JP Enterprises AR build - opinions sought

[crbutler]

I have a few JP guns.

As much as I hate to say it, my experience with them has been mixed, and is based wholly on who I dealt with over there.

John (the owner) is a good guy. He had one employee I wouldn't pee on to put out a fire. That fellow is now long gone.

The CTR 02 is a top of the line 3 gun rifle. They give a sub MOA guarantee and usually the rifles beat that by a fair amount. Once I got it working right ( no thanks to the one employee) I have not had a hitch with it, except when I made some bad handloads. I have a LMT, a barrett, and a couple colts which are in the same reliability range, but they did not have the toothing difficulties that I did with the JP- but the JP is all I use in 3 gun.

The second has a heavy barrel on it and is a .5 MOA to 300 yards rifle.

They do know how to make an accurate upper. Their barrels are good.

The muzzle break/comp they use the most now is a Bennie Cooley style comp that is legal for the more restrictive 3 gun divisions. That works pretty well, especially with a heavy barrel. I'm able to see the prairie dog vaporize in the scope with a shot. Their old muzzle break ( I think they call it a recoil eliminator) works better, but puts you in open division automatically in the 3 gun game.

They were one of the first to come out with an adjustable gas block. The ones I have work great, but I have a couple other guns that came with other company's that work as well.

The bolt carriers come in 3 weights. The full mass carrier is for reliability. Its essentially a milspec type carrier. They make a midweight carrier (which is steel and somewhat cut down) and a lightweight one that is made of aluminum and skeletonized somewhat. If you tune your load to the light carrier and your gun, you essentially get rid of the sensation of movement of the bolt when shooting.

The JP trigger is a single stage trigger which will give you a really nice light trigger pull. Not a good choice for a military gun or one that has full auto capability. It will not have take up when properly set up, so its not a good choice on a fighting gun as you may not realize you have the pressure on it, and it will fire, but for a range gun its great. I cannot shoot mine with gloves on as they will fire before I'm ready.

They sell a special hammer and springs for separate installation- the only caution I would give is that the light springs and light hammer will give a sub 1 pound trigger pull that breaks like glass, but may well not work with the harder (CCI 41 or 43) or milsurp primers. My rifles do not like milsurp ammo because of that.

I think JP still also has some proprietary sighting systems, but in my opinion, unless you are going for 3 gun shooting, regular stuff works well enough for that.

The other thing that JP does really well is the fit and finish of the guns is superior to pretty much every other AR manufacturer I've seen.

I'm not into building AR's. I buy them "pre made" so I cannot give you comments on their suitability as far as components for mix and match, but as a system, its very nice (assuming you don't try and make it do something out of its intended scope).

[Dave Timm]

JP makes some nice stuff, however depending upon the role of the rifle is what parts and who makes them I would choose. JP is known for making some high quality, super reliable rifles that run second to none in the competition world. I know personally guys that shoot over 20,000 rounds a year with their JPs and they go through barrels like most people buy a case of ammo. Jp rifles are usually tight and sometimes need tuning to run on your ammo, and also speaking with guys that shoot JPs they usually tune them for the competition load and a similar practice load. Add a different type and sometimes they need adjusting, whether it be gas block settings, mass carriers, buffer etc. JP is more known as a Ferrari of rifles in the 3 gun world, and they have some pretty innovative stuff. They are a quality maker and have come along way with either parts they machine themselves or the relationship they have with machine shops. As stated, they have a heck of a barrel as well for accuracy. Someone told me JP is a finely tuned machine and when tuned and set up watch out and not much can keep up, but it needs to be tuned to be there. I personally don't have one but I've shot with a lot of guys that do, some sponsored by JP, and I personally haven't seen one fail.

In the combat type world JP is starting to grow, Kyle Lamb is a respected warrior and trainer and now has a relationship with JP for rifles. I'm not sure who else he has relationships with or what happened with him and Smith, I think they still do his pistol so Im not sure. JP is also entering the LE duty market more with some SWAT groups choosing their 308 line as the sniper rifle of choice.

If you're looking to build a combat type gun, yup there are the known brands that were mentioned that all make nice stuff. I'll add that I'm proud of our rifles as well and I've been using them as hard as I can since I've gotten them. At first I really wanted my rifle to break so I could tell Stewart, the boss, see piston guns blah blah blah. (I was a tried and true DI guy ) But I haven't, whether it be at 3 gun, some carbine courses,duty etc they run and we use some good parts, carrier steel, barrel steel etc.

If your looking for a gun that you can run any ammo, not have to tune this or worry about carrier mass etc, then you may be better served by one of JPs new duty type configurations if you want to stick with JP or look at a duty/combat type maker and configuration. If this is your one do all rifle then you have some choices to make. If its a purpose built gun then build for the job.

As far as their parts go, we use JP EZ triggers in some of our models. One a tactical model and the other a model more set up for competition. Its true there is no take up or wall to hit before the break of the shot. I have learned to like this and when my finger is on the trigger I know Im at the wall before break. In my 3 gun rifle I use the lighter springs for a light trigger pull weight and in my duty rifle I use their duty springs for a more standard weight at just over 4 lbs with a nice clean break and reset. Some prefer the take up of that of a mil spec type trigger or that found in a geissele. Giessele also makes some nice triggers, especially for duty, they have a nice take up to hit the wall, a clean break, and a nice reset. I don't own one yet but probably will in the future. Who knows I may run JP for comp, Giessele for duty, or one for odd days of the week, you never know .

[rugersol]

when tuned and set up

you may be better served by one of JPs new duty type configurations

I think this is worth further emphasis ...

JP clearly markets "duty" triggers, as well as "competition" triggers! Fer them who're new to AR's, ya simply can't have it both ways! ... yer trigger's either heavy, and lights EVERY primer ... 'er it's not ... and ya take yer chances!

Same with chambers ... either "tight" ... and accurate ... 'er ... not.

And the gas set-up's ... again, I ain't schooled on it ... but I can only guess, if JP makes a "low-mass" carrier, it's 'cause it's yet another thing that'll win matches!

He's even got a new buffer spring set-up to eliminate the "sproing!"

But, JP is ALSO very concerned with "duty" weapons! ... I don't wanna speak fer him ... but I don't think there's any question ... ya tell him yer situation, and ya need a "duty" weapon, he'll get ya exactly what ya need ... and it will NOT fail! That said, if yer "situation" is that ya'd like to go to OGC and perforate paper ... but that ya still want a "duty" gun, he may very well laugh at ya! ... again, it's jest a guess!

At that, if a JP is what ya want, I strongly suggest ya call him ... and tell him so! If after that, ya don't believe he can build what ya want, fer what yer willin' to spend, then ya can move on!

JP's been a proud sponsor of the shooting sports, fer a lotta years! Ya want manufacturers to "give back"?! ... he's been doin' it all along! Ya wanna trash talk him?! ... call him up! ... he's earned at least that much!

FWIW, I jest perused my latest Shooting Illustrated last nite ... there was an article on RM3G in there ... with a pic of JP ... in action! ... jest sayin'

[lucycan]

I ended up ordering a pre-built JP-15 D model. Should be here in about 8-10 weeks.

I'll let you know how I like it.

Now on to the optics!