This past week end I got a call from a friend whose uncle from Chicago happened to be in town. His uncle had recently acquired a Charles Daly Ar-15 ( this one http://www.charlesdalydefense.com/).
When I was told what he paid for it I about shit, but will let that be for now.
Rifle was as pictured in the link above, 16in M-forgery, 1in7 twist, Black Daniel Defense forearm w/ flush cup type sling swivel and FDE rail covers, a flip-up BUIS.
Mag-pul colapsable stock, MIAD grip, enhanced trigger gaurd, and a single 30 rd Mag-pul Magazine, all in FDE. "Uncle" brought with him 11 boxes of Federal XM193 55gr FMJ.
Unsure of what to expect, I looked for a few simple workmanship indicators. Part finish was even except for a little incomplete coverage around the screws holding on the fore-arm. The BCG has a dull black phosphate coating. The gas key was staked with two hits from a punch at 3 and 9 o'clock on the screws, I put three on mine, but that's how I read to do it somewhere. Any rifle I was ever issued had 3 also. Right or wrong is up to you, I will continue to do three in the future. Looking inside I found it had nice looking M4 feed ramps. Everything seemed nice and tight... off to the range.
"Uncle" had never fired a AR rifle before and was not familiar with the controls or it's function. After a brief tutorial, He was soon piling up brass, and getting a feel for it. His smile was apparent once he lifted his cheek of the stock. After about 40 rounds I got it away from him to fine tune the site a bit, put a few through it myself with his permission, and cut him loose again. With the irons and a hasty support I was able to put 5 rounds in side a quarter at 50 yards, I figured it had potential.
I think we went through about 180 rounds with out a glitch before we called it a day.
Monday I went through how to dissasemble and clean it along with explaining the inner workings. (I was a bit surprised by how a 50 y/o carpenter had very little mechanical aptitude, but was patient non the less) I explained the steps to him but let him do the work. I showed him how when he got stuck, but then undid it and made him do it himself.
The coating on the charging handle may have had some flaking on the side, I'm curious to see how well this holds up with more use.
All in all, initially I think the rifle is decent, although the $2300 price tag was more than I would have ever imagined. However he didn't seem to mind, so I didn't make an issue out of it, I just mentioned I thought it was too much and left it at that.
Unfortunatly Chicago proper will allow him to purchase and to own such a rifle they will not allow him to posess it inside of city limits. BULLSHIT!
I offered to store it for him, he decided he had a home for it closer to home yet outside of city limits. Oh well, I tried.
I'm sure that a Charles Daly Defense AR is not a Noveske, POF, or some of the others, but it made him happy, and that's what counts.
I was afforded the opertunity to share a day at the range, and pass on a little bit of knowledge, not to mention add a small pile of brass to my tumbler, all in all not a bad day.
When I was told what he paid for it I about shit, but will let that be for now.
Rifle was as pictured in the link above, 16in M-forgery, 1in7 twist, Black Daniel Defense forearm w/ flush cup type sling swivel and FDE rail covers, a flip-up BUIS.
Mag-pul colapsable stock, MIAD grip, enhanced trigger gaurd, and a single 30 rd Mag-pul Magazine, all in FDE. "Uncle" brought with him 11 boxes of Federal XM193 55gr FMJ.
Unsure of what to expect, I looked for a few simple workmanship indicators. Part finish was even except for a little incomplete coverage around the screws holding on the fore-arm. The BCG has a dull black phosphate coating. The gas key was staked with two hits from a punch at 3 and 9 o'clock on the screws, I put three on mine, but that's how I read to do it somewhere. Any rifle I was ever issued had 3 also. Right or wrong is up to you, I will continue to do three in the future. Looking inside I found it had nice looking M4 feed ramps. Everything seemed nice and tight... off to the range.
"Uncle" had never fired a AR rifle before and was not familiar with the controls or it's function. After a brief tutorial, He was soon piling up brass, and getting a feel for it. His smile was apparent once he lifted his cheek of the stock. After about 40 rounds I got it away from him to fine tune the site a bit, put a few through it myself with his permission, and cut him loose again. With the irons and a hasty support I was able to put 5 rounds in side a quarter at 50 yards, I figured it had potential.
I think we went through about 180 rounds with out a glitch before we called it a day.
Monday I went through how to dissasemble and clean it along with explaining the inner workings. (I was a bit surprised by how a 50 y/o carpenter had very little mechanical aptitude, but was patient non the less) I explained the steps to him but let him do the work. I showed him how when he got stuck, but then undid it and made him do it himself.
The coating on the charging handle may have had some flaking on the side, I'm curious to see how well this holds up with more use.
All in all, initially I think the rifle is decent, although the $2300 price tag was more than I would have ever imagined. However he didn't seem to mind, so I didn't make an issue out of it, I just mentioned I thought it was too much and left it at that.
Unfortunatly Chicago proper will allow him to purchase and to own such a rifle they will not allow him to posess it inside of city limits. BULLSHIT!
I offered to store it for him, he decided he had a home for it closer to home yet outside of city limits. Oh well, I tried.
I'm sure that a Charles Daly Defense AR is not a Noveske, POF, or some of the others, but it made him happy, and that's what counts.
I was afforded the opertunity to share a day at the range, and pass on a little bit of knowledge, not to mention add a small pile of brass to my tumbler, all in all not a bad day.
