Just built my first AR-15 lower last night. its about 75% done. (rguns lower, bushmaster guts) will probably upgrade to a geissele trigger later

http://www.the370z.com/members/edub3...ut-75-done.jpg

Got the lower receiver and clip right before prices went thru the roof on em. now i just need a buffer tube/spring/ to complete the lower.

not sure about which upper to go with right now. free float something or other. torn between .223 and .300 blackout right now tho

Bahahahahaha!

Amazon.com, you can find a leapers UTG buffer assembly. UTG buffers are pretty good quality and low priced. You can get that now to make your rifle functional. THen get something HQ later. For the price. You can't go wrong with the UTG buffer assembly.

I realized i was mistaken about the DI ar.
Thanks. :tup:

Yeah, I don't disagree with that.

I guess I understand this from a "working rifle, now" point of view. But in the end you spend more money doing it twice. And I don't think the high grade stuff is all that much more expensive. Not to mention you are getting 7075T6 vs. 6061 which is going to be a big deal if your rifle sees a lot of hard use.

Granted it's probably very difficult to find any of the top tier stuff in stock at the moment. :icon14:

yea, its kinda a "get what u can get" market right now, but i'm trying to be patient. i'll have to see whats available right now as far as buffers go.

anyone have any info on the .300 blackout vs the .223

Oh E, just buy both barrels... Why not? You can swap between cal. :tup:

.300 blackout is not worth it if you don't spend cash on supersonic ammo, but WITH supersonic, It has AK range & with better accuracy. Downside is.. Supersonic .300blkt is veeery pricey, but i think worth it.

I'm trying to build two rifles, one dedicated 6.8 and a 5.56/.300blkt modular rifle.

from Nordic Components Facebook page:

NOTICE: We are unable to process credit card transactions at this time. Intuit Merchant Services has told us that they will NOT process anymore transactions and may put a freeze our accounts because we sell firearms related products. I was told that they are backed by Chase Banks. DO NOT conduct business with these financial institutions if you care about the Constitution of the United States, the Second Amendment or your RIGHTS as a firearms owner. We, as firearms owners, are under attack. I wonder how many of these anti-gun banks received Bail-out money from the current administration?
We are working on getting set up with a firearm friendly processor and hope to be back on line to serve you quickly.

What info would you like? I can get/have anything you could imagine on it for the most part. Just ask.

We just recently had an indoor range open here in the area. On opening day I was able to pick up a Huldra Tac Elite, 1000 rounds of 9mm, 1000 rounds of XM193, several pmags and even a couple of impossible-to-find magazines for my Walther PPQ in the Pro Shop. I got the last Tactical Elite, but I noted that they had several Korstogs in the rack. That's a brand new Fleet Farm house brand that is essentially a "direct impingement" version of the Huldra (which is a gas piston design). So new, I don't think it's even for sale yet other than their Pro Shop. They also had a few Colts and a couple of BCM's.

Fleet Farm has gone to DD, Noveske, and BCM looking for distribution contracts but when those companies heard the numbers they needed for their 33 stores they just laughed....no way they could come up with those kinds of numbers.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/korstogarms?fref=ts

well, i'm not really sure yet. this being my first AR, i dont think i plan on doing tons of hunting with it, but if i ever did, i figured i would be better off going with the .300. Hell, maybe i should just buy 2 uppers.

side note: just bought a VLTOR stock and buffer tube for my lower. now i get to look into the fun stuff... UPPERS!

i'm going to purchase a complete upper. so i know i want a free float, and flat top. but not sure about what other characteristics i should be looking for in an upper assembly. can anyone shed some light on some do's and dont's when buying an upper?

the high grade parts aren't available right now. I know cuzi been buying parts. The UTG i recommended cuz i seen people run them and they run well. PERIOD... And they ARE available. Thanks for your input though

Let me throw you some 300 blackout facts before you buy two uppers.

1. the 7.62 cal head on the 300 blkout is primed in a 5.56 shell.
2. Due to this 300 blkout fits in 5.56 mags with NO MODIFICATION
3. It runs on the same buffer tension,BCG and firing pin as the 5.56 without modification with subsoonic loads. Supersonic, may or may not? Need a stronger buffer spring? That you might want to research.
4. The only difference between a 5.56 and 300blkout rifle is the barrel.
5. AR platforms are highly modular so barrel changing is easy
6. Every accessory you buy for 5.56 Ar's works on 300 except the barrel

Save some money. You only need a second upper and different mags if you're going to make another AR in 6.5 or 6.8

.308 uses a seperate lower altogether

Hope this helps??? :tup:

I understand the availability problem, but I could NEVER bring myself to recommend offshore imported Leapers-UTG rifle parts to ANYONE, even the most casual plinker, even for a rifle that would be nothing more than a range toy.




