help, upper lower combo or 6920

[coyotedustr]

New here, and I have spent a ton of time reading all the info on this forum. There is some great info and threads here. Anyway I am looking to get my second AR. I have an Armalite from the ban days and now I want a newer m4 style carbine to keep it company.

After reading through the board I am stuck between two options and I need some help with thoughts one way or the other.

Option 1 is to buy a 6920 from a local shop, they have them for 1250 + tax

Option 2 is to buy a BCM middy upper with BCG for around 600 and look for a complete lower at a gun show in the area. I figure I would be around 900 or so + sites if I went this route.

I am not a serious competitive shooter, but I would not mind trying a few 3 gun matches so this is how I am justifying the purchase to the boss if you know what I am saying.

Any help or insight you can give me or a point to a helpful post will be appreciated.

[Roklok]

Get the 6920. You should be able to get one a lot cheaper than $1250. There are several gunshops that have them for $1000. Those shops are identified on this forum under AR General Discussion. You can even beat $1250 on Gunbroker.

[Belmont31R]

If you want to shoot competitions I would look at the BCM uppers with the stainless barrels. It would provide more out of the box accuracy than a standard 4150 barrel. Paul also has them with an ion bond finish now if you don't like the stainless look. They come in the same type of configurations as the regular uppers, too.


You can also "un-ban" your Armalite if you send it to ADCO. I presume it doesn't have a FH? Its a pretty inexpensive operation...


And yes you can pick up a 6920 for less than 1250 right now. Do some hunting, and have a little bit of patience. Unless you want one right now....1250 is still a really good price when earlier this year they were going for ~1800. I would pick one up but I cannot personally stand 16" M4 profile barrels. Just a personal thing...

[Col_Crocs]

I would go for option 2. -- Get the hammer forged middy. :D
Do a quick search on middy and carbine systems. Theyre quite different.
You'll see that the middy has some advantages over the carbine gas system and may decide to opt for said advantages. Either choice is good though but again, personally I would go for the hammer forged middy.

[coyotedustr]

thanks for the reply's the Armalite is a 20 inch with a fixed carry handle. I like the idea of a 20 incher and a 16 but it would be nice to get a flash hider on it. Just think how cool they will loook next to my M1a, garand and springfield:p

The middy vs carbine length is partly where I am stuck. I know it is like comparing 4 different things at once but this is where I am at.

[Col_Crocs]

I understand where youre coming from. Maybe you could establish your current and possible future need/use of a 16". Is it purely a plinker, a competition gun as you stated, are you planning on training with it? Either will work fine but again, one may have an advantage over the other depending on your needs.
Personally, I would go with the 16" hammer forged middy from BCM for the following reasons:
1. Hammer forged barrel
2. middy system
3. theyre on sale so you may be able to keep it under $1200 minus optics and BUIS or with optics and BUIS if you get the standard 16 middy upper.

[coyotedustr]

what is the advantage of the hammer forged barrel?

[Col_Crocs]

Taken from BCM's website

"Cold Hammer Forged Barrels
This process of manufacturing barrels has been used for European small arms for generations, and it is gaining popularity in the United States because of the increased barrel life and outstanding accuracy of a hammer forged barrel."

Taken from http://www.lasc.us/RangingShotBarrelMakingFeature.htm

"Hammer Forging

Again, it was the demands of war that was responsible for the development of this process - only it was done by the other side. Hammer forging was developed in Germany in 1939. Here a drilled barrel, rather than being reamed, is honed to give it a very fine interior finish. Then it is placed on a tungsten carbide mandrel that has the entire rifling pattern ground in relief into its surface. The barrel/mandrel combo is then placed between two opposing power hammers and rotated. The hammers literally beat the barrel into the mandrel’s pattern. I’m told a barrel will actually grow around a third of its length during this process. It usually takes around three minutes for the rifling process to be completed. As you would think, this method produces tremendous stresses in the barrel that have to be relieved through heat treating.

The advantages of hammer forging is the fact that the interior finish is very good, and the bore surface becomes work hardened in the beating process. The result is a very durable, long lasting barrel. Modern hammer forging has progressed to the point that even the chamber can be included in the mandrel pattern. These machines are very large, complex, and expensive however. So the small custom barrel shops are pretty much eliminated from using them.

Additionally, some say that the induced stresses are so severe in this process that they never can be entirely eliminated. As a result, the bench rest crowd won’t touch a hammer forged barrel. However, I can’t help but wonder how valid this belief actually is, and whether anyone has actually tried it. Remington barrels, which always had a reputation for accuracy, used to be hammer forged, including those used in the XP-100. I know I always had excellent results with original XP barrels. Indeed, in Europe, hammer forging is the standard. Sako, Tika, H&K, Steyer, and Sauer all use hammer forged barrels. I’d hardly call their products junk. "

THe second is a website I found after quoting BCM. I thought Id dig into it a bit more as I dont know anything about the technical side of hammer forged barrels... Just that Noveske and Diemaco use them and that topshelf manufacturers are venturing into it for the basic reason quoted from BCM.

[coyotedustr]

I wonder if you would be better off with the forged barrel or the stainless. thanks, now I have an entire new thing to research.:D

[Col_Crocs]

hahaha! I have no experience with stainless barrels but ya, do some research. From what Ive vaguely read, maintenance is different on these things...