Newbe-Greetings from the west

heelerman

Inactive
Hello gentlemen,
I am new here and in the respect of this discussion, green as wood.
I live in the very south west of the south west, the border country.
As you may have seen in news reports things here are getting stranger by the day. That bein' the case, I have purchased a rifle I never thought to own. A soulless, scary lookin, green lead spitter. A JDL PTR91 in .308. I have done some on line research and found that some of the early rifles have bolt gap and other issues, mostly those with serial numbers beginning with AW. Mine is A12XX so I assume it is very early production. I will ask that we forego the usual arguments as to what other rifle would be better. This is the one I have, the price was more than painless, nearly a gift in truth. I do not expect to shoot the gun very much as recreation. I want to shoot it and drill with it enough to become proficient in it's use and stack it away for who knows what?
It came to me near new, I have put 100+ rounds of Remington Generic through it with out a hick up. It is accurate and reliable thus far. I have found in my reading that the PTR is a picky eater in some regards. I have a chance to buy 1000 rounds of Portugese surplus ammunition. Will the PTR like it? Also, How difficult is it to install a paddle type mag release? It needs that! Is any fitting required? We are in some pretty remote country, as in back o beyond, so trottin' down to the local gun smith is bit of a trip. "Local" bein' a relative term. Up to this time my fast movers have all been lever guns so this is all new to me. Thanks.
 
First, welcome to the forum.
In answer to the ammo, The only way to know if "your rifle" will like the ammo is to get your hands on some and give it a run through. The placing on target is very important. BUT.... also inspect the casing of fired rounds. Look for dents, scratches/gouges, check the primer depth before and after the shot to see if primers are bulging. Also check the case rim and just above it for signs of a bad extractor and/or unpolished or scratched or God forbid the over-bored chamber. Again could only advise after you have run some through your fire arm. Only really need to look at all this if it fails or has trouble cycling the ammo.

As for the mag release, if any smithing is needed to install it, depending on manufacture process changes, it would be very minimal and relatively easy with proper attention and patience. Keep us posted on how all this comes out.
 
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