AR Upper

Infidel 762

Infidel 762

Director
Staff member
I have an old Bushmaster AR. It has never been an accurate rifle. I plan on dropping in a new trigger and replacing the upper.

What would you suggest for a light, accurate complete upper to throw on top?
 
Are you looking for a complete Upper Receiver I presume?

A few questions I ask my customers:
1. What caliber? What length barrel are you most comfortable using for the velocity/distance you plan to hunt most often?
2. Are you running anything other than day scope, or plan on running it at night?
3. Do you use shooting sticks, or a tripod? or traditional bipod attachment necessary?
4. Will you run a suppressor?

once I have those down, solidly, I'll make a recommendation.

With that said, we have an Apex Hunter rifle that we build the upper using an 18" double fluted barrel, in a number of cartridges, and use to use the 2A handguard until Nemo bought them out and discontinued them. Now we focus on one from Cross Machine and Tool as it's the most sturdy, and offers a balance of weight and rigidity. WE use this same configuration on the carbon version with the exception of the barrel is an 18" BSF or Xcaliber carbon fiber barrel instead of a double fluted barrel.
 
What is intended use? Get a good barrel, good BCG and decent upper stuff, put together yourself. Question why the Bushy isn't accurate.
 
I'm not a fan of AR's although I have had a few. The most accurate rifle in an AR platform was a Rock River. It shot as good as and better than a lot of bolt action rifles. They have several different models to choose from.
 
Guess I've been lucky. My first AR was a Bushmaster Predator I bought used here on PM. It's a tack driver w/55 gr NBT's. When the two stage trigger acted up I put a Timney 3# single stage in it.
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Later, I built two lowers w/standard parts and tuned the stock triggers. Bought two PSA M4gery uppers on sale and they both shoot just over MOA out of the box with the same NBT loads. Plain Jane, but good coyote rifles.
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Sight in target was high, half on target and two shots just off on the backer. Marked the two on tape. VVV
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The other shot 1 1/8" (aim point LR corner of 1" center ^^^^
 
It an XM15 E2 in 223-556, special 30th anniversary edition. I have never found a round it shoots accurately and needs a trigger upgrade. I have a RRA LAR15 that shoots well, this has just been used to do plinking. I have extra thermal I am wanting to mount on something. I am wanting a hand guard with mlok to run it on a tripod and want to keep it light.
 
Infidel 762 said:
It an XM15 E2 in 223-556, special 30th anniversary edition. I have never found a round it shoots accurately and needs a trigger upgrade. I have a RRA LAR15 that shoots well, this has just been used to do plinking. I have extra thermal I am wanting to mount on something. I am wanting a hand guard with mlok to run it on a tripod and want to keep it light.
Click to expand...

the XM15 is a carry handle model, I believe? 2moa is likely what most will see out of those depending on the front sight that you have installed. The post is 6-8MOA in size at 100 meters.

There are a number of handguards on the market that are pretty light with MLOK capability, but may not be rigid enough for your use on a tripod. My personal recommendation would be either a Cross Machine Tool handguard (HDM), or the new Aero Precision Mod 4 Handguard.

Barrels would be the biggest issue with the weight, and I'd say if you want to save as much weight as possible, and if money wasn't an object, the V7 barrels would be my immediate thought, cause they're going to be lighter than the carbon barrels. Then a carbon fiber wrapped/sleaved barrel would be my next option, depending on the length. And lastly, a quality barrel with fluting added to help reduce weight and allow for cooling and harmonics.

It is not talked about a ton, but Satern Barrels does complete upper receivers, as does shaw, and their barrels are all MOA or better in my experience. Not sure that their weight will always be targeted as "light weight" but that's certainly an option if you want to go fully built. I could ramble on and on, though... there's lots of info here from folks. I'd gladly continue on a more candid conversation privately if you're inclined.
 
I just finished this Mk12 Mod H build using a 16" Bison Armory SPR barrel... they run about $225 retail.

It shoots the 77gr SMK great, and not too bad with standard 55gr ball.



5-rounds at 100 yards... 77gr SMK hand loads...



3-rounds crappy 55gr ball...



Here is another one of my builds using a Wilson 24" bull barrel... it loves the 52gr SMK...



10-rounds at 100 yards 52gr SMK hand loads...



Another 10-round group... fired the same day...



Bottom line is you don't have to spend a fortune now days to get a good shooter. Good barrel, good trigger, free-float forearm, and a decent scope. Well... good ammo and shooting skills in addition.
 
thanks for the input. In actuality it is just an extra rifle, been sitting in my safe along with some older thermals i thought i would pair up with it.
 
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