So you may or may not have read that I bought a Colt upper that had some minor issues (it's currently off seeing if someone with steadier hands than mine can center that barrel in the free float tube). On a whim, I bought a PSA 10.3 inch upper and mounted it on my registered SBR.

The PSA upper cost roughly a quarter of what my Colt did. Supposedly its a blem, but other than the finish on the front sight base being a little rougher than I'm used to (looks like epoxy paint instead of Parkerizing) and a handguard cap that wiggles very slightly when the handguards are off (not an issue as I'll get around to mounting a rail eventually) I can't see any issues.

Front sight is properly pinned and is perfectly centered. How perfectly? I dropped a rear sight on the receiver and windage was perfect. I dropped the front sight 4 clicks and the elevation was zeroed. Easy sight in I've ever done.

It gets better. I'd pulled my EOTech off of the Colt upper (T6 slot) and installed it on the PSA (T6 Slot). I took a look and thought "Man. That looks pretty much on with the irons." It was. Perfectly. If nothing else, it confirms my issue with the Colt was the install of the rail and not the barrel. Unless of course this one is also installed crooked at exactly the same angle...

I only had 25 yards to play with, so I can't really talk about accuracy yet, but I had no problem keeping all shots inside a 75% scale targets head at 25.

It's phenomenally loud, but that's expected with a barrel this short. No functional issues. 200 rounds in and I love it.

The bang for the buck is awesome (pun intended).

I’ve got two complete PSA AR rifles (bought two stripped lowers, parts kits and two uppers) and I’m very happy with them.

Now that’s not saying too much since neither has fired more than a couple hundred rounds. But I bought them when truthfully I couldn’t afford anything better. I planned on getting a nice Colt or other higher quality AR but I ended up getting a Tavor instead. The PSA guns are definitely good enough for range toys and mine will likely never see more than a couple thousand rounds in their lifetime. I think for my purpose the guns are phenomenal.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pale Horse,

I bought a used one here. It has been 100% reliable. I have no issues using it in any capacity.
I have my eye on a new one. Price is $329. Well see if I can swing it.
They are a great buy and better yet, a solid unit imho.

MY PSA stuff is from way back.

My uppers are hammer forged. They really slowed down on those. Do they even sell the hammer forged barrel uppers any longer?

Also a .223 Wylde stainless barrel that does like 0.7 inches at 100 yards all day long.

Their Premium line (of which mine is an example) has CHF barrels produced by FN. I may mount a scope on it as a lark and take it out to the rifle range at our Firearms Unit next time I have a day off just to see how it shoots. It's plenty accurate for its actual intended purpose though.

I have half a dozen rifles from PSA, and have built up a few as gifts for the kids. Never had a problem with the. A couple of months ago I bought a 9mm upper to go on a PSA glock lower, then replaced most of what was PSA, and took it to the range. Everything went in a little hole, using a Sig red dot optic (that failed about 20 rounds into the exercise). The carbine hung up initially, then cycled just fine on my reloads. Given that everything was coated lead 147 gn with a long overall length and minimum power factor, I was surprised it fed and cycled as well as it did (especially given the collection of parts thrown together).

If I can ever make it to a steel shoot between covid and schedules, it will be a PCC toy.

I don't know that I'd want to go to war with a palmetto rifle, but I've had good luck with them.

I have a complete PSA rifle from back in 2011 when they were turning them out with the CHF chrome-lined barrels. It's been 100% reliable for me, and is currently been doing duty as my patrol rifle. I'm not a swat guy or anything like that, but I've been in some hairy situations with that gun, so I guess you could say I do trust my life to it. It's made guys with "better" name brand guns eat crow a few times at training when their gun chokes and mine keeps running (but that probably says more about my maintenance regimen than it does the guns). The department is going to start issuing patrol rifles whenever Sig gets around to making them for us, but I've gotta admit that I'm going to miss having that rifle in the car with me. It's been that solid.

I can't really speak to the quality of the newer stuff. My brothers have both built rifles using PSA uppers and LPKs on Anderson lowers in the last couple of years. Both guns work fine, but they haven't done anything with them other than take them from the safe to the range and back, and haven't put enough rounds through them to have really tested build quality and reliability.

I just picked up yesterday my PSA blem upper...it is possible that the blem on my particular upper is that someone may have installed rear sights, scope, red dot or something as I can see a slight contact scuff and I can see a touch of silver shining though on the upper Picatinny rail...other than that my Nitrided upper looks just fine atop my almost not used PSA lower...

I have not yet had an opportunity to shoot this combination...but for under $500 all in with MagPul furniture, I'm happy...

Bill

Hard to beat PSA gear. Their Customer Service is Excellent as well. I had issues with a 9mm upper and they fixed it pretty painlessly.

PSA actually has their own factory to produce hammer forged barrels. It’s called DC Machine.