Finally got around to putting the AR-15 kit I bought from Palmetto State Armoury together. Assembly was pretty easy, there are a lot of tutorials available on the internets for this purpose, you do NOT get any assembly information with the kit.
The hardest parts was going "hmmm I think these are the right springs" and not being 100% sure but really the springs are in such quantities that they do make sense for where they go.
The front pivot pin was, as is mentioned in most videos and tutorials, the worst one to deal with. I did manage to send the pin and spring flying but luckily my ears are good enough that I heard where both pieces landed. I strong, strongly, advise that you drape a sheet over the weapon and your self when you do this piece if you have any concerns about losing the parts. Trying to find a tiny detent pen that's about a 1/16 of an inch across and a 1/4 inch long is not fun even when you know where it landed.
Other than that it assembled easily.
Quality of work was good for everything. The only questionable bit that I had was the trigger and hammer pins do not have anything holding them in place other than the pressure of said trigger and hammer springs. Some kits drill and tap these pins and provide a connecting bar that you screw into both sides which makes it impossible for the pins to come out.
Given there's no sideways pressure on the pins I don't think it's a concern but it is the one con of the PSA lower kit that I can dock them a point for compared to other lower parts kits.
I mounted a Vortex StrikeFire red dot sight on the rifle which does cowitness perfectly with the MBUS rear and standard AR-15 front sights. I'm considering swapping out the front sight/gas block with a railed gas block to allow for MBUS pop up front sights as well but it's certainly not required.
We went to the range yesterday, primarily to let the wife and kids shoot the Glocks and Ruger 22's but also to put a few rounds through the AR.
I put 100 rounds of mixed bulk ammo through it (the $5-$6 a box) stuff. It ate them all without a single hiccup.
I forgot my target stand though, a basic steel frame with clips. I have a wooden break down target stand that supports multiple targets that I use for pistol shooting (don't have to carry it very far) but didn't want to set it up just for some break in shots.
As a resuilt I just picked a obvious target in the berm at the end of the rifle range, roughly 200 yards away. Using the StrikeFire I was easily able to put all 100 rounds into an area the size of a human torso using a standing off hand position. I can't tell you a specific group size since I didn't paper it, just watched the dust eruptions from the impacts but accuracy was more than acceptable given I wasn't benching the weapon and using the cheapest FMJ ammo I could find.
Let me also state this was without ANY sight adjustment at all. Just bolt on and go. POI was roughly a 1' low of POA at the distance I was shooting. Windage was spot on.
I'm at this point satisfied with the purchase and it'll do what I want it to do, which is hit a deer sized target at 200 yards with a good degree of repeatability. Around here, 200 yards would be a very long deer shot for what it's worth.
Once I get a chance to paper it I'll post a more accurate measurement of the weapons accuracy.
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