My $999 Palmetto State Armory Patrol Carbine package (including Aimpoint PRO and Magpul BUS) arrived a few days ago. Here is my initial mini-review.
The rifle was packaged well with the Magpul BUS installed. The Aimpoint PRO was in its own box and the magazine was wrapped well so as not to damage anything in transit.
Exterior fit and finish were very good, with no blemishes. There are PSA logos on the upper, lower, stock, bolt, buffer and magazine floorplate. The integral picatinny type mount on the upper receiver is T-numbered.
The bolt assembly was heavily oiled as was the trigger assembly. The bolt is unmarked except for the “MP” test mark, and the trigger pull is typical M4 weight. The carrier key is properly staked.
The only negative was that the bolt was binding slightly when moved back and forth inside the bolt carrier by hand. I assumed that this minor roughness would resolve itself and smooth out after firing a few rounds, which it did.
At the range I fired a total of 150 rounds of Wolf 62gr and PMC X-TAC 62gr ammo from P-Mags, the PSA mag that was included in the package, and several military surplus mags. There were no malfunctions of any kind.
Firing was done at 25y. The Magpul BUS was already sighted in from the factory, but the PRO was off by about 12”. Once the PRO was sighted in firing was done from prone, sitting, and standing. All firing was rapid fire = about 1 shot per second. The rifle was smoking near the end from the barrel heat but the handguards were still cool.
The Aimpoint PRO and the BUS are co-witness useable. The Magpul can be instantly deployed with the push of a button in the unlikely event the PRO fails.
The last 20 rounds were fired from the bench rapid fire resulting in a ragged one-hole group.
This rifle appears to be of very good quality, is 100% reliable, looks good and comes with about $450+ worth of appropriate high quality extras that a street-ready patrol carbine requires. I like it.
