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Posted: 6/27/2024 5:29:34 PM EDT
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This is my first M16. (Well, actually I owned two other ones but never shot them. I sold them to buy two Thompsons.) I plan on shooting this SP1 a lot, especially in 22 LR once I get a dedicated 22 upper. I just got it home yesterday, and I took it out for a quick test run. 1. It shot OK, except for light primer strikes on certain rounds. I tried refeeding the dud rounds and got the same light strikes on those same rounds. The ammo was some old XM-193 and some American Eagle. I'm getting like 10 rounds to fire between the stoppages due to light strikes. I lubed it, but I did not clean it before shooting, I wonder if the chamber is just dirty. I'll clean it thoroughly this week and retry. I used 3 NOS Colt metal mags and an old Bushmaster 10 round mag, got light primer strikes with all 4 mags. 2. The gun is old. It's from 1982 per the serial number. I want to replace all the springs, including the buffer spring. Where should I get them from? I like mil-spec, but if there is an upgrade, I'll get it. 3. The gun has what appears to be a stock SP1 upper, in excellent condition, but the buffer tube appears to be new (maybe?) and it has a B5 stock on it. Which I think looks pretty weird. I wonder if the buffer is the correct one. Which is the correct buffer and spring to use for FA? |
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4. The lower has what appears to be a rattle can spray job on it. Pretty nasty. Might want to refinish at some point. 5. The conversion was done by LaFrance and from what I've read, people seem to be happy with them. 6. I was thinking about making an M4 clone with it. Can I use a 6920 upper on it? What parts are different between an M16 and an AR15? Where would I get a good upper? People are asking some nosebleedy prices for 6920 uppers. But I will spend whatever money is required to make this gun work good. 7. I guess I'll need a large pin to small pin conversion. Any advice on the above topics is appreciated greatly. I did do some googling, but there are so many different parts and options that I found it to be confusing. So I was planning on just getting Colt USGI NOS parts as needed and start from there, like as a baseline. I posted another thread before the stamp cleared about getting a 9mm upper but I think I'll not be doing that. Seems too abusive. |
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Originally Posted By ar15joe: Assuming this is a real full auto M16... Nice - but Why run old cheap ammo through an investment like that? It's a legal NFA-registered full auto LaFrance conversion of a Colt SP1 that I bought from a Class 3 dealer a few months ago. I was not aware that there are "fake" M16s or I would have spelled it out more clearly. The light primer strikes occurred in both full auto and semi. I used about half of a mag of Federal XM193 that is headstamped 09. That was last of my supply of that. And I have a case of Federal American Eagle in the black box. AFAIK, there is nothing wrong with that ammo brand and type. What ammo should I be using? |
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Sounds crazy, but make sure the hammer spring is installed correctly. Also clean your bolt and the firing pin channel. Make sure there's enough protrusion on the firing pin. If all else fails, try messing with buffer weight and make sure the sear trip is timed properly. You could also try checking the function with another upper you know works well. |
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Check your first shot if it has a light primer strike. If so then check the hammer spring. Other issue could be timing but since you mention semi auto, I don't think it would be that. F/A is where you might have a timing issue. I installed a Geissele SSF trigger in mine and I really like it. I have a SP1 as well but it was worked on Hard Times. Works remarkably great. |
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My buddy owns a LaFrance conversion and I've got a Hard Times Armory, both are top notch conversions and run without issues. That said remember these guns are old and without knowing the service history I'd start with replacing the buffer spring and trying a couple different buffer weights as suggested above. Standard buffer springs do wear out and require replacing, seems odd that we don't talk about this very often. Another option is to swap the extension, spring, buffer and stock out for a rifle length setup. Most guns will run great with a rifle buffer system which leaves you free to troubleshoot other potential issues like worn FCG parts. I will admit my current favorite setup is amphibians A5 tube/Tubb flat wire spring/Kynshot RB5007 buffer combo. I'd strip the FCG parts then inspect, clean and lube them. FCG springs are cheap so replace them while you're in there. I replaced ALL the original FCG parts in my lower when, after a couple years of heavy use, I experienced some problems. Finally clean the heck outta everything and lubricate everything in the upper. We'll be waiting for the positive AAR - good luck! |
