My First Build

[MrBrian]

 

My very first AR build. I wanted to make something different than a standard AR-15, so I decided to try to make one that can hit in the 500-600 yard range.  Here's the parts list.  I still need some BUIS and a buttstock extension.

 

Stag Arms Lower

CMMG Lower Parts Kit

Magpul MOE Rifle Stock OD

A2 Buffer Tube Kit

ERGO Grip FDE

Magpul Foliage Green Trigger Guard

Burris ARPEPR 1" Scope Mount

Nikon Buckmaster 4.5x14x40 Scope

Harris Bipod 13.5"-25"

Rock River Arms Predator Pursuit 20" Upper with .223 Wylde 1/8 Twist Bead Blasted Barrel

Hogue Free Float Handguard

Rock River Arms Standard BCG

 

If I added everything up correctly, I've got a little over fourteen hundred into it.  I'll post some groups when I get it sighted in...   I'm hoping to hit some balloons at 600 yards!

 

[Fourtyfive]

Nice , congrats on your first ! Now you will go broke building the rest .....

[rugerla1]

Nice , congrats on your first ! Now you will go broke building the rest .....

This! Very nice build man.

[Oh Shoot]

Looks like all aces to me, kudos!

[MrBrian]

Thanks!  Should I zero my scope at 50 yards?   I'm no expert on scopes, but I've read that zeroing a .223 at 50 yards will also get you close to zero at 200 yards....  any tips or suggestions?  I'll just be target shooting from 100-600 yards....  it's a BDC sight picture, so according to Nikon Spot On website, if I zero it at 50 yards, then the bottom circle will be around 600 yards at 10x-12x zoom....

[peejman]

Zero at 50 just gets you close at 200 if you can't zero at 200. If want to hit at 600, I'd zero at 200.

[Hunter24]

Those complete uppers from RRA are shooters. I believe they guarantee 1" with most of them. Drop some reduced power springs or decent trigger should help your groups. Nice job on the first one. 

[MrBrian]

i think i'll use my laser sight to get it to 50 yards, and then sight it in at 200 with ammo...

[MrBrian]

i'm actually surprised at how good the trigger is...  i read the cmmg lower parts triggers are hit or miss.... i seemed to got a smooth one with a crisp break...   i just couldn't justify spending $200+ on a trigger.....  

[Fourtyfive]

Have a nice RR varmint with 20" barrel , brand spanking new , put it on a NEW Frontier Poly lower and had failure to feeds , tried 3 dif pmags , all new. Gonna try it on a REAL lower next week and see what happens. Thinking maybe the lower is not seating or locking up the mag right. Whatever , I have a complete Poly Frontier lower for sale soon.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I have the same stock and REALLY like it.

 

I am getting ready to build another AR and I might take a few ideas from this one.

[gunwhatgun]

That looks like a top notch build. I also agree that if you have a place to zero at 200 your life will be a little easier at 600.

[mikegideon]

Nice , congrats on your first ! Now you will go broke building the rest .....

 

Ain't that the truth :) Trying to finish #6 now.

[Oh Shoot]

Have a nice RR varmint with 20" barrel , brand spanking new , put it on a NEW Frontier Poly lower and had failure to feeds , tried 3 dif pmags , all new. Gonna try it on a REAL lower next week and see what happens. Thinking maybe the lower is not seating or locking up the mag right. Whatever , I have a complete Poly Frontier lower for sale soon.

 

If it chambers okay with charging handle, but not when shooting, pretty much bet you it's not the lower.

 

- OS

[MrBrian]

As far as back up sights go... would these work and line up properly on this upper?

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/791596/troy-industries-front-flip-up-battle-sight-m4-style-ar-15-gas-block-height-aluminum-flat-dark-earth?cm_vc=wishList

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/820984/troy-industries-rear-flip-up-battle-sight-ar-15-flat-top-aluminum-flat-dark-earth?cm_vc=wishList

 

Since the front rail is lower than the rear rail, I'm guessing I need the "gas block height" rear sight, but I wanted to make sure before I spend that much money on them...  any other suggestions on back up sights?

[Oh Shoot]

As far as back up sights go... would these work and line up properly on this upper?

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/791596/troy-industries-front-flip-up-battle-sight-m4-style-ar-15-gas-block-height-aluminum-flat-dark-earth?cm_vc=wishList

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/820984/troy-industries-rear-flip-up-battle-sight-ar-15-flat-top-aluminum-flat-dark-earth?cm_vc=wishList

 

Since the front rail is lower than the rear rail, I'm guessing I need the "gas block height" rear sight, but I wanted to make sure before I spend that much money on them...  any other suggestions on back up sights?

 

You need gas block height front sight, but yeah, the one in your first link above seems to be the "high" one:

 

Same model number one from Troy's site:

 

"Problem: Picatinny Railed Gas Blocks do not accomodate a same-plane aperture front sight.

Solution: The Troy Industries Gas Block Mounted Front Sight."

 

http://troyind.com/%20/back-up-iron-sights/folding/front-folding-black-fde/troy-battlesight-front-gas-block-mounting-m4

 

Midway is same price as from Troy though, nobody sell them any cheaper?

 

- OS

Edited August 25, 2013 by Oh Shoot

[Fourtyfive]

If it chambers okay with charging handle, but not when shooting, pretty much bet you it's not the lower.

- OS

Didn't do it all the time just once in a while but atleast once per mag. It's the only AR out of 6 I have that has EVER jammed. Do you think maybe the upper or bolt just need breaking in ? I tore the BCG down and found nothing wrong with it.

