New fighting gun - Sionics, BCM, Aero, Colt

[Leonidas24]

Over the last 11 years I've used nearly every conceivable evolution of the AR that's come to market, save for some of the hi-speed race guns out there. It started in 2007 with a rack-grade M16A4 issued to me by E Co 2-58 IN Bn; it was a fat, ugly, cumbersome, and unwieldy piece of junk that I hope has since been retired or at least rebarreled. Later it was an M4 with an M68 CCO and PEQ-15. That M4 saw every measurable piece of abuse I could put it through -- dropping it off the deck or turret of a BFV, crunched between the door and driver's seat of an MRAP, locked in a mount in the turret of said MRAP, and knocked around from 4 or 5 landmines and IED's. It at one point was speared into the dirt barrel first when I fell in a hole, with my squad trying to find its way out of a minefield, in a dust storm, near the Iraq/Iran border. 30 seconds with a cleaning rod later and it was back to business. In all of that I never had a major malfunction, stoppage, or lost zero. It was three years of testimony to the durability of the AR/M4 design, especially when coupled with an optic like an Aimpoint.

When I left the Army in 2010, there were three fundamental truths I knew: 1) a piston system was superior to the DI gas system, 2) Eotech produced a far more user friendly optic due to the large HUD style glass, and 3) a long, free float barrel with flip up sights was something I had to have when I built my first rifle. Two of those things came to fruition; when I began reading through the threads on M4C I ditched the fondness of piston op-rod gas systems and opted instead for the traditional gas system. But that didn't stop me from dropping almost $600 on an Eotech 551, and $1700 more on boat-anchor heavy parts that weren't at all necessary.

As time progressed my AR collection grew, and the weights progressively reduced as I realized carrying a fat, heavy carbine with a chunky Troy MRF handguard was stupid. My long picatinny handguards were swapped out for Samson Evo slick rails, Troy Alphas, and eventually I got into the Keymod game in 2013 with a PWS 12" handguard. The two-piece barrel nut was ridiculous and point of failure more than a couple times, and it was eventually replaced by a BCM original 13" KMR.

After playing around with the KMR for a couple months I shelled out the dough and bought a couple more to replace the older handguards on two more carbines, and alas my Keymod conversion was complete. Not that I utilized the ability, but being able to move accessories around carbines was a nice feature, and one that I enjoyed having despite its under-utilization. By this point the Eotech had long been shed in favor of a couple Aimpoint Micros, and I was beginning to explore the usefulness of low-powered variable optics as viable alternatives for small electronic red dot sights.

Fast forward to 2017 and I had a small downsized collection of 2 AR's - one a 14.5" mid-length equipped with an Aimpoint Micro, and the second a 16" mid-length with a Steiner P4xi. Both did exactly what I needed them to do, and had been doing, quite notably for a couple years. Both were equipped with BCM KMR's, and each had 4-5 layers of Aervoe building up in more than a couple places. Both were set up to accept a Silencerco Saker, and had been tuned to run ideally suppressed with 5.56 pressure ammo.

When BCM announced their QRF handguard that utilized the same style of barrel nut as the KMR I was intrigued. There wasn't necessarily a void that needed filling in the capabilities already filled by the carbines I already possessed, save for an 18-20 inch long range gun, but even that project is on the back burner at this point. But nonetheless I decided to tackle a new AR project that would unquestionably stand up to anything I could throw at it, and be relentlessly reliable. It also needed to be void of proprietary parts that weren't readily available from most dealers or online shops. That led me to decide on a 16" mid-length medium/gov profile barrel, 9 inch picatinny handguard that would preferably be of the free-float variety, and initially I'd decided to build this gun with fixed iron sights only. After some unique trading the idea for an irons only gun was shelved when I scored an Aimpoint Comp ML2 with a Larue M68 CCO mount.

After some solid Black Friday sales this is what the project morphed into:

Aero Precision forged lower
Aero LPK
BCM RE Kit
PWS H2 buffer
Geissele SSA
Tangodown BG-18
Bravo B5

BCM blem stripped upper
Sionics 16" medium profile barrel w/ FSB
BCM Mod 4 charging handle
Colt complete M16 BCG
BCM 9" QRF
A2 flash hider
Streamlight TLR-1
Tangodown Mk46 vert grip (nostalgic value, this same grip deployed with me in 2008)
Aimpoint Comp ML2
Larue lower 1/3 comp mount
Matech rear sight
A very weathered BFG padded VCAS in Multicam I've had for about 5 years.