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My franken-M16 has the following: A brand-new Harrington and Richardson barrel, FSB, etc, on a large-pin Colt SP1 upper. Brand new A1 handguards. A mystery no-name M16 bolt carrier group. Bolt marked MP. An SP1 lower converted by LaFrance to FA, with a crappy black rattle can paint job. A milspec buffer tube with a B5 stock and 3 ounce buffer and the appropriate carbine spring. I didn't like the B5 stock at first but it's growing on me. A broken hammer spring. I called a local gun shop and they had an "extra power" AR hammer spring of unknown origin. I got there at 1 second before they closed. I hit every light on the drive over. I checked the firing pin protrusion, which measured 0.035". GTG. I replaced the hammer spring and THE GUN WORKED PERFECTLY. I shot about 180 rounds of Federal American Eagle and there was not one single stoppage. It's awesome. The whole gun is a jumble of aftermarket and/or mystery parts and it runs great. I'm impressed. |
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Since the gun is a complete Frankenstein, I guess I'm going to make an M4 clone. And I'm going to cerakote the lower. What would be a good brand of M4 clone upper to use as an ammo burner? Colt is kind of expensive and it seems to me from what I've read so far that it's overkill. I'm used to guns that need everything to be original production mil-spec to run good, but it appears that the situation with AR15s is completely different, the aftermarket part supply of excellent parts is huge. Thanks for the responses so far, BTW. I'm starting at ground zero, so any information at all is useful. |
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I'm trying to figure out the best buffer and it appears that the 3.00 oz is doing its job properly per this chart. My empties were all in the "perfect" zone, landing about 10 or 12 feet away.  I'm going to get a 3.8 oz buffer and see if that calms the ROF down a little bit. Based on my subgun experience, I would say that it's running at 900+. Maybe because it has a rifle upper and a carbine length buffer tube? The recoil spring has 37 coils and measures just shy of 11 inches. So that's GTG. I'll document my journey here a little, maybe it will help another newbie out down the road. I just own a bone stock Colt 6920, so I did not realize that there is this incredible flood of excellent aftermarket parts available for the AR15. There are so many vendors that it's confusing AF. And since the part quality is so generally good, there is no consensus as to what parts to use. If you google something, you see literally 500 opinions on it. Compare that to a Thompson. Need a new extractor? You buy a NOS USGI one made in 1944. Continue shooting for another 80 years. The end. |
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As a transferable SP1 owner and user, I recommend getting large hole uppers and assembling them to your specs. I’m currently working on my third. Reason being, the conversion pins suck ass and you can’t crack it open without tools. Last time I checked, RTG parts had a large hole M4 flat top receiver on his site for $200. I prefer the original look and have been picking up used uppers on the EE when they come up for a good price. As you’ve discovered, you may want to have a few spare parts around for regular maintenance. If you don’t have them already, get the wrench and fixture for screwing a barrel to an upper and start putting together your own. Congrats on the new toy and props for taking it out and using it! |
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Also, check out Amphibians posts and site regarding tuning the recoil spring and buffer. I took his lead and went with a Tubb flat wire and a hydraulic buffer. It’ll squeeze off doubles easily and is very manageable. Don’t be afraid to have extra parts around to tinker with. This is the main reason I don’t want to fuck with adapter pins and tools when I’m tuning. |
