Building my own AR???

[Craig]

Here is one I made with a POF billet lower. The lower looks awesome but I don't know if it was worth more then twice the cost of a normal Stag or RRA lower. All my other ones are Stag or RRA.

[atomicjoe23]

Are the piston operated and direct gas impingement uppers interchangeable?

i.e. you can put either upper on any lower. . .the only other thing to change would be the gas block and line differences???

I agree the billets are a LOT more expensive. . .but I know that I would always want one.

Is that a 9mm conversion or a .22LR? I see that skinny mag sticking out the bottom.

[scoyoc5]

ran into this on ar15


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[Craig]

It's a 9mm

[atomicjoe23]

That's pretty awesome. . .I wish I had that kind of money laying around.

[FALFire]

First off, I need to ask just what exactly are you planning on doing with the AR? If you are using it for hunting and not plinking then any of the WSSM calibers 243 and up, will make the 6.8 and 6.5 Grendel look weak. Without question, the WSSM's on the AR15 platform absolutely rock. Not sure where you got the feeding problem associated with AR's but it is a myth unless of course your reloading is the problem. Mine has never failed me and the reports of being barrel burners, I'm certain you will hear that myth too are simply bogus unless of course you are bump firing one. The AR15 mags do need some modification and therefore cannot be used for 223/5.56 ammo after modified but they are cheap, easy to do and readily available. The follower is the main modification involved .

The downside to the WSSM line is available ammo, if you reload not so much. Bullet selection is of course greatest in the 243 and 25 calibers. The 30 caliber not so much as the longer the bullet the more powder capacity you take away. The 30 WSSM was originally setup to use 125-130 grain bullets so you do the math.

Nothing wrong with the 6.8, it will certainly do the job on deer, bear and elk. I use either of my two 6.8's most exclusivley for coyote hunting these days and I can still select from the 300 Fireball, 6x45 or 308's that I have. As stated earlier, the barrel and the trigger are the most important pieces of the puzzle, the rest of the stuff just has to make the weapon function.

[atomicjoe23]

I was planning on using it for hunting. . .I wanted a good ballistic package that would be good for deer, cougar, and bear but not be overkill for coyotes or bobcat.  I have a .22-250 right now, but it's a bolt gun and I'm guessing once I get an AR that's what I'm gonna want to carry, lighter for sure, faster follow-up shots (for me anyway. . .some of you guys may have enough trigger time to really rock that bolt-action, but I'm new to bolt guns so I don't), and shorter so more maneuverable and easier to get through the woods with.

I got the info on the feeding problems with some of the WSSM's from the Rockchucks and 6mmBR websites. . .it could be for bolt guns only, but I don't know that, the article doesn't specify and it's something that I wanted to double check on before I spent money on a chambering that would give me nothing but headaches. . .I would have thought (maybe incorrectly) that if a bolt gun has a problem feeding, then a semi would also have a feeding problem.

I have heard that some of the WSSM's eat the throat of a barrel out also, but that's for BR shooters who go measure barrel performance and shoot thousands of rounds a year out of one gun.

For what I want the WSSM's may just be overkill. . .you say you use the 6.8 for bear, deer, and elk and exclusively on 'yotes so that's exactly what I want.

[FALFire]

The 6.8 would be my recommendation then, it will provide you with all the power needed to take game effectively out to 300 yards or more. With the new Barnes bullets you would be wise to use the 85 to 100 grain bullets for deer. For coyotes all that is needed is the Speer 90gr. TNT's and you can purchase those in bulk packs of 500 bullets per box they tend to be very accurate from most 6.8's. Get yourself some H335 or Reloader 10X, a set of Hornady or RCBS full length dies, use only Silver State Armory small primer brass and get busy.

Pay special attention to barrel manufacture, I would recommend http://ar15performance.com/    You will get a very high quality barrel and the latest upgrades to chamber specs from Harrison. You will need to purchase 6.8 mags, I use C Products mags and so far they seem to work well.

One more comment just to stir the pot and help you not be able to make up your mind.

 If you have not had a chance to fondle a Remington R25 then you really owe it to yourself to take a peek. I would steer you towards the 20" barreled 243 Win. model. They have a lightweight fluted barrel and you really would be amazed just how light and well balanced these things are. Most all of the complaints of too much weight come from the famous AR10 heavy barreled models, well Remington has addressed that issue and had DPMS build it using a very lightweight barrel. From all of the reports I have read, they are very accurate and you will never have an issue with finding ammo anyplace you ever happen to be. I have two DPMS 308's, one is a 16" AP4 carbine and it is amazingly accurate. I killed two coyotes one day at over 400 yards using Hornady 110 grain bullets, both were one shot one kill using the carbine and by the way, it's no heavier than the 6.8's I have. Trust me, they are certainly worth the time to look at. 

 http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/centerfire_rifles/Model_R-25.asp

I have never had a difficult time finding 243Win brass, it's everywhere and the 6mm bullet selection is far superior to the 6.8 277" bullets.

Good luck

Gary

[atomicjoe23]

Thanks for chiming in FALFire!

