Blackthorne - Stay Away!

benton0311 · Aug 14, 2011

I did some searching and found some other posts mentioning Blackthorne but I figured it wouldn't hurt to start another thread to warn potential buyers and save them from my fate.

I purchased my Blackthorne M4 kit about 6 months ago without doing any research or reading any reviews. I was in Afghanistan when I first saw their ad in the back of a Shotgun News and when I redeployed to another overseas post I ordered their kit online before coming home on leave.

Long story short, my experience has been nothing short of a nightmare! Virtually every single part of the kit is out of spec, doesn't fit, or malfunctions in some way:

*Rear flip sight improperly machined and didn't fit rail
*Bad sear, caused gun to fire when pressing AND releasing trigger
*M4 buttstock out of spec, had to be filed down to clear T-handle
*Front sight/gas block misaligned, can't be sighted in (full left windage and still not enough)
*(Deal Breaker) Chamber is too tight around the case neck and rounds get stuck in the chamber. Bore/chamber are chrome lined so it doesn't sound good for finish reaming

Got the lower and stock squared away but at this point I don't even know if the upper is worth replacing the barrel on. I'll probably just have to buy another upper from a reputable source. Worst part is their return policy is only a three day inspection period. Unless you can get your kit out together and out to the range to test in 3 days then you're SOL.

Costly mistake but lesson learned! Next time I'll do my research before hand.

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Jimbob2.0 · Aug 14, 2011

Ive only heard bad things and that they trace their lineage back to Hesse

Neot · Aug 14, 2011

I heard the same thing about the link with Hesse. That alone is a deal breaker in my book.

Slimjim · Aug 14, 2011

We knew this, you could have asked and we'd have saved you the trouble.

fivepointstar · Aug 14, 2011

I'm sorry....that really sucks. maybe you can trade it at a pawn shop and recoup some of your $

benton0311 · Aug 14, 2011

Unfortunately, I bought the parts kit before I joined this board or any shooting related board for that matter. I had only handled M16s/M4s in military and LE environments (Colt and FN) and it didn't even occur to me at that time that a rifle could even be that out of spec. I somehow thought that I would get the parts that I had been using for years and I'd just slap everything together and be on my way. It wasn't until after receiving the kit that I did some searching online and found all the bad reviews.

I'm just amazed at how bad it is though. I could understand maybe one or two small issues with the kit but I never expected to have pretty much everything screwed up.

I wouldn't sell or trade the gun in the condition it's in without full disclosure. Factoring in the MD wait time and hassle of transferring another lower I might as well just pick up another upper at some point since I have the lower pretty much sorted.

I'll just keep the junk upper around to either be rebarreled for a future project or just keep for spare parts.

mikec · Aug 14, 2011

Jimbob2.0 said:
Ive only heard bad things and that they trace their lineage back to Hesse

OUCH!!!!! Hesse. A bad word when used with any firearm platform.

BTW, for the rookies out their, Hesse also went by the name "Vulcan" at one point. They made FAL receivers at that point. Maybe 1 out of 20 worked.

JnstemIII · Aug 14, 2011

Thanks for the info. Thats why i always triple check before i buy anything. How can they sell it if its that out of wack? They must not have any morels.

Dave MP · Aug 14, 2011

Or morals?

11Bravo · Aug 15, 2011

fivepointstar said:
I'm sorry....that really sucks. maybe you can trade it at a pawn shop and recoup some of your $

Come on FPS, thats not good MOJO trading a faulty firearm to someone else. Karma Brother, Karma.

RJP3579 · Aug 15, 2011

Hesse..... ugh. I threw up a little in my mouth when I read that word.

:puke2:

Sorry to here. Good luck with possibly salvaging some of it.

Blazin · Aug 16, 2011

I've recently bought stuff from Blackthorne and had wonderful experiences....some of the Galil parts they carry cannot be found anywhere else in the US.

benton0311 · Aug 24, 2011

Just received my new upper from Model 1 Sales. Right out of the box the fit and finish was noticeably better and it was packaged much nicer. Chamber looks to be in spec and the front sight block is properly aligned, hopefully I'll get to try it out next week sometime.

Looking at the chamber of the Crapthorne barrel I noticed that the chamber steps down in size ever so slightly just before the neck. Just a guess, but it appears that it was never finish reamed: The barrel was made, short chambered, then finish reaming was skipped and it went right off to the chrome plating.

I know that chrome bores are supposed to be almost impossible to ream but does anyone know if it is possible to finish ream a chrome chamber just enough to get rid of a slight, 1/100th" bottleneck in the chamber?

erwos · Aug 24, 2011

If you bought the kit with a credit card, you might consider checking to see if your credit card has an extended warranty policy that might cover this.

mawkie · Aug 24, 2011

+1 For Model 1 Sales. Got 2 parts kits from them yrs ago and everything went together perfectly. My brother's A2, built on one of those kits, is the most accurate stock AR I've ever shot, great barrel on that one.

jswagga90 · Jan 18, 2012

Must of had bad luck i have a blackthorne 20 inch a3 ar and it has no problems and all the parts are quality lar upper wilson barrel bolt and carrier dpms lower parts kit and i believe its tapco furniture bit gun works great

Forest · Jan 19, 2012

benton0311 said:
I know that chrome bores are supposed to be almost impossible to ream but does anyone know if it is possible to finish ream a chrome chamber just enough to get rid of a slight, 1/100th" bottleneck in the chamber?

Yes - IF you get one of Ned Christiansen's reamers. It was specifically designed to handle undersized chrome lined chambers.

http://www.m-guns.com/tools.php
(note for the cost of the reamer you could buy a chrome lined Bushmaster barrel).

sailskidrive · Jan 20, 2012

benton0311 said:
Unfortunately, I bought the parts kit before I joined this board or any shooting related board for that matter. I had only handled M16s/M4s in military and LE environments (Colt and FN) and it didn't even occur to me at that time that a rifle could even be that out of spec. I somehow thought that I would get the parts that I had been using for years and I'd just slap everything together and be on my way. It wasn't until after receiving the kit that I did some searching online and found all the bad reviews.

I'm just amazed at how bad it is though. I could understand maybe one or two small issues with the kit but I never expected to have pretty much everything screwed up.

I wouldn't sell or trade the gun in the condition it's in without full disclosure. Factoring in the MD wait time and hassle of transferring another lower I might as well just pick up another upper at some point since I have the lower pretty much sorted.

I'll just keep the junk upper around to either be rebarreled for a future project or just keep for spare parts.

Why don't you drop it off at Scott's and let Clandestine take a stab at it. It may not be as bad as you think.

BradMacc82 · Jan 20, 2012

sailskidrive said:
Why don't you drop it off at Scott's and let Clandestine take a stab at it. It may not be as bad as you think.

That on the face doesn't sound like a bad idea, Clandestine would be able to straighten it out, but I'm pretty sure right now he has a few weeks of work to get thru first. If nothing else he'd be a great source to consult with if you want to hang on to it.

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