My Ideal AR.

[Andrew Wyatt]

My main complaint with the ar-15 series is twofold.

1. It was designed from the get go as a light machinegun, and as such, has a heavier profile barrel than is necessary for a .223 semi.

2. The trigger is not a two stage trigger. I grew up on m-1a's and mini-14s, and I much prefer two stage triggers to single stage ones.

on to the list.

The heart of a rifle is the barrel, which in this case would be an a-1 profile chrome lined barrel, 18 inches long, with a phantom flash suppressor on it (the nil flash/vortex Flash hiders are open pronged, which catches on things like brush and whatnot). Standard gas system, with gas block and whatnot mounted in the same place as the 20 inch barrel. the front sight would be a custom front mounted securely and permanently to the free float tube, the rear sight would be a GGG MAD. The handguards would be an aluminum free float tube (no cooling slots) with drilled and tapped holes at intervals to attach rails. The FF tube would have a removeable plastic cap in front that still allows the barrel to freely float and yet does not allow junk inside the FF tube, and a stud that protrudes from the front to allow the use of a clothespin bipod.

The bolt would be an LMT SOPMOD bolt and carrier. This has has good reviews over on lightfighter from the guys over in the sandbox.

the lower would be a standard aluminum A2 style lower from a reputable maker like bushmaster or DPMS, with a JP 2 stage trigger, anti- walk pins, and a DPMS ambi safety.

The stock would be a vltor modstock, a magpul clubfoot or an ACE boom tube. if the stock was a boom tube, it'd be cut down to a 12 inch LOP.

the PG would be a tangodown battlegrip, which has space for batteries.

Optics would be an ACOG tao1-NSN regulated for whatever caliber it's in. (6.5 grendel seems a possibility, as does 6.8mm spc) This rifle allows me to use one rifle for most of my shooting; 3 gun, tactical rifle, and hunting.

I'd also work up three other uppers.

upper 1 would be a cut carry handle a1 style upper with an 11.5 inch upper in one of the large thumper (.500 beowulf or .458 socom) calibers with a gemtech bi lock FH and a suitable suppressor. standard plastic handguards with a rail at 3:00 for a flashlight. no optics. rear sight replaced with a large ghost ring, front with an XS big dot tritium front. this would be a nice little indoors/short range type gun, with a secondary camp defense/defense from big critters application.

upper two would be a duplicate of the thumper upper, but in .22 LR. this allows for inexpensive training and whatnot.

upper three would be a duplicate of the 18 inch barrelled upper, but in .223.
...cheaper ammo.

 

[artherd]

I'll take two! One in a 16" bbl and another in 22" heavy profile. .223 for me.

 

[Badger Arms]

My ideal AR would have a KKF Gas System... that's what I'm talking about. Other than that, 16" Barrel, flattop gas block, mid-length handguards, M4 6-position buttstock, standard grip with Gapper. Flat-top upper with an ELCAN 3.5x scope. Needs a flashlight mounted somewhere that it doesn't get in the way of the sling.

 

[c_yeager]

Personally it sounds like your spending a whole lot of money to make what is essentially an M4gery. Don't get me wrong, your definatly buying good stuff. For me the quality isnt better ENOUGH than milspec to be worth the added expense though. But, its your cash to spend.

 

[Onslaught]

Most everything you're talking about is completely do-able, and most of the free float stuff could come from somewhere like Yankee Hill, except the "plastic cap" you mentioned is aluminum instead, and yes I know, you didn't want vent holes. BUT, for such a skinny barrel, I'd think you'd need more heat dissipation for your bbl. But that's just me.

The heart of a rifle is the barrel, which in this case would be an a-1 profile chrome lined barrel, 18 inches long, with a phantom flash suppressor on it

The going "thing" over at AR15.com is the "SPR Clone" with an 18" barrel with a profile less than HBAR, but more than A2.

I had decided a while back, before I had ever heard of the "SPR", that I wanted an AR with an 18.5" barrel ala Mini-14... Who knew I was such a big copycat?

Wanna see pics when you're done

 

[444]

"It was designed from the get go as a light machinegun, and as such, has a heavier profile barrel than is necessary for a .223 semi."

Actually the original M16 and the M16A1 had a very thin profile barrel.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

well, it's mostly an intellectual excercise, though when i move out of state and get some money i'll probably end up building something like it.

I had considered the KKF gas system, but i'm not sure how accuracy will fare with the light profile barrel.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

aye. has anyone figured out why most manufacturers ship guns with barrel profiles more suited to a .45-70 than a .223?

the bushmaster 16 inch AR i used to have weighed almost as much as much as my dad's NM m-1a.

