Mentoring : BLACK RIFLE

[Bayou City Boy]

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[kenbro]

but some of them are "extremely knowledgeable and boringly helpful" for lack of a better term.

BCB,
Didn't know you posted over there. Te he.
KB.

[Bayou City Boy]

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[TinMan]

A good and inexpensive resource is the US Marine armorers manual for the M-16, under $10 usually. My ARs have been build up by me, all of which have been parts kits with some additional pieces. As others have said, the best additions are a good, non-GI trigger and maybe a custom barrel if you shoot competition. Put a Jewel on my last one and will definitely if I build another.

[RebelSquirrel]

Couple things to consider....

To build a consistant 1/2" and better at 100yds AR-15 you generally need a matched upper/lower with a good bolt carrier. If you build that yourself, and you certainly can, you'll be pushing nearly $1500 with a good barrel and match trigger. For a couple hundred dollars more you can buy one thats guarantee'd to shoot that. Les Baer and JP Enterprise are amongst a few that guarantee 1/2" accuracy with off the shelf ammunition and 1/4" accuracy with handloads. Yankee Hill has been getting awesome reviews on the AR-15 board with out of the box accuracy as well. Something that I've noticed with both afore mentioned brands of AR's is that rarely do you see them selling used.... and when you do, they sell only for a few hundred less than a new one costs, meaning.... they hold there value excellent and thensome. I've built a few AR's that were almost as accurate as my Les Baer (my best friend likes and owns JP Enterprise) and a JP AR, but when it came time to sell.... I barely got half of what I paid for the parts that comprised an accurate AR. Just a consideration is all, I'm not a snob, I just hate losing lots of money at resell time. Kinda like the saying.... pay alot and cry only once. Buy cheap and you'll continue to cry.

It would be fun riding along watching you spend the money either way, maybe keep us all in the loop with what you end up doing. Best advice I can offer is to have fun. Some of my most favorite hunting times in my life have come from AR-15's, night vision, and coyotes. An absolute hoot of a time. Few things more enjoyable than dumping a 30rnd mag on a coyote that came in unscene and "woof'd" behind your back cause he didn't know what you were at 2a.m. in the morning.

[Groundhog Devastation]

Having been part owner in a gunshop and before that already having a findness for accurracy in rifles and long range varminting, I could get most any of the "black rifles" out there and I got one of the Rock River Arms 24" Varminters with 8 twist. Honestly out of the plastic case it came in with a 6-18 Nikon Buckmaster on it without any real load development, it is a legitimate M.O.A. shooter out to 600 yards with 75 grain Hornady HP bullets! I don't own it anymore. No need for it. I played with it a bit but never got overly joyed with the platform and sold it to a shooter who's into that kind of stuff. Was too darned heavy with that long heavy barrel to tote!! I'll tote a bolt varminter but that one was a bit much! The only "black rifle in the safe now (and that's where it has been since the neighbors were making noise on New Years Eve so I gave them some noise..........a 30 round mag into the river below the house in "fast fire mode") is a Stag Arms lower, 16" DPMS upper and it'll do for when the "blue hats" come up over the yard to take my guns away! GHD

[kenbro]

Originally Posted by Bayou City Boy

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Come on BCB, You do know your onions, and bring a lot of good info to others.
You'll have forgotten much more than I will ever know.
KB.

[Larry in VA]

A good read on AR chambers can be found here… http://www.zediker.com/articles/AR_chambers.pdf

One other question: What is a repectable price to pay for a quality lower? Brand Names best and ones to avoid? I gues thats more than one question.

MoreFPS: That does look like a really good book and I will have to purchase it asap. Zediker has a two week waiting period before they will ship it though. What’s up with that? Will have to get it elsewhere, I gots to have my immediate gratification. Amazon has the best price but they are out of stock, of course…
Oh Yeah; and thanks for the offer Travis.

Good points Chuck, I will keep that in mind when I start to build.

Dang Hal, I missed what you had to say. We value your input.

RebelSquirrel: My track record is I buy guns and rarely am I able to part with them so buying a great gun like a Les Bear for its resale value may be moot point for me. And the $’s up front will probably be a stretch also. I really like the idea of getting it a little at a time as I can afford it. I’ll definitely look into Yankee Hill, JP & Les Bear guns though, ya never know…
You mentioned matched uppers & lowers… What I involved in matching upper & lowers, do you have to purchase them that way or can it be done by the 1st time builder?
Hopefully I can start something on this project after the New Year (read b-day & Xmas coming up for grand kids) and you all will be kept in the loop because of all the ??? I’ll have.

Good info TinMan, I see them all the time at gun shows. I’ll pick one up next time.

[Chuck Miller]

5 minutes of looking on GB you can find RRA lowers for 110.00 and Armalite for 115.00. I bought my Armalites for around 110.00ea a couple years back. I'm sure you can find the Stag's, GAR's and others for cheaper. Everyone and their brother makes a "forged" lower, I stuck with Armalite as I will probably look for a Armalite upper if I decide to build one and for name recognition if I sell.

[Mntngoat]

if anyone is interested I have a Brand new never fired 20 Practical upper Built by Robert Whitley. Its a fair bit cheaper than buying a new one.

http://www.6mmar.com/20_Practical.html


ML