OldDominionIron
03-14-13, 06:47
First things first, I’d like to thank all of the members here for their help with the research and information available to me. Not directly, but by searching the site for recommendations and reviews, you’ve made this first build very satisfying, both in process and results… on to the rifle.
I started out to build a retro AR-15; not only because of the classic look, but to go along with my restored 1966 M35A2 I drive in support of veterans groups in my area.
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s570/olddominioniron/IMG_8827_zps3b022ac8.jpg
After getting a stripped lower receiver from a co-worker, and some inner reflection, I decided I would rather have a rifle I could shoot at longer distances than I normally shoot. There is a 300m range about an hour away, and some internet research pointed out some places I could shoot at even longer distances that aren’t out of reach. The die was cast, some kind of long distance rifle was decided upon.
The thought was to buy parts as money was available, even though additional shipping costs would be the result. To the New Frontier lower I added a Palmetto State Armory A2 stock and their classic lower parts kit. The following month, I was able to get a complete flattop upper and a full auto BCG, both from Bravo Company Manufacturing. Now to add a barrel…
While I read a lot about 16” barrels being accurate out to several hundred yards, I wanted to go further. An 18” barrel seemed appropriate, but at the time was unavailable in the quality I wanted. 20” and 24” were available, though, and after some further research, I decided on a 20”, stainless steel, SAM-R barrel from BCM. The advantages in velocity in the 24” didn’t seem enough to warrant the additional length. Since the end goal is to shoot steel or paper at 600-700 yards, I decided 20” was long enough. The barrel is the HBAR, 1:8” twist, and threaded for a flash hider, with a rifle-length gas system and low-profile gas block.
To improve accuracy, a free-float handguard was the only choice. I wanted a long handguard, to put the bipod I expected to put on the rifle as far forward as possible. Midwest Industries 15” handguard seemed to fill the bill, and looked great once it arrived.
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s570/olddominioniron/IMG_1843_zps183a1939.jpg
As to optics, I decided upon a fixed power scope. The price of scopes was daunting, but using advice from a friend and the reviews and recommendations found here, I went with the SWFA 12x42 SS scope, with the mil-quad reticle, and MRAD turrets. I also ordered the American Defense Mfg. AD-RECON X scope mount, but found it threw the scope too far forward for me to use (at first, anyway). SWFA wouldn’t accept it as a return, because they considered it used. A set of Burris Extreme Tactical Rings offered the quick-disconnect feature I was looking for, with enough clearance for the BUIS I want to install. I have a KAC 200-600 micro rear sight, and a Troy flip-up front sight which I will use when shooting at the local 100-yard high-power rifle matches.
A Wilson Combat A2 flash hider handles the flash suppression duties. I decided against any kind of compensator or muzzle brake. Since I will probably be doing most of my shooting from a bench or prone, I don’t have to worry about getting back on target quickly or controlling muzzle rise during rapid fire shooting - and the black flash hider looks good on the stainless barrel, in my opinion.
A Harris bipod was really my only choice, again based on recommendations found here and from my friend. I’m of the opinion that I would rather pay a little extra, once, than pay less for something and have to replace it down the road.
During assembly, the barrel nut timing turned out to be troublesome. Staying within the 30-80 ft-lb range left a barrel nut tooth in the way of the gas tube, even with loosening/tightening several times. A set of barrel nut shims from Spikes Tactical took care of the timing issue and allowed the handguard to be installed with the top rail aligned with the top rail of the receiver. For the information of those who might be wondering, the barrel nut has 16 TPI (threads per inch), which is .0625” per revolution, and 20 teeth. A single .003 shim backs off the barrel nut about 1 tooth, so one .003” and one .0015” shim took care of the timing issue, centering the gas tube and aligning the handguard rail perfectly with 55 ft-lbs of torque.
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s570/olddominioniron/IMG_1867_zps41d470ef.jpg
I will probably upgrade to a better trigger, eventually, but right now the PSA trigger seems to work fine. I want to get a few more rounds through this rifle before deciding to spend several hundred dollars on a Geisselle, Timney, or CMC trigger, if it turns out to be necessary. I have 10-12 different factory loads, of various bullet weights from different manufacturers, and hope to find one that shoots well.
So that’s the thinking that went into this rifle. I think it turned out rather well, and hopefully future trips to the range will prove me correct. I apologize if anybody thinks this went a bit long, but I didn’t just want to post a pic and say “look what I just built.” Thanks for all the advice, and I hope to post something worthwhile and help others out in the future.
Post-Script: After a couple of trips to the range, and some more thinking, I’ve removed the BUIS, and gone back to the original ADM mount. I’ve also added a Triad Tactical stock pack to raise my head off the stock slightly to better align my eye with the scope. Shooting a variety of factory ammo showed that the heavier bullets do really well in my SAM-R barrel. Black Hills 77 grain SMK are producing < 1 MOA groups, with 75 grain and 69 grain loads doing only slightly worse. The one issue I still have to deal with is that, with my large hands, I need a larger, more ergonomic grip to replace the stock A2 pistol grip.
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s570/olddominioniron/IMG_1866_zps5d170697.jpg
All in all, I’m happy with the results of my first build. Some tweaking is necessary, but isn’t that part of the fun of building one of these rifles. I'm certainly looking forward to spring and the chance to get some more practice in. And yes, the sunshade did work itself loose and rotated before taking the second picture. I didn't notice this until after the pic was taken and didn't think about taking another shot with it tightened back down. I'm trying to figure out why I can't upload pics from either photobucket or yahoo, and will add photos when I get smarter. Took the IMG tags off so at least the photobucket account is accessible.
