Finally got my AR assembled

[AZ-Stew]

I finally got my AR built today. All that's left is for Midsouth to deliver the scope.

Lower: LAR Grizzley

Trigger: Jewell two-stage Match

Grip: I forget the brand, but it's rubber with finger grooves and a pad that guides a right-handed shooter's trigger finger to place the fingertip pad correctly on the trigger. It fills the hand FAR better than the stock A-2 grip. Feels great.

Buttstock: Command Arms 6-point collapsible

Upper: Bushmaster 24" varminter, .223/5.56, 1:9 twist, fluted. Picked it up today from a local shop. Cost way more than I had planned, but prospects for finding ANY AR parts right now are slim to none.

I'm waiting for the Burris 6.5-20 x 50mm Ballistic Mildot scope. Should have it by Friday. Ammo's loaded for a trip to the range early Saturday morning.

I'm going to use it for F-Class competition and varminting.

Regards,

Stew

[RugerFan]

Sounds very nice. I am currently ordering parts for AR15 #4 that will go to my son. Finding all the parts is a challenge and it takes orders from multiple sources to get a whole one.

[danski26]

That 1-9 twist might not be enough to stabilize the long bullets "77, 80, 90" grain or heavier used for 600 yards and beyond in f-class. It might be able to stabilize the 69gr smk but you will be at a big disadvantage using that bullet past 300 yards. Just some food for thought if you can change the barrel still.

[August]

It's nice to hear that someone, somewhere got an upper!!!!

[Papa Foxtrot]

MIdway has several DPMS uppers available. Just ordered a flat-top yesterday.

[Cherokee]

69 Sierra, 68 Hornady and 69 Nosler will work from the 1:9 twist. Have fun !!

[7br]

What scope mounts are you using for flattops? Brand, Height, style?

[AZ-Stew]

The DPMS upper I wanted from Midway has been "out of stock, no backorder" since January. It was supposed to be available yesterday, but the expected arrival date has been pushed out to 24 May. I'm glad I found the one I did.

I've ordered Burris Signature Zee rings for my scope. "Zee rings" is what Burris calls their Weaver-style rings. The Signature line is the ones with the polymer inserts that allow the rings to exactly conform to the scope body, regardless of any misalignments in the rings. They also allow scope mounting without scratching or denting the scope tube. They also sell a set of offset inserts that allows the user to adjust initial scope alignment without using the windage and elevation adjustments. http://www.burrisoptics.com/sigrings.html

I've ordered some Burger 70 and 73 grain bullets to try with the rifle after I finish Bushmaster's recommended 120-round break-in procedure. The barrel is supposed to stabilize up to 75gr bullets. For break-in I'm using some Hornady 52gr HPBT match bullets I got several years ago from Midsouth at bargain prices after they bought out a sporting goods store that was closing. With all the shooting and cleaning, it's going to be a long day Saturday.

I didn't want a rifle that was only good for one purpose, thus the "compromise" 1:9 twist. The guy who runs our F-class matches recommended a 1:8 for match shooting, but I wanted to keep the twist slow enough so it wouldn't cause varmint bullets to prematurely vaporize. I'm not shooting the matches as a "gamer". If I place well, that's good, but winning isn't at the top of my list any longer. 30 years ago I'd have been doing anything I could to win, but it's not that important to me now. I'm more interested in putting a few rounds down range at the longest distance possible (we're range-limited to 500 yds) to see how well I can do, learn to judge wind and practice for varmint shooting. I've always enjoyed long-range rifle shooting. This allows me to use the high-power part of our range, rather than being stuck on the "public" portion of the range where the range limit is 300 yds.

Regards,

Stew

[Phil]

Hi Stew,

Good luck with your project. A word about varmint bullets vaporizing with fast twist barrels though. With any bullet suitable for high velocity (22-250, 220 Swift) light bullets aren't going to vaporize. Lots of us have been shooting 50-55 grain bullets in 7 and 8 inch twists for years. That said, keep us posted on how you progress. Sounds like a great project to me.


Cheers,

Phil

[GrizzLeeBear]

+1 what Phil said.

I shoot 55 gr. SP (Hornady or Midsouth "varmint nightmare" - same thing) in my 1 in 8 twist for Highpower Service Rifle for 200 & 300 yd. stages. As long as you don't use the real thin skinned SX or Blitz type bullets the fast twist is fine in .223.

