I have two Delton lowers in the safe that I acquired a few years ago.

Decided to start my first build. I already have a 15 year old Stock Bushmaster A4 and use it for three gun shoots.

My goal is a precision/varmint rifle.

On Order:
Magpul Precision stock
A2 Buffer kit.
RRA Lower Receiver Parts Kit, Two Stage Trigger, ERGO Tactical Grip

Looking for advice on uppers/barrels. Local ranges max out at 500 yrds. Thinking I want a 20 inch, 1:7 twist barrel for a slightly heavier bullet.
Chrome bolt.
I have no clue who makes "quality" uppers. Any and all advice would be welcome.

This will be a longer term project, as I will be purchasing parts as funds become available.

Are you wanting to build the upper from the ground up, or are you buying an upper that is already put together? I am planing a similar build, I plan on piecing it together I figure that suits my budget more than saving up to buy a high dollar upper. Plus if you look on EE you can get some good deals. I also like the idea of building it so I can trouble shoot my gun if it ever has an issue.

I plan on building. Figure it will be a very good learning expiriance for myself.

I am thinking of using a spikes upper and lower they are good quality and are fare priced. As far as a barrel i am looking a 24" Model 1 sales barrel. For better priced parts look at aimsurplus.com or palmettostatearmory.com

You should also look at Delton I put together a rifle parts kit from them and have nothing but good things to say about it. I went with a 1:7 twist and I get great accuracy with it even with 55 grain bullets. T

I have been thinking about the Delton route, They are about an hour and a half from me. I have a friend that has a Carbine he put together with all Delton parts and has no problems. I am keeping options open.

One issue with going the delton route is the wait I had to wait a few months, I originally ordered a middy but found out it was on backorder so I switched it to the M4 so all in all my wait was two months.

If I were building a precision/varmint gun, is go with a stainless barrel. And unless you're gonna shoot 80 grain or heavier bullets, 1/8 is all you really need.

Just my opinion......

White Oaks Armament for a s/s barrel and Young's Manufacturing for a chrome BCG

Barrel will be SS, still researching on the twist rate.

Again, thanks for all input.

RRA Lower parts kit and Magpul PRS should be here Monday.... The wait is killing me. Stuck in the house with nothing to do after knee surgery and I am getting cabin fever.....


Looking at a 20 inch SS barrel. So many options out there...

Precision/varmint out to 500 means you're gonna need to spend good money on a quality barrel and a great trigger.  Plenty of barrel options out there but some great ones for this would be Noveske or White Oak, and I've heard good things about Rainier's Ultra Match barrels.  I have 1:7 and 1:8 barrels and the 1:8 shoots just fine for me (ammo ranging from 55gr to 77gr).  Trigger-wise there are a ton of options too, but one of my favorites is the Wilson Combat TTU.

Isn't that Wilson TTU is a self contained/cassette type of drop in unit similar to the PACT AR Gold & the Chip McCormick triggers?

Most of my shooting will be within 200 yards. That is the length of the local range. If I drive another 30 minutes I have access to a 500 meter range. I am a noob in this dept and want something that I will not outgrow in a year or so...

Thank you for the input. I do appreciate the fact that folks are appreciative of new folks here.

Edited to add, Thank you for teling me about the White Oak folks. I believe I have found what I am looking for, and in a pretty complete package too.... Now to sneak the card out and order a 20' without the wife noticing....

Yes, fully self contained trigger unit.  I got to use one for T&E purposes when I shot the FB3G in '09 and I was sold after that match.  It's not adjustable (frankly I think too many people get wrapped around the idea of a fully adjustable trigger when they probably don't need it) and not super lightweight but it was very clean breaking, with very little overtravel and very little reset.  I believe the weight on it was 4lbs, but it felt lighter.  

No worries.  My current 3-gun rifle has a WOA 18" SPR middy barrel and is very accurate.  As for getting past the credit card gatekeeper...well all I can say is sometimes it's better to beg forgiveness than ask permission...or tell her it's "custom" and you can't send it back...

I am using blackmail. She has gone to Australia this year, and is leaving next week with a girlfriend on a 5 day cruise (Both without me)... I am building a gun.

yeah, save "but its for you "  for the next one.

Lower parts are starting to come in.

Delton Lower.

A1/A2 buffer, buffer tube and spring from Brownells.

Magpul PRS.

Waiting on RRA lower parts kit, with two stage trigger and Ergo Tactical Deluxe grip. Should be here Friday....

Looking at White Oak Armament for a 20" upper....

Then to find a scope for it.... May slap my ACOG on it for now and wait and save for a decent/good scope.


