Breaking in my AR-15 - July 8, 2015

I finally stopped procrastinating and took my AR to the rifle range. I built the rifle beginning right after Christmas 2014 and completed it at the end of May. I have had a feeling of dread, just knowing that I was going to have a lemon, so I put off going to the range.

I was breaking it in so I sprayed a small amount of Ballistol down the chamber before my first shot and then pulled a patch through a couple of times. I repeated that after 2 shots, and again after the next 3 shots, then 5, then 10 and after another 15 shots. I had 4 magazines loaded; two aluminum mags were loaded with 10 rounds each and a third one was loaded full with 30 rounds. It was pretty difficult to load 30 rounds. The fourth mag was a Magpul Pmag which I loaded full with 30 rounds. It wasn't difficult at all to load fully. The only hiccup I had was with that fully loaded aluminum magazine. The bolt failed to strip off the top round and rode over the top, jamming my rifle. In the future, those $7 mags will only be loaded with 28 rounds maximum.

I consistently shot left of my point of aim, sometimes above and sometimes below that point. I think the elevation was attributed to how I used the front sight post and my 61 year old eyes. It basically looked like I was using a 2x4 sight post against the target, 30 yards down range. I need an affordable optic solution. Perhaps I'll cannibalize my Dad's 30.06 for it's 4x scope. No, I would hate to do that.