It's the Little Things - Small Accessories with a Big Impact ~ Fulton Armory M1/M1A and AR-15 Dry Fire Devices ~ ~ Clymer Machine .308 Winchester "Field" Gauge ~

It's often the most overlooked small items that can have a dramatic impact.  For example, just keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure can improve your car's handling, make the tires last longer (unless, apparently, they're Firestones and you own an Explorer), and improve your gas mileage.  Similarly, an inexpensive set of hollow ground screwdrivers can make all the difference between marred and damaged screws and metalwork and a perfect result.  This month we're going to look at a pair of products that, while geared to very specific segments of the shooting public are nevertheless wonderfully useful, and inexpensive enough so that it's hard to justify NOT buying one!

FULTON ARMORY M1/M14/M1A and AR-15/M16 DRY FIRE DEVICES

M1/M14 Dry Fire Device	AR-15 Dry Fire Device

Background
The single most difficult riflery skill to perfect is shooting is the offhand, or standing, unsupported position.  More than any other, this type of shooting tests the rifleman's ability to combine recognition of the proper sight picture (with the sights in a state of constant motion), timing, and proper trigger squeeze.   It is not an easy skill to acquire, and one that is quite perishable, requiring constant practice to maintain.  Problem is, most of us don't have the 24 hour access to a rifle range, or the disposable income to devote to the considerable expense in ammunition that such practice requires.  Fortunately, neither do most high power service rifle competitors, whose sport requires significant offhand shooting ability.  If you ask a successful competitor how he or she manages to maintain their offhand shooting skills as well as a full time job (unfortunately there is no National Endowment for Competitive Shooting. . .yet), they will look at you, and in a conspiratorial tone, whisper two words:  "Dry Firing."

By devoting as little as 30 minutes a day to dry firing a given rifle at a small black dot (1/4" to 1/2" in diameter - the waste products from most three hole punches are ideal) on the opposite wall of a room, a shooter can acquire and maintain the offhand shooting skills necessary to compete successfully.  This requires that the shooter use (in the interests of marital comity, the maintenance of a respectful distance from the local criminal justice system, and structural longevity of one's dwelling) an unloaded rifle.  The rifle is then cocked, aimed at the aiming point on an opposite wall, and dry fired.  The cycle is then repeated.

The difficulty here comes in recocking the arm after each shot.  For the M1/M1A or AR-15 style rifles that are most commonly used in service rifle competition, this operation requires the rifle to be lowered, the sight picture disrupted, and a new cheek to stock weld acquired for each shot.  Not only is this unrealistic (these rifles are self loaders and would be fired as such in competition), but it lessens the training value of the dry fire practice, as well as the number of shots that can be taken in a given time period.

Enter the wizards at Fulton Armory.  Fulton Armory is a full service gunsmithing shop located in Savage, Maryland that is dedicated solely to general issue United States military self loading shoulder arms (and their civilian analogs), including the M1 Garand rifle, the M1 carbine, the M14 (M1A) rifle, and the M16 (AR-15) rifle.   The shop's owner, Clint McKee, has been building, tuning, accurizing, and repairing these rifles, in all their incarnations, from match to "rack" grade, for almost 20 years.  In addition to rifles and gunsmithing services, Fulton Armory also sells a complete line of parts, tools, and accessories for these rifles at very competitive prices, and often will spend great amounts time providing advice to customers and potential customers alike.  It is no small wonder that when William H. Peterken contacted Clint with a design for an AR-15 dry-fire device, Clint was quick to work with him to solve the dilemma faced by the competitive shooter when conducting dry fire practice.
 

Physical Examination and Use
What Mr. Peterken came up with (seen in the photos above) are specialized tools for both the M1/M14 and AR-15 rifles that permit the shooter to dry fire the guns with a minimum of effort and movement needed to recock the arm between shots.  The tools have the added bonus of serving as safety devices, as they ensure that no live ammunition can be fired from the rifle when installed.  Each device is constructed of sturdy black ABS plastic for years of use and finished to exacting tolerances.  Use of the devices is simple and easy, requiring no modifications to the firearm and seconds to install:

M1/M14

1. Ensure that the firearm is unloaded.
2. Ensure that the firearm is unloaded.
3. Pull the operating rod/bolt fully to the rear.
4. Insert the smaller diameter portion of the device into the chamber as far
    as it will go.
5. Ease the operating rod/bolt forward until the raised portion at the rear of
    the device seats in the recessed portion of the boltface.

At this point, the rifle may be dry fired with impunity, the bolt needing to be retracted a mere 1/8" to 1/4" to recock the mechanism.

1. Ensure that the firearm is unloaded.
2. Ensure that the firearm is unloaded.
3. Pull the charging handle fully to the rear and ride it fully
    forward.
4. Punch the rear locking pin out and break the firearm open with the
    forward push pin serving as a fulcrum.
5. Insert the device into the rear of the bored out bolt carrier with the
    scalloped (lettered) portion of the device facing toward the bottom of the
    receiver.  Seat it fully so that the upper and lower receiver can
    close.

At this point, the rifle may be dry fired with impunity, the charging handle needing to be retracted a mere 1/8" to 1/4" to recock the mechanism.
 

We tested the devices for ease of use, rapidity (i.e., how many more times could we dry fire the gun in within a given period of time), and durability.  All tests were done by a right handed shooter of average size and reach.

• Ease of use:  Both adapters fitted perfectly into the respective guns.  As advertised, neither operating mechanism (operating rod handle on the AR-15 and the operating rod handle on the M1A) had to be moved more than 1/4" to recock the hammer.  We were easily able to recock the hammer on the M1A using the right hand without disturbing the sight picture.  However, on the AR-15 it took a little getting used to, as the tip of the shooter's nose was a hair's breadth too close to the charging handle to recock the action without disturbing sight picture.  With a little effort, our shooter was able to adjust his hold on the rifle so that the action could be recocked without disturbing sight picture.  Overall, we were quite pleased with the devices' ease of use.

