243 WSSM Upper????

R

Rhinorider

New member
I am new at the AR building and need some input from you AR gurus. I and contemplating building a 243 WSSM upper and have been wondering about feeding issues, mag modifications, and availability of bolt carrier groups, what reciever. I am thinking of Krieger, Lija,or other quality barrel manufacturer in 22-24" heavy barrel with a 1 in 8 twist. So far looking for the bolt carrier I have come up with zero, anyone know of good suppliers. What buffering set up am I going to have to use? Are there any other gremlins I haven't thought of that are going to bite me? Thanks in advance.
 
cant help you on that one but it would be cool and would cost a lot to shoot 243 WSSM my dad has a couple model 70 in that round best of luck..
 
A fun idea but a few road blocks. The upper is not a standrd AR1 5plus the barrel and bolt extensions are not available as OLY has those pretty well locked up except for one or two sources and they build uppers. They don't sell parts IIRC. Magazines are pretty single sourced from OLY and are VERY expensive.

Lowers are just standard AR15. I run a regular buffer/A2 set up on my 25 WSSM.

Greg
 
I haven't looked for components for a little while, but a few months back, I was looking for a replacement bolt for mine...none to be had. It can be difficult to fine what you need for a build. I just got two more 5 round mags and they ran just under $90 for the pair. That said, it's a real fun rifle and very accurate.
 
I've been modifying Pmags for the WSSM for almost 6 years now. It's not hard and in my opinion, they are far superior to factory steel mags from OLY and better than the modified metal ones from Mike.
The upper is in fact a standard AR15 upper...except that they have had the ejection port opened up to allow the WSSM case to eject.

Anybody can chamber you a barrel for WSSM, and even though Oly has the rights for their designed parts, they are no longer the only one making WSSM rifles. Jard Inc has their own proprietary design that I got to handle, but haven't shot. I was not impressed initially, but that doesn't really mean jack squat. It could be a great shooter, I don't know.

The difference is in the bolt, the barrel extension and the mags and only Mike at Dtech and Carl at Accuracy Systems are licensed to build using Olympic Arms parts. If you need something repaired, they can help, but they aren't going to sell you parts to build one yourself.
 
That's pretty much what I was afraid of. I suspected parts availability was slim. I would order an upper but from what I understand wait time is pretty much a year now. I could build a 10 but was wanting to try and keep it light. Well back to the drawing board. Cbass what do you have to do to the mags to get them to work?
 
if you're wanting a AR platform that will shoot long distances and very accurate flat shooter and still use the standard bolt face and mags try a 204 just an idea
 
I was under the impression the barrel extensions are larger than a standard AR and can't be slid into a regular upper. I read something like 0.050 bigger IIRC. I know that when I put the calipers on my 25 WSSM the numbers are bigger but maybe I can't read them right.

Greg
 
Originally Posted By: GLShooterI was under the impression the barrel extensions are larger than a standard AR and can't be slid into a regular upper. I read something like 0.050 bigger IIRC. I know that when I put the calipers on my 25 WSSM the numbers are bigger but maybe I can't read them right.

Greg

You read them correctly Greg. The inside bore of the upper receiver is larger than that of a standard .223/5.56 upper receiver, to accept the larger barrel-extension. Just another one of the misconceptions about the WSSM upper.
 
Originally Posted By: dtechOriginally Posted By: GLShooterI was under the impression the barrel extensions are larger than a standard AR and can't be slid into a regular upper. I read something like 0.050 bigger IIRC. I know that when I put the calipers on my 25 WSSM the numbers are bigger but maybe I can't read them right.

Greg

You read them correctly Greg. The inside bore of the upper receiver is larger than that of a standard .223/5.56 upper receiver, to accept the larger barrel-extension. Just another one of the misconceptions about the WSSM upper.

Thanks Mike. I thought I was going blind....Not.

I hope all is well with you and yours up North.

Greg
 
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I had one of the oly uppers. You can buy barrels from them. The 24" SUM I had shot great with 85gr bullets. Feelings only an issue if you don't size properly. I liked mine. I had the modified mags from mike and they ran great. I carried my 25-06 more so got rid of it
 
Just get you a grendel , it will be easier. I have had 6 uppers and they have all shot well. You could have a 20" med hvy (.750) barrel and have a nice long range shooter
 
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