Did anyone buy the Brownells retro AR10

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  • Michigander08

    ridiculous and psychotic
    MDS Supporter
    May 29, 2017
    7,685
    I don't see any review by MDS members.
     

    slsc98

    Ultimate Member
    May 24, 2012
    6,746
    Escaped MD-stan to WNC Smokies
    I’d be hard pressed there isn’t mention / photos of one in the AR photo thread (I do remember a retro 5.56/.223 upper appears in the very first pages ... just trying to figure best search term to use ... maybe “Brownells” or, “retro”

    ETA: d*mmit! Found this (talk about a day late! :-/ https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=249948&highlight=Brownells+retro+ar-10

    And then this from 2018 ... fwiw: https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=227948&highlight=Brownells+retro+ar-10&page=2
     

    135sohc

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 27, 2013
    1,157
    Came close to buying one but due to the receiver design it cannot use modern (magpul) magazines, your stuck using metal ones.

    Metal .308 AR magazines seem to have too many problems with reliability and availability now as of late. I have an Armalite .308 and it uses the modified M14 magazines. Expensive 8 years ago and now unavailable except for second hand used.
     

    dieselfarmboy

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 5, 2009
    3,005
    Snow Hill, MD
    Came close to buying one but due to the receiver design it cannot use modern (magpul) magazines, your stuck using metal ones.

    Metal .308 AR magazines seem to have too many problems with reliability and availability now as of late. I have an Armalite .308 and it uses the modified M14 magazines. Expensive 8 years ago and now unavailable except for second hand used.

    Looks like they still sell metal ones. Unless your talking about the waffle metal ones. May need to swap out the bolt catch/stop to work with what they sell now. If I remember right, the modified M14 ones had a notch cut in them for the mag catch, and then a plunger installed on the follower to activate the bolt stop.
     

    135sohc

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 27, 2013
    1,157
    DPMS/SR-25 metal magazines are certainly available, they are just not nearly as prolific like the magpul DPMS/SR-25 pattern magazines are now.
     

    atblis

    Ultimate Member
    May 23, 2010
    2,011
    They had the prototype as a blem on sale for 850. My FFL was slow getting their license in and the sale ended... :(
     

    135sohc

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 27, 2013
    1,157
    No booze involved but I did order one today... :o yes I have a problem :sad20:

    The brown version is out of stock, they only have the black version left which is supposed to be more of the 'Portuguese' inspired version.

    Both of their AR-10 retro models and the Proto retro model are discontinued according to Paul Levy.

    8lbs in a .308 AR :D

    For comparison my Armalite AR-10 'B' with 20" H-bar is over 12 lbs empty.

    When I called Brownells to get the magazine issue taken care of I did congratulate them on being the latest state to go constitutional carry as well.

    And lastly a big thank you goes out to the democratic party for their generous donation to my firearm acquisition fund.
     

    JTH20

    Active Member
    Feb 18, 2013
    536
    MD
    No booze involved but I did order one today... :o yes I have a problem :sad20:

    The brown version is out of stock, they only have the black version left which is supposed to be more of the 'Portuguese' inspired version.

    Both of their AR-10 retro models and the Proto retro model are discontinued according to Paul Levy.

    8lbs in a .308 AR :D

    For comparison my Armalite AR-10 'B' with 20" H-bar is over 12 lbs empty.

    When I called Brownells to get the magazine issue taken care of I did congratulate them on being the latest state to go constitutional carry as well.

    And lastly a big thank you goes out to the democratic party for their generous donation to my firearm acquisition fund.


    Enjoy, they are very neat rifles. I built the brown version with the fluted heavy barrel and it's a fun shooter.

    Make sure to order some extra charging handle springs, since it's the only thing keeping the charging handle from coming back and smacking you in the nose under recoil.
     

    135sohc

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 27, 2013
    1,157
    Got the invoice confirmation, it is on its way.

    Serial # 19

    I do have a couple spare charging handle springs already for my Proto model receivers but I'll order a couple more since they will probably be discontinued like everything else.
     

    135sohc

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 27, 2013
    1,157
    Got it Monday. Took it shooting tuesday.

    Being a machined receiver to mimic the look of the originals I can understand it will not look like a smooth forged receiver. But damn there are some rough spots and the front sight post looks like trash.. Like maybe turn the feed rate down and take a little less step over... Transition zones from where they went from a ball nose end mill to a square nose end mill, visibly noticeable step lines like the tooling was not touched off or it moved while being machined.