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Originally Posted By Dakota_Don: As a transferable SP1 owner and user, I recommend getting large hole uppers and assembling them to your specs. I’m currently working on my third. Reason being, the conversion pins suck ass and you can’t crack it open without tools. Last time I checked, RTG parts had a large hole M4 flat top receiver on his site for $200. I prefer the original look and have been picking up used uppers on the EE when they come up for a good price. As you’ve discovered, you may want to have a few spare parts around for regular maintenance. If you don’t have them already, get the wrench and fixture for screwing a barrel to an upper and start putting together your own. Congrats on the new toy and props for taking it out and using it! Solid advice and the Midwest URR is a great tool for such projects. I'm not a fan of KNS pins with the exception of their non-rotating sear pin, it fits the SP1 receiver perfectly and works as advertised. KNS also offers a push button .315" pivot pin which is a bit of a PITA to use but it won't get pushed out or unscrew itself and fall out. Primary Arms has their Expo Arms chrome lined barrels on sale for $127.49, these come in a bunch of different lengths. I like the Expo Arms chrome plated BCG too which is made by Microbest. |
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Originally Posted By Dakota_Don: As a transferable SP1 owner and user, I recommend getting large hole uppers and assembling them to your specs. I’m currently working on my third. Reason being, the conversion pins suck ass and you can’t crack it open without tools. Last time I checked, RTG parts had a large hole M4 flat top receiver on his site for $200. I prefer the original look and have been picking up used uppers on the EE when they come up for a good price. As you’ve discovered, you may want to have a few spare parts around for regular maintenance. If you don’t have them already, get the wrench and fixture for screwing a barrel to an upper and start putting together your own. Congrats on the new toy and props for taking it out and using it! Thank you and congrats to you as well. I genuinely like target shooting in FA and will be using this gun a lot. The ammo cost is a downer but I can start reloading 223 again I guess. When you say that you cannot "crack it open" without tools, do you mean that you cannot even hinge the gun open without removing the adapter pin? I mean like so: 
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I just found this big hole upper receiver assembly as well: https://danieldefense.com/big-hole-upper-receiver-assembly.html |
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Originally Posted By Dakota_Don: Also, check out Amphibians posts and site regarding tuning the recoil spring and buffer. I took his lead and went with a Tubb flat wire and a hydraulic buffer. It’ll squeeze off doubles easily and is very manageable. Don’t be afraid to have extra parts around to tinker with. This is the main reason I don’t want to fuck with adapter pins and tools when I’m tuning. I see that there is an adjustable buffer available, maybe I'll get that. https://www.odinworks.com/Adjustable-Buffer-p/os-abs.htm |
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Here’s the RTG part: https://www.robertrtg.com/store/pc/AR15-FLAT-TOP-BIG-HOLE-UPPER-RECEIVER-FOR-COLT-SP1-413p6743.htm I think it’s a DD made piece as well. Correctomundo on the example pic you posted. I couldn’t do that with mine and I started getting the correct stripped uppers when it was transferring. No regrets shitcanning the adapters. |
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Originally Posted By sleestakwhisperer: I see that there is an adjustable buffer available, maybe I'll get that. https://www.odinworks.com/Adjustable-Buffer-p/os-abs.htm I have a few of those and they work well. I can tell the difference between it and the hydraulic. The hydraulic is smoother. I run the Odins in the semis. Don’t hesitate onnthe flatwire spring either, it just works. |
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Originally Posted By sleestakwhisperer: I just found this big hole upper receiver assembly as well: https://danieldefense.com/big-hole-upper-receiver-assembly.html Daniel Defense is great, they replaced one of these large hole uppers I bought used after the hole became elongated. |
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Originally Posted By Spartikis: First thing I did when I got my M16 was strip it down to the RR and rebuild from the ground up. Has run flawlessly since then. I have been looking for a lower spring kit for the M16, because the ones in my gun are probably decades old, and so far I've found this one: https://www.brownells.com/gun-parts/rifle-parts/rifle-upper-lower-parts-kits/ar-15m16-lower-spring-kit/ I looked at the KNS pins, but the internet is aflame with people saying they're a waste of money or insisting that they are super-important. Not sure on that one. That's as far as I got so far. I don't mind spending money if needed, or prudent. I like peace of mind. |
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Originally Posted By localizer11: Skip the large pin uppers all together. Contact Gary’s Bunker about doing the small pin conversion. https://www.garysbunker.com/nfa-services/ M60 Joe did the small pin conversion on my SP1 RR years ago and I’ve never looked back. Indeed. No personal experience, but "Buy once - Cry once" is almost always the right answer. MHO, YMMV, etc. |
