38 replies to this topic

[CA Desert Dog]

I had another chat with RRA this afternoon. It has been about 11-weeks since my order and I was wondering if someone there could give me a rough guestimate when my upper will ship. Well, the story I got from the salesman was grim. It seems that the barrel makers are having a very hard time getting steel, especially stainless steel. According to the sales guy, it's all (raw materials) going to China. He said their assembly facility is pretty much at a stand still. They may get some product in occasionally (maybe 50 barrels) but things are pretty much stalled. He said that if a person called and just ordered a barrel, they might wait 6-months or not even get it at all. He said things are grim there because of the material shortages. Bummer.If I hadn't pre-paid for the darn thing, I'd cancel the order. Hmmmmm, maybe I'll do that anyway and see if anybody has an upper in stock.

[aquaelvis]

Yep, I'd tell them to give me my cash back and look elsewhere. There are a ton of good uppers out there. You should call ar15sales.com and ask them. I know they do a ton of RRA. Maybe they can help?

[Bronco]

CA Desert Dog that is just a plain damn shame. Since they can't give you a date or even close to a date, I would cancel my order and do some shopping. Maybe a better idea would be shop around and see if someone has one, buy it then cancel your order. I bought my RRA Varmint A4 rifle back in the beginning of November 2007 and it took just about 8 weeks then. I was quoted anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks when I ordered it from Chris at Lanworld. Things have gone in a hell basket lately. Best of luck. Hey check with capitol didn't he get his from a guy up in Taft who had some RRA uppers in stock. Maybe just maybe he still has them in stock. I hope you are thinking about a 20" or longer tube. My 20" is a tack driver at over 100 yards.Bob

[Remi700]

I had another chat with RRA this afternoon. It has been about 11-weeks since my order and I was wondering if someone there could give me a rough guestimate when my upper will ship. Well, the story I got from the salesman was grim. It seems that the barrel makers are having a very hard time getting steel, especially stainless steel. According to the sales guy, it's all (raw materials) going to China. He said their assembly facility is pretty much at a stand still. They may get some product in occasionally (maybe 50 barrels) but things are pretty much stalled. He said that if a person called and just ordered a barrel, they might wait 6-months or not even get it at all. He said things are grim there because of the material shortages. Bummer.If I hadn't pre-paid for the darn thing, I'd cancel the order. Hmmmmm, maybe I'll do that anyway and see if anybody has an upper in stock.

I call B.S I am a pipe welder mostly stainless and we have had no prob geting any materal in, prices have gone up a bit though. good luck with your build though I am heading down the same road and was hopeing to find a Rock River also.

[CA Desert Dog]

Geeezzzz....now I figure, I've waited this long....how much longer could it be? LOL....I guess we'll see. I did check some other on-line stores but all of the good stuff (like the Predator Pursuit 20" upper I ordered) are all back-ordered too. It seems like nobody has any of the good stuff in stock.

[CA Desert Dog]

I made my final call to RRA this morning and after speaking to a representative (again), I decided that I was not going to see any product until October or November. I asked her to cancel my order and mail me a refund check.I then went on-line to Ten Percent Firearms and bought a 20”, .223 RRA Coyote upper they had in stock. They are right here in CA and I should have it by Friday, latest. It’s going to cost me more because I won’t get a discount but I just don’t feel like waiting on an “open-ended” order. I’m sure I’ll enjoy the 20” Coyote upper (Although I wanted the 16”) and that way I can get it tuned up and be ready for action when the time comes to flatten some coyotes. The child in me just could not wait any longer. I'm going to have to have a long talk with myself.....Actually, it was a reward to me, from me, for quitting smoking. After 45+ years, I am smoke free for a month.

[Bronco]

CA Desert Dog: I'm happy to hear that you got your RRA upper. You'll be happy with the 20" they are hold really tight groups better then the 16" barrels. I've got mine set up for little brown critters. Couple of pics one of my rifle and last range outing. It was a 5 shot grouping the two on the left where the first two shots. After a little readjustment the 3 shot group. A friend and I go out and shoot clays that we place on the ground 100+ yards out after hitting the clay we start looking a pieces to hit. Good practice for the little brown critters. Oh yeah, good job on quiting the smoking habit. Keep it up.

