Finally took my new Auto Ordnance Carbine out to the range on Friday and had lots of fun, even with some of the expected small problems. First, here are a couple of very lame IPOD photos--it was raining outside when I got back so I took them indoors--I will do better soon:
I used PPU 110 grain FMJ ammo for this test and fired 150 rounds at paper-plate size targets at 50 yards, using the iron sights that come with the rifle. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. I have to wear glasses to read, and for pistol shooting I generally wear 1X safety glasses just so I can see the sights clearly.
But I was very pleasantly surprised by the little rifle! It comes to the shoulder very easily and the sights line up naturally, the rear sight is basically a sort of ghost ring, and since the front blade is far enough away, I was able to see it clearly and--best off all--quickly. Target acquisition in a tense situation would be very fast! Much more so than my Mini 14 with its little 1-3X scope, and that's saying a lot, since it's pretty darned easy to get on target too. Recoil, as expected, is quite minimal, and I think this helps quite a bit with accuracy. It did want to shoot just a touch low, but that may have been me, not the rifle. I wasn't shooting off the rest, but did use the bench for arm support.
I fired groups of five for about two hours, stopping for range cease fires and to mess with the magazines (I'll get to that in a minute), and I shot no group over four inches. All but a couple were around or under three inches, and toward the end I parked five rounds inside a 1.5" circle; you could have knocked me over with a feather! I am a mediocre shot at best, so for me this was pretty good.
Now to the problems. The mag that came with the rifle seated ok--I only say "ok," because it dropped out once while shooting. Also, it usually took two or three tries to slingshot the first round out of the mag, up the feed ramp and into the chamber. Once this happened, however, feeding and functioning were flawless. I'm used to operating semi-auto pistols, so I know how to release the slide and let it do the work. I'm thinking that the first round loading problem will diminish after I get more rounds through the rifle, so I'm withholding judgment on that. I'm thinking at least 500 rounds for a break in. I had field-stripped and cleaned the rifle before going to the range and did the same after the shoot. I am tempted to polish the feed ramp a bit--any suggestions about doing that or bending the mag lips open a tad would be appreciated. I of course don't want to do anything that will void the warranty.
The other two mags, which I had ordered new from Auto Ordnance, simply wouldn't seat in the well. I tried easing them in, smacking them home, wiggling them, lubing them a bit, etc. No luck. I wrote AO an email about this so I will see what they say.
All in all, I think this will turn out to be a great purchase once it is broken in and I find some working mags. Alas, I'm limited to 10-rounders because of where I live. I ordered a pro-mag, although I've always heard they are a bit iffy. And I've got bids down on a couple of original GI mags on ebay. I'm hoping to go back for another session this week and will report back here. My best to all!
Jeff