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Posted: 8/14/2007 6:45:53 AM EDT
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I just purchased a Bushmaster XM-15 ES- 16' 5.56/.223. When waiting on paperwork the dealer told me that I could put a variety of uppers on this receiver and have a whole gammut of shooting pleasures available. My questions is this: Since the lower is Mil-spec. can I change over to another vendors upper that Bushmaster does not have available (i.e. .308 DPMS/RRA or Rem .260 by ??) without having to modify the lower receiver? I admit to being innocent when it comes to AR and variants, but the only dumb questions is one you do not ask.h.gif |
Welcome - you will find alot of useful info on this site.  As to your question, There are a variety of different uppers that your lower reciever will work with, however, it will not work with the .308 and I'm I'm not too sure about the .260. The .308 requires a different lower reciever (the AR10), as the cartridge is longer and the mags are larger than AR 15 mags. For the most part, any upper in .223 should work with your lower. Other calibers that you can use on that lower are 9mm (with some mods), .22lr (with some mods), and .204 (with some mods). These are probably the most common calibers used, but there are others, but parts and accessories are few and far between. Hope this helps. |
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+1 on reading around and using your 'seach' feature there are several calibers in which you can use your same lower reciever (such as 6.8spc, 6.5 grendal, .50 beowulf, .499, .22lr, .45 bushy, 9mm, .45acp, other pistol calibers, etc)...basically, most of the intermediate, short action cartriges and single shot .50bmg uppers if you can use the same lower, then usually, just the upper is needed to be replaced; other times it can be as simple as modified mags, diff bolt and bbl h/w, other, bigger short actions cartriges, such as .308, WSSMs, etc require a longer/bigger lower reciever (such as the one on the AR10) to use the mags |
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While you can use other manufacturers uppers. You can only use their AR-15 type uppers. So you're limited to rouns with a maxium length of 2.3" except for some special upers (like the 8mm belt fed, or the .50 BMG single shot bolt action). .308/.260/.7mm-08 are all AR-10 type uppers and require an AR-10 type lower. Though the AR-10s are not as standardized as the AR-15s are. |
You can spend some serious time on the website learning about the AR. I'd love to know how many hours I've spent here over the last four years. I have done a heck of a lot more reading than I have posting, that's for sure.  Just be sure to check all the tacked threads at the top of each forum's page, that's where you'll find answers to most of your questions. Oh yeah, welcome to Black Rifle Disease.
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