ow

So being the engineer I am, I just had to put the lower parts kit I received yesterday together. Magazine catch? Check. Bolt catch? Check. Trigger and hammer groups? Check. Safety? Check. Stock? Check. Buffer system? Check. Pistol grip and trigger guard? Check. Break-down pin? Check.
… Pivot pin? Not so much.
Trying to push it in by hand was not working so well for my clumsy mitts, so I tried to make use of the “pivot pin installation tool” I bought from M&A Parts. Fail. The pivot pin detent was being pushed hard enough out of its little hole that it scarred and garred the tool to the point where the burrs sticking up off of it damaged the right side of the pivot pin holders on my lower. Suffice to say, pictures will be taken and sent back to the folks at M&A of both the tool and the lower, especially since I was using their lower parts kit and their pivot pin installation tool. So, after over an hour of fighting, one lost detent (thankfully, they sent three), one damaged/destroyed tool, one cosmetically damaged lower, and one skinned and bleeding knuckle (do not ask me how that happened), I gave up on the pivot pin.
I am starting to understand why there are people who absolutely hate this platform. Me, I just hate the springs. I am going to set up a cardboard box backstop when I get home from work today, and see if I can get that bloody pin and detent in the old-fashioned way… otherwise, a gunsmith may be getting some money out of me after all.