That's a bunch of great info. . .reloading is one of the next things that I want to get into.

I grew up in Southern Illinois so all we were allowed to hunt with were shotguns. . .now that I'm on the West Coast and away from Cali I could get back into hunting. . .and now that I'm somewhere you can use centerfire rifles reloading seems very interesting. . .it just wasn't worth the time and effort back then.

Thanks again!

[atomicjoe23]

I just picked up the G&A AR15 issue and briefly checked out the AR15 ammo section. . .man that 6.5 Grendel looks pretty BA!!! I'm definitely settled on one of the two, 6.8 SPC or 6.5 Grendel.

I have some time to sort that issue out. . .first I have to decide on the lower. . .I think the Stealth billet lower is sounding pretty good. . .billet is better than forged, and as a machinist it would always bother me knowing that my lower could be better. . .I can always get other uppers and barrels, but who knows what's going on with the gun laws and I should get the best lower I can while I can. . .so definitely a billet, and I think the LaRue lower is the way to go. . .right now I'm leaning toward a Noveske barrel and matching the upper to the barrel is probably the way to go so that will probably be a Noveske as well. . .

Definitely a MagPul PRS stock and a MagPul MIAD pistol grip, Troy front & rear BUIS,  still up in the air on the rail system, but I'm leaning toward a 6x Trijicon ACOG scope for the optics. . .will be able to get anti-reflective scope covers and night optic add-on's for predator and hog-hunting (we can dream can't we. . .) fairly easily.

Not sure what that leaves at the moment either than sling, magazine, and ultimately figuring out the whole gas impengement vs. gas piston operation. I still need to figure out who offers what and what is interchangeable thoug. . .honestly this rifle is probably gonna see more use than any othe firearm in the safe once I get it going, I can probably see the other stuff collecting dust once it's built, has optics, and sighted in. . .either the 6.8 or 6.5 seem to be great all around chamberings for the game available in WA and neither underpowered or overkill for anything. . .the more time you spend behind the trigger of a single gun the better you are at shooting it. . .this could be a great all-around rifle for everythign in the lower 48!!!

Chime in. . .6.8 vs. 6.5. . .and let me know what you think about any of my other decisions!!!

Thanks!!!

[atomicjoe23]

OK. . .I just finished reading the article about the 6.5 vs. the 6.8 and they are basically equivalent with the 6.5 have a slight advantage downrange (according to the article. . .which I would tend to believe based on the pictures of the bullet itself. . .it would appear that the 6.5 Grendel would have a better BC than the 6.8, at the sacrifice of powder capacity). . .

. . .I think this one woudl come down to ammunition availability. . .i"m not set-up for reloading at the moment (althoug I plan to be shortly) so. . .which round is more commercially available???

Thanks!

[actionshooter]

OK. . .I just finished reading the article about the 6.5 vs. the 6.8 and they are basically equivalent with the 6.5 have a slight advantage downrange (according to the article. . .which I would tend to believe based on the pictures of the bullet itself. . .it would appear that the 6.5 Grendel would have a better BC than the 6.8, at the sacrifice of powder capacity). . .

. . .I think this one woudl come down to ammunition availability. . .i"m not set-up for reloading at the moment (althoug I plan to be shortly) so. . .which round is more commercially available???

Thanks!

The 6.8, I have never seen the Grendel ammo for sale

[atomicjoe23]

I finally had some time to check out the AR15 Performance website. . .great site, looks like good stuff too!

Helped me make some more decisions as well. . .

. . .gonna go with a LaRue Stealth billet upper and lower (have to buy the upper first which is not the way I wanted to go, but the only way to get a billet lower is to buy the upper first or at the same time as the lower) then I'll get send the upper to AR15 Performance to have one of their 16" or 18" 6.8 barrels with a YHM 9" diamond rail system installed on it(according to their website they no longer sell just barrels due to headspacing problems so I'm assuming they will install a barrel on an upper) it was between veske and them, but then I saw that the Noveske barrel uses the SPC I chamber instead of the SPC II chamber so that settled that. Going with a  MagPul PRS buttstock, MagPul MIAD pistol grip, MagPul larger trigger guard, Troy folding BUIS front & rear and a 6x Trijicon ACOG for optics.

Have to decide on a trigger, but that's about it unless I'm missing something. . .should be a pretty sweet rifle.

[atomicjoe23]

last post was a mis-post about the chamber that AR15 Performance uses. . .it's not the SPC II chamber, that is the undesirable chamber. . .the SPC I chamber is the one you want, but AR15 uses their own chamber, the 6.8 x 43 chamber which accomodates all factory 6.8 ammo plus hotter handloads.

Had to correct that really quick. .

[atomicjoe23]

Just got an email back from AR15 Performance and I can buy a bolt/barrel assembly from them. . .no need to send them the upper.

Yippee. . .time to buy the first part, LaRue Stealth billet upper. . .maybe for Christmas I'll get the Stealth billet lower. . .have to find an FFL that I can ship to first though. I'm not exactly sure how that works???