Upper on the cheap...

Wildcat · Nov 21, 2012

And it will get to you fast! Joe Bobs is awesome.

WideLoadTimmy · Nov 21, 2012

Mitch Gibson said:
What is the deal here? You just need to know what upper to buy in your price range? Del-Ton is in your price range. My upper started off 100% Del-Ton, and it was great, and still is, but I've only shot a couple thousand rounds through it. The only major change I made to it was free-floating it. I'm not sure you'd find one free-floated already in the $400-500 range. Maybe here: http://www.midwayusa...float-handguard

Dustin Cantrell said:
I think you misunderstood Jesse. Shooting out the barrel means to wear out the bore until it's no longer accurate and you do that by shooting a TON. I don't know how many rounds it would take. 30k? 50k? It'd depend on the quality of the barrel. I took it as him saying buy a PSA upper and run it like you stole it enjoying the heck out of it.

I'll post some info for you when I get home. I'm no expert but I'll try to pass along what I do know.

I meant the whole "That's the price of a good Barrell" thing. I was looking more for "Oh, you want to use a rifle length gas system, well this BCG would work well with it within your price range." or something along those lines. Don't get me wrong, the black friday deal thing, if it turns out to be true, is a great suggestion. As for why I want a heavy barrel, I don't really have a good reason. This is gonna be a workhorse, do it all rifle that, while maybe not necessarily the best suited for 3 gun or pratical rifle, is still able to do it. I have been looking at Del Ton, as well. You gotta understand that i wanna build this rifle as much myself as I can just to learn how to do it. Once I get it done, it's gonna be an experiment. If I wanna try a certain part, I'll try it on the cheap rifle. That way if i break it, it's not a $3k rifle that's getting broken. Once i feel more confident in what I'm doing, then I'll start an awesome rifle. I also don't have to be competitive, I just want to do it for fun. As long as it's Mil Spec, it should be reliable enough for the stuff I want to do with it. I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers, I'm just looking more for stuff like the example I just gave.

The heavy barrel - Pros and cons of each would be fantastic. I'm also open as far as anything else goes. I'm set on that for now but if someone can articulate good reasons to change it up, I'm all ears. If you think I should spend the extra money on an adjustable gas system since this is gonna be "an experiment", I'm wide open. I just want a serious discussion as though you're talking to someone with absolutely no experience with an AR. I'd love detailed explanations and pictures, too, but that's for another thread, I think

As far as round count, I can't shoot as much as Jesse or some of you guys, although I'd love to, my schedule doesn't allow it. I'm thinking maybe 1500 a year to start and then increase once I've learned to reload and have more free time.

WideLoadTimmy · Nov 21, 2012

Jesse Tischauser said:
My apologies. I was trying to convey that for under $500 you aren't looking at a lot of options. You should grab up the cheapest one you can find such as the PSA Black Friday upper and then use the extra money to buy all the ammo you can and shoot it until its not fun to shoot anymore. For our local club matches you can shoot anything really. The 1-5 shots per match we shoot over 100 yards doesn't require anything but a 2-3 MOA gun.

I get it. The $500 isn't set in stone and i don't expect to get the BCG or CH with it, it would just be nice if I could. I would love to try someone out. If you guys have heard of someone or some company you'd like to try but are unsure, I'll be the guinea pig. Same with parts. This emboldened text is fantastic info because it gives me an extra set of criteria to consider. Thanks.

JSooner · Nov 21, 2012

You get free surplus ammo upper when you buy a blackhole weapons barrel from surplusammo.com. Its mil spec and made in the USA FWIW.

WideLoadTimmy · Nov 21, 2012

Dustin Cantrell said:
First, I'd like to ask why you're set on a 20" heavy barrel. You mention practical rifle and 3 gun. I wouldn't want a heavy profile barrel for that. I may be wrong, but I think most would want a light profile barrel or one that is gov't profile that has been fluted to reduce weight.

I really don't think you're going to find a decent complete upper (I assume you're including a BCG and charging handle in the $400-$500) within your budget that is free floated and has the other items you want.

If I wanted to just put together a general use AR with spending under $500 on a complete upper with BCG I'd buy this 16" midlength upper for $320 and add a BCM BCG for $160 and get a $20 charging handle if you were strict on the $500 limit. The BCM Gunfighter charging handles are $50 and really nice but would put you over $500. http://palmettostate...ing-handle.html

For building yourself with a 20" barrel this is what you might spend:
You can get a 20" A2 profile Green Mountain barrel to your door for $180.
PSA blem stripped upper $50
BCM BCG $160
Charging handle $20
Gas tube $10
Gas block ?
Rear sight?
Upper parts kit $35

That's $455 without gas block, front or rear sights or a free float handguard. If you can only spend $500, I'd seriously think about just putting together an AR that you can upgrade later with a free float handguard and railed gas block if that's the way you want to go.

Even from Del-Ton a 20" heavy barreled chrome lined complete upper with YHM free float handguard and YHM single rail gas block is going to be ~$625 and that's without sights. You'd also have questionable parts. I've heard too many bad things about Del-Ton. Maybe they've fixed them now, but they aren't for me. Not knocking them at all.

You're going to either have to make some compromises or spend more and piece it together over time.

I figured, I was kind of looking to find the best i can for the money. I always figured the Upper to be the most expensive half. That budget is flexible because I have time to wait.

Brent Akin said:
I found a used upper on SnipersHide for $625 with a Knights rail and ARMS buis, both of which I sold, bought a Nordic handguard, and came out just over $500 total.

Mine is a CMMG 18" HBAR with rifle gas. Not what I wanted (preferred medcon or lighter), but at the price, I'm not complaining. It's plenty accurate for me now.

I'll upgrade later, but that got me going and didn't break my budget.

I haven't dealt with them, but PKFirearms sometimes has decent deals on budget uppers.

FN 18" Govmt profile barrel $545. Add free float handguard.
http://www.pkfirearm...ptions/new/2408

DPMS Mk12 18" HBAR, YHM TJ free float, $589
http://www.pkfirearm...ptions/new/2533

Brent Akin said:
Just putting some parts together @ JoeBob's.

Parts list:
LAR A4 Upper Assem
JoeBob BCG
YHM LoPro GB
Nordic HD CH
YHM Rifle FF HG
Nordic Tactical Comp
Nordic 18" SS Rifle gas barrel

Total with BS.com discount (+ Free shipping!) is $585.

It's all in stock right now too.

These are good. I like the parts lists citing company names and prices. Thank you so much. This gives me some reading to do in between calls and that kind of info usually leads to other ads and websites that I can read about, too. This is why I come here. So much knowledge.

nikatkimber · Nov 21, 2012

Josh said:
You get free surplus ammo upper when you buy a blackhole weapons barrel from surplusammo.com. Its mil spec and made in the USA FWIW.

That deal is still going?

WideLoadTimmy said:
These are good. I like the parts lists citing company names and prices. Thank you so much. This gives me some reading to do in between calls and that kind of info usually leads to other ads and websites that I can read about, too. This is why I come here. So much knowledge.

I had a 16" HBAR, a 24" bull, and now a 18" SPRish contour.

I've learned lighter is almost always better on an AR.

As far as my list, all that stuff is in stock at Joebobs, they have free shipping, and they give the BS.com discount. Hard to beat.

JSooner · Nov 21, 2012

Brent Akin said:
That deal is still going?

The upper shows up in my cart for zero dollars. And I almost ordered them yesterday. Now that I've ordered that Troy, I've satiated my need to buy stuff for a little while.