.

stuff is available.. just gotta do LOTS of searching. that VLTOR stock/buffer tube took me about 3 hours to find on the internet yesterday

Your assessment coming from what experience?

20+ years shooting the AR platform, 15 of them on a high round-count SWAT team training twice a month, two AR15 armorer's courses, and 15+ formal training courses wherein I have seen all manner of malfunctions and equipment failure on a wide variety of rifles.

I do confess I have a UTG rifle case for one AR around here somewhere which hasn't fallen apart in 5 years.

Kool beans. Much respect to the job and position.

BUT... Again, I have seen these buffer assemblies run well on DI guns at the range with a couple of friends that run them on AR builds. I dont know how much trust I'd have on this with the extra impact from piston rifles, but this will be fine on a DI gun.

While i'm sure you seen dozens of failures, if not hundreds? I also know that police and SWAT usually run, RRA, Bushmaster, Stag, BCM components. You wont find a malfunction on a police gun from a UTG buffer assembly. Thats the kind of product that gets tested in civilian ranges and sporting events brother.

that said, with a serious shortage of parts. Its just an option. Even though I seen these run flawless... I did say just to make your build operational.

decided to go on amazon to find a review. While one guy seemed to have an out of spec part. The rest seemed to be doing well.

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: UTG Billet Mil Spec Buffer Tube Kit Heavy Duty!!

I'm sure I can find more credible reviews and discussions if necessary.

When it comes to AR's. One thing you should know with your extensive experience. There isn't a perfect AR out there off the shelf. You will always need to change something, even on the highest end of gun, Sights, trigger assemblies, sometimes even the whole lower due mag bevels are way too thin for anything more than basic plinking (depending on Builder) .
also different builds match different parts, and what works in one rifle may not work in another.

Govt contract AR's leave you limited to Only certain brands. I'm sure UTg isn't on the SWAT contract list.:tup:

I agree with him and my assessment is based off of all the crap I have tried to trouble-shoot for people at the range, friends, etc. who bought crap and now have issues.

I recommend staying with the .223/5.56 for your first AR. What are you hunting, deer? I take it you are in KC Missouri? What is the biggest, baddest animal you will hunt?

I currently keep "Brown Tip" (which is a 70gr TSX bullet loaded to 5.56 pressure, you can get it from SSA or ASYM if you don't have access to the .mil load) and know people who hunt with it. It typically expands to about .45-.5" and will penetrate 24-28" in game animals. I'm talking animals like Nilgai antelope, etc. I know a guy who harvests hogs from a helicopter by the hundreds each year, and this round has given him better performance on-target than M80 147gr .308 with a sample size of about 75 animals for each, on the hunt he formed his opinion on.

The other information you got about the 300BLK was also accurate by my understanding, as well. Just the barrel. That's it.

There is a wide variety of ways these rifles get into service depending on the agency, all the way from contracted purchasing to allowing individual officers to use their own weapon, but you're right in that when contracted, the purchasing decisions are generally made by the bean counters and not the people actually using them.

My opinions on rifle or component quality are based on what I've seen over the years. Having seen a lot of failures of one kind or another, I've developed a set of biases relative to what brand of rifle or components I would ever own to put to hard use. When people start taking about rifles, there is always someone who chimes in and says "My Bushmaster has been completely reliable". You're right, any company can occasionally make a bad rifle, or in the case of Bushmaster, for example, occasionally make a good one. I tend to view it from the standpoint of "if I want the best odds of getting a reliable, high-quality rifle, what brand would I buy based on the performance of the many brands I've seen in hard use?"

Being the good investor I am, I'm again considering selling my BCM for a 100%+ profit. Decisions...

They are a distributor for many parts. Not all are imported. The AR part I'm recommending is american.

Leapers, Inc. - Hunting/Shooting, Sporting Goods and Security Gear

The part so, far gets acceptably good reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/Billet-Spec-Bu...owViewpoints=1

I agree on preferring different COMPLETE rifles based on the "criteria you stated". Not a fan of Bushmaster for ownership myself, in spite of... I'm sure you know a lot about a slew of parts. But I'm talking about the one you say is a non-recommendable part.
1.Two Friends running it. Rock solid thus far.
2. Reviews... Very good thus far.

