Superlative adj gas block
I’ve been very happy so far with SA adj gas blocks.
Not defective, it’s YOU!
For all those complaining about this gas block coming loose or any other situation other than maybe… maybe the one guy who claimed the gas block would actually adjust itself which logically makes zero sense since there is a detent from stopping that from happening but in that one situation could of gotten a faulty gas block. But if your gas block made by anyone comes loose exactly how is that the fault of the manufacturer?! Fact is none of you if ever dimple the barrel at all let alone properly and to proper depth and most importantly in exact proper locations. Trying to cheap out and not paying a gunsmith to dimple your barrel or buy a simple SLR dimpling jig for $30 and proper drill bit and doing as many barrels as you’d like is your responsibility. If you choose to cheap out and not dimple the barrel and use rocksett on both set screws(clamp on style is best for those that won’t do the aforementioned work!)then absolutely one million percent it will come loose. Your the problem!
Good To Go
I installed this block on a Faxon 16" gunner profile barrel. The barrel has a mid-length .625 port. I did dimple the barrel for correct fit and function. The block is set at 7 clicks. Absolutely no issues with well over 400 rounds through it. Rifle Specs: Aero Precision M4 E1 build SOLGW A5 buffer tube Vltor A5 H2 weight Geissele Super 42 spring Rubber City Armory Ti BCG Geissele SSP trigger (I realize this has nothing to do with recoil/cycling etc,) I have been shooting Frontier 5.56 55 grain HP only so far. All parts together have contributed to this being a very soft shooting AR- easy recoil management.
308
pertinent data: Faxon Pencil 308 18" RL Gas, Brownells Std. BCG, rifle length buffer system, Winchester 7.62 147 grain FMJ BT Service Grade (unsuppressed) My goal for installing the SupArms gas block involved recoil mitigation. The first install and test of the gas block had disappointing results as far cycling and last round lock back of the BCG. Interestingly, the failures occurred with the gas block set to nominal, 4 turns (full gas, no bleed off) So after checking for installation errors, movement/misalignment, etc., I removed the GB, and increased the gas port on the barrel from .093 to .104 (#37 drill). Now the rifle performs flawlessly with the GB set at nominal. At 4-6 clicks into bleed off, an appreciable reduction in recoil occurs, and still dependable in cycling.
Money well spent!
I bought this for a .224 Valkyrie precision rifle project. The ability to adjust the gas to minimize/smooth action of the bolt is nice! I currently have it closed for single shot operation. Access to adjust while mounted and the forward discharge of the waste gas is great!
Works great
Absolutely works as advertised. Put this on my 16 inch lightweight build, Triarc Trac barrel, mid length. In a sub 6.25lb rifle, recoil was just snappy enough to delay follow up shots. Installed this without any issue, set it up as instructed. While adjusting between shots/function check, you could literally feel the recoil getting tamer. Excellent product. Will buy another one for my suppressed SBR.
good block, but is it that good?
It is an adjustable gas block, it's defiantly better than others. BUT i was hoping more of a bleed off effect would happen. IE one setting for both suppressed and suppressed shooting with all excess suppressor back pressure being bled off. That isn't the case. You can tune it well to either suppressed or suppressed. considering that, I believe I would have just stuck with the standard ergo adjustable block would have served me just as well for 1/3 the price.
Not for duty or defense
It's very easy to install and adjust to the sweet spot. However, over time or perhaps when the barrel/block get warm the block slowly begins to adjust itself. In my case the block will always shut itself off until the rifle no longer cycles. For my particular build I found that 13 clicks out works well for my purposes (reliable lock back plus a little extra for insurance). After attending a carbine class with a very modest firing schedule (300 rounds in about 4 hours) my rifle, embarrassingly began to fail to eject, then wouldn't even attempt to cycle. After inspecting my rifle I found that the block had adjusted itself to 6 clicks out, which isn't enough gas to do much of anything. For recreational shooting I'm sure this is not a huge deal, but for a gun that you're intending to bet your life on, this is a hard pass from me as I've inadvertently introduced a pretty big failure point.
2 Bad experiences
The first time I bought one was actually through Faxon and it was my first AR 15 build as well. When trying to use the block on the AR no matter what I did I could not get the gun to fully cycle at most it was moving about an inch. That was with multiple attempts at aligning the holes up and was the max gas out put . I believe I would have had better results with a different configuration like buffer spring or shorter gas tube since I had a mil buffer tube and full length gas system a normal nonadjustable bock worked best. Second time I tired this was on a 7.62x39 ARish build I bought a 2nd one in case the first one was a problem and tried it this was a shorter gas tube this time the bolt did not move at all during testing and on inspection the needle valve would spin indefinitely and not seat when removed the pin was broke and agin a nonadjustable block worked fine
