AR Upper?

[Tumbleweed13]

I'm building an AR. This will be my 1st AR. I get the lower this friday. I already have everything, to complete, the lower. Now its time to start shopping for a stripped upper. Are uppers, like lowers, in that, they are all about the same? ( I'll be getting 5.56/.223) If not, whats the difference? What would you recommend? I like the YHM upper. Any pro's or con's with them? Do I really need a fwd assist? I'm a complete AR noob. Any info you can give me will be appreciated.

[6spdYJ]

Fwd assist was created to jam the incoming round past any excessive carbon deposits hardened by the heat from full auto bursts. The gas operated action of the AR design lends itself to getting really dirty in the bolt carrier group and chamber. They are extremely reliable as long as you don't cover the ejection port with your hand. Some people will tell you that they have to be so tight between the upper and lower that a press is required to get them together. Not true. Just be sure you have good technique and hold it tight. I qualled expert evry time at the range with one that had 1/4" slop. The fact that they build six ponds of carbon in the chamber just by looking at the trigger is the only reason I don't own one.

[JK08]

If you purchase a different manufacture upper and lower you just need to make sure the Pivot Pin and Take down Pin match on the upper and lower. I have a Colt Sporter Match HBar I have had it for years and put over 5,000 rounds thru it. I have put 700 rounds thru it in one sitting and never had an issue. It is my go to rifle and would trust my life with it. I honestly have no experience with anything other than bushmaster and colt. My next one is gonna be either a Stag Arms or Rock River Arms. RR has some very nicely priced complete uppers starting at around 500 bucks. And Stag has complete rifles that are under a grand.

http://www.rockriverarms.com/index.c...ategory_id=265

http://www.rockriverarms.com/index.c...ategory_id=433

Good luck


Danny

[AR5150EA]

Skip the rest and just pick up a POF! Dont look back! http://www.pof-usa.com/main.htm

[Jeeperator]

LOL I just rebuilt my ar15 from a bull barrel to a 16" car. Most upper that are mil spec are basically the same. Figure about $100 for a decent assembled upper reciever thats what I just paid. I actually found a place that was selling complete 16" uppers less bolt and carrier and handguards for ~$250. I would of gone that route if I would of found it sooner. Mind you I found my parts for about the same coin but i had to buy the tools to assemble it. figure i could always use them in the future. I have a 24" target bull barrel upper for sale if you know anyone interested lmk.

[Tumbleweed13]

Skip the rest and just pick up a POF! Dont look back! http://www.pof-usa.com/main.htm

Nice look'n stuff. I like their promo Jeep, too.

[novabrian72]

Get Noveske!

[Lumpy Grits]

Get your "upper" from the same folks that made your "lower".
LG

[Jeeperator]

My uppers are both different from my lower and fit perfect. I heard there is only like 2 companies that forge the uppers and lowers for everybody except the billet made uppers of course. Took my son and nephew out shooting yesturday morning off hodge road off the 15 and we had a blast. My target tacdriver 10/22 i just built was putting the wolf match ammo almost in the same hole at 50 yards. The AR functioned perfect and the boys had big smiles on their faces after shooting it. It got hot pretty quik and we left sooner than we like too but we plan on going back when it cools down. Funny thing is we got buzzed by an airplane and a heli flew by pretty close but we had no issues at all. I hadnt been there in about 5 years because I thought they closed the place down. There were other shooters there also .We should do a bring your guns run out there when it cools down, that would be fun.

[Lumpy Grits]

Mil. spec, are forged 7075 T6 alum alloy.
Type 3 hard coat anodize.
LG

[Jeeperator]

They are machined to military specs also right? Example milspec buffer tubes are smaller in diameter than commercial spec tubes. Hey Lumpy is that you on rimfire central? same name.

[Lumpy Grits]

Yup, d'at me.
Mil tube has more notches for the sliding stock than the civi does in most cases.
Most mil specs are very "tight" when dealing with weapons.
LG

[Jeeperator]

I thought I recognized your name over there.Lot of good info on that site. I just built a 10/22 tack driver with a 16" green mountain barrel and a boyds evolution stock. Did my own 2# trigger job and had the bolt polished headspaced and fluted. Its a whole different gun now I love it all over again.Curently building another 10/22 with a nordic chassis so it will accept ar15 type furniture. Need to get the barrel cut and threaded and turn it down a bit so I can install .750 sleeve on it for mounting the handguard cap.

A milspec tube is 1.150 and a comercial spec tube is 1.170, 2 different sizes for 2 different sized colaspable stocks. I was refering to machine work done to upper and lower recievers, usually if the 2 companys are machined to milspec standards they dont have issues fitting together. but obviously getting the same top and bottom is the best bet.

Heres a pic of my baby just about done trying to pick a good affordable red dot sight. The one on there works but i want somthing a little different . That sight is going on the ar 10/22.

[Lumpy Grits]

Love my ACOG.
Most mil. stock tubes have 6 spots for the stock to index into. Many(not all)civi. tubs have less. My ArmaLite does.
LG

[troyboy162]

if you get one chambered for .223 you wont be able to fire 5.56 and these are usually high end precision rifles. If you get one chambered for 5.56 you can safely fire .223 in it with no issues. Thats why they are often labeled 5.56/.223 even though the two casing are just a shade different. The other calibers are job specific and the ammo is more expensive generally speaking. Look into them if you intend to hunt with the rifle.

I'm assuming your looking at barreled uppers? The upper receivers do have some minor quality differences and some manufacturer specific features but all will be built to mil spec as far as dimensions and take down pin holes. Colt had some different diameter pins in some of them if I remember. Do you stand a chance of getting a tighter fitting gun (desirable) if you buy your upper and lower from the same company? The answer is maybe lol. The barrel attached to the upper will vary a lot, but generally all will shoot well. Expensive barrels will be more accurate, but Id guess the worst budget barrels out there can do 2.5" MOA with the right ammo and operator. Chrome lining is said to take a shade of accuracy away but that debatable. The forward assist is not a deal breaker because you wont "need" it unless the zombies come, but shopping specifically for one without will limit your choices.

I bought a BCM upper because they were one of a small few that offered a mid length sight, chromed 1/7 twist pencil 16" barrel. The barrel configuration I wanted drove my purchase.

So thats not much help probably...but I haven't seen any frankenstein guns shoot poorly. Have fun!! Oh and trigger pull is pretty heavy on the mil hammer springs. You can mod them for a lighter trigger but you loose that extra insurance that the bullet will go bang.