Armory Sponsor
Posted: 2/17/2015 12:42:46 AM EDT
| Doing my first time builds on three barrels. A 7.5" 223, 8" 300BLK, and 12.5 308. I would like to get some suggestions on hand guard lengths and brands. Being a first time gunsmith I am just guessing a little but with the free float the nut & guard are used to attach the barrel correct? I know this makes for a more accurate weapon but I really don't like the looks of a long hand guard and just a short piece of barrel sticking out. Guards listed as drop in attach to a barrel that has already been attached to the receiver by a barrel nut correct? One last question. How hard is it to attach a FSB to a barrel? Can I do it or would I have to get a gunsmith to do it for me? I think I had read that somewhere on upper builds. |
|
Quoted: Doing my first time builds on three barrels. A 7.5" 223, 8" 300BLK, and 12.5 308. I would like to get some suggestions on hand guard lengths and brands. Being a first time gunsmith I am just guessing a little but with the free float the nut & guard are used to attach the barrel correct? I know this makes for a more accurate weapon but I really don't like the looks of a long hand guard and just a short piece of barrel sticking out. Guards listed as drop in attach to a barrel that has already been attached to the receiver by a barrel nut correct? One last question. How hard is it to attach a FSB to a barrel? Can I do it or would I have to get a gunsmith to do it for me? I think I had read that somewhere on upper builds. .308 and AR-15's don't play together other than as a custom bolt action....that's an AR-10's lane. Now if you're talking about Colt's modular rifle that's a different game all together. RE: brands and lengths. Opinions on this are much like assholes, everyone has one and thinks theirs doesn't stink. You're gonna have to figure this one out yourself and decide what you like the look of or what fits your needs. FF will have their own mounting system (usually the barrel nut) Drop in will use the delta ring and the handguard retainer Assuming the FSB is already on the barrel, it's easy just drive out the pins holding it in place. If the barrel doesn't already have the cuts for the pins you'll want to take it to a gunsmith with the FSB so they can make sure everything's lined up right. If you're a first timer buy a barrel assembly or a complete upper half and replace the stuff you don't want. Some people like building from a box of parts, but I've built more AR's than I can remember and unless there's a significant savings or I'm trying to build something super specific I just buy completed uppers now. My time is worth a small price difference, and lately I've seen better deals buying a complete upper half w/ free BCG than trying to pick up a part here and there, or even buying all the parts from the same vendor. |
|
Quoted: Thanks! The 308 would be a AR10 I guess DPMS pattern. I am going to try a UTG Pro first and see how it looks. Buying complete upper might be the way to go but every shooter should put together at least one rifle don't ya think.  FFL/Gunsmith answer.....A trained monkey could assemble an AR pattern rifle.....but I also had customers come in with guns for me to fix that impressed me, and not in a good way. They're the kind of people you wonder if they should be allowed to own a firearm or be allowed to reproduce. They're the same ones you're surprised don't suffocate because they forget to breath. ARFCOMer answer, absolutely paying a gunsmith to build an upper for you is fucking retarded! LOL kind of a Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde thing huh. But seriously if you know righty tighty, lefty loosey and have a tiny bit of mechanical aptitude you can do it with the step by step pictorial in the AR section of this site. As for building an AR10 from parts, don't. Buy a complete rifle and have the barrel cut down, drilled for a gas port and FSB/gas block, and threaded to your specs. AR10's have very little commonality across different manufacturers. And as for the UTG rail...I'd never use one (I stick to Daniel Defense, Midwest Industries, Samson, Troy <now hated by most of ARFCOM for political/business reasons>, Giessele, YHM, Larue <I don't own any but have installed them>, KAC, and a few others). Partially for vanity reasons, but also because I know all of those brands will stand up to stupid amounts of abuse. DD, Troy, and Samson are my top 3. MI occasionally pops into the 3rd place slot, they used to be my go to rail. |
|
ARFCOMer answer, absolutely paying a gunsmith to build an upper for you is fucking retarded! Thanks K1 you provided the exact information I needed. While not being as handy as I would like to be I can manage if I need to. Growing up I worked from the age of 13 with my dad who was a Crop Duster and there was always mechanic work to be done but he was not a teacher and always did things himself. In later years he would say that I didn't have any mechanical ability, well about 6 years ago I shocked the shit out of him when I bought a 78 Vette and pulled the engine & trans and replaced both. Just because I wasn't pulling the wrenches didn't mean that I wasn't paying attention. With the internet and good folks like you a person that has never done a task before if they do have some since can accomplish a lot. |
|
Do you plan on suppressing either the 8" 300blk or the 12.5" 308? If so, do you need to access the mount to lock the suppressor down? I would not recommended suppressing a 7.5" 5.56.
Since you said you dont like a long handguard with only a little barrel sticking out, you're really going to have a tough time finding a handguard for your 7.5" barrel unless your ok with a pistol length rail. I personally went with a 9" handguard and a Noveske kx5 to clear the end. The same could be achieved with a 7" handguard and you'd have a little over 2" sticking out. If you want a pistol length handguard, they run 5"-6" but there aren't many companies producing them so choices are limited. The same can be said for the 8" 300blk since its still the AR-15 platorm and only 0.5" longer than your 5.56 setup. Unless... you plan on suppressing it, you could run the suppressor under an inch or so of handguard so long as you get one with an ID of greater than 1.5" and have a suppressor that doesnt require access to the mount to lock. The SilencerCo Specwar needs access to twist the lock while YHM cans just ratchet down. I am in the same boat you are in building a 12.5" .308. I efiled my form 1 on 02/05/15 so hopefully in about 2 weeks I'll have something to show off. A big question is what receiver set did you end up going with? DPMS high profile or DPMS low? I am building on Palmetto PA-10 receivers so I needed a DPMS low handguard. I would also like to shoot unsuppressed so I needed a handguard shorter than 11.5". I searched for weeks and came up with little that me my criteria; shorter than 11.5", dpms low profile, not going to break the bank, looks badass. I finally ended up stumbling across a company called JL BILLET. Low and behold, I found it. 10.6" and met all my other criteria. Cost was $214 shipped and its the new M-Lok style! |
Armory Sponsor