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Posted: 9/24/2007 3:29:33 PM EDT
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Before I ask my question, I am an Army, Infantry, Drill Sergeant so I can shoot and perform level one maintenance on this weapon, so I'm not completely ingnorant. Here's my question, I have an A-1 that I want to upgrade. If I buy an upper, how many of my existing parts can I still use (i.e. bolt carrier)? I've been seeing alot of stripped uppers on gunbroker that seemed reasonable but I wasn't sure if I'd have to buy another bolt carrier group. Also, would it be smarter to just get a complete upper or piece one together? Thanks. |
| What are you wanting to upgrade? You should be able to swap the EPC, FA & BCG from your existing into a new upper. Personal preference if you want to buy a complete upper or just swap old parts into a new stripped upper depending on whether you want or can swap the barrel. |
I am DAMN glad you quantified your statement with "completely".  Just kiddin' ya man. DI's have always had my respect. All the parts from your A1 upper should swap with no problems. What did you have in mind? |
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You can get plenty of sub assemblys, parts and pieces on the Equipment Exchange here. The Industry Section has a large amount of suppliers of new parts. For example, just listed: A1 Upper |
| Basically I'm just wanting to turn it into an M-4 so I can do a little training on my own if you know what I mean. Nothing to complex, 16" barrell, flat top and quad rails. I'm hoping to eventually get an EOTech or an ACOG. I'm also hoping to expand my knowledge of how the weapon works by doing this so I can be more effective when I get back to a line unit. Thanks for the input. You guys put some myths to rest for me. I've had other soldiers tell me you can't swap parts. I kind of always thought that that was one of the points of the M-16 family of weapons. |
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As far as going shorty, check out the good info in the class 3 threads in the armory forum. Read, Read, many of your new guy questions will be answered there. Mine were. You can certainly do it yourself, but it wouldn't hurt to become friendly with a local class 3 dealer to help you, especially if you live in one of those un-friendly CLEO areas. As far as new uppers, barrels, and parts go, I learned alot by checking out CMMG's website as a guide. They have great pictures that show by category exactly what you are buying. Stripped barrels, complete barrels, complete barreled upper assemblies, etc... |
As TR stated, check out the NFA threads in the Armory section. In a nutshell...SBR's have to be legal in your state. Grab the form 1's & associated documents from your local class 3 dealer or online from the ATF's web site. Once that's established you need to have your CLEO sign off on your Form 1's (x2), get fingerprinted (x2) & attach two 2x2 photos of your mug to the form 1. There's a citizenship form you need as well. Once all is g2g with the documents, throw 'em in an envelope with a personal check made out to BATF&E for $200. It's $200 & document heap per NFA item. Then the waiting starts until you either get approve or rejected. You can also go the trust or corp route in which the CLEO signature & print cards are not required. In your case, however, you may end up PCS'ing to a state where SBR's are not legal so keep that in mind also. |
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