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Originally Posted By sleestakwhisperer: Compare that to a Thompson. Need a new extractor? You buy a NOS USGI one made in 1944. Continue shooting for another 80 years. The end. Nice thing about the M16 family is if you want to go 'retro' you can do that too and make it look and feel like a 60's production gun or make a present day configuration. I am the inventor of the MicroMOA Govnah gas block. The patent is now owned by Griffin Armament. Back when I had the business, I used to tell customers is the great thing about the AR15/M16 is 'there is so much you can do with it' and the bad thing is, 'there is so much you can do with it'. Meaning that if you love to tinker like me it is awesome but if you are not that type of person and start tinkering with parts that affect the way the gun functions you can run into issues. Some people on this thread mentioned my tuning. Here is a link to my M16/AR15 page on my website: https://c3junkie.com/?page_id=164 First section is heavy on the CMMG RDB setups as I shoot 9mm the most. I think you posted you don't want to run 9mm so maybe these pages may interest you: My Take on the A5 System which discusses the benefits of the flat spring The following link discusses extreme tuning I did to get my M16 to be as smooth as possible like the Ultimax where the BCG never bottoms out: https://c3junkie.com/?page_id=1403 I have cyclic rate information on both links. I have a ton more cyclic rate data that I used to have on my site but it just created too much confusion so I took it off till I can figure out a better way to present the data. Much of the information are personal notes for myself that I share with friends and figure I would just share with everyone. I like all my M16 configurations to run in the 600's but it must be a smooth 600, not bouncy and preferably not increase the reciprocating mass which is what I did above with the 'Ultimax' config by increasing the gas volume so more time is required to fill the gas tube. Regarding LaFrance, here is a picture of some testing I did with the LaFrance twin gas tube: KNS used to sell them but I don't think they do anymore. While it worked, it required old school handguards or rails and so I prefer the PRI Fat Boy large volume gas tube (but also not made anymore either) or just custom TIG your own.    |
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Originally Posted By amphibian: and no offense to Thompson lovers but that gun hasn't evolved either. Nice thing about the M16 family is if you want to go 'retro' you can do that too and make it look and feel like a 60's production gun or make a present day configuration. I wasn't criticizing the AR/M16 platform or users. I was just noting that having exactly two reliable parts manufacturers circa 1944 is less confusing than 1,000 vendors. But as you noted, having an infinity of parts and upgrades is a good problem to have. As a new guy to tinkering, it seems to me that the AR marketplace is similar to audio equipment - it's confusingly huge, but the vendors are really good overall because of the huge competition for the huge number of customers. And the audiophile guys are passionate, demanding and glad to help with some impressively expert advice. And they argue a lot. The glorious dynamo of the Free Market System for all to behold, combined with the astonishing information flow of the internet. I actually bought this M16 expressly so I could customize it. A guy at my gun club let me shoot his suppressed FA 10/22 and I instantly fell in love with it. I was going to get one, but a friend of mine who has a lightning link suggested buying a clone M16 and getting a 22 kit instead of the 10/22, since the price would be the more or less the same, and I would have the legendary versatility of the AR platform in the bargain. I saw this M16 for sale, it has a Colt receiver and people seem to be happy with the LaFrance conversions, so I snapped it up. I'm really happy with it so far. Just replacing one spring made it run like a sewing machine, even though it's a mish-mash of parts and the springs are probably ancient. I really enjoyed my first experience of shooting 223 full auto. I was very surprised at how accurate and controllable the platform is in FA offhand. I've been doing a study of AR/M16s tinkering for the last few days. There is a LOT to absorb, but I feel very good about it. I got some good advice, and the high quality of the parts supply and vast amount of information available makes the decision-making easier. Right now, my shopping list is the CMMG M16 lower spring & pin kit from Brownells, an adapter pin for the large hole lower, a 9" 22LR upper from RTB, and some S&W 22-15 mags. Plus those spacers that go on the mags. That will get me started. If someone has any suggestions for alternatives to those items, I'm all ears. I like my 6920 and I think I'll veer into that general direction for 223 shooting. I guess I'll put the 6920 upper and buffer on the M16 and try it out, see how it feels. I kind of like Colt, but I can foresee myself buying a barrel wrench and doing some tinkering. I like the suggestion of having the lower redrilled for small hole uppers. I'm going to look into that. The wait time is the most important thing. I could just stick with large hole uppers as well. And thanks again for all the advice, everyone, it's actually very helpful. |
