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LMT Estonian Piston Upper availability?

TacosGigante

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Oct 29, 2013
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I fear I know the answer given the current madness in Eastern Europe and LMT’s general availability issues but figured I would be optimistic and ask:

LMT is apparently making 308 piston uppers for Estonia. Is there any word that they plan to make them, or at least the upper, available for the US civilian market?
 
Just wait ten or so years and you will get yours. If Russia annexes Estonia before that it might be even earlier.
 
You said LMT and availability in the same sentence. It reminds me of this time I went to the local steakhouse and the owner came over.

"How is your steak?"
"Great. Did you know you have 200 people waiting in your parking lot every night for seats?"
"yeah...thats just the way it is..."
"Umm..your current restaurant holds 200 people. if you built another out back you would make even more money since probably 100 people each night see the line and leave...."

He opened a second restaurant, and while I lived in that town I ate for free at either of them. Immediate seats.

LMT, I"m talking to you.
 
I thought I heard or read that they plan on releasing the barrel/bcg eventually but not complete uppers or rifles. Of course who knows now though.
 
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Is this what you’re looking for?

 
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Is this what you’re looking for?

That’s the 5.56 version. Op is asking about the 7.62 variant.
 
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You said LMT and availability in the same sentence. It reminds me of this time I went to the local steakhouse and the owner came over.

"How is your steak?"
"Great. Did you know you have 200 people waiting in your parking lot every night for seats?"
"yeah...thats just the way it is..."
"Umm..your current restaurant holds 200 people. if you built another out back you would make even more money since probably 100 people each night see the line and leave...."

He opened a second restaurant, and while I lived in that town I ate for free at either of them. Immediate seats.

LMT, I"m talking to you.
unfortunately tooling isnt as cheap nor quick as restaurant supply, and it was only a few years ago LMT was blowing out uppers because they were overstocked. The Trump Slump taught a lot of MFGs not to reactionarily overextended their plans by too much.
 
I posted on this recently in the AR-10/308 pics thread here:

A few LMT .308 piston barrels and bcgs hit gunbroker recently, and even though I just finished my MK12, I caved and picked one up. They’re overruns from LMTs Estonian Defense contract. It’s heavy, weighing in at 14 lbs fully loaded and as pictured. I’ll follow up with a range report when able.View attachment 7727743

I cannot recall now where I read/saw this, but I think I remember that LMT was interested in making these available for civilian purchase as a reference rifle (Not disputing comments from above, cuz it's just what I can recall, I'll update if I find reference). Couple notes about them (that could be changed in a civ mod): the piston is single position and not adjustable, so back pressure is real. Depending on the round, I'm getting a 1-2 o'clock ejection pattern with my Surge 7.62 in short config. I blew primers out of hornady match 168 gr ammo (2 for 2 attempts...stopped after a FTF on round three to find a primer cap in the breech). FGMM 175 SMKs are pretty awesome in this gun though. Right around 2450 fps with 175 gr out of the 16" barrel. Barrel is stamped 7.62 1/10 CB, it is not LMT's SS 5R barrel. Very reliably 1-1.5 MOA though and I'm sure a better shooter could see better results than me. Since this photo was taken, MAGPUL released their PRS Lite stock. It was a great add, but I would note it did not seat correctly with LMT's Sr-25 tube, so bought magpul's and swapped em out. Also, a little disappointed in the play in the stock once LOP is set, but I guess that's what you get in a PRS 'Lite' stock.

Final thought ... it's an LMT - overengineered and ROCK solid.
 
I posted on this recently in the AR-10/308 pics thread here:



I cannot recall now where I read/saw this, but I think I remember that LMT was interested in making these available for civilian purchase as a reference rifle (Not disputing comments from above, cuz it's just what I can recall, I'll update if I find reference). Couple notes about them (that could be changed in a civ mod): the piston is single position and not adjustable, so back pressure is real. Depending on the round, I'm getting a 1-2 o'clock ejection pattern with my Surge 7.62 in short config. I blew primers out of hornady match 168 gr ammo (2 for 2 attempts...stopped after a FTF on round three to find a primer cap in the breech). FGMM 175 SMKs are pretty awesome in this gun though. Right around 2450 fps with 175 gr out of the 16" barrel. Barrel is stamped 7.62 1/10 CB, it is not LMT's SS 5R barrel. Very reliably 1-1.5 MOA though and I'm sure a better shooter could see better results than me. Since this photo was taken, MAGPUL released their PRS Lite stock. It was a great add, but I would note it did not seat correctly with LMT's Sr-25 tube, so bought magpul's and swapped em out. Also, a little disappointed in the play in the stock once LOP is set, but I guess that's what you get in a PRS 'Lite' stock.