For 75 gr. bullets the 1 in 9 twist is right on the edge. SOME 1 in 9 barrels will shoot the "short" 75 grainers like the Hornady HPBT but will not shoot the longer A-Max or VLD bullets. Some 1 in 9 barrels won't shoot anything over 69 gr. But don't let that worry you too much, there have been a lot of VERY good scores shot with 69 grainers. They just get pushed around by the wind a little more, requiring a little more observation and thinking by the shooter on windy days.

[AZ-Stew]

Sorry, I missed one of 7br's questions.

I called Bushmaster and asked them what height they suggested. The upper came with two riser blocks that raise the mounting surface about 1/2 inch. Bushmaster recommended using low or medium height rings with this setup for proper scope height. The Burris Zee rings are only available from Midsouth in medium and high, so I selected the mediums. If they're too high, I'll remove the riser blocks.

I was going to order black matte finish rings, but all that was in stock was the matte nickel finish. Some folks will probably turn up their noses at that breach of etiquite, but nickel rings actually look kind of cool on a gun that's otherwise black (or blued). I have a set on my T/C Contender 45-70 barrel. I'll probably also get funny looks for putting a collapsible stock on it, but I wanted to get one before the gub'ment outlaws them. Besides, it's MY rifle and I wanted to personalize it. When they become available again, I'm going to replace the safety selector, pivot pin, magazine and bolt release buttons with the silver colored ones DPMS used to have available before the panic buying. Why should my rifle look like everyone else's? Makes it easily identifiable when it's in one of the rifle stands at the range, or if stolen.

Regards,

Stew

[jonk]

Well, never much liked ARs, or collapsable stocks, but sure like the feeling of completeing a project and having something I've wanted. :drinks:

[BD]

I'm waiting on a group buy lower to finish a .450 bushmaster I'm putting together as a cast boolit rig, and I was wondering about scope hieght. My upper did not come with riser blocks.

I'm also considering putting a fat recoil pad on it to add an inch to the length of pull. I shoot my DCM with my nose right on the charging handle and I don't think that's gonna be a good idea with the .450 B.

Unfortunately my eyes are going downhill to the point that my days on the 600 yard line are behind me. My next AR project will be to flat top the DCM for a full time varmit rifle. I've shot a couple of boxes of the 55 grain BTs out of that 8 twist with no problems, but the 77 grain Sierras are a lot better in the wind.

The ARs lack a lot esthetically, but IMHO they make up for it, and then some, ergonomically. And the ones I've been around sure could shoot.

BD

[AZ-Stew]

Jonk,

From '82 - '86 I was a First Class and Chief Gunner's Mate serving in the position of small arms instructor for two US Navy Reserve SeaBee batallions. I never liked the M-16, either.

Good points:

Accuracy

Low recoil makes it easy to train new shooters

Lightweight rifle and ammo

Bad points:

Powder combustion residue ported into receiver creating deposits that are next to impossible to remove. It took an afternoon of each weekend drill to properly clean rifles.

Under combat conditions you can't just yank the bolt back, turn the rifle upside down and pour out the sand, water or mud that may have entered the action like you can with the M-14, Garand or M-1 Carbine. With the M-16 you have to disassemble it.

Wear at pivot and takedown pins and holes caused upper and lower receivers to exhibit excessive play.

Low retained energy at long range. I told our people then that our next conflict would be in the desert. Both have been. I prefer to keep my enemy as far away from me as possible.

Low penetration capability compared to .30 caliber (M-14, Garand, either of which will shoot through several walls).

Until the current Bozo-In-Chief got elected, I didn't want one. Afterward, I had to have one just because he's going to tell us we can't have one. Screw him and his crew. Molon Labe.

I forgot to mention that I wanted the faster twist for shooting Barnes Varmint Grenade bullets. They reportedly hold together at high RPMs. The faster you spin them, the better the terminal performance. The 36gr version is about the same length as a 50-55 gr lead core bullet, but the 50 gr version is really long, probably as long as some of the 70 gr bullets. The up side is that due to their low weight, they can be driven very fast, compared to lead core bullets of the same length. It will be interesting to observe their flight characteristics and terminal performance. I'm also building (slowly) a bolt action .22-250 varmint rig based on a Remington 700 short action. What I learn from this rifle will help me decide what twist to use in the new bolt action.

Regards,

Stew