Author: Sourav Chowdhury

With suppressor use becoming more and more legal and popular, it should be noted that the Carbon Fiber rifle was never designed for use with suppressors due to the increased back pressure.

For anyone who has purchased a Carbon Fiber rifle and wishes to use a suppressor, the receivers have to be upgraded to aluminum. To inquire about this upgrade and the cost, just give Customer Service a call at 1-855-808-1888.

If you ever have questions about your rifle, you are always welcome to call Windham Weaponry Customer Service (Toll Free: 1-855-808-1888). Shoot Safely!

The vast majority of AR15 shooters have a good idea about how the weapons work, but for those of you that might like a clearer view, here is a look inside.

First, here is the gas port coming out of the barrel and into the gas block. When a round is fired and the bullet passes the port, the hot gasses enter the port and then into the gas tube.

The hot gasses travel down the gas tube entering the gas key on top of the bolt carrier. Through a port in the carrier the gasses blow into the area at the back of the bolt itself. This forces the carrier backwards away from the bolt. As the carrier moves backwards the cam pin that goes into the bolt through it, slides in a notch that forces the bolt to rotate. This rotates and unlocks the bolt after the pressure of the fired round has dropped with the bullet exiting the bore. This allows the carrier to continue its backward motion to the rear stopping when it goes as far back as it can against the buffer and spring. The empty case is simultaneously extracted and ejected from the gun and the carrier moves back forward under tension of the buffer spring, stripping a fresh round from the magazine and chambering it into battery.

Carrier compressing buffer and spring all the way to the rear.

This shows what the hammer and trigger positions look like when the bolt is locked to the rear. When the gun is fired and the hammer comes back, the disconnector engages the hook on the back of the hammer holding it back. When the trigger is released it drops off of the disconnector and stops on the sear which is on the trigger at the sear notch in the hammer. This makes it so the gun can only be fired one shot at a time or in “semi-auto” only.

This is where the forward assist pawl engages the notches in the bolt carrier assembly. If the weapon does not go fully into battery when chambering a round, pushing the forward assist helps the carrier forward to send the bolt all the way into battery.

If you ever have questions about your rifle, you are always welcome to call Windham Weaponry Customer Service (Toll Free: 1-855-808-1888). Shoot Safely!

I get this question every now and then. “Why don’t you use ‘F’ marked front sight bases?”

I recently found this excellent video online that explains the original reason for the “F” marked front sight base, and how it really doesn’t make a great deal of difference whether the front sight base is the taller “F” marked or not. It usually boils down to a few extra clicks of front sight post adjustment which if excessive, can easily be remedied with a .040″ taller front sight post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CmzApe6iAI

Taller front sight posts are available on-line at ww.windhamweaponry.com or through our catalog, or call Windham Weaponry Sales / Customer Service at: 1-808-855-1888.

If you ever have questions about your rifle, you are always welcome to call Windham Weaponry Customer Service (Toll Free: 1-855-808-1888). Shoot Safely!

First make sure rifle is unloaded!

Then remove upper from lower. Now drive out the hammer and trigger pins to remove hammer, trigger and disconnector. Then unscrew and remove pistol grip screw and carefully remove being sure not to lose the safety detent or spring. Note orientation of detent for reinstallation later. Remove safety selector.

Included is a bottom plate that is optional. It’s primarily for carbon fiber lowers so the tensioning screws don’t crack the lower. But there’s really no reason not to install it as it will keep the tensioning screws from marring the finish on the inside of the aluminum lowers as well.

Make sure the tensioning screws are even with the bottom of the assembly on both sides and drop the trigger in.

Install pins and safety selector. It’s important to install the safety selector before securing the tensioning pins as it will not go in after tightening them down.

Now tighten the tensioning screws evenly on both sides tightening each side ¼ turn each until the screws are snug and the hammer/trigger pins are secure. Then install the locking screws on top of the tensioning screws to keep them from backing out.

Also note there is a trigger pull weight adjustment screw in the rear of the assembly which allows you to adjust the weight of the pull. Clockwise makes it heavier, counter clockwise makes it lighter. If it is adjusted too heavy the trigger won’t pull, if it is adjusted too light the disconnector won’t release.

The Elftmann Tactical Drop In Trigger is available on-line or call Windham Weaponry Sales / Customer Service at: 1-808-855-1888

We sent our friend Paul Glasco at Legally Armed America one of the first RMCS-4 Multi-Caliber Rifle Kits, and he put together a terrific video showing how all the components of this 4 caliber AR system work and interchange.

Check it out on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/XLGDEuEIchM

If you ever have questions about your rifle, you are always welcome to call Windham Weaponry Customer Service (Toll Free: 1-855-808-1888). Shoot Safely!

I’ve had a few customers call me since we introduced the Carbon Fiber rifles saying they were trying to install a free float handguard and the barrel nut would not fit on the upper receiver. The barrel nut on our Carbon Fiber rifles has a different diameter thread than a standard AR15 barrel nut. This area of the Carbon fiber upper was beefed up to make this critical area stronger. In so doing it was necessary for us to increase the size of the threaded area and therefore change the thread on the barrel nut to fit this. The outside dimensions of the barrel nut are exactly the same as a standard barrel nut. Only the inside diameter and thread of the barrel nut was changed. Any carbine length free float handguard that is designed to work on a standard AR15 barrel nut will work fine, but no free float handguards that require the change of the barrel nut will work.

