Thursday, January 29, 2009

Barrels are in the Pipe!

I just talked to E.R. Shaw and they have cut the material for the barrels! They should start work on them, tentatively, in the second week of February. Shaw has indicated that they should be able to make a sub-batch of the barrels with unthreaded, target crowned muzzles for those who are interested. These will be limited in quantity, so contact us ASAP if you are interested in one.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

We're Moving!

bisonarmory.com is moving to a new website. No more blogger as our main page. This should all be updated in the next 24 to 48 hours. See you there!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Young Manufacturing

I got a Young Manufacturing chrome bolt carrier in the mail today and the thing is a work of art. I am very keen to take it to the range in the near future. Chrome bolts do not appear to be available at this time, so standard bolts will have to do. I am looking forward to getting my AR to the range with this bolt carrier to see how it performs. If the bolt carrier works out with my Micro Best bolts, then I'll definitely recommend it to my customers.

I've also received a Stag bolt and carrier. Nothing too fancy about it. The bolt does not appear to be shot-peened like my Micro Best bolt. Given that, and that Stag is still months away from having any in stock, and I think I'll go with the Micro Best bolts as standard equipment for Bison Armory.

In addition to those goodies, I got some Barnes TSX bullets in 85 grain in order to test rifle function with fast powders and light bullets. I have been informed of issues with the Ko-Tonics/Cardinal Armory 20" barrels having problems with these loads with the rifle-length gas tube. We will see how the intermediate length gas system works with these loads. Conjecture I've heard indicates that the shorter gas tube length should help with cycling. I don't have these barrels yet, but I'm working up some initial test loads to try.

Hopefully I'll get to the range in the next couple weeks and a range report will follow.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

KT-68

Here's some photos of my new KT-68 based AR. Great rifle, shoots MOA easily. The rifle is built on a Mega lower with RRA parts, and a YHM upper with mostly YHM accessories. The scope is a cheap Simmons that I pulled off of my Savage hunting rifle package. I wonder how it'd shoot if I had a match trigger and quality optics...


The muzzle device is my own home made thing. It has no baffles and is not a sound suppressor. At some point in the future, however, we may get our SOT so that we can start selling YHM suppressors.

Things are looking good, and the upper on this rifle is an example of what you'll be able to get from us, in addition to barrels and parts. For now, send us an email at bisonarmory@gmail.com listing the individual parts you want from YHM or Midway USA and whether or not you want us to assemble the parts or do it yourself, and we'll put a quote together for you.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Range Trip!

Just got back from the range. I finally got all the parts for my new AR build that included a new (and one of the last) 18" barrels from Tim at Cardinal Armory. This range trip let me try out the YHM upper receiver, Noveske gas tube, and Micro Best 6.8 bolt. Everything worked well without a hitch. I was easily shooting sub-moa right from the beginning. My wife has my camera on a trip so I don't have any pics, but you guys all know what bullet holes in paper look like :)

For the record, the rifle is built with a YHM rifle length forearm, YHM low-profile gas block, YHM scope riser, A2 butstock from Model 1, RRA (I think) lower parts kit from RB Precision, and a super-cheap Simmons 3-9x40 that I pulled off of my Savage rifle package.

I was also shooting Sierra 110gn pro hunters over 28gn of H322. I found that to be a very good load in my old 6-groove barrel as well.

So I am stoked! Everything is working out well. Now I just have to sit and wait for the barrels.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Talked To ER Shaw Today

Just got off the phone with ER Shaw today and things are looking good. They have my order and they're going to proceed with it after SHOT. So if everything goes well they'll start in February and I'll get my hands on the barrels in March. Excellent!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Happy New Year From Bison Armory!

Hey everyone. The barrels are on order and I have a source for bolts. I'll be getting a small number of these bolts for initial testing and inspection, and if they work out then I'll provide them with barrels for those who want them.

Happy new year!