Maybe the buffer spring ? Edited August 25, 2013 by Threeeighty

[Oh Shoot]

Didn't do it all the time just once in a while but atleast once per mag. It's the only AR out of 6 I have that has EVER jammed. Do you think maybe the upper or bolt just need breaking in ? I tore the BCG down and found nothing wrong with it.

 

Maybe the buffer spring ?

 

Depends on how it's jamming. "Double feed", "stovepipe", casing left in chamber (extractor running over rim or tearing through it), failure to pick up next round? Where is it mostly throwing the brass? Does it do it with both full power 5.56 and cheapo .223, shooting any Russian steel or what?

 

Almost always seems comes down to balance between gassing and resistance, affecting the dwell time. Upper was totally built before you got it? Midlength or rifle gas I guess? "20 inch varmint" suggests perhaps Wylde chamber or .223 only? Being a "varmint model" might be tuned for full performance ammo, lower power runs right on edge of reliability?

 

Etc.

 

- OS

Edited August 25, 2013 by Oh Shoot

[Fourtyfive]

Depends on how it's jamming. "Double feed", "stovepipe", casing left in chamber (extractor running over rim or tearing through it), failure to pick up next round? Where is it mostly throwing the brass? Does it do it with both full power 5.56 and cheapo .223, shooting any Russian steel or what?

Almost always seems comes down to balance between gassing and resistance, affecting the dwell time. Upper was totally built before you got it? Midlength or rifle gas I guess? "20 inch varmint" suggests perhaps Wylde chamber or .223 only? Being a "varmint model" might be tuned for full performance ammo, lower power runs right on edge of reliability?

Etc.

- OS

Xm855 , brand new unfired upper from RRA , cartridge hangs in mag half way out under bolt.

Sorry MrBrian I do not mean to high jack your thread........ Edited August 25, 2013 by Threeeighty

[Dolomite_supafly]

A 25 yard zero is better than 200 if you are wanting to get to 600 yards with irons. At 600 yards a 62g bullet at 3,070 fps has 59" of drop and only has 6" of deviation from the line of sight to 375 yards. And 59" of holdover is easy to guess because that is roughly the height if the average person.

A 200 yard zero with the same load results in 79" of drop at 600. Now 0-200 yards is laser like but beyond that it requires more on the dial than a 25 yard zero. The difference between a 50 and 200 yard zero at 600 yards is one inch. Most people shooting an AR at that distance will not notice the 1" difference.

The biggest advantage to zeroing at 50/200 is the turrets of a scope will only be going one way. Using a 25 yard zero with a scope you might need to dial down then back up again if shooting at distances between 100 and 600.

When using irons I always zero my 223's at 25 yards because it is point and shoot for anything inside of 350 yards. The 62g bullet stays within 6" of line of sight with a 25 yard zero.

For scopes I plan on dialing on the turrets with I zero at 100 yards because, just like 50/200, the scope will be getting dialed one way, up.

This is all for 223/5.56. For my 300 Blackout guns it is a different animal all together.

For my subsonic 300 BO loads I zero at 40 yards. The reason is because it matches a 22lr in the 1,200 fps range out to 200 yards, and maybe beyond. So I can zero at 40 and the use a scope that is ballistically matched to a 22lr which is cheaper than any dedicated 300 Blackout scope. For supersonic I use the same scope at the same zero and the dial is going the same way. I just make a note on the turrets for the supersonic loads at given distances.

Man I really need to find another place to get to 500 yards.

[Oh Shoot]

Xm855 , brand new unfired upper from RRA , cartridge hangs in mag half way out under bolt.

 

Spent round always gets ejected before that happens? What angle is it throwing most of the brass?

 

- OS

[Fourtyfive]

Spent round always gets ejected before that happens? What angle is it throwing most of the brass?
 
- OS

Yes spent round is gone , not sure where , I'm looking down a scope and swatting a million sweat bees the day I shot it. Was scoping it in and my .17 HMR same day.

[Oh Shoot]

Yes spent round is gone , not sure where , I'm looking down a scope and swatting a million sweat bees the day I shot it. Was scoping it in and my .17 HMR same day.

 

Well, hard to say without narrowing it down. Overgassing can make bolt too quick to pick up next round, rides over it, for example. Shoot some more and notice ejection angle. Also take some Russian steel maybe or Federal .223 bulk,  and see if it jams on the lesser powered load.

 

Not saying that's what it is by any means, and this is not written in stone, but a general guide to help narrow down gassing/resistance:

 

 

 

- OS

Edited August 25, 2013 by Oh Shoot

[Fourtyfive]

Well, hard to say without narrowing it down. Overgassing can make bolt too quick to pick up next round, under can mean it's not getting all the way back. Shoot some more and notice ejection angle. Also take some Russian steel maybe or Federal .223 bulk,  and see if it jams on the lesser powered load.
 
Not saying that's what it is by any means, and this is not written in stone, but a general guide to help narrow down gassing/resistance:
 

 
 
- OS

Thanks , I've got some Herter's steel I ordered during the "crisis" , will shoot a few mags next weekend I hope.

[Oh Shoot]

Thanks , I've got some Herter's steel I ordered during the "crisis" , will shoot a few mags next weekend I hope.

 

Yeah, and do notice ejection pattern on both loads. I mean, it is possible that lower has mag sitting out of spec too low or two much vertical play in catch, bizarre production stuff happens and never say never about anything, but I really really doubt that.

 

edit: oh, and my apologies also to MrBrian for jacking this.

 

- OS

Edited August 25, 2013 by Oh Shoot