Since finishing the project mid-December I've fired just short of 800 rounds through the gun, 400 of which were in a lv2 defensive carbine class two Sundays ago, and all of which have been trouble free save for when an instructor shoved a stick in the ejection port as I was shooting around a barricade. It's notable that in said class it was so muddy mid-way through the morning that on an urban prone drill I ended up ripping off the Aimpoint due to a dirtied up rear lens and finishing the drill with irons (+1 for QD optics mounts.) Since that Sunday this gun has become my go-to fighting gun that comes and goes to and from work with me or on extended trips from the house. The next 800 rounds are coming up mid-February when work is running another 2-day carbine course.

At this point I can't foresee any meaningful changes being made other than possibly replacing the Larue mount with one from American Defense Manufacturing based on personal preferences, and the TLR-1 may end up getting ditched at some point or at least remounted on an FSB mount from Arisaka. Outside of that everything is perfect. Does it diminish the quality of my other two AR's? No, but the thus far proven durability and reliability of this setup is hard to argue with at this point.

[Leonidas24]

Here it is after class alongside my 14.5" middy. It got a hasty rinse in a puddle before taking this picture and tossing it in a rifle bag to head home. When I had a chance to clean it later that evening I pulled out clumps of mud and grass the size of finger nails from the barrel extension and FCG pocket.

[Iraqgunz]

Nice. I would like to hear your feedback about the barrel and how it is performing for you.

[Krazykarl]

I too would eagerly await a sionics report. My first build will be exclusively with sionics parts.

[gaijin]

Appreciate your thought process on the evolution of your SD gun here.
I share much of your opinion.

Nicely done.

[shiv]

This very much mimics my rifle from 2008 except I had a DD Omega and Comp M2 on it with a Surefire G2 LED. It’s a factory BCM BFH upper. I later took the Omega off in favor of a Magpul hand guard. It does 99% of what an AR needs without unnecessary frills.

While I’ve built many rifles, I no longer see much point anymore. Factory rifles are very affordable and carry customer service and warranty. I’ve seen lots of basement builds turn into frustrating experiments in diagnostics of a hodgepodge of parts from multiple vendors that no company wants to take responsibility for. It can be a gamble when purchasing from multiple companies. It looks like you did it right. Congratulations on a functioning and sensible build.


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[Leonidas24]

Nice. I would like to hear your feedback about the barrel and how it is performing for you.

Thus far it's been fed a steady diet of Federal M193 and is zeroed off of my 62 gr GDSP 5.56NATO load using 25.8 gr of Ramshot TAC. It ran on PMC, but just barely with the H2 buffer, and has run 60 rds of American Eagle red box 55gr .223. Ejection is predictable -- 3 o'clock and pretty much all lands in a 2 foot square 5-6 feet to the right if I'm standing. I don't have any good pics of groups but it averages around 2-2.5 MOA with my GDSP load.

Originally posted by shiv

This very much mimics my rifle from 2008 except I had a DD Omega and Comp M2 on it with a Surefire G2 LED. It’s a factory BCM BFH upper. I later took the Omega off in favor of a Magpul hand guard. It does 99% of what an AR needs without unnecessary frills.

While I’ve built many rifles, I no longer see much point anymore. Factory rifles are very affordable and carry customer service and warranty. I’ve seen lots of basement builds turn into frustrating experiments in diagnostics of a hodgepodge of parts from multiple vendors that no company wants to take responsibility for. It can be a gamble when purchasing from multiple companies. It looks like you did it right. Congratulations on a functioning and sensible build.

That pretty covers it.

Thanks all to the comments and kudos.

[opngrnd]

This thread is now my favorite custom build thread. My experiences aren't far from yours, build wise, and I'm a big fan of Sionics since my first 16" build using their medium weight barrel. Would you mind sharing the weight of the finished build?

[Leonidas24]

This thread is now my favorite custom build thread. My experiences aren't far from yours, build wise, and I'm a big fan of Sionics since my first 16" build using their medium weight barrel. Would you mind sharing the weight of the finished build?

Happily, but I unfortunately don't have a scale. I'll try to borrow one this week and get the weight; it's not light by any means.

[thebarracuda]

Thats a good barrel. I have one without the fsb running a trij 1x4 accupower. Very accurate setup. The barrel does not seem picky about ammo. Very accurate for a chrome lined bore. Heavier than my BCM elw yes, but shoots all my ammo well. Different tools for different jobs. Mine is a complete Sionics upper. The extra weight coupled with an A5 rear end makes for a very smooth shooter. Ive been really happy with it.