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Moores Machine ARs.

2K views 15 replies 6 participants last post by  Abukai08 
#1 ·
My neighbor bought an AR that is a Moores Machine. He was a "little" unhappy with it and put it in a safe for a while. We were talking the other day and the subject of new toys came up. I took a look at it and it is all kinds of fucked up. Its an unthreaded 20" stainless barrel with a CARBINE gas system and a .130" gas hole!!!! WTF over? We have no idea if it is a .223 or 5.56 chamber or even the twist as it unmarked The bolt feels wrong. You know how you handle metal and sometimes it FEELS wrong? The carrier and small parts feel fine. The lower to upper fit is sloppy loose. Rattle loose. I tried a colt upper and it was still sloppy so i am assuming the lower is out of spec. Now I have no idea if this is typical of this company. but I KNOW this gun is not one anyone I know will shoot.
 
#2 ·
carbine gas on a 20" wtf--? .130 gas hole? --i just don't know what to say.

i never heard of moors machine.

if i had to guess i would say it sounds like somebody raided the scrap parts bin to build this one.

that barrel sounds like a disaster. it probably has out of spec head-space because of an improperly installed barrel extension & pin.

probably a oversize 223 chamber too.

you sure this ain't a hess kit gun?


very old m-16s we had were very loose in the upper to lower fit. they worked fine though.

later ones-- they got tighter in the fit thanks to CNC mills.


more than likely the upper and lower are from the reject bin though i can't say without eyeballing them. when you get a lot or run-out you get that loose fit.
 
#3 ·
Vz, You can fix up the rattle by putting a little epoxy in the lower where the rear lug of the upper sits. Make sure to use a release agent on the upper or you'll glue them together, also put a thin feeler gauge .003" between the upper and lower while the glue sets up. That should take care of most of the slop. Thats funny that they probably drilled the gas port with a dull 1/8" drill. The inside of the gas tube is only .118" or so and anything over that is really not doing anything. I don't even use a port near that big on my 9mm uppers that operate on a lot less psi. Maybe they were trying to drill it smaller:lol: If you question the bolt I'd get a new one. I had a bolt that came in a parts kit in the mid 90's that seemed off also. The best way I can describe is was that it felt like I was holding frosted glass and not steel. I got rid of it at the next gun show. You might be able to save the barrel by using an adjustable gas block, but they aren't cheaper than a new barrel. I've never heard of moore machine, and I'm guessing I know why.
 
#4 ·
yea but how is that gonna help much with the 20" dwell time off a carbine location port?

if the guys that built this were dumb enough to put a carbine location gas port on a 20" rifle barrel???? ALL BETS ARE OFF!

they probably have the chamber all wrong and i'll bet the head-space is off too.

this one would have to be taken completely down and re-assembled to fix all the problems and that is if they didn't screw up the chamber--


you could weld/plug up the port then drill a new port in the correct location. you might have to remove the barrel extension and reinstall it to get the correct head space on a bolt.

by the time you get done with all this it would probably more costly than just starting over with good parts.

my guess is they used a barrel blank and installed their own barrel extension this = incorrect head-space, now that carbine gas port-- i wonder what those guys must have been smoking---

my guess is the thing assembled so badly it was binding everywhere. so they just kept drilling that overgassed all-ready port in a feeble attempt to get it to run.


i would check the thing with a fine toothed comb if you suspect this, all kinds of stuff could be 'tweeked"--
 
#5 ·
Ok I've got more intel on this. It was bought direct from moores machine, a local company. Well 10 miles away. The owner gave the upper to me on exchange for me machining a set screw in place to adjust out the vertical slop on the lower. I have not checked head space but will once i pick up a bolt that will replace the cirrent one. Frosted glass is an EXCELLENT description of what the bolt feels like. I have chopped the barrel and recrowned it If the chamber and headspace work out it will be a very short pistol build to play with gas and boosters etc.
 
#6 ·
yea it could be the bolt or it could be the head-space from the way the rest of that "build" went i would check both the head-space and the chamber.

if they made the barrel from a barrel blank they probably got everything off, then topped it off with a reject bolt or one of those foreign ones i keep hearing about but have yet to come across.
 
#8 ·
J427x, I'm right there with you on not using that barrel or bolt. I think VZ has figured out a solution though. As far as short gas systems on long barrels here's one on an 18" barrel for you! ........................................of course it's only a 9mm on a test barrel though!

VZ58, I figured something was way off in the heat treating dept as the only other thing that bolt reminded me of other than frosted glass was steel that you've hardened but not tempered. The kind when you drop it on the floor it breaks.
 

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#9 ·
J427x, I'm right there with you on not using that barrel or bolt. I think VZ has figured out a solution though. As far as short gas systems on long barrels here's one on an 18" barrel for you! ........................................of course it's only a 9mm on a test barrel though!

VZ58, I figured something was way off in the heat treating dept as the only other thing that bolt reminded me of other than frosted glass was steel that you've hardened but not tempered. The kind when you drop it on the floor it breaks.


a 9mm or other pistol round should be fine with the short gas port and excessive dwell time --- however how many 20" carbine gas set ups have you seen? with a golf ball port size no less.


maybe they were experimenting with some kind of subsonic super-low pressure 223 load???
 
#10 ·
i hear all kinds of horror stories about MMC here in NC. there is a new shop down the street that MMC is making their rifles. i just wonder if any of those guys are on any NC/SC gun boards. only the un-informed buys MMC.
 
#12 ·
every one seems to like Barnes Presision. one guys i'm talking about were out of t'ville. they had their own logo on the lowers. i ask who made them. they told me Moore's. there were other's there who also had their on roll mark that MMC made.
BTW, didn't MMC made the way out of spec Roggio Arsenal lower too?
 
#14 ·
I have never heard of Moores Machine and a carbine length gas tube on a 20" barrel definitely isn't right. The rattle isn't as big an issue. There are mods you can buy to fix that for really cheap. But the barrel would be an issue especially if you don't know what type of twist or what type of pressure it can take (I have seen an AR explode before... not cute). Do you think you can post some pictures for a better idea?
 
#15 ·
AR-15 Problems - Survivalist Forum

Check out this link. I just read this thread on another forum. Does sound like a piece of junk just looking like an accident is waiting to happen.
 
#16 ·
AR-15 Problems - Survivalist Forum

Check out this link. I just read this thread on another forum. Does sound like a piece of junk just looking like an accident is waiting to happen.
 
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