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Originally Posted By sleestakwhisperer: Just spent $750 on 22 kit and various parts. SO IT BEGINS Did your "various parts" include the CMMG .22LR Auto Sear Trip Kit? https://www.righttobear.com/cmmg-22lr-auto-sear-trip-kit/ Needed for FA operation. Best of luck and enjoy many safe shooting times with your M16. MHO, YMMV, etc. |
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Originally Posted By sleestakwhisperer: I just found this big hole upper receiver assembly as well: https://danieldefense.com/big-hole-upper-receiver-assembly.html This is what I was gonna recommend  |
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Originally Posted By SecondAmend: Did your "various parts" include the CMMG .22LR Auto Sear Trip Kit? https://www.righttobear.com/cmmg-22lr-auto-sear-trip-kit/ Needed for FA operation. Best of luck and enjoy many safe shooting times with your M16. MHO, YMMV, etc. Thanks. I got the Bore Buddy Adjustable Trip Kit, Lightweight Adjustable Bolt Weight Kit, and AR Reliability Kit Plus the RTB 9" 22LR upper, 3 S&W 15-22 25 rnd mags, 3 stick-on mag spacers Plus the Mcfadden loader That should take care of the 22 aspect. I also bought the Odin adjustable buffer kit, tubbs 556 flat spring, and cmmg lower spring & pin kit and the offset pin to put the small hole uppers on. From e. arthur brown company. That should get me started for short term. I already got ammo and 5.56 mags |
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Originally Posted By sleestakwhisperer: A guy at my gun club let me shoot his suppressed FA 10/22 and I instantly fell in love with it. I was going to get one, but a friend of mine who has a lightning link suggested buying a clone M16 and getting a 22 kit instead of the 10/22, since the price would be the more or less the same, and I would have the legendary versatility of the AR platform in the bargain. I thought a FA .22LR made the most sense when I bought it since ammo was cheap and don't have to worry about picking up brass for reloading. I shot it so much I wore out the plastic feed lips of the Eagle 30 round mags I had then later sold it to pay for a Colt SP1 RR and acquired grandfathered steel Ciener mags which were the same 30 round capacity but then went down the rabbit hole of 556, 5.45x39, 7.62x39, 9mm, .45ACP as well as belt fed options. It's been so long I can't remember if I ran 22LR kits with big hole uppers or small hole w/ adapter pins. I do recall some people recommending to use big hole for 22LR conversions since they were so sensitive to the timing that the offset pin could cause issues for 22LR. I later had my SP1 converted to small pin by Norrell back when he was taking on that work. I ended up trading that SP1 to someone that had a steel RDIAS that I still have. Picture of my latest 22LR setup that I put together. I cut the barrel down from a 9" CMMG barrel for the DoE front sight assembly and threaded it.  |
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Originally Posted By amphibian: Picture of my latest 22LR setup that I put together. I cut the barrel down from a 9" CMMG barrel for the DoE front sight assembly and threaded it. https://c3junkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/DoE_22LR-1.jpg Nice work! Question: how long would a typical barrel last when being used for normal, non-abusive FA fire? Google says 10-20k rounds. I looked up reloading components on AmmoSeek, looks like 37 cents a round at current prices even if I scrounge brass, vs 42 cents per round shipped for PMC. I shoot about 300 rounds at a time from my UZI, 300 rounds of 223 is $111 for reloads vs $126 for PMC. Not worth it to me to reload at those prices. I googled cost to reload 223 just out of curiosity, everyone seems to be either reloading high end match loads or else listing the cost to reload with components they bought in 1990. I'm thinking about either a 6920 upper or a 6921. If you can find them on sale, the prices don't seem to be all that bad comparatively. Having looked into optics yet. |
