I'm looking for any ideas and help deciding what I should do. I live in Canada and currently own a Colt HBAR sporter 20" 1/7 large pin pivot with A2 upper. I pretty much have my mind made up that I want either a 14.5" or 16" flattop upper and collapsable stock. I plan on using the rifle for IPSC 3 gun, Service rifle shooting which will be out to 500m. But I don't want to give up too much ballistics in case we ever get the chance to hunt or carry the AR's up here;) I also want to go with a 1/7 twist chrome lined barrel. Should I sell my rifle I have now to get another one or try to mod the rifle I have now? I'm pretty sure I can get enough out of my rifle to pretty much cover the cost of a new DPMS M4 rifle. Other than DPMS and Colt does any other manufacturer make a model with a 14.5" 1/7 barrel? Does Armalite? The prices of the Armalite rifles have went down slightly up here due to the Canadian dollar but are still quite high. I'm just worried about selling a colt to get a dpms, not because I think one is better than the other but because the colts seem to hold value better and may be easier to sell. Do the DPMS rifles have the small fire control pins and small pivot pins? From what I've read and heard so far there seems to be nothing wrong with the DPMS rifles. I don't know a lot about the AR rifles so I would be glad if someone would enlighten me. Should I just save my pennies and get a Colt LE6921? Mabey I should stick with the A2 upper and mount a compact acog on the handle??? Too many choices, too many ways to go. Oh don't forget about the current laws up here. Anything goes except for full auto. No other restrictions on the AR15 up here. Please help me decide what to do.
Thanks
AG.

My personal policy is never sell your guns. Ever. Save your pennies and get the M4, keep the SP1 as it is.

It's a Colt original.

If you build it from a stripped receiver, I know M&A parts (www.m-aparts.com) has the M4 profile kit with a 1-7 twist. Also CMMGinc.com has Colt 14.5 inch chrome 1-7 uppers fro $499 (see below)

[img]http://www.cmmginc.com/cmmg_images/tbl_images/uppers_images/M4_A3_CM_Perm_A2.jpg[/img]

Buy two rifles one for hunting and one for IPSC.



Don't you have a 10rnd magazined limit in Canada?  Is everything in IPSC Canada shot 10rnds?

Current laws are:
All handgun magazines cannot hold more than 10 rounds, no exceptions.
All semi-automatic CENTERFIRE rifles AND shotguns must hold no more 5 rounds in the magazine, no exceptions.
Rimfire, no magazine limit.
Any other action type other than semi-automatic (bolt, lever, pump, etc) no mag limit.

Current law states that we cannot legally hunt with any firearm classed as "restricted".
All handguns with a barrel longer than 4" is classed as restricted. Handguns with a 4" or less are classed as prohibited.
All AR15 rifles are classed as restricted.

These are federal laws. Provincial laws and municipal laws may add to this but cannot take away from it.

I bought my rifle with little or no knowledge of the AR15 platform merely to get into the "class". What I mean by this is that our government can decide at any time that the AR15 and all variants of would be no longer "restricted" but now "prohibited". What this means is that if u own an AR15 before they change the classification u would become "grandfathered" and be permitted to keep your rifle. If u did not own an AR15 before they became "prohibited" u can NEVER legally own one. That is the case for me now. I would love to own an FN rifle and an AK, but they both went on the "prohibited" list before I was old enough to legally buy a firearm. So now I'm shit out of luck. Long as I live I can never legally own anything that is on the prohibited list. This sucks big time. So fearing that I would miss out on the AR15 line of rifles I bought one without doing any research about them just incase the government decided that they were too evil for us to own, that way I would end up being grandfathered. Oh I missed out on the 4" handguns too. Never can own one of those either.[:(!]
Now I cant decide if I want the A2 upper or a flattop, but I do think I want the 14.5" barrel for sure. I think the 14.5" would be the best comprimise for IPSC 3 gun between an 11" or the 20" barrels. I've only shot one IPSC 3 gun so far and I did quite well with the 20"HBAR even with the irons. We had a couple of shots at 200m at a target measuring approx 8" square. The guys with the 10" barrels and red dots didn't do so well on that. I think the 14.5" would be the best length for me but should I stick with the A2 or go with a flat top? If i need to spend money on mounting options for the A2 and still dont have as good a system as the flat top, well then I'd rather put the money towards the better system. As for service rifle, I'm just getting involved in that and from what I've seen most are using 20" with optics. I would be satisfied using the 14.5" with optics until I became more involved in it.
As for the twist and weight of the rifle, well I guess thats just the "just in case" mindset I have.[;)]. Thanks for your input and ideas keep them coming.
AG.

talk to any of the shooters who didn't make minor at the 3 gun nats and they will tell you to use at least 18". JP rifles and Benny Hill will tell you the same thing.

This being a possibility is even more reason not to sell your SP1. As for Flat-top or carry handle, if you plan to put on an Eotech or ACOG flat top is better, If you are staying with Iron sights forever, A2 is OK but the current US military M4 is flattop, so that emulation (M4gery) might be nicer, you can always add piccatinny rear sights or removable carry handle. Service rifle class here does not yet permit the removable carry handle, it must be the A2 style, that ruling is pending to CMP. You might check your regs for Service class before you buy.

AG,

In your situation I would dump the HBAR barrel, and A2 upper.

Either by getting the barrel on the HBAR cut down to 18.25" and having the barrel reprofiled to .65 or .70 under the handguard.

or

Getting a 1:9 Armalite midlength flattop upper.  If you are not shooting 77gr BTHP you shoudl be good to go.  With this option you will need a offset adpator pin fo the Colt lower.

There a VERY few LE6921's in Canada - most are LE6920's that peopel hve either cutdown or replaced the 16" bbl with a RO977 M4 bbl.



I think that either the 16" or 18.25" are the two best barrel length out there for AR's (excepting dedicated CQB guns)

If you are shooting past 500m then the 18 woudl be a better choice.  If you are doing more run N gun in close go the 16" middy.


PS Ask this Q on CGN too - some of the answers might be helpful too.

-Kevin

How do you ever get the barrel hot with 6 rnd magazines?

David,
Canadian gun owners can do some of the fastest mag changes ever...