Hey guys, I just completed an Adams Arms build. Dpms lower, some magpul furniture and the adams arms gas piston 16in upper in 5.56. Ive put about 70 rounds through it, no problems at all. Ive shot a considerable amount of 22lr through it also. I have noticed some wear inside the reciever. I was aware of the carrier tilt issue but i have checked the buffer tube and I dont see any wear at all. I dont know if this is a symptom of a problem or just normal wear. I have noticed that the finish on the rails has worn through in a few spots also. Maybe Adams Arms finish is abnormally thin? I have had a BCM upper pinned to a dpms lower for about 6 months now and never saw wear like this. I wanted to go to a piston operated gun for the convenience and piece of mind of a lower maintenance rifle, maybe im overreacting…you tell me.
Lower maintenance my ass. And this is coming from a guy who also owns a AA Carbine-length system. Sell it and buy some decent components that might actually improve your shooting and the weapon’s function, not just leave you with a marred receiver and an empty wallet.
that looks like a combination of things, severe carrier tilt or possibly torquing along its longitudinal axis, it almost looks as if its just flopping around in there. And also, it looks like pure shit as far as the coating they used. That definitely isn’t type 2 or 3 hard coat anodizing… and if it claims to be… they did a shit job…
I blew a rod out the side of my jeep’s 4.0 a few years back but still had to drive it home 15 miles from the trail… figuring screw it, the damage was done, engine would have to be replaced either way… and when I got home and examined the hole in the block from the freeze plugs down through the oil pan, where the remaining piece of rod had beat it’s way around… I can’t help but think it looks pretty similar to what’s going on with your upper…
get rid of that… save up… and buy one and done… DD, KAC, Noveske, Colt… Apple Computers and Mercedes may be expensive… but will you ever really need to buy another one?
Last week I assembled a 5.45 mm barrel, piston kit and upper, all Adams Arms, and a DD rail. I have fired a thousand shots, all steel case Ruskie milsurp since. After a thousand shots all the parts look pristine, really new. Very little wear and none whatsoever in the areas you have depicted. My guess is some step was missed in the anodizing process. Relax, Adams will make it right. My Adams components are very well made, well finished and fit perfectly. I have had several failures to feed which I attributed to the magazines but otherwise, no problems. I’m pretty impressed so far.
Funny thing. I first assembled it with a plastic forend and as I had no delta ring, two wire ties. When I took it apart to put the DD rail on, I forgot to torque the two screws which hold the gas block on, just snugged them. Five hundred shots later I remembered I hadn’t torqued them. It hadn’t moved.
I mistakenly ordered an Adams 5.56 upper before getting the parts to assemble my 5.45. Though I did not shoot the 5.56 I did examine it closely. The machine work, fit and finish were as good as any AR I have ever seen. Such quality, which is no accident, is not consistent with Adams stuff being junk.
Anodizing is a big, hairy deal. Extrapolating from my electronics background where I worked with folks who did similar things, I think it would require a chemist, an environmental guy and a couple of skilled techs at a minimum and likely a lot more to make a go of the business. The days of the one man plating and anodizing shops are long past. This is not the kind of thing a small operator like Adams would do. I 'bout guarantee you the anodizing is farmed out.
I compared my AA to my friends lwrc piston ar. His bolt has less wiggle room when in the receiver than mine does. I doubt the AA upper is designed to run like an AK so I suspect this maybe the issue. Already emailed them, i await a response. I really hope this gets resolved, and resolved fast. I have alot of shooting to do soon. Really bummed at the moment.
Somebody once stole a 17" MacBook Pro of mine. So. It’s possible, man.
Anyways, sorry to hear youre bummed. It certainly sucks to poke around inside your gun and have it go wrong in any way. Just be patient. One way or another, youll get a working gun soon enough.
Ah. Well then yeah. Contacting AA was the way to go. My Carbine-length AA system showed no signs of wear such as this, especially after only 70 rounds. Let us know how they handle it.
I’ve returned a Glock, two S&W’s and a Marlin to the factory for out-of-the-box problems, both cosmetic and manufacturing-defect related. Those are just the ones I remember. Probably have been one or two more.
