I bought a complete upper, a lower parts kit, mbus set and bcg from PSA. Basically a complete AR-15 pistol with everything but the lower receiver (bought an aero precision lower from my lgs). PSA made a mistake and sent me two of everything. I'm going to send them the duplicates back. I already let them know what happened and am going to arrange shipping for the extras in a few days.
But this puts me in a good situation where I can look everything over and pick the best of each duplicate to keep. Plus it could be a good test of PSA's uniformity to check two identical units side by side. I am inexperienced and don't really know what I should be looking for. Basically, if I want to do a full QA inspection on the two sets looking for defects and such... Where should I look?
It's not in the picture, but I have duplicates of all the little parts too. I can post close ups of stuff if it helps.
No way were these bcgs were made in the same factory. One is labelled "C158" (shown in previous pic), while the other isn't but has "MP[obscured]" on the flanged shaft. Pic rel shows a big difference in finish on the internal parts.
Don't send them back until they request you do so. Who knows, they may say fuck it keep em, or not reply.
Isaiah White
I would just call PSA customer service, they send prepaid shipping labels all the time to fix their fuck ups. They sent me one the other day for my upper. They send it via UPS, you print it out, pack it up and give it to the ups store. They might let you keep it for all you know, don't send anything without contacting customer service. They send prepaid labels ALL THE TIME.
Evan Jones
I'm hoping they'll let me keep both, but assuming they'll want one back. I bought it on a sale, but it was still around $400.
Bolt carrier group autism update: The shinier one with a better finish is MPI brand. The other has no brand markings anywhere on it.
I sent them a message through the customer service form on their website today to the tune of "you sent me two of these, what happens now?" I'm a poorfag on a budget. I like PSA and all, but no way am I paying shipping to cover someone else's mistake. I figure they'll reply tomorrow and send me a label.
I'm gonna assemble one tonight with whatever parts look best.
It's a niggerish thing to do, but you can identify certain parts and figure out what is better and take that version for your build. The MPI carrier is the best bet.
Jace Martin
>flanged shaft You know you can remove the bolt qith no tools and little effort, right.
Ian Reyes
The MPI is definitely a better part. Call me Tyrone and throw me da ball, cuz that's the I'm keeping.
Now I do. The general assembly/disassembly manuals and posts I've read never went any deeper than the bcg as one part. I'm still kinda new to this.
Matthew Moore
Protip: mail fraud laws make it so that if you receive it in the mail, it is yours and you cannot be charged a fucking cent in any way.
You get to keep both if you want.
Gabriel Bailey
Yeah, but I only feel justified in keeping it if they don't want it back or if they won't pay return shipping. I wouldn't want some shipping dude getting fired because I sovereign citizen'd my way into a free pistol- even if they did ship it to me.
Update: The gas blocks are different. The open end one is weird, I haven't seen one like that before.
Close up on the open ended gas block? Might be adjustable with a tool
Nathan Cruz
That's likely an adjustable gas block which is more desirable as you can fine tube the gas system to the ammo your shooting to reduce recoil and or fine tune it to work with a suppressor so you get minimal gas in the face and over pressure from the can's increased back pressure. See if the barrel on both is chrome lined or not. If when you look in the chamber, the hole is silver colored it's likely chromelined, if it's dark it's nitrided.
Wyatt Myers
Fuck I buy shit from PSA all the time, I never got a double order. You sir have luck of 100.
Angel Cox
That makes sense. So the unmarked one wasn't magnetic particle inspected?
Pic related.
PSA listed the barrel as being 4150V Chrome Moly Vanadium. I see a silver ring looking down the barrel from the chamber, I'll post a pic in a second
That's the steel type, the inside of the barrel can either be chrome lined, or nitrited. Chrome lined is better and more expensive.
Hudson Anderson
Are the C158 markings on the MPI marked one? If so, take that one. C158 is a steel type that is milspec and MPI is a good bet the bolt is up to spec.
A lot of cheaper places do random batch MPI or similar. Depends a lot. I couldn't guarantee one way or another that the other bolt was MPI'd, but the MPI marked one damn sure better have been.
Evan Johnson
Yup that looks like it's chrome lined. Congrats, might even be a cold hammer forged FN barrel. PSA is known for those.
Angel Barnes
I'd say the better part is arguable, but for all intents and purposes it doesn't really matter IMO, the gun will still outshoot you.
Jason Long
Ok cool. I'm learning a lot here, thanks. Here's a pic of the ring, but on the other upper. It's a little easier to see here.
Negative. One is marked with C158 and the other is marked with MPI. Judging from the tool paths and general finish, the MPI marked one feels higher quality to me.
Pic unrelated: the gas blocks' bottom geometry is different. The gray one seems to be a bog-standard milspec gas block from all I've seen. The black open-ended one is a mystery to me.
Both barrels appear to be the same, from what I can tell. The only markings I've found are on the very end, just before the threads: "5.56 NATO 1:7". Pic rel is an artsy shot showing the full engraving across both both barrels.
One of the uppers has a weird thing going on with the finish that I just noticed. The inside is matte colored. The texture is also... Matte? Smooth but not slick at all.
There is a surprising amount of variability between these two kits. Same SKU, but a lot of minor differences. If I had to guess, I'd bet PSA uses its prebuilt sale kits as a way of clearing out extra inventory from multiple different product lots. Nothing wrong with that (so far I can say I would've been satisfied with either one), but something to keep in mind if you want/need to know exactly what you're getting.
All magpul stuff in each kit is exactly the same, as would be expected. The two magpul grips have the same manufacture date and are likely from the same production lot.
Both looks like fucking garbage, sell one, keep the other and kys with it you stupid poorfag.
Joshua Jackson
Triggers and hammers were all identical in fit and finish. Very uniform, which is nice. All the other little parts were identical as well. Pins and such. Except for the mag release buttons, which I found interesting. Pic related shows different ring patterns. I picked the one on the right.
This thread is evidence that PSA isn't even just as good as itself let alone other manufacturers.
Sebastian Evans
Hmm interesting point, but it kinda seems that those discounted kits are just a way to move left over parts, makes sense that some stuff is different. I mean have you built an AR from leftovers? You don't really build it with an end gun in mind, just kind slap together what you have and get what you don't on the down low. They're just making money from it.
I think its an important data point to consider when/if someone's planning to buy from them. This might be why the word-of-mouth reviews of their stuff are so inconsistent: people buy prebuilt sale items or sale kits and they're all made of whatever leftovers PSA could make them with. It makes sense from a business perspective. Poors like me get deals and PSA gets to move old or low-number inventory. The downside is inconsistency across the board. If I had to bet, I'd bet that their flagship builds and single items are exactly what theyre advertised as being- and thus consistently at an expected level of quality. But when you buy a certain class of prebuilt or kit, you're essentially rolling the dice. You get the same product as everyone else who bought it solely on an abstract level. But you could wind up getting an entirely unique thing from the perspective of the individual parts that go into it. Either way, I'm happy with how this turned out for me.
I finished my build. Went with the MPI marked bcg, the non-matte upper, the open front gas block (still not sure if its adjustable, but I like its lower profile), the unmarred handguard, and the mag catch button with fewer grooves. Going to put some finishing touches on it tomorrow and take it to the range this weekend.
Thanks for the help, everyone. I really appreciate it. Praises to the Jow Forumsube, and goodnight.
