PSA vs. Aero Pricision

[greg vess]

I recently did something I thought I would never do in a million years. I purchased a PSA PA-10. I did only because the complete rifle was $565.00 plus tax. Well I upgraded the barrel with a BA Hanson profile series SS barrel, adj. gas block and 5.4 oz. buffer. Well after spending damn near what I paid for the rifle in upgrades it shoots really well. So since I have a budget AR-10 gun I thought I would go ahead and use a better foundation and go with Aero receivers and then dump the big money on the barrel, BCG and trigger. Well I built the lower today and it's fully functional as it sits. It has a a upgrade safety ( Radian Talon ambi job ), a trigger and different stock are next . I already upgraded the bolt catch and mag release with BAD billet pieces.

When I received the PSA rifle the lower it looked a little anemic in the mag well area. Comparing it to the Aero the difference is evident. The Aero is structurally more substantial and the finish is also better. I just don't believe there are to many companies that make receivers so much better than Aero that it justifies the price difference. They are probably forged by the same foundries. Outside of 7075-T6 forged alloy receivers there is not a whole heaping load of difference between them.

With that said I am halfway through the next AR-10 platform build and other than the receivers no expense will be spared on function critical parts and I am looking forward to completing this rifle. The barrels I am considering are between 400 and 600 bucks but that is still not completely decided on. Time will tell since it will be a month or two before I am ready for that part. I will keep you guys informed on the progress and post range results when completed.

Of course on a side note if I decide to sell it I will take the ODT approach and list it for 3 times what it's worth just because it's current theme in our classifieds.

 

[greg vess]

There is much more structure around the mag well. On the PSA the meat around the trigger is thicker but overall I think the Aero is a much better built piece. I knew that area around the mag well looked thinner than I remembered. I have never had a defective part from Aero. I can't say the same for PSA. Even though this PA-10 purchase performed as should I do think the Aero will be twice the rifle the PSA is when finished.

 

[medium187mph]

Good info, I like the AR10 platform but have never expected bolt accuracy out of them.

Give me minute of deer at 200 yards and I’m happy

 

[greg vess]

Good info, I like the AR10 platform but have never expected bolt accuracy out of them.

Give me minute of deer at 200 yards and I’m happy

Well after I made the upgrades I shot a couple groups and they averaged out to .688 so that's not bad for a inexpensive gun. It would make a fine hunting rifle but I wouldn't exactly rely on it if I was an operator. Hell when I shot it just like it came from the factory it was quite accurate at 50 yards. I didn't shoot any farther than that from it because I was just getting the iron sights set up and quite frankly I can't see out to 100 yards to make any kind of accuracy assessment but I'm sure with the scope it would have been well within 1.5 MOA. So even from the factory it would have made a decent Hunter.

Originally I was going to take the barrel out of the PSA and all the upgrades off of the PSA and put them on to the arrow Precision receivers and whatever hand guard I chose. Then return the PSA back to factory presentation. But the gun shoots really well. So I figured why not just build a longer Barrel rifle on a better foundation. There's no doubt in my mind that the PSA will go bang every time you pull the trigger but I would rather have something just a little more substantial.

There's no question in my mind that LMT are the best but you're talking about $500 for just the lower receiver. I think you can build a dependable and fight worthy weapon without spending $400 or $500 for a lower receiver. I mean comparing apples to apples they're both made out of 7075 t6 alloy that's been dropped forged probably by the same foundry. It's just the higher price receivers are probably made to a specification is much tighter and scrutinize to a higher degree. That doesn't mean that lesser expensive set of receivers can't to get the job done. I'm sure someday I'll Branch out and build one of the ultra high-end rifles but that'll be down the line. After this AR-10 build the next build is going to be a bolt-action build. It's one of those 1200-1300 dollar custom actions, an all-out tactical stock and probably the best Barrel money can buy. Who knows what caliber will cross that bridge when we get there.

There is a gun smith here that takes a 700 action puts on a lathe and totally re-machines the whole action and makes it much better than it is from the factory. I've seen five or six of those Remy actions from the factory and it's hard to believe they shoot as accurate as they do looking at the actions.The face of those things are literally cut with the chop saw. You can see the circular groves on the face. He cleans all that up and ReThreads the action. Also the bolt lugs are only brazed onto the bolt so he takes those TIG welds them on and then cleans that up so it'll be much stronger. He also does some other stuff that makes the bolt much tighter feeling from battery to fully open. I might get him to do one of the short action ones for my build I'm not sure yet.

This guy knows his stuff and has everything you can imagine for gunsmithing in his basement. He has a couple of lathes, a CNC machine and necessary equipment to complete any task on any gun. He knows this business and is probably the best gunsmith I've ever known. He's like me he started out building high horsepower engines for race cars except he did it for 4 cylinder imports and I did it from V8 domestics. He said the hardest he has to do was programming the computer system. Setting up the program to run the CNC machine he said was a little aggravating and time consuming but other than that there was nothing to it. I could probably end up saving a few hundred dollars by using one of his worked over Remington actions. Since Remington actions are copied so much in the custom market buying parts would be very convenient and plentiful.

 

[cmshoot]

There is much more structure around the mag well. On the PSA the meat around the trigger is thicker but overall I think the Aero is a much better built piece. I knew that area around the mag well looked thinner than I remembered. I have never had a defective part from Aero. I can't say the same for PSA. Even though this PA-10 purchase performed as should I do think the Aero will be twice the rifle the PSA is when finished. View attachment 6334266

My opinion on the reasoning behind PSA’s thick FCG area / thin magwell is that the profile is easier/quicker/cheaper to machine.

 

[greg vess]

My opinion on the reasoning behind PSA’s thick FCG area / thin magwell is that the profile is easier/quicker/cheaper to machine.

Makes perfect sense.

 

[greg vess]

Again I have found myself going overboard with what supposed to be a cheap .308 to shoot with. The dang rifle cost me 565 bucks. So what do I do? I start upgrading with no budget in mind now I have a 1,200 dollar PSA sitting in the safe. I just can't seem to let a cheap rifle ( In this case cheap means sub Par quality ) be a cheap gun. I have to dump more than I paid for the rifle in it with upgrades. I should have started with the better parts to begin with.

 

[300_whisper]

Are uppers interchangeable between the aero and psa?

I really like aero. I have their M4E1. It’s sick. I really want the PSA M110 clone.

 

[cmshoot]

Are uppers interchangeable between the aero and psa?

I really like aero. I have their M4E1. It’s sick. I really want the PSA M110 clone.

They’re made to the same pattern, so they should interchange.

 

[Jamescg]

Usually when something is made thicker it’s because that’s made from poor quality materials and has to be thicker to make up for lack of strength.