Friday. I thought I was having issues with it but it turned out to be something else. I just needed to snug down my trigger tech trigger better. Once I did that, I adjusted it out 4 1/2 turns per the instructions and it worked great. Before that, I too had to shoot it as a bolt action and it shot great that way. I plan on fine tuning it this week. I always thought the gas rings were supposed to hold a bolt carrier's weight when they were new and tight and if they wouldn't do that, you should think about replacing them.

The CMMG trigger group is Mil Spec..non adjustable. Ive used, and many other too Im sure, a lot. Thats not the problem. Misfires, or failure to reset, isn't it.

 

[Megawatt maker]

Go, no go gauges?

Way beyond that.

About 100 rounds though it now. No poped or flattened primers, no separated brass, no stuck brass.

It ain't headspaceing.

The carried is flat even with the back if the upper...besides, both the barrel and carrier are the same brand...bought them specifically for that reason...headspace...even though if everything is Mil spec..thats not supposed to be an issue...

 

[redcon1]

The CMMG trigger group is Mil Spec..non adjustable. Ive used, and many other too Im sure, a lot. Thats not the problem. Misfires, or failure to reset, isn't it.

I'm not saying it's your trigger. I'm just saying that I was utterly convinced that my AGB was my problem and it ended up being something else entirely. The more I screwed with it, the more frustrated I got and the less critical thinking I did. I figured it out when I got home. I was getting hammer follow from the trigger being loose causing the disconnect to not work right. It wasn't a gas issue at all. I have never seen hammer follow in all my years so it didn't connect in my brain. I have never heard of a barrel being that finicky about brass either. It's strange that it functions well with the harder brass and not with the softer brass but I don't know that's the issue. I'd be frustrated too and I'd be looking at troubleshooting with a different barrel and gas block just to see if that is the issue.

 

[N555]

Way beyond that.

About 100 rounds though it now. No poped or flattened primers, no separated brass, no stuck brass.

It ain't headspaceing.

The carried is flat even with the back if the upper...besides, both the barrel and carrier are the same brand...bought them specifically for that reason...headspace...even though if everything is Mil spec..thats not supposed to be an issue...

Well I have heard wyld chambers can run tight some times.
Those are examples of too much head space. If there was too little head space rounds won't want to go into battery.
If the head space was too long (most common) it would also shoot all over the place.
Do you have access to small base dies?
Can you use another bolt or bolt carrier group you could swap in just to try?
Do you know some one with a go gauge you could barrow?
Usually FL sizer dies usually allow the shoulder to be some where around 5 thousands further forward than factory fresh or small base sized cases.
But I hate small base dies, get lots of stuck cases unless I FL size them first, then small base size them next, which makes sizing suck at least twice as much.
My FN made upper doesn't want to go into battery with about 1 out of every 50 to 80 "MAL" head stamp cases that I FL size. But those cases are extra hard and thick and spring back more than LC, win, rem, fed, ect. That FN upper also closes tight on the "go gauge" and has excellent accuracy for a $500 complete upper.
Tried small base sizing the MAL cases, but they love to stick in that small base die, so I just FL size them, shoot them in any other gun and leave them at the range.

 

[d2wing]

I just finished a AR build. PSA stripped lower, Del Ton upper, CMMG trigger group, Magpul grip, Rise ambi selector and anti walk pins. Midwest Industry SO series handguard (larger inside diameter to accommodate the .936 inch bull barrel.) CMMG buffer tube kit.
The problems......
The adjustable gas block is a royal PITA. The alignment is perfect, I purchased a jig to drill the dimples in the barrel, and this jig takes all the guess work out of location...although I of coarse verified it at least 8 times before I drilled. I know its correct because the powder residue that leaks from it clearly leave pattern that shows every is perfectly centered. Anyway..there in only ONE...ONE setting that works. One click in..no extraction, one click out...no chamber (extreme overpressure).

Ok..the problems.....

The bolt carried was STIFF....I MEAN VERY @#$%&^* STIFF...The bolt barely rotated in the slot. I actually had to break out the Dremel and lightly polish everything to make it pass the "flip" test...ie free move bolt within the carrier. Before I worked it...Flip it all you wanted...the prick wouldn't move.
Before I worked it...it wouldn't extract, chamber...operate...it was a straight pull bolt action. STILL is an understatement. Oil...dry...it sucked. Once polished, it functions....SOMEWHAT.
The problem...exact same load...same weight powder, same primer, same bullet...DIFFERENT BRASS (although very close in weight..its how I sort my brass...by headstamp AND weight)..it either won't extract, or won't chamber...no matter how the gas block is set.

Lake City...Winchester brass, both work fine.

Federal, Remington, Hornady, Frontier, and CJ headstamp (China brass....its good stuff and I have a barrel if it) all malfunction.

I've never seen this one yet.

Any year Lake city...runs like clockwork. As does Winchester brass...both my reloads and The little factory Winchester loads I have...

Its very strange. Never heard of an AR being this brass picky before.

Anyway...far as accuracy goes....its a !@#$%^&* Kick a## Tackdriver...when it functions.

Thoughts? Ideas? as to why it hates certain brass?

An AR I had a sticky bolt. It functioned but caused accuracy problems. Replaced it with a BCM bolt and carrier. Problem solved. Another problem was caused by a too light buffer. Action was too fast a needed to slow down. Another by weak extractor..
Maybe your bolt isn't seating properly.