This seems to be my week of complimenting vendors that everybody here already knows are damn good , but I just got an upper back from John Thomas at RAW, and I couldn't be happier with it.



All these parts got shipped off to John back on the 5th, he got it on the 11th, put it back in the mail the same day, and it showed up all in one piece today.  (Literally for the barrel & moderator, it's a pin & weld.)

The idea for this upper started at least five years ago, when a member here posted what I can only describe as an XM177A2, using the old DPMS heavy barrel with built-in faux moderator.  At that point, I figured it was as close as I would get to an XM177, so I made plans to go in a similar direction...  and then Brownells went and got into the Retro game.

So I started with one of the first run of 12.7" barrels they did, the ones with a triangle handguard cap.  The faux moderator/grenade ring is also Brownells, as is the slickside upper.  Handguards and sights are Fulton Armory.  This was right out of the box, so the NDS charging handle and Brownells chrome no-FA BCG are not shown.  Obviously, it's not meant as a clone of anything; I've been calling it an "XM607."  

For now, this is going to live on a black Brownells A1 lower with 2-position tube and M&A "N1"-style stock that I built earlier this week (only my second lower build).  I do have a Brownells grey partial fence lower that I'm going to build for it; still deciding on which stock to use and waiting for Brownells A1 grips to come back in stock.

Anyway, like I said, super happy with John's work.  His pricing seems fair, his communication is great...  no complaints whatsoever.

JT is simply amazing!  Awesome work & turnaround time.

I have several projects JT did for me & I never hesitate to recommend him to new or older shooters, because I know they get accurately performed work, are treated well & the turnaround usually is exceptionally fast.

JT is simply a true professional!

That is really nice! John does excellent work and like you said he is fast too. Also he politely turns down work at times when he's swamped and knows he can't provide the level of satisfaction he's known for. You just have to wait until he says he's ready to fit you in. Nice to have so many satisfied customers.

He just did an M16k upper for me.  Couldn't be happier with it!

Dude, I just noticed all those M41A pulse rifles in your avatar...  holy crap.