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Originally Posted By sleestakwhisperer: Nice work! Question: how long would a typical barrel last when being used for normal, non-abusive FA fire? Google says 10-20k rounds. Originally Posted By sleestakwhisperer: Nice work! Question: how long would a typical barrel last when being used for normal, non-abusive FA fire? Google says 10-20k rounds. That said AR barrels are relatively cheap. So I'd just keep shooting till bullets start going side ways on paper. I assume we are also talking 556. I don't think you can wear out a 22LR barrel or even 9mm for that matter. I'm sure some will argue on the 9mm. I just haven't done it yet. I looked up reloading components on AmmoSeek, looks like 37 cents a round at current prices even if I scrounge brass, vs 42 cents per round shipped for PMC. I shoot about 300 rounds at a time from my UZI, 300 rounds of 223 is $111 for reloads vs $126 for PMC. Not worth it to me to reload at those prices. I googled cost to reload 223 just out of curiosity, everyone seems to be either reloading high end match loads or else listing the cost to reload with components they bought in 1990. I'm thinking about either a 6920 upper or a 6921. If you can find them on sale, the prices don't seem to be all that bad comparatively. Having looked into optics yet. For 556, I do reload it as well but I may stop doing so as it is a PITA as you have to basically do it 2x. Once to prep the brass (assuming you are not paying someone to do that) and a 2nd time to actually load it. I shoot 9mm the most so I hope to continue loading that for as long as I can. |
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Originally Posted By amphibian: That was good advice. My first MG was a Norell FA AMT Lightning. All stainless version of the Ruger 10/22. I got back in 1998 which was during the 1994 - 2004 AWB so high caps were hard to come by. I thought a FA .22LR made the most sense when I bought it since ammo was cheap and don't have to worry about picking up brass for reloading. I shot it so much I wore out the plastic feed lips of the Eagle 30 round mags I had then later sold it to pay for a Colt SP1 RR and acquired grandfathered steel Ciener mags which were the same 30 round capacity but then went down the rabbit hole of 556, 5.45x39, 7.62x39, 9mm, .45ACP as well as belt fed options. It's been so long I can't remember if I ran 22LR kits with big hole uppers or small hole w/ adapter pins. I do recall some people recommending to use big hole for 22LR conversions since they were so sensitive to the timing that the offset pin could cause issues for 22LR. I later had my SP1 converted to small pin by Norrell back when he was taking on that work. I ended up trading that SP1 to someone that had a steel RDIAS that I still have. Picture of my latest 22LR setup that I put together. I cut the barrel down from a 9" CMMG barrel for the DoE front sight assembly and threaded it. https://c3junkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/DoE_22LR-1.jpg Wow! That is so nice! Can you post how you did this in another thread in retro forum? |
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Originally Posted By sleestakwhisperer: Since the gun is a complete Frankenstein, I guess I'm going to make an M4 clone. And I'm going to cerakote the lower. What would be a good brand of M4 clone upper to use as an ammo burner? Colt is kind of expensive and it seems to me from what I've read so far that it's overkill. I'm used to guns that need everything to be original production mil-spec to run good, but it appears that the situation with AR15s is completely different, the aftermarket part supply of excellent parts is huge. Thanks for the responses so far, BTW. I'm starting at ground zero, so any information at all is useful. I would check out PSA (palmetto state armory) for cheap uppers, their CHF uppers have FN chrome lined barrels, or you could try nitride uppers, the barrel should last longer than the phosphate barrel. OR you could try and find a used Colt upper. |
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Originally Posted By cherenkov: Wow! That is so nice! Can you post how you did this in another thread in retro forum? Originally Posted By cherenkov: Originally Posted By amphibian: That was good advice. My first MG was a Norell FA AMT Lightning. All stainless version of the Ruger 10/22. I got back in 1998 which was during the 1994 - 2004 AWB so high caps were hard to come by. I thought a FA .22LR made the most sense when I bought it since ammo was cheap and don't have to worry about picking up brass for reloading. I shot it so much I wore out the plastic feed lips of the Eagle 30 round mags I had then later sold it to pay for a Colt SP1 RR and acquired grandfathered steel Ciener mags which were the same 30 round capacity but then went down the rabbit hole of 556, 5.45x39, 7.62x39, 9mm, .45ACP as well as belt fed options. It's been so long I can't remember if I ran 22LR kits with big hole uppers or small hole w/ adapter pins. I do recall some people recommending to use big hole for 22LR conversions since they were so sensitive to the timing that the offset pin could cause issues for 22LR. I later had my SP1 converted to small pin by Norrell back when