[CA Desert Dog]

Nice shootin' Bronco. Nice rifle too. That lil' darlin' is grouping very nicely. I loaded up a box of Dead Coyote 70-grainers to try out and I look forward to seeing how they shoot. What is the twist in your barrel? Is it a 1:9 twist? What weight bullets are you shooting? My RRA 20" Coyote upper from Ten Percent should be here tomorrow. I have the rail mount, rings and scope waiting for her. I'll post a pic when I get her all dressed up.

[Bronco]

CA Desert Dog: Thanks for the positive comment. I couldn't be happier with this rifle. My barrel has a 1:8 twist with the Wylde 223 chamber. Believe it or not I was shooting some Wolf 55 FMJ on that day. I had broke the barrel in a couple weeks earlier using a set of Tubbs Final Finish and just wanted to do some target shooting on the "cheap". Can't wait to see you pic's.

[CA Desert Dog]

Hey Bronco....GADZOOKS!! That target was with Wolf ammo? Dang, if it shoots Wolf that good, premium ammo will share one hole. Think of the money you'll save on targets.....LOLWell, my usual luck prevailed. When UPS came yesterday to deliver my upper, I was working and both of my designated signature neighbors were not home either. I made arrangements for the package to be delivered to my local UPS (rip-off) store and held for ransom.....oops, I mean pick-up (for $5.00). I'm surprised they don't charge for the air you breathe while in their shop because they charge dearly for everything else. I had them pack and ship a package once and I was astounded at the packing and handling charges. It was really excessive. Anyway, at least I can pick it up this afternoon.....if it's there as planned. Tell me a little more about the Tubb Final Finish process. I take it that you are satisfied with the results you're getting. By the look of that target, you'll get no argument here. Fill me in. I know they are bullets with abrasive bonded to them but is there any chance of hurting your barrel?

[D-Man]

Tubbs works great. Even easier way. You will need 30 rounds of ammo. Clean your barrel before you start, shoot 1 round and clean the barrel. Do this for the first 5 rounds. Then clean the barrel after every 5 shots. After 30 rounds, your barrel will be shooting nice. Now you can start to zero and go from there! Have done this on many rifles and it works great!Darren

[Bronco]

CA Desert Dog: I know; it is totally insane that those shots where with Wolf. I'm a firm believer that would not have been possible without using the Tubbs FF Bore Lapping System. Your luck with UPS is not very good, this has been a hard project for you, thank goodness you're on the down hill side now. Once you get your upper today, it's smooth sailing...... Don't forget to post some pics of that lil sweetie when you get the camo job done. Best of luck.The Tubbs Final Finish Bore Lapping System is to remove and smooth out all the rough tooling marks from your barrel, it is like hand lapping with out the time spent hand lapping. The bullets are too long to fit in your magazine so they have to be hand loaded one at a time. I know pain in the back side, but remember the other alternative is hand lapping. Each box has 20 rounds in it. 10 rounds of compound #1 and 10 rounds of compound #2. The process is quite simple, shoot, clean, shoot, clean, etc. Instructions are pretty clear just plan on several hours and don't expect these bullets to hold any type of accuracy as they are not meant to. If you decide to use this system check each cartridge before loading your rifle to make sure it is seated correctly and crimped. I saw a review from 2006 when one guy got what I would guess was a bad box. Anyway I've attached some links to MidwayUSA about the system. On the second link scroll down to the instructions link and click on it, this is the instructions that comes with each box. I can't say enough about this system, besides inproving the accruarcy of the firearm it also keeps the bore cleaner and much easier to clean. In my book this gets 5 stars. There is a Tubbs Finish Throat Maintainer System also. Basically the same system for maintaining the accuracy of your barrel. I plan on picking up a box of this and use it to keep my rifle's barrel in good condition.http://www.midwayusa...gin Search.y=15http://www.midwayusa...leitemid=380492Bob

[Bronco]

FYI I decided to order a box of Tubbs Final Finish Bore Lapping System for my Spikes Tactical 22LR. I haven't had a chance to shoot this rifle yet so the pre and post information should be good. Maybe this weekend I'll take it to the Manteca Sportmans Gun Range and do some pre application shooting to get a bench mark to compare to.

