Quick Thoughts on the Adams Arms Piston Conversion Kit and Installation

So a week ago I installed the Adams Arms piston conversion kit on my AR-15 and I wanted to write down some thoughts on the installation and my experience with it.

First off the directions are very good, there have been plenty of times where I have received a kit and the instructions left me even more confused.This wasn't the case with the Adams Arms conversion kit, the DVD that was included was very clear on what I needed to do to install the kit. 

One of the biggest things that I had trouble with was installing the bushing into the upper, even after cleaning it and putting a decent amount of lubricant/grease it still took a big hammer and some hard hits to get it installed. The good thing about that is I will never have to worry about the bushing backing out over time. 

One of the other things to really watch for is your gas block, you need to make sure that it is straight and in the middle, otherwise you will have trouble getting the piston out of the gas block. This will also cause issues with the system when firing it, and would more than likely cause malfunction and failure of the system.

The one thing that I really liked about the Adams Arms gas block was the fact that it uses hex head bolts to tighten it down on the barrel. With the sheer amount of force bouncing it around it needs a great mounting system and they provided it.

Two of the weirdest things to me when doing the conversion were the bushing and then the removal of the gas rings and installation of the spring on the bolt. While it's easy to understand why there is no need for the gas rings once a piston system is installed, it is just odd to pull the rings off and install a spring on the tail end of the bolt.

Instead of using the supplied hand guards I opted to use the Magpul MOE set, and it matches up perfectly with the piston system. I am sure at some point I will change over to a free float rail system but for now the MOE set will do the job.

Overall the installation was rather easy, and took no longer than 30 minutes to complete. I am looking forward to running the piston system as hard as I can and seeing just how well it will do. I will continue to post periodic updates so make sure to subscribe to the blog to receive them.

GhostGun Pistol Build

When Aero Precision announced they would be doing the Ghost Gun lower after CA Senator DeLeon's hilarious display of ignorance I decided I was going to get one to build an AR pistol on. So when I ordered the PewPewPew lower I grabbed a ghost gun lower also and began looking for the right parts and upper to put into this build.

I had contemplated building an upper but everywhere I looked the shorter barrels were sold out or way out of my price range. Finally I came across the Adams Arms 11.5" Basic Carbine complete piston upper on GrabAGun.com and the price was well within my budget. Even though it came with the standard hand guards installed I wasn't too bothered by that since the Magpul MOE hand guard will work with a piston system and drops right in. 

I know there will be some people that will ask why I did not go with the 7.5" upper, I will answer simply with I like the 11.5" barrel length and the fact that it is a carbine length gas system not a pistol gas length.

In the picture above you can see almost all of the parts that were used in this build, from the PWS Pistol EBT to the Troy fixed sights this build has had a good chunk of time and thought put into it. Sure there were a ton of other options out there but I am very pleased with how well this all came together.

I used the PWS Pistol Enhanced Buffer Tube for the build, I was impressed with how well it mounts up to the receiver and not having to to tighten down a castle nut was a huge plus! The overall quality of the EBT is awesome, you can tell that there is a ton of care put into making them and there is a ton of pride taken by the people at PWS. Installing the EBT showed me just how much better it was over the rest of the tubes that I have used before. Instead of guessing how many turns it would take to hold the detent correctly there is a notch in the tube that sits around the detent while allowing the tube to sit just a bit further in the threads. One of the other things that I really like about the EBT is there are QD sling mounts built right into it, just one more added bonuses to an already well made buffer tube.

The lower parts kit that is installed came from JoeBobOutfitters.com, it is actually sold under the JBO brand name which is great to see. I swapped out the stock mag release with the ODINWorks XMR (zombie green) this is one part that I have used on a couple rifles now and have had the pleasure to run before they were released, it's a quality part from a great company. 

The sights are Troy Fixed Battlesights, the front is the traditional M4 style and the rear is the Dioptic style (which I have come to like after using a few times.) While I would have preferred to use the folding sights I am very happy with how these fixed sights look and fit on the pistol. 

When you take the upper off the first thing you will notice is the Hiperfire Hipertouch 24, with the heavier of the toggle springs installed. I have been using the Hiperfire triggers since December and have run around 500-600 rounds through the 24 and 24C, both have been great performers. I decided to use the 24 in this build because there is no real reason to run the faster of the two triggers in a pistol. The reset is very positive, and the trigger pull is very light with a nice crisp break which makes this a great piece of the overall build. 

Overall I had a lot of fun planning this build while waiting on the lower to get to my FFL, it of course was even more fun to build the pistol and then take it out to the range and shoot it. I am looking forward to getting my hands on a Sig Sauer SB15 to install while I wait for the SBR tax stamp paperwork to process.

One thing that I will say is that when building a pistol or buying a pistol, look into a quality compensator. The A2 flash hider that came on the Adams Arms upper just doesn't cut it for the muzzle flip that the shorter barrel creates, which on top of not having a stock to shoulder can be a bit uncomfortable but not uncontrollable. Having a quality compensator would help smooth everything out and make it more controllable overall.