Another AR 15 "A2.5"

[EssOne]

Last year I got to build a gun I had been hankering after for a long time. The idea was basically to hook up a mid-length upper with the government contour .750" barrel with an A2 lower to arrive at what I called a "short rifle" instead of a carbine of the classic order. Since it really wasn't a true A3, being a bit shorter, I called it an "A2.5" just for grins. I wrote about it here at http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/87560-the-a25/. But to refresh everybody's memory, here are a couple of photos of that little peach of a rifle.

 

 

 

And here's how she shot at 100 yards off the bench with irons and some Outback 69 grain target hollow points.

 

 

Well, after shooting it quite a bit and realizing what a sweet handling, accurate rifle it is, sonofagun if I didn't start hurting to do it all over again, except this time I wanted to set it up with an ultra light or "pencil barrel." Mmmmmmboy was that gonna stretch my SDI (Sudden Divorce Index), but I thought it still had a little stretch left in it so I got up my nerve and put the new gun together last month. Here's a photo of the two rifles together, showing the earlier heavy barrel gun on the bottom and the new pencil barrel gun on top.

 

 

When I built the first one, parts availability was a little sporadic, so I used a Spikes assembled upper, Spikes stripped lower, Armalite LPK, Geissele SSA trigger, BCM charging handle, and RRA rear sight and buttstock assembly. But on the new one parts availability was a lot better so it is all Palmetto State Armory except for the an Anderson stripped lower, Geissele SSA trigger, BCM charging handle, and RRA rear sight. I used Palmetto's premium parts and assemblies throughout the gun, and they were nice enough to throw in a $40 upgraded NiB bolt carrier group without charging me for it. Shhhhhhhhhhhh. Oh yeah, I used the MagPul pistol grip on both rifles.

 

Here are some photos of the gun and some of its features:

 

First, here are three photos showing the difference between a .750" diameter government contour barrel and the .650" pencil barrel

 

 

Here's the Nib bolt carrier group in the new rifle.

 

 

Another subtle difference between the two rifles is the safety selector markings on the two lower receivers. The right side of the Anderson receiver is completely blank while the Spike's lower has bullet buttons on the right side.

 

 

 

Here is my favorite of all favorite iron sights, the RRA Stand Alone Rear Sight. The allen wrench is in the butt trap.

 

 

Well, I got the new rifle built and have had time to do a small amount of shooting with it. Boy if I thought the earlier gun handled like a dream, the new one with the pencil barrel swings even better than that. I haven't had time to bench rest it with target ammo, but I zeroed it at 25 yards with XM193 55 grain loads and immediately started banging the 240 yard steel plate dingers up at the club, a few offhand even, so I have no doubt that this little rifle will be a good, accurate rifle.The pencil barrel, as you might expect, heats up faster than the heavier barrel, but I use these guns mainly for target work and I have time to let them cool off, so barrel heat really isn't a big factor with me. So if you want a rifle that will tickle yer heart, try one of these next time you get a hankerin' to build another AR. You'll love it.

 

EssOne

Edited August 28, 2015 by EssOne