The PC Carbine Chronicles, Part III



  I was able to get some more serious trigger time on my PC Carbine this past weekend. My main focuses were bolt-lock reloads and watching for loose screws.

  As I said in my last post on the PC Carbine, bolt-lock reloads with this firearm are quite a bit slower than with an AR15. This is due to the facts that the magazine release is not within reach of the firing hand and you must cycle the charging handle to send the bolt home. My current bolt-lock reload SOP for the PC Carbine is as follows:
  1. Bolt locks back on empty magazine. 
     

  2. Retrieve fresh magazine with left hand while maintaining a firing grip with right hand.
     

  3. Press magazine release with left thumb.
     

  4. Insert fresh magazine with left hand.
     

  5. Cycle charging handle with left hand to chamber a fresh round.
  I spent quite a bit of time practicing bolt-lock reloads on my shot timer at 10 yards. Most reloads took 4-4.5 seconds, with some of my faster times around 3.5 seconds. All were done from the concealed mag carrier on my C&G Holsters MOD1. I also clocked a 7 second FAST Drill at 7 yards, which, due to the slower reloading process, was surprisingly slower than I shot with a handgun.

Reloads were performed from my everyday concealment holster.
 
  While I didn't do any serious accuracy testing, the gun seemed to do well in that regard. All of my shooting (+/-150 rounds) was on the timer from 7-30 yards and I dropped 1 round out of the -0 on my IDPA target.

  The red Motorcraft thread locker that I applied to my problem screws seemed to do the trick for the most part. Several times I checked for loose screws and everything seemed to be holding tight. So, being the kind of guy I am I decided that I should dump 30 rounds through the gun and check again. After firing those 30 rounds at a rapid pace, I found that the fore-end screw had loosened slightly. Because this screw seems to be a captive part of the fore-end assembly, I have not taken it off and was not able to scrub and degrease it well before applying red thread locker. I'll have to completely remove this screw so that I can properly clean, degrease, and apply thread locker before my next range session.