By ncurk at 2011-07-27

To the above. I ordered my upper from Del-Ton last Thursday and received it today (1 week) it would have been six days, but nobody was home to sign for it when UPS dropped it off.

I had a custom order too!

As for the OP, I saw that you ordered the Magpul PRS stock, but you also ordered a buffer. Is there a reason for that? I was under the impression that Magpul shipped the stock with a buffer for the price tag they charge...

As for Optics, may I suggest the Leapers UTG Accushot Swat Scope. It's 3-12x44 and it is pretty epic for $100.

I have never been a Leupold guy, and scopes like these are the reason.

It may also free up some money for a more exotic trigger setup.

Congrats on your first build, it's like building cars......all yours when it's done.

If you are still considering building your own upper. I've built 2 using Walther Loather 20" 1-8 match barrels, they came with matched bolts and both are absolute hammers. It takes no effort at all to shoot 1/2 MOA w/ 69 SMK's. Both went on High rider upers so I can use low rings with big optics. Best combination I have come with so far for a varmint package.

As for triggers, I wouldn't even even consider anything else until you have had a chance to shoot it with the RRA 2-stage. Especially for a first build. They are super easy to install and are really a pretty good trigger for the money. If you want to get really serious about punching paper and varmint hunting, the Jewell and Jard are both really good if you have the know how and patience to work with an adjustable trigger. They can be tricky though and pose other potential problems. For one they are not a combat trigger. There are set screws and set screws can come loose, but if you set it once, set it right and use Loc-tite approriatly it is unlikely you will ever have a problem. The other thing with these triggers is they can be set very light compared to a mil-spec trigger. Both the Jewell and Jard on my personal varmint/target rifles are under 1-1/2 lbs, which many of the pure tactical guys will say is way to light of trigger for an AR, but these are not tactical weapons per say, just very accurate semi-automatic rifles built for hitting small targets a long ways away. I have other weapons for when the SHTF

For scopes I would look for a used higher end Sightron or Vortex.  Both are great pieces of glass (comparable to the best in my opinion), can be found at reasonable prices and have the among best fully transferable lifetime warantees in the business. The sunshade off one of my Sightrons got ran over by an ATV last year (actually my whole range bag did, don't ask). Sent them an e-mail explaining exactly what happened, asking if I could buy one, and they just sent me one for free without even charging me for the shipping. That's customer service. Take your time and you will have no problem finding a good deal somewhere.

My 2 cents, hope it helps ang good luck with the build. You're off to a good start

The buffer tube is not included in the PRS stock. They may have a package deal, but I did not see it when I was ordering...

Thanks for any and all input you all have given me so far. I do appreciate it.


Without any further BSing.... Pics of the completeed lower....


By ncurk at 2011-07-29
Everything went well, Thanks to Mr. Falarak for the how to section of this forum...

I only had to chase down one spring, other then that, everything went together fairly easy. No scratches, dings or screw ups

Another Pic with my Standard Bushy upper, just to make sure everything fits and functions well.

By ncurk at 2011-07-29


I am still unsure if I will go through White Oak or build my own upper. Saving $$ up for that decision now.

Looks nice! I wanna know how it shoots when you are done with it.

Decided on the upper, Looked at Larue and my wife gave me one of "Those" stares... found this today and ordered. I believe it will do nicely for my first SPR.

Excellent choice!!!

Palmetto State Armory Upper and internals 20" SS barrell 1/7 twist
TA31RCO-A4CP: Trijicon ACOG 4x32 Scope with BAC USMC Rifle Combat Optic (RCO) for A4 (20" barrel) on Larue quick chance mount.
Delton Lower
RRA 2 stage trigger
Magpul SPR stock
Harris Bipod

Hoping this Hurricane isnt here on Thursday so I can take it to the range...


By ncurk at 2011-08-22


By ncurk at 2011-08-22


By ncurk at 2011-08-22

Taking it to the range Sat 9-10-11 for the first time... Hopefully everything works well.

Good luck. Hope it shoots well for you.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Did you end up taking this to the range? I'm building something similar and would like to how that upper shoots

Corpsman:

Nice looking upper selected.  When I first saw the carbine with the PRS...I was confused.

Seeing what you really want...That makes much more sense...Good looking rig from the image of them together.

wow

nice build

Thanks all. Wife is allowing me to upgrade the glass. Ordered this yesterday. This should complete the rifle as I wanted it. Then I will actually get it to the range and get some pics of it in action and if I can hit paper with it

Happy New year to all...

All finished up... Changed the ACOG out today for a Trijicon 3 X 9 X 40 on a LaRue mount... Hoping to get some range time tomarrow.

Long Term Project, COMPLETE.


By ncurk at 2012-01-03