    The anodizing it light and splotchy. If you oil it up and wipe with a microfiber cloth it looks 1000x better. The BRN proto I bought last year and the BRN proto receiver set I bought two weeks ago both look identical and the finish on them is 10/10 in comparison.

    The safety selector is very wobbly in the hole, like the hole in the receiver is over sized. On a fun note (I dont think it should be doing it) the selector can actually be flipped forward like a full auto. Hell it actually can be spun 360 degrees :shocked: No full function but something it way jacked up in there.

    Plenty of deburring that needs to be done on the bolt assembly... NONE of the holes were touched and the bolt itself is super tight into the carrier. If you walk the bolt home with the charging handle it will not close.

    If the circumstances existed where I could have inspected in person before buying this rifle... I would have pointed out all the obvious defects and offered to buy it at a reduced price.

    I am a machinist for my day job so I feel qualified to critique and give my honest opinion that whoever did the machining on this rifle was either blind or really did not give a **** at all. I would be embarrassed to put my name on that gun.

    Now for the good things. For a 9.5 pound .30 caliber AR (full mag onboard) the recoil was there but somehow not overwhelming. My Armalite AR-10b weighs 12.5 pounds full dress and shooting the two back to back I did not feel the lighter weight was any more punch in the felt recoil. The shorter A1 stock on a .308 is not my thing but not the guns fault.

    The barrel seems accurate and the sight provides a good picture. No problem getting a respectable group all things considered. If the need arose in a defensive role it would be more than accurate enough to hit center mass reliably with whatever ammo you have on hand. I was using some PPU Rangemaster plinking ammo.

    And the gas is very close to perfect. The cases were ejecting nicely and not going 30 feet away say like a mini-14 will tend to do ;)

    I did have two stovepipes, I will let that pass as being a new gun and things are still lapping themselves together.


    It is a cool rifle, glad I was able to snag one. The machine work and finish leaves me underwhelmed. The bolt needs a little love to get it where I want it to be and the safety selector needs to be looked into.
     

    Michigander08

    ridiculous and psychotic
    MDS Supporter
    May 29, 2017
    7,685
    Got it Monday. Took it shooting tuesday.

    Being a machined receiver to mimic the look of the originals I can understand it will not look like a smooth forged receiver. But damn there are some rough spots and the front sight post looks like trash.. Like maybe turn the feed rate down and take a little less step over... Transition zones from where they went from a ball nose end mill to a square nose end mill, visibly noticeable step lines like the tooling was not touched off or it moved while being machined.

    The anodizing it light and splotchy. If you oil it up and wipe with a microfiber cloth it looks 1000x better. The BRN proto I bought last year and the BRN proto receiver set I bought two weeks ago both look identical and the finish on them is 10/10 in comparison.

    The safety selector is very wobbly in the hole, like the hole in the receiver is over sized. On a fun note (I dont think it should be doing it) the selector can actually be flipped forward like a full auto. Hell it actually can be spun 360 degrees :shocked: No full function but something it way jacked up in there.

    Plenty of deburring that needs to be done on the bolt assembly... NONE of the holes were touched and the bolt itself is super tight into the carrier. If you walk the bolt home with the charging handle it will not close.

    If the circumstances existed where I could have inspected in person before buying this rifle... I would have pointed out all the obvious defects and offered to buy it at a reduced price.

    I am a machinist for my day job so I feel qualified to critique and give my honest opinion that whoever did the machining on this rifle was either blind or really did not give a **** at all. I would be embarrassed to put my name on that gun.

    Now for the good things. For a 9.5 pound .30 caliber AR (full mag onboard) the recoil was there but somehow not overwhelming. My Armalite AR-10b weighs 12.5 pounds full dress and shooting the two back to back I did not feel the lighter weight was any more punch in the felt recoil. The shorter A1 stock on a .308 is not my thing but not the guns fault.

    The barrel seems accurate and the sight provides a good picture. No problem getting a respectable group all things considered. If the need arose in a defensive role it would be more than accurate enough to hit center mass reliably with whatever ammo you have on hand. I was using some PPU Rangemaster plinking ammo.

    And the gas is very close to perfect. The cases were ejecting nicely and not going 30 feet away say like a mini-14 will tend to do ;)

    I did have two stovepipes, I will let that pass as being a new gun and things are still lapping themselves together.


    It is a cool rifle, glad I was able to snag one. The machine work and finish leaves me underwhelmed. The bolt needs a little love to get it where I want it to be and the safety selector needs to be looked into.

    Thanks for the report. After shooting more, let us know if you still have stovepipes problem. As far as fit and finish, I guess Brownell isn't as good as Ruger, SW, or Windham.
     

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