AR15 Upper/Lower Receiver Shim Kit – X-Shim Product Review & Installation
AR15 Upper/Lower Receiver Shim Kit – X-Shim Product Review & Installation
I review & install the X-Shim AR15 shim kit by Varmintlights.
This kit includes thin plastic shims that you install over the take-down/pivot pin lugs. It eliminates the upper to lower receiver wobble effectively and without any permanent modifications to your rifle. The kit costs about $10
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does the play between the upper and lower get worse over time? my rifle was tight when I bought it but now it has a slight wobble. I didn’t know if I did something to cause the wobble or if it happened naturally…..
I have no idea why Im watching videos on how to reduce slop on my upper and lower. my Spikes Tactical ST15 mid length came from the factory with extremely tight tolerances to the point where I cant make the upper move when its mated with the lower. I have always had to use a bullet to push my takedown pin out, and fight to put it back on. Not complaining, cause I hate loose tolerences too. Just noting how I spend way too much time on youtube.
I just trimmed a sliver of electrical tape, and after I cleaned the edge of the receiver with alcohol. I stuck the tape to the receiver Then reattached the upper to the lower , and no more wobble. The pins were a little tight, but after a few uses they loosen up. Still no wobble. I spent no money. EASY PEASY.
I agree with cj, o-ring is the way to go. I’ve used accuwedge,but it was very difficult to close the gun at first. o-ring is the cheapest and easiest,imo
you open the receiver and lay the shims inside and close the receiver and you want a comfortably "SNUG" fit of the push pin and that should take all wobble out
@2phast Tactical You can also buy expanding takedown pins off ebay for around $20. They are really good; but they make the takedown process take an extra minute.
Also, if the 4 doesn’t work, I’d go to stacking the 3 and the 1, to make .06, then go to the 4 and the 1 from there…
Tacky and a waste of money if you ask me… Just use a rubber O ring.. boom
Adam, as I can’t reply to your post directly, this will have to do. Regardless if you own a high end AR or a low end AR, your going to have some degree of upper to lower receiver wobble. You either live with it as-is or implement a solution such as the X-Shim to get rid of the wobble, so that is the point of products such as the X-Shim and the Accuwedge.
Any one else hear the EVP in the audio @ 2:16- 2:17 ???? lol ….. 2phast has a friend hanging around him ….
I own a spikes lower and bcm upper… constant play. I think spikes tactical finish is completely different in someway, or they do it so you get their upper which is what I’m going to be doing
allamericanarparts.com Has a good selection of parts.
Looks like I could make this from a plastic card and some double sided tape.
Foam earplug under the aft takedown pin works pretty well too.
the problem is out of spec holes. JP Microfit pins are made bigger and bigger by .001" use the pins that are snuggest fit and the problem is permanently solved for a $28 set of pins.
I measured front & rear clearance with feeler gage.
After noting clearances I went to industrial hardware store & purchased plastic shim stock of correct thickness.
Cost under $5.00 and their is enough left, after cutting out shims needed, to do several more shim installs.
who need Accu Wedge .22 .223 5.56 with a good price?
https://ositif.youcan.shop/products/accu-wedge-22-223-556-mm-pack-of-10
What material are these shims made of?
Unnecessary product.
8 to 10 dollars for a acuwedge? I paid 5 dollars for 2
what trigger is that?
How are these shims holding up after being rattled around a bit and heated up some? Any additional input would be appreciated. Thanks for the video…
Better off dropping an o-ring on each post and getting rid of shit grade pivot and takedown pins. Drop in a set of slightly oversized, precision machined, nicely finished pins like say.. the bad-eps pins by battle arms development. Smooth operation, snug fit, and no plastic horseshit rattling around inside your gun.
"Little piece of T-Rex tape on lower just in front of,and below on slope of recoil buffer tube retainer stud, works very well,replace as needed".
Don’t buy this crap. But a receiver that has the tension screw that removes any receiver looseness
I thought spikes rifles are supposed to be matched for “perfect fit” between the lower and upper. Great video. Thought about Spikes and BCM, and I think I will go with BCM.
This is the dumbest shit for an ar i’ve seen. First off the gap and rattle doesnt impact accuracy. Second you can get an entire stripped upper for like $40 (unless you’re naive and fall for gucci guns spikes, noveske, DD, etc). This kit costs $10 bringing the cost of a new upper to a whopping $30 if you just put the $10 toward a new upper. Third for an upper/lower spikes tactical set it’s $225 wtf just get an upper receiver set that fits together for like $120 off aero precision (it’s made by the same fucking people at mueller industries anyways). Lastly, dont fork out the extra cash for gucci parts that are made at the same factory. Note: Dont buy gucci guns like noveske, spikes, dd, geissele, BCM, etc. It’s all apples to apples, and just costs more due to rollmark tax lol.
Dude 30 minutes for this….really
spikes is overated out of spec criminal company ripping people off with their fancy good looking junk.
I don’t have the problem I’ve put together 3 using mixed brandings but what a great product and review.
Garbage…..
you have to trim the accu wedge to fit proper for easier pin removal
For quick cheap fix….goto Harborfreight…pick you up a 225 count pack of ( O – Rings ) for $5.99….thats enough to last you 10 human lifetimes of AR- 15 shooting.
Using the 3-m adhesive , did you not increase the size of the shim. I understand why you did it but is the upper to lower more tight now ??
Shame Varmintlights went out of business. You can’t buy the x-shims anymore.
What optic is that? I like it a lot! By the way, thanks for your lower build series. Helped me out a great deal.
The proper way to fix this anomaly is to clamp the two halves together, squarely drill pin holes oversize, then use like-sized oversize take down pins..
My AR was built at local gun store with a FMK polymer lower. No wobble at all.
Thanks for reviewing and good idea using the double sided tape. I’ve been using orings for the front pivot but I think these would last much longer. Please edit your video for the sake of brevity. 5 minutes is enough time to cover what is actually substantive.
I agree iv been using a foam earplug since 1994 and never had a problem
5 cent #7 O-ring works great!! 😎👍
buy a BCM no wobble
Nice vid thanks for sharing.
Kind og strange..the cheap S&W M&P Sport 2 upper and lower are super tight. But the expensive BCM, Spike habe wobble.
Wonder if they will melt or get into the action when shooting a lot of rounds
This thing is awesome I just got this and works amazing I originally had the accuwedge n I had to cut so much off and still didn’t work. Got this in and works great no play what so ever. I have a Adams arms upper with a Samson free floating rail and a m&p lower and I didn’t have to trim or cut the shim. Amazing
I used a thin strip of electrical tape on the upper where it mounts to the lower. No movement at all.
Plz tell me where I can get that charging handle…I’ve been looking for a week on every site I come across and never found one..this one is oerfect..PLZ HELP
I just put a few dabs of that spray on bed liner on my lower. It worked great for a while. It eventually fell off but I did it on a whim & didn’t clean it well first. I just got some overspray from my friend’s bed job & used a Q-Tip to put a few spots on my lower.
Like what u did. Especially 3M fix on the trimmed front shim. Thanks.