Thanks, MistWolf, for straightening me out with the photobucket problem.
I started out to build a retro AR-15; not only because of the classic look, but to go along with my restored 1966 M35A2 I drive in support of veterans groups in my area.
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s570/olddominioniron/IMG_8827_zps3b022ac8.jpg
After getting a stripped lower receiver from a co-worker, and some inner reflection, I decided I would rather have a rifle I could shoot at longer distances than I normally shoot. There is a 300m range about an hour away, and some internet research pointed out some places I could shoot at even longer distances that aren’t out of reach. The die was cast, some kind of long distance rifle was decided upon.
The thought was to buy parts as money was available, even though additional shipping costs would be the result. To the New Frontier lower I added a Palmetto State Armory A2 stock and their classic lower parts kit. The following month, I was able to get a complete flattop upper and a full auto BCG, both from Bravo Company Manufacturing. Now to add a barrel…
While I read a lot about 16” barrels being accurate out to several hundred yards, I wanted to go further. An 18” barrel seemed appropriate, but at the time was unavailable in the quality I wanted. 20” and 24” were available, though, and after some further research, I decided on a 20”, stainless steel, SAM-R barrel from BCM. The advantages in velocity in the 24” didn’t seem enough to warrant the additional length. Since the end goal is to shoot steel or paper at 600-700 yards, I decided 20” was long enough. The barrel is the HBAR, 1:8” twist, and threaded for a flash hider, with a rifle-length gas system and low-profile gas block.
To improve accuracy, a free-float handguard was the only choice. I wanted a long handguard, to put the bipod I expected to put on the rifle as far forward as possible. Midwest Industries 15” handguard seemed to fill the bill, and looked great once it arrived.
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s570/olddominioniron/IMG_1843_zps183a1939.jpg
As to optics, I decided upon a fixed power scope. The price of scopes was daunting, but using advice from a friend and the reviews and recommendations found here, I went with the SWFA 12x42 SS scope, with the mil-quad reticle, and MRAD turrets. I also ordered the American Defense Mfg. AD-RECON X scope mount, but found it threw the scope too far forward for me to use (at first, anyway). SWFA wouldn’t accept it as a return, because they considered it used. A set of Burris Extreme Tactical Rings offered the quick-disconnect feature I was looking for, with enough clearance for the BUIS I want to install. I have a KAC 200-600 micro rear sight, and a Troy flip-up front sight which I will use when shooting at the local 100-yard high-power rifle matches.
A Wilson Combat A2 flash hider handles the flash suppression duties. I decided against any kind of compensator or muzzle brake. Since I will probably be doing most of my shooting from a bench or prone, I don’t have to worry about getting back on target quickly or controlling muzzle rise during rapid fire shooting - and the black flash hider looks good on the stainless barrel, in my opinion.
A Harris bipod was really my only choice, again based on recommendations found here and from my friend. I’m of the opinion that I would rather pay a little extra, once, than pay less for something and have to replace it down the road.
During assembly, the barrel nut timing turned out to be troublesome. Staying within the 30-80 ft-lb range left a barrel nut tooth in the way of the gas tube, even with loosening/tightening several times. A set of barrel nut shims from Spikes Tactical took care of the timing issue and allowed the handguard to be installed with the top rail aligned with the top rail of the receiver. For the information of those who might be wondering, the barrel nut has 16 TPI (threads per inch), which is .0625” per revolution, and 20 teeth. A single .003 shim backs off the barrel nut about 1 tooth, so one .003” and one .0015” shim took care of the timing issue, centering the gas tube and aligning the handguard rail perfectly with 55 ft-lbs of torque.
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s570/olddominioniron/IMG_1867_zps41d470ef.jpg
I will probably upgrade to a better trigger, eventually, but right now the PSA trigger seems to work fine. I want to get a few more rounds through this rifle before deciding to spend several hundred dollars on a Geisselle, Timney, or CMC trigger, if it turns out to be necessary. I have 10-12 different factory loads, of various bullet weights from different manufacturers, and hope to find one that shoots well.
So that’s the thinking that went into this rifle. I think it turned out rather well, and hopefully future trips to the range will prove me correct. I apologize if anybody thinks this went a bit long, but I didn’t just want to post a pic and say “look what I just built.” Thanks for all the advice, and I hope to post something worthwhile and help others out in the future.
Post-Script: After a couple of trips to the range, and some more thinking, I’ve removed the BUIS, and gone back to the original ADM mount. I’ve also added a Triad Tactical stock pack to raise my head off the stock slightly to better align my eye with the scope. Shooting a variety of factory ammo showed that the heavier bullets do really well in my SAM-R barrel. Black Hills 77 grain SMK are producing < 1 MOA groups, with 75 grain and 69 grain loads doing only slightly worse. The one issue I still have to deal with is that, with my large hands, I need a larger, more ergonomic grip to replace the stock A2 pistol grip.
http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/s570/olddominioniron/IMG_1866_zps5d170697.jpg
All in all, I’m happy with the results of my first build. Some tweaking is necessary, but isn’t that part of the fun of building one of these rifles. I'm certainly looking forward to spring and the chance to get some more practice in. And yes, the sunshade did work itself loose and rotated before taking the second picture. I didn't notice this until after the pic was taken and didn't think about taking another shot with it tightened back down. I'm trying to figure out why I can't upload pics from either photobucket or yahoo, and will add photos when I get smarter. Took the IMG tags off so at least the photobucket account is accessible.
Thanks, MistWolf, for straightening me out with the photobucket problem.