• Rapidity:  The table below illustrates the temporal advantages inherent to the use of the Fulton Armory Dry Fire Devices.  As can be seen, the rifles could be fired many more times per given time period with the devices in place, resulting in a far more economical use of time:

• Durability:  We weren't gentle with the devices.  In fact, we cycled the actions roughly, and dry fired each piece a minimum of 100 times hoping to create undue wear and breakage.  Despite our best attempts to imitate a four year old with a new toy, we can report no breakage, or, for that matter, any significant wear.

CLYMER MACHINE .308 WINCHESTER "FIELD" HEADSPACE GAUGE
 

Background We're not ashamed to admit it.  While some people have photos of actors, statesmen, or even swimsuit models on the wall in their bedrooms, we have a

portrait of Dieudonne Saive.  If that makes us strange, well, you're not the first person to tell us that.  What?  You don't know who Dieudonne Saive is?  Hang your head in cruffle-shame!  Dieudonne Saive is one of the two most influential military firearms designers of the Cold War, the other being Mikhail Kalashnikov.  Specifically, Dieudonne Saive (mind you, we're such gun geeks that we even know the proper pronunciation of "Dieudonne") was the design genius behind the Fabrique Nationale Fusil Automatique Leger - the FN FAL rifle.

This is all a long, roundabout way of saying that we really like the FAL rifle.  Like any true fans, we like to know all the minutiae about the gun, to include all the critical dimensions.  Among these is the headspace dimension.  Headspace dimensions on rifles chambered for the 7.62mm NATO cartridge can be misleading.  As a case in point, military FAL headspace dimensions are not identical to those of the dimensionally similar .308 Winchester cartridge.  For comparison's sake, a rifle chambered for the .308 Winchester should have a minimum chamber length of 1.630", which equates to the .308 Winchester "GO" headspace gauge.  A new rifle chambered for the .308 Winchester should have a headspace dimension no larger than 1.634" - the same length as the .308 Winchester "NO-GO" headspace gauge.  Finally, a .308 Winchester rifle that has seen use should be considered unserviceable if the chamber dimension is larger than 1.638" - the length of a "FIELD" headspace gauge.  The FAL, on the other hand, has a minimum chamber length of 1.6315" and a maximum chamber length of 1.640."

For some strange reason, FN didn't see it necessary to consult the US based Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer's Institute (SAAMI) when determining headspace dimensions for the FAL.   As a result, it is very possible, when using solely .308 Winchester gauges, to make the determination that an FAL has excessive headspace when in fact it is perfectly serviceable FOR THE MILITARY 7.62MM NATO AMMUNITION FOR WHICH IT WAS DESIGNED.  We added emphasis for a very good reason.  If you choose to fire commercial .308 Winchester in an FAL, then the .308 headspace specifications are controlling.  In other words, an FAL with a headspace dimension of 1.639" is considered to be unserviceable and unsafe with .308 Winchester ammunition, but perfectly serviceable with 7.62mm NATO military ammunition.

Evaluation
Now we come to the real issue - since most commercially available headspace gauges for the .308 Winchester include a maximum length of only 1.638", how does an FAL enthusiast know whether his rifle is within specification for military 7.62mm NATO ammunition?  The answer can be had in the pages of the Clymer Manufacturing Company's catalogue.  Located in Rochester Hills, Michigan, the Clymer Manufacturing Company was started in 1958, and continues to provide high quality gun tools to both the professional gunsmith and hobbyist.  Among Clymer's products are chambering and finishing reamers as well as headspace gauges.

For the FAL-minded among you, Clymer also offers a.308 Winchester "Field" headspace gauge of 1.640" in length.  FAL enthusiasts that we are, we immediately ordered this tool, so that our FAL gauge set would be "complete."  It arrived a few days later.  The gauge is finished bright, with only the barest evidence of machining marks on the tapered portion of the gauge.  It is carefully marked:

CLYMER 998 (this is a date code meaning that the gauge was made in September, 1998)
308 WIN
FIELD

The gauge boasts a wide, well cut extraction cannelure and a deep firing pin recess.  There is also a cut-out in the rim.  While this was originally done so that the gauge could be driven on a cylindrical grinder (an "O.D" grinder), it neatly doubles as an ejector cut out for rifles with plunger type ejectors.  We found the cut out to be too narrow to permit the extractor on an FAL to slip through it.

The gauge is as well made and finished as any tool we've seen.  It fit smoothly into the chambers of three different FAL's, an M1A, and a commercial .308 Winchester hunting rifle with no hint of binding.  We immersed the tool in solvent for 24 hours to see if the markings would disappear.  They didn't.  All in all, we were well pleased with the gauge.

Conclusion
If you are an FAL hobbyist, enthusiast or gunsmith, we believe that at $25.00, the Clymer .308 WIN "Field" gauge is a must have item.  However, we again caution the reader to remember that headspace specifications are for a gun/ammunition combination.  Just because the factory specification for FAL headspace is 1.640" maximum, this does not mean that an FAL which will not close on a 1.640" gauge is safe to fire with commercial .308 Winchester ammunition.  Be sure of both your gun and the ammunition for which it is chambered.  Be safe.  After all, you wouldn't be investing in gauges if safety wasn't a prime concern!
 

And now, our Buy-O-Meter rating for these products:

Fulton Armory Dry Fire Devices:

Clymer 1.640" .308 Winchester "Field" Headspace Gauge:
 

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