Final thought ... it's an LMT - overengineered and ROCK solid.
Thanks. Not thrilled to hear about the back pressure since I just bought a LMT Estonian reference 5.56 to run suppressed.
 
You said LMT and availability in the same sentence. It reminds me of this time I went to the local steakhouse and the owner came over.

"How is your steak?"
"Great. Did you know you have 200 people waiting in your parking lot every night for seats?"
"yeah...thats just the way it is..."
"Umm..your current restaurant holds 200 people. if you built another out back you would make even more money since probably 100 people each night see the line and leave...."

He opened a second restaurant, and while I lived in that town I ate for free at either of them. Immediate seats.

LMT, I"m talking to you.
LoL,

Yeah that would be nice, I think in the last stream, Joe indicated that they were bringing online a couple new machines that should help with production.

It also looks they had some new forgings done that address the mloc attachment/barrel pull issue.

I think the issue that a lot of manufactures are faced with is funding hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment to expand production, then they need people to run and maintain those machines, While I would love to see production doubled, I am good with a couple new machines for now. I just would like to see them tighten up their qc a bit
 
I posted on this recently in the AR-10/308 pics thread here:



I cannot recall now where I read/saw this, but I think I remember that LMT was interested in making these available for civilian purchase as a reference rifle (Not disputing comments from above, cuz it's just what I can recall, I'll update if I find reference). Couple notes about them (that could be changed in a civ mod): the piston is single position and not adjustable, so back pressure is real. Depending on the round, I'm getting a 1-2 o'clock ejection pattern with my Surge 7.62 in short config. I blew primers out of hornady match 168 gr ammo (2 for 2 attempts...stopped after a FTF on round three to find a primer cap in the breech). FGMM 175 SMKs are pretty awesome in this gun though. Right around 2450 fps with 175 gr out of the 16" barrel. Barrel is stamped 7.62 1/10 CB, it is not LMT's SS 5R barrel. Very reliably 1-1.5 MOA though and I'm sure a better shooter could see better results than me. Since this photo was taken, MAGPUL released their PRS Lite stock. It was a great add, but I would note it did not seat correctly with LMT's Sr-25 tube, so bought magpul's and swapped em out. Also, a little disappointed in the play in the stock once LOP is set, but I guess that's what you get in a PRS 'Lite' stock.

Final thought ... it's an LMT - overengineered and ROCK solid.

Neat,

its important to remember that the Rugged Surge is intended to maximize sound suppression and durability, and is not intended to exhibit low back pressure. Add this can to any system that is designed to run off a wide range of ammo may end up causing the same issues.

If its a reference rifle, the single gas port makes sense especially if they are running lower pressure cans, or no cans at all. I am sure that once they get time they will come up with a two position plug like the rest of their piston guns.
 
Neat,

its important to remember that the Rugged Surge is intended to maximize sound suppression and durability, and is not intended to exhibit low back pressure. Add this can to any system that is designed to run off a wide range of ammo may end up causing the same issues.

If its a reference rifle, the single gas port makes sense especially if they are running lower pressure cans, or no cans at all. I am sure that once they get time they will come up with a two position plug like the rest of their piston guns.
 
Absolutely right, on the rugged. Just forward of 3 o clock with fgmm 175s so that’s good enough for me and what I’m shooting. Have not tried m80 ball which is more likely what Estonia will run out of it. The barrel was prefit with a suppressor adapter and the firearmsblog reported at 2020 shot show that they shipped w suppressors to EDF. This is where I saw the note that LMT hoped to release the DMR variant (308) to the public in 2021.
 
The Esontia 7.62 is an amazing gun. Absolutely loving mine. Very accurate! Hopefully they come out with a two position lug like they did for their 5.56 variant. Doubtful but wondering if it’s the same lug?
 

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