 

[Spark]

Why a two stage trigger on this firearm? Or are you getting it because it sounds cool?

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

I grew up with two stage triggers (my first .22 rifle had a two stage, my first semiauto had a two stage, my 1911 has what can be considered a two stage, my bolt guns are all two stage), and in my opinion they allow for a much lower trigger pull and whatnot while still remaining safe. (i'm talking abouit the difference between the first and second stages here.)

 

[Spark]

Meh. Like a lot of things on your uber-ar, it's unneeded. You should probably decided what exactly you want this rifle to be, and figure out what you need to do to get it there, instead of trying to make a "one size fits all" gun. A lot of the stuff you want to slap on there sounds good on paper, but might not be so great once you actually get out in the woods with it.

 

[Zak Smith]

The bolt would be an LMT SOPMOD bolt and carrier. This has has good reviews over on lightfighter from the guys over in the sandbox.

The LMT bolt is real nice. I put one in the last upper I built. With the JP stainless bolt carrier, it's smoother than any other AR I've got. The LMT "enhanced" Bolt Carrier (with the 3 gas holes) was designed specifically to increase dwell time in 14.5" M4's with the short gas system; you might be better off with a normal 2-hole b/c for a rifle-length gas system. I suggest looking at the LBC/Young chromed bolt carrier or the JP SS b/c (my preference).

with a JP 2 stage trigger, anti- walk pins, and a DPMS ambi safety

The JP trigger is single-stage, sorry.

The handguards would be an aluminum free float tube (no cooling slots) with drilled and tapped holes at intervals to attach rails.

You might already know this, but just a thought: An aluminum float, especially with no vent holes, is going to get hot. Last summer while training for 3Gun, my aluminum handguard was getting too hot to hold.

If you are thinking of using a monolithic float-tube, which is itself the barrel nut, be aware that removing it for cleaning or whatever is a major operation. And it's not "timed", so if you want the slots at 12-3-6-8'o'clock, you'll have to machine or drill them afterwards. The solution is to use a handguard which has a separate barrel nut, like the JP or the PRI tubes. These allow removal of the float tube while leaving the barrel nut in place.

-z

 

[SodaPop]

Make it for under $400 and I'll buy one.

 

[Jeff White]

Andrew wyatt asked;

aye. has anyone figured out why most manufacturers ship guns with barrel profiles more suited to a .45-70 than a .223?

Because it's so much cheaper not to machine the barrel down to a reasonable weight.

BTW, the AR15 wasn't desgned as a light machine gun. It was designed as a rifle. The originals had a nice lightweight barrel just like what's on my SP1 and every M16 and M16A1 out there. No one ever succsessfully sold a LMG varient to any military. The heavy barrel was created for match shooters. As an interesting aside the first Colt A2 HBARs were made with left over barrels from the unsuccessful LMG project.

Jeff

 

[Zak Smith]

An A2/Gov't profile barrel is way lighter than Hbar.

-z

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

I assumed the jp trigger was a two stage. In any event, I like two stage triggers more than single stage and for weapon commonality sake i'd prefer one over a single stage, spark's comments to the contrary.

The free float tube will have cooling holes in it, but they'll be round and threaded so i can attach rail segments if i feel like it. to be honest, an ARMS SIR type forend with a polymer lower handguard portion would suit me just fine, as it'd stay cooler to the touch.

thanks for the tip on the LMT bolt carrier. I didn't know about it being specifically designed for shorty ARs.


The ambi safety is kind of important, with me being left handed and all.

WIth a properly regulated ACOG, and a laser rangefinder, i can make hits out to the 800 yards the graduations stop at.

 

[Zak Smith]

Here's a link to a side-by-side comparison of some different bolt carriers:

http://ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=118&t=181319

-z

 

[Onslaught]

The ambi safety is kind of important, with me being left handed and all.

Something I learned about ambi safeties on the AR, with me being left handed and all...

I have had an Ambi safety on my AR for many years. The lever on the left side is UNDER my trigger finger when in the FIRE position. It's not a big deal, just annoying. Also, the Ambi safety costs $29 or so...

Well, what I recently learned is that, for just $13 plus shipping (same price as regular lever), you can buy a REVERSIBLE safety from Olympic Arms. It's drilled on both sides for the detent pin. Ingenious!

I just received mine a week or so ago, and it works like a charm! The finish was gritty to start with, but I CLP'ed it over night and it fit just fine. Now, my grip and finger position feels just like a rightie with a regular safety. I'm MUCH happier with it. In fact, I'll probably sell the Ambi on my original AR to replace it with another Oly.