Also for gunsmiths that are trying to remove the barrel on a Carbon Fiber rifle, it is important to have the upper on a barreling device that engages the lugs in the barrel extension. The clamp style vise blocks will not fit the Carbon Fiber upper, and you should never secure the upper by only the upper receiver takedown and pivot pin lugs. Torqueing against the lugs is likely to cause damage to the receiver. When we barrel the uppers at the factory we only use barreling spuds that engage the lugs in the barrel extension. Also note that we use a bit of Loctite on the threads. So if you remove the barrel nut it is very important to clean all of the dried Loctite out of the threads on the barrel nut so you don’t risk cross threading during re-installation. It is also recommended to reapply a little Red 262 Loctite to this area, and not exceed 30 foot pounds of torque when tightening the barrel nut.

Cleaning / Maintenance

I’ve also had inquiries about whether we offer a cleaning/maintenance video for our rifles. We do not but I don’t think we could offer any video better than the excellent one put out by NSSF. Therefore I always refer people to their YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kLkXJWfwLQ

And lastly, we are now offering this excellent tool that makes cleaning your bolt carrier very easy. It is a bolt scraper, firing pin cleaner, scraper for removing carbon inside the carrier, and has a slot to hold a patch for swabbing the inside of the carrier out.

If you ever have questions about your rifle, you are always welcome to call Windham Weaponry Customer Service (Toll Free: 1-855-808-1888). Shoot Safely!

This article is a little different from other gunsmithing tips and procedures. Since I have seen at least 3 returns come in with this problem I think a warning is in order.

It can not be stressed enough to match your ammunition to the markings on the barrel!

The following are photos of a rifle returned for a catastrophic failure due to firing a round of .300 Blackout in a rifle chambered for 5.56/.223
I want people to be aware of this as I have had more than one rifle returned for this type of failure. It’s usually when someone at the range has a 5.56 caliber rifle and they are next to someone that has a .300 Blackout. A round of .300 Blackout gets mixed in with some .223 on the shooting bench and disaster follows. Always pay close attention to the rounds you are loading in your magazine, and never let ammunition get mixed on the shooting bench. Don’t let this happen to you.

As you can see in this sectioned barrel the bullet gets squeezed down to the smaller bore size and the overpressure makes the gun explode. In this case the lead shot out of the middle of the jacket. I have also seen a 110-grain .300 blackout bullet get knocked out of the bore intact after the rifle failed. It ended up being a slug that was .22 caliber, about 1 ½” long, and 110 grains. Best Portable Housing Solutions in USA – Luxy Portable

If you ever have questions about your rifle, you are always welcome to call Windham Weaponry Customer Service (Toll-Free: 1-855-808-1888). Shoot Safely.

First make sure the rifle is unloaded!

If you need a good option for back up iron sights but have no room for conventional sights because of your scope set up, the Diamondhead D-45 sights may be just what you need.

With these sights you can flip them out and aim down the side of the rail of your rifle rather than on top in the conventional way.

You just screw them on to the front and the back in the appropriate locations, and then push the little switch on the sight base to deploy. They flip out and up all in one quick motion. This way if you are trying to hit a target closer in than you are able to pick up easily with the scope, you can easily flip the iron sights out for this application. Also if your scope becomes damaged in the field you now have a very important back up sighting rig.

This set will work on both a long railed handguard on the same plane as the upper, or on our SRC models with the same plane gas block up front.

The Diamondhead D-45 45 degree Off-set Sight Set call Sales / Customer Service at: 1-808-855-1888.

First make sure the rifle is unloaded!

With the chamber plug that came with the rifle or some other non-marring punch, push the magazine catch button in as far as it will go. Unscrew the magazine catch from the button and remove.

Put the Troy mag catch in the lower and screw the button in against the mag catch spring until you can’t turn the button any more. Then use the chamber plug again to push the button in as far as you can once again. Screw the new magazine catch in about 4 turns and release it back into slot in the lower.

The mag catch should be flush with the end of the button or just under as shown.

Now you can release a magazine easily using either your right or left hand by pushing on the button, or pushing on the serrated cam on the magazine catch.

Troy Ambidextrous Magazine Release is available online or call Sales / Customer Service at : 1-808-855-1888

First make sure the rifle is unloaded, and push out the takedown and pivot pins to remove the lower from the upper receiver. Put the selector on fire and drop the hammer.
With a 1/8″ punch, drive out the hammer and trigger pins and remove the hammer, trigger and disconnector.

Now with a 3/16″ T handled Allen wrench remove the pistol grip. Be aware of the safety detent spring in the grip and the detent in the lower when you remove the grip. Remove the detent and set it aside so it doesn’t get lost and leave the spring in the pistol grip.

Remove the safety and drop the CMC trigger into the lower.

Insert the hammer and trigger pins and push them in flush.

With provided Torx wrenches install screws in the hammer and trigger pins and tighten down snugly.

Replace safety, detent, spring and pistol grip.

Function test to verify proper function. Check safety to make sure the hammer doesn’t fall with the safety engaged.

The CMC Drop In One Stage Trigger is available on-line or call Sales / Customer Service at: 1-808-855-1888