While i'm sure you have lots of good experience to share and can probably "teach me" a few things... Your analysis of this "particular UTG part" is unfounded. I will probably end up ordering one myself? Don't need it now but if i come across another cheap stripped lower. I'm buying it fror 3 lowers. :) Lowers will be the most important part...

I have a UTG scope mount for an AK, its rock solid and holds zero on my Burris xts-135, I shoot 100-200yrd groups on AK that breaks AK stereotypes. My friends have the UTG buffer on their rifle builds and you have a UTG rifle case. 3 good UTG parts. :)

how many AR's do you own?

Just the one.

Good luck with that. I hope it works out well for you.

Nah bro... Keep it. It's not worth losing. BCM is a good rifle and it will be hard to replace for a while.

Also, the BS that we're going through may drive up prices permanently. Maybe not to where they are now? But I think a base AR is going to start at $1000 instead of the $750 it was starting at 10 weeks ago before our president was re-elected. Your BCM is going up in value. But you may have features that may be outlawed? And you may have a grandfathered AR.

:tiphat:

My view is that since the AWB was introduced today it might fuel further hysteria and drive prices up temporarily... good time to sell. If I sold I wouldn't really ever plan on buying one back, anyway.

Just so tempting to sell and profit. :icon17:

I see a gun (handgun or assault rifle) the same way as I see a fire extinguisher; hopefully and probably I will never need to use it, but when I need it I will be surely glad that I at least have it.

It would be extremely gratifying to see the AWB go down in flames realizing that the government caused the gun industry to gain massive profits because of their knee-jerk stupidity.

Well, my two cases of SOCOM 5.56 "Optomized" 70gr "Brown Tip" came in today. Tested it against a cinderblock and against water/paper/water.

Cinderblock showed penetration through both sides, with VERY little energy remaining upon exit (it bounced off of a soft-cover 1" thick text-book after tearing/denting it heavily). Here is what the round looks like:

The round on the left punched the cinderblock. IN/out both sides, hit the book, dented/tore and bounced off.

The round in the middle is a pulled, unfired projectile.

The round on the right first hit a 3-1/4" thick 1/2gallon cardboard milk-carton full of water, immediately after, a 1" thick soft-cover dry text-book, and immediately after that, it penetrated fully through 2 gallons of water in the form of plastic 1-gallon conventional milk-jugs, and then was found in the bottom of the milk-jug behind them. It expanded to 0.32" by 0.49" at the minimum (measured the narrowest distance "between" the "petals") and maximum (measured across the farthest spanning "petals"). The hole in the cover of the book leads me to believe that it was fully expanded by the time it left the 3-1/4" thick milk-carton, as did the resounding SLAP! of it hitting said book (I was shooting suppressed and using electronic ear-pro. The "SLAP!" was insanely loud.) and it obliterating the cardboard milk carton.

All-in-all, it's a sick round and a great addition to my stash. It will run great out of my 10.5" SBR, and should expand effectively out past the 200 yard mark. Should run about 2475fps from that barrel and the effective expansion threshold is around 1800fps.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2nk5hrb.jpg

*Testing conducted from a 14.5" barrel at roughly 15 yards. As a size-reference, the pulled projectile mic's 1.038" in length.

Not sure if this Falls under Political, but I don't think it does, so i'm sharing

Washington city councilman walks out on council meeting because of citizen with CCW - YouTube

What will you change your name to? .45acpmustang? :rofl2:

Thats the first time I ever heard of a 5.56 round going completely through a cinderblock. Do you have video or at least photo of the block? This is an interesting round.
Who makes the Brown-tip? Penetration is unlike most 5.56 ammo and on a borderline, decent bullet weight

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...k_original.jpg

LOL... Let's End Racism.

I agree. I probably won't sell for that reason alone. However I will be pissed if I have to pay $200 and register mine with the ATF. :shakes head:

I would rather pay the $200. Well for me $600 than lose my right. Look at it this way. Once we pay the money, we have the freedom to make our barrels whatever size we want. :)

One of my gun dreams is to have a 12.5 barrel suppressed .300blackout. Tax stamping rifles will just motivate me to make more high tech rifles in my arsenal. lol

The more they try to restrict, the bigger my dreams get. Hey, They really are the greatest gun salesmen. lol:inoutroflpuke:

But we also lose the ability to transport our weapons out of state without prior ATF permission. And there are all sorts of issues about possession. No one can touch it without being under your supervision. And we'd only be allowed to have one "feature".

so what would this do to the parts market? anyone can order any parts and make a gun how they want right now. will that not be so in the future?

I'm really not sure at this point.