he was taking on that work. I ended up trading that SP1 to someone that had a steel RDIAS that I still have. Picture of my latest 22LR setup that I put together. I cut the barrel down from a 9" CMMG barrel for the DoE front sight assembly and threaded it. https://c3junkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/DoE_22LR-1.jpg Wow! That is so nice! Can you post how you did this in another thread in retro forum? That picture is the first one I did and I sold it on Gunbroker. I regretted selling it but needed to fund another project and wanted to do another one so I just did the one pictured below last week. Really not much too it. Just a matter of getting the 633 DoE specific parts. Then machining the 22LR barrel which I don't think are available for a DoE profile. I'll try to update my website w/ a page dedicated to it so I can just link to that vs posting on a forum the same thing over and over.  |
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Originally Posted By sleestakwhisperer: Since the gun is a complete Frankenstein, I guess I'm going to make an M4 clone. And I'm going to cerakote the lower. What would be a good brand of M4 clone upper to use as an ammo burner? Colt is kind of expensive and it seems to me from what I've read so far that it's overkill. I'm used to guns that need everything to be original production mil-spec to run good, but it appears that the situation with AR15s is completely different, the aftermarket part supply of excellent parts is huge. Thanks for the responses so far, BTW. I'm starting at ground zero, so any information at all is useful. Have it anodized, dont paint a 25K lower. |
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PA, USA
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Originally Posted By amphibian: Hard to say. I'm too cheap to throw anything away as I may find some other use for it. If you do only 3 round bursts and let it cool between strings, I would presume a long time. Long strings w/o cooling definitely kills them fast. That said AR barrels are relatively cheap. So I'd just keep shooting till bullets start going side ways on paper. I assume we are also talking 556. I don't think you can wear out a 22LR barrel or even 9mm for that matter. I'm sure some will argue on the 9mm. I just haven't done it yet. I've been reloading since I was 14 and been reloading for my MG's for over 20 years. I reload 99% 147Gr 9mm and since I control the load, I maintain consistency. Too many times, I see certain favorite factory loads that my friends like become unavailable. As long as I can get suitable components, I can keep running my favorite 9mm subsonic load which I think has always been a lower cost than factory 147Gr loads. For 556, I do reload it as well but I may stop doing so as it is a PITA as you have to basically do it 2x. Once to prep the brass (assuming you are not paying someone to do that) and a 2nd time to actually load it. I shoot 9mm the most so I hope to continue loading that for as long as I can. That 22 upper you made is truly epic. I'd like to make a colt commando 22 upper somewhere down the road. I reload 9mm and 45acp. The 9mm is marginal in terms of cost savings, but I just kind of enjoy reloading it. I takes me about 15 minutes to load 100 rounds. I do lead heads. I wonder if you could reload 223 on a progressive in just one step by using a lube die. Lube and decap in stage 1, resize 2, powder 3, seat 4, crimp 5. Someone must have figured this out by now. Then throw the rounds into a vibratory polisher for a few minutes to remove the lube. |
Joined:
May 2024
Posts:
74
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PA, USA
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Here's my parts list so far for the 22LR dedicated upper. I'm sharing this information in case it might be of use to someone looking to get an upper. I ordered and installed most of these parts. It does not work 100% yet. I'm getting about 3 jams per mag. I'm still pretty low on the learning curve with tuning the trip and bolt weights. I'll just keep tinkering with it until I figure it out. FROM RTB: Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 22LR 25RD Magazine - Black 19922000 Catch22 S&W 15-22 Magazine Adapter for Standard AR Lower - (Stick on) CATCH22-STICK BG Complete 9" .22LR Upper Receiver - Black | A2 | 7" M-LOK | With BCG & CH BG922LR7A2-BLK FROM BORE BUDDY: Adjustable Trip Kit - Standard Style: Standard 22lr Light Adjustable Bolt Weight - Lightweight Adjustable (Gen 4) Weight Style: Lightweight Adjustable (Gen 4) Replacement Tungsten Weights 22lr AR Reliability Kit FROM MCFADDEN: LIGHTNIN-GRIPLightnin' Grip Loader 22lr.(Adapters sold Separately) LOADER DOES NOT WORK WITHOUT AN ADAPTER! MP15-22AdapterOnly(#1)MP15-22 Adapter Only FROM E. Arthur Brown Co., Inc.: 206-LRPCAPColt AR15/M16 Receiver Offset Adaptor Pin |
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