I've built ALL of my AR's and IMO it is a Tinker Toy for Adults.

Learned a lot from doing the first, in which I went all out with a goal of building the most accurate rifle I could. BTW, I have shot consecutive sub 3/10 three shot groupings on multiple occasions using a padded front rest. While they are NOT cheap I can highly endorse Shilen barrels. I can also highly endorse Gibbz Arms side charging uppers, the fit between the Shilen barrel extension and the Gibbz upper was so perfect that I had to use a small nylon hammer to drive the last 1/4 inch home, it was darned near a wring fit.

With the lessons I learned on my first rifle I have some areas of commonality with any AR I build.

All feature a Timney single stage trigger because I like the quality and ease of assembly that comes with a drop in trigger.

All of my rifles have the KNS anti rotation pin sets simply because I think they look cool.

Lower assembly kits are all CMMG and all three of my rifles have Hogue grips.

Sights for the conventional upper rifles are Magpul flip ups and I have a 3-9X gun show cheapie scope on a Burris QD mount to use when working up a new load. Yeah, I still do a lot of shooting with Iron Sights, it's a skill that requires regular practice to maintain and I have too many years in developing that skill to give it up now for "convenience". As for my precision rifle, that is equipped with a high dollar Nikon M223 3-12X and it is a nice optic.

Upper assembly kits for the conventional uppers were Del-Ton and ordered from Midway.

BCG for all 3 rifles are Fail Zero Nickle Boron coated because they are easier to clean up.

Also have Syrac Ordinance adjustable gas blocks in all my rifles because I have found having the ability to tune the gas supply to a specific load and caliber to provide some real benefit. For one thing it eliminates the "bounce" produced by an over gassed recoil buffer and that reduces muzzle flip and mitigates the recoil a bit. In addition when you reduce the gas fed into the receiver you end up with a cleaner upper after a days shooting.

Also have Gibbz Arms handguards on all of my rifles. Because once you discover how totally well thought out their mounting system is you'll understand the reason I will pay for these handguards. BTW, I do NOT use the locktite procedure they suggest in their recent assembly instructions,this would result in the mounting collar being locktited to the upper and make replacing a barrel more complicated. I assemble the mounting collar and barrel to the upper and then hand tighten the clamping nut while watching the alignment carefully. Then I use a crowfoot and torque wrench to torque the clamp nut to 35 ft.lbs while holding the collar in a hardwood jawed vice with the upper hanging under the vice in mid air. By doing this swapping a barrel out will be dead easy and at no point during the assembly I do not have to apply any more than single hand force to the upper.

Butt stocks on my last two rifles have been Magpul ACS-L sliders on Mil Spec 6 position buffer tubes. The first rifle has a DMPS A2 butt stock because if you are building a 20 inch AR you really have to go with an A2 butt stock to pay tribute to the M-16 A2. However I do have to confess I like the cheek weld with the ACS-L more than that with the A2 so at some point that A2 butt stock and rifle buffer tube may get changed out.

For magazines, all of my magazine are Magpul in 10, 20, and 30 round capacities. That said my favorite magazine for shooting at the range are the 10 round Magpuls simply because they work so well when shooting from a rest or prone position.

Also have a Caldwell strap on brass catcher for each of my AR's because I reload all of my rifle ammunition.

Anyhow fuel for thought and an illustration of just how specifically one can individualize and AR-15 (or AR-10).

BTW the first rifle was in 223 Wylde, the second 300 BLK, and the third 223 Wylde again but in a 16 inch barrel instead of a 20. Favorite rifle to shoot is the 300 BLK, mainly because reloading the 300 BLK using H110 means case charging is throw and go because the powder meters so well and H110 is unbelievably clean shooting in a gas regulated AR. Next build may be an AR-10 in 6.5 Creedmore because building a 1000 yard gun is very tempting. Unfortunately ranges to shoot that long are a bit of a drive.

Backordered parts finally came in so here is the finished product;






Aero Precision Gen 2 stripped lower
Seekins LPK and adj. low profile gas block
DS Arms 6 position buffer tube
DPMS buffer/spring
BCM upper assembly, charging handle and pistol grip
Stag Arms BCG
Brownells B-TAC 16" 1 in 7" socom profile barrel
Magpul MOE stock
Troy 13" Alpha Rail Handguard

That is a very nice looking build ...you will enjoy shooting (and showing) that rifle.

Now that was fun! Nice looking gun!

Went out this morning to do a function test and set up the adjustable gas block. It was so nice out I decided to sight in.

Dialing in:



And then a five shot group.



These were all fired at 100 yards using a front and rear bag. Ammo was 55gr V-Max, and I used a Sig SRD762 suppressor. Now I need to get some heavier bullets and try it at longer ranges.

quote:

Originally posted by JPD217:
These were all fired at 100 yards using a front and rear bag. Ammo was 55gr V-Max, and I used a Sig SRD762 suppressor. Now I need to get some heavier bullets and try it at longer ranges.

Yep. That works.

Hornady 55 Vmax is actually pretty accurate ammo, both short and long ranges. In windy conditions the bullet gets tossed around, due to its low ballistic coefficient ("BC"). Still, the Vmax holds vertical well, even when POI is swinging right and left.

Ammo which uses a 68 or 69 grain HPBT match bullet is likely your next step up weight. Federal's GMM 69 is the traditional benchmark, using the Sierra Match King bullet. Lots of manufacturers use the 69 SMK. Hornady uses its own 68 grain bullet, and it's good, too.

Your barrel has the twist rate to use a 77 grain bullet. Again, SMK in 77 is loaded by many. Federal GMM 77 is a benchmark, and there are many options from other manufacturers.

Hornady's 75 grain HPBT match ammo shoots better for me than FGMM 77. Actually the accuracy is similar, but the drift and drop figures are better for the Hornady 75. It's been my match 223 ammo for multiple rifles for some time.

Well, until Hornady produced the 73 grain ELD-M ammo. In my tight-chambered 223 Krieger barrel, the 73 ELD is noticeably superior to the Hornady 75. In my 5.56 chambered rifles, the 73 ELD shoots pretty similar to 75 HPBT in accuracy, but with slightly better drift and drop ballistics at distance.