Of course, if you have to share with "left brained" individuals, or are LEO, etc... then you'd probably want the regular Ambi... But this is MY rifle, and I want it to suit ME I may also put one of those left handed Ergo Grips on it too

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

That's pretty cool. It'd be fun to hand a gun set up like that to a righty and see how they deal with it.

 

[Onslaught]

My thoughts EXACTLY

I get to do that all the time with my USP45 in variant 2... I hand them the pistol with safety on, they aim and try to pull the trigger, then lean the pistol over to the side, looking for the safety. So far, nobody's found it without me pointing to it on the "other" side.

 

[Spark]

Drilled & tapped holes aren't going to cool at all - they are too small to effectively pass heat through. Since you said you wouldn't mind a SIRS upper, I'd say go for it. Of course, since you are worried about things "catching in the brush" be advised that your picatinny rails will catch just as much as your Vortex flash suppressor, so there is no reason not to have that now.

So, you are back to pretty much a standard M4gery, congrats. No muss, no fuss, and though you could get an ambi safety, you can also get by just fine without. I have for 10 years (I'm lefty as well). If you are going to be shooting at long range, though, get the longer barrel. 16" and 800 yards versus 20+" & 800 == a significant difference.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

the free float tube will be smooth. the rails will only be present when something is mounted on them, and i don't really feel like getting by without stuff.

you are humorless and unimaginitive!

 

[uglygun]

Zak Smith speaks the truth on aluminum handguards getting hot, I wrapped my tube in paracord to put a little insulation onto the thing so it won't get smokin hot during the Bakersfield summer heat or super cold during the winter chill.

I hear the SIR is fairly heavy, atleast a rifle length one would be which is probably what you'd need for an 18inch barrel with the corresponding A2 type sight radius. I'm desperately waiting for the ARMS SIR unit to come out for the AR10 in the rifle length, then that turd is going directly on my AR10 A4 along with a trigger upgrade. Hopefully that gun will gain a little more consistency with it's accuracy and maybe even gain some accuracy, THEN it will likely become my primary 3gun rig. If the AW ban sunsets, the rifle will get a Magpull M93 type stock as well as a Phantom type suppressor.


Heh, one of these days all the Bakersfield idgits will have to meet up at 5 doggies for a little fam-fire fun. I'll bring the AR15s and my AR10 if the M1A guys bring their toys.

You can put some rounds down range with my JP rifle that has the JP trigger in it, excellent trigger for a single stage. Though that gun is set up for varminting, stainless lower and bull barrel made for a 14 pound(unloaded) rifle. My 20inch Bushmaster is in pretty good shape though, even though it's an Hbar. Might ditch the barrel with the AW sunset and replace it with something like a pencil barrel A1/SP1 type 20inch barrel. I like full length stocks though so all my AR15s are gonna keep A2 type stocks, AR10 is getting one only because it's more of a DMR configuration and an adjustable stock can help in some shooting positions.

 

[Zak Smith]

uglygun,

PRI is coming out with a foreend for the AR10. Shawn @ PRI said it would be a few weeks. It's the same style as their AR15 tubes. Then there's always the JP AR10 tube (which I've got).

For an adjustable stock on the AR10, you can use a Magpul M93, but you need a custom buffer to match the AR10 operating system length to the AR15 carbine-length receiver extension. Paul Castillo was making these buffers, but I believe Rich @ Magpul will start to manufacture them and sell an AR10 M93 kit.

-z

 

[uglygun]

I'm betting the Magpul folks will hop on that market for making the M93 work with AR10s, by the time the AW ban sunsets I'm sure they will be positioned to take advantage of the market demand.


As for the SIR, I want something with all the mucho continuous rail goodness that is the SIR. Seen the PRI tubes but I am pretty set on the SIR. One thing I would like to see ARMS do though is make a set of interchangable handguard portions to attach to the bottom, maybe one that is more suitable for shooting from a bagged position(like the Badger Ordinance squared bottom freefloat tube), one like the current offering that offers various rail interface options, and then maybe a simple rounded handguard.


I've got a JP Ent. grade one upper on an AR15, not really gonna go that route again. I want to keep the 20inch upper more of a rough and tumble upper, I'm considering having a 2nd upper built by GA Precision in something like 260Rem for getting way out there but I'm kinda waiting to see if the 300SRUM idea catches on and custom smiths start taking to it as well. I've got the 700 300WinMag though for long range work as is already, probably just stick with the 7.62Nato upper if the SIR manages to make improvements I'm hoping it will make.