Hey guys,
It's been a while, but I just finished a fresh new build. Well, it's almost finished. I still have a couple of finishing touches to get to, but it's shootable.
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So ... as they say ... "tip to butt" ...
1. I went with an A2 flash hider. What can I say? They work. I time mine so that the partition between the last two ports on the left is centered. Yes, it helps. If you don't think that an A2 has any compensator qualities, put one on upside down and see what happens.
2. You're not gonna believe this. I ran across Dirty Bird handguards. They run about $100. I don't know what to say, except that they check all of the boxes for me. Made in the U.S.A., T6 6061 and it's pretty thick, but not so much that they are unduly heavy. The anodizing is excellent. It is pretty thick as well. It locks up solid and has a no nonsense design. Every cut in it serves a purpose, that being M-Lok. Yes, if you noticed, I cut the end off. Hey, it was an inch too long and it's what I had and I was hot to get this thing put together. I got the handguard at ar15discounts.com if anyone wants to check them out.
3. The sling is a Magpul MS. I like these slings. They are simple, they work well and they're pretty inexpensive.
4. The barrel ... oh, man ... the barrel. Criterion ... 12.5" hybrid contour. I went with the hybrid because with this barrel length, I didn't think the Core contour would make much of a difference and I was planning on hard use, so I wanted the extra mass. I also wanted the maximum accuracy. Does it shoot? Oh, geez. I'm getting 3 MOA with trash 55gr ball. With good 77s, it shoots as well as I'm up to. I've shot near one hole groups with it. Not with the scope you see on it. I put a 22X on it for testing.
5. As for the scope, Vortex Razor 1-6X Gen II E. I can't tell you how many scopes I went through trying to find just the right one. Vortex PST Gen II 1-6X, Trijicon Credo HX 1-6X, Steiner P4xi 1-4X, I borrowed a Khales K16i and a Swaro Z6i and there were others that I can't even remember now. What came the closest was the PST in terms of 1X, which was what I was most concerned about, but the PST couldn't keep up at higher magnification. The Steiner was nice. REALLY nice. Killer 1X, but in the end, the 4X top end wasn't going to be enough and the controls were mushy. I was also a little concerned about the robustness of the optic (and the Steiner warranty). The Kahles and the Swaro were arguably better, but they seemed a lot less better when the price came to mind. Seriously, if you've never shot with a Razor and are on a budget or just prefer not to spend Swaro or Kahles money, the Razor is truly a buy once, cry once and keep it forever optic. You owe it to yourself to check it out, especially if you're like me. I don't collect guns, I don't buy them to have them. I have them to shoot and so they'll be there when I need them and I'll know how to use them, so this is my only AR with a magnified optic on it.
6. The scope mount is a 1.59 height Vortex Sport mount. It's actually a pretty nice mount. The recoil lug is a steel insert and the the rail mount screws have steel inserts. Still, I'm just using this until I make a decision on the whole 1.93 height debate going on in my head. The 1.93 height in conjunction with the generous eyebox of the Razor is a stupid fast combo for up close, but when you get to around 50 yards and you're looking for that solid cheek weld for stability, it gets tough. I think I've settled on a Badger Ordnance Condition 1 mount with the 1.7" height. Gotta do a bit more thinking and run a few more drills with the timer to decide.
7. The upper is a Wilson Combat "Mil Spec Plus" receiver. I still can't figure out what the "plus" is all about. The barrel extension to receiver fit wasn't as tight as I would have liked. I didn't even need to heat it up to get it to fit, so I bedded it. Truing it up took some doing too. In short, it's nothing special. It was cheap though. Like $70. The finish is more grayish than black. Still, I think it looks cool.
8. The grip is one of the Reptilia grips meant for PDWs. It's about as vertical as you can get. Super handy if you like getting close up on the gun. The only downside is that it is kinda short. Not a problem for me, I have small hands, but if you have big hands, you might want to give this a pass. What I like about it is that I don't get the fatigue that I usually get in my wrists and it has a bit of meat to it. If you're interested, tactical link makes a PDW grip that has some meat to it and it's a bit longer too.
9. The receiver extension is a Vltor A5. I'm not going to jump up and down and say that it's a night and day difference from a standard carbine tube and buffer, but it does make a difference. I don't know if I'd say that you should run out and do an upgrade (although I did on my other two ARs), but if you're doing a fresh build and need to buy a tube and buffer anyway, you should definitely check these out. It's smooth.
10. The brace is an SBA3. Enough said.
11. The BCG is a Bravo Company carrier and an LMT bolt. I don't think I need to explain these. Some of the best.
12. The trigger. Geissele SSA-E. Great trigger and they work and keep on working. I actually have one of the ones that were first on the market. The serial number and stuff were hand written on with some sort of paint pen or something. That one hasn't missed a beat. Why would I try any other for something special? On that note, when I have need for a general purpose trigger, I also use the enhanced milspec triggers from Tom's Tactical. The ones with the nickel boron coating. They go on sale often for around $40. They have the Schmidt marks on the parts and they are full milspec, just super smooth. I run these in my 7.62X39, 9mm and .22 builds.
13. The lower receiver is an Aero Precision. I wanted to try one out. It's pretty nice. Integrated trigger guard, flared magwell and the screw that you can use to tighten the upper fit. It looks nice and does what it's supposed to do. It's a lower.
14. Lastly, the M-Lok rail panels are made by Manta. They are rubber and have a neat little insert that locks them to the handguard. They really block the heat. I picked these up on a blow out sale for $8 a set of three. They work well.