4.0B2 updated his AR page, so I decided to update mine as well.
i did a shitty job on the first duracoat paintjob i did, i didnt like the color either. so i took the rifle compeltely apart, stripped everything and painted it again with magpul FDE duracoat. much better job this time. it's not flaking off anywhere, yet lol.
i've put 70 rounds through it so far with all sorts of different ammo and it hasnt failed to fire or not cycled. so far so good.
i was also a little worried about it blowing up. i never had the head space checked by a gunsmith. i read on a bunch of forums about whether i needed to or not. it's like a chevy vs ford argument. 50% say you should and 50% say you dont.
so what i did was take the assembled upper off. took about the BCG, put a live round in the chamber and then put the BCG back in. you want the back of the BCG to be flush with the back of the upper receiver. you dont want it sticking out, or going too far in. mine was flush, so i said F it and shot it anyhow.
so what i've gathered is that if you used ALL mil-spec, brand new parts, you should NOT have an issue with headspace. when the barrel is made, they check the headspace when the barrel extension is pressed in. which makes sense if you think about it. you'd have to wayyyy overtighten the barrel nut in order to create too much headspace. or have a barrel manufacturer that let one slip out the door being wrong.
next up is a red dot. i've narrowed it down to the primary arms red dot or the lucid h7 above. too many choices. irons work fine for now though. i also put out an xmas present request for a new muzzle brake. the A2 sucks IMO.