[ShooterJohn]

Or you could just pour sand in your barrel and shoot it out!

[Bronco]

John would you recommend coarse or fine sand? LOL

[Yodel Dog]

John would you recommend coarse or fine sand?

On a serious note: Back when everyone had a gunrack in the back window of the pickup, the rifles were stowed with the barrels pointing out the windows. Dust would settle in the bore and upon firing, would erode the bore. It was common to see 1-1.5" of rifling that was worn.

[ShooterJohn]

Yep, back when you could have a gun rack. Man I miss those times.

[Bronco]

John: on the up and up, it sounds like you don't think the Tubbs FF system is good for your barrel. Since the only thing I've heard that is recommended is to wipe down the cases to remove the excess compound material to prevent from removing too much of the barrel. If this is done is there still a problem using this product? You by far are much more knowledgible then I am. I'm very interested in you comments.ThanksBob

[ShooterJohn]

I hate to run any sort of grit though my barrels. Tubbs is a very well known shooter but I doubt he uses this product on anything he ever shoots. I used it on a friends gun once but found out afterwards the gun was caked with moly so just needed a good cleaning. I've run every sort of rifle break in procedure and just shooting and then a good cleaning usually does everything you need done. As I said it just pains me to put sandpaper through through a barrel that most likely doesn't need it.

[Bronco]

John: Thanks for your imput. I value your knowledge. I'll have to rethink my breakin process.

[Yodel Dog]

Yep, back when you could have a gun rack. Man I miss those times.

Yeah, but now we have AIR CONDITIONING!!

[ShooterJohn]

Yep, I do like that AC!

[CA Desert Dog]

Well, after much messing about, I finally got to pick up my RRA 20" Coyote upper from the UPS store. The new baby is now in my safe and ready for its scope and other goodies. I think this will be my last rifle for quite a while. Actually, I need to sell some. I'm off tomorrow and I plan on doing a DuraCoat digital camo job on the Grendel. That is, if they're aren't any last minute honey-dos that might get in the way. Although I am very familiar with the DuraCoat process, I have never done the digital camo process. It should turn out well though. I'll post some photos when I'm done. It takes four rounds of coatings. One major base coat, two coats over the masks and a finish dull clear coat to blend in all of the edges, etc. Tomorrow should be hot and dry and will be perfect for the project (since I will have to wait about an hour between masks and coats).

[wannakillacoyote]

So where's the digital camo job?

[Cranky Farmer]

So where's the digital camo job?

I agree!

[hawkeye80863]

Good gooly is that what a CA legal AR looks like???????? I just sent my stnd stock to a pal in El Cajon and he in turn sent his collapsible to me. I’m trying to get his pre-ban barrel to switch with my post ban but he’s bucking the system. I feel for you guy’s. I loved living in Socal and always spent a week or two along the central coast but I got sick of feeling like a criminal for being a shooter. I was actually referred to as “some kind of a gun nut” in a staff meeting. My response to the insult was dealt with in a more private setting. I don’t think I changed any opinions but I believe the individual will think a little harder before throwing insults around in a staff meeting.

[Bronco]

No resaon to feel guilty about being a shooter. Everyone at my work knows how I feel. One other guy is like me, lots of guns around his house. We just converted a non gun owner to a proud owner of a S&W semi auto pistol in 40 S&W. He is digging it. We do have a plan to convert as many as possible. With regard to my RRA Varmint rifle, I choose to have the U15 stock. It has some weird tec-coolness about it. I have 5 other AR's in different configuration. Some have A2 stock some have collapsible stocks. I just got finished with a Spike Tactical ST22 in 22lr build (last photo). You just got to play the fricken CA game.

[Bronco]

Oh yeah Hawkeye80863 if no one has said it yet, welcome to the forum. Lots of great guys belong to CPC.

[hawkeye80863]

Thanks for the welcome! Just stopped in for a second. I'll be back after I tend to the boys. Lots of AR questions.

[grunt]

Oh yeah Hawkeye80863 if no one has said it yet, welcome to the forum. Lots of great guys belong to CPC.

+1 A lot of the regulars here @ CPC have forgotten more about guns then I have ever known.