Vltor MUR vs LaRue Stealth Upper Receivers?

[Inspector-Callahan]

I have been dying to start a project using the Vltor MUR Upper receiver as a starting point....however, I will probably be headed in a direction similar to the format used in the LaRue Stealth Upper assembly AND I am wondering if there are any noteworthy differences between these two upper receivers? I know they are both considered heavier receivers than Milspec.

Is either regarded as better than the other for whatever reason?

Thanks

IC

[Trim2L]

I have been dying to start a project using the Vltor MUR Upper receiver as a starting point....however, I will probably be headed in a direction similar to the format used in the LaRue Stealth Upper assembly AND I am wondering if there are any noteworthy differences between these two upper receivers? I know they are both considered heavier receivers than Milspec.

Is either regarded as better than the other for whatever reason?

Thanks

IC

I'm sure the LT receiver are fine as far as billet receivers goes but the VLTOR receiver is better. I recently spoke with VLTOR and they described how they made the receivers, how they tested the receivers, and how they destroyed them to learn more and to ensure quality. I won't go into detail because it is not my place but I am convinced if VLTOR made whole rifles they would probably reinvent sliced bread.

[SuicideHz]

I'm sure the LT receiver are fine as far as billet receivers goes but the VLTOR receiver is better. I recently spoke with VLTOR and they described how they made the receivers, how they tested the receivers, and how they destroyed them to learn more and to ensure quality. I won't go into detail because it is not my place but I am convinced if VLTOR made whole rifles they would probably reinvent sliced bread.


Why would they reinvent sliced bread? Lightening holes? :p

[Mark LaRue]

I'm sure the LT receiver are fine as far as billet receivers goes but the VLTOR receiver is better. I recently spoke with VLTOR and they described how they made the receivers, how they tested the receivers, and how they destroyed them to learn more and to ensure quality. I won't go into detail because it is not my place but I am convinced if VLTOR made whole rifles they would probably reinvent sliced bread.

"I'm sure the LT receiver are fine as far as billet receivers goes but the VLTOR receiver is better." - Trim2L

:D

[Buck]

Is either regarded as better than the other for whatever reason?

IC

They are both outstanding receivers that will out shoot & out last most of us... I am not sure that you can say one is "better" than the other... Riddle me this Batman, Who's better, Lamborghini or Ferrari???

Buck

[Trim2L]

Give VLTOR a call and ask them how they make their receivers and how they test them...which is better will be clear at that point.

[SuicideHz]

They are both outstanding receivers that will out shoot & out last most of us... I am not sure that you can say one is "better" than the other... Riddle me this Batman, Who's better, Lamborghini or Ferrari???

Buck

Ferrari. They build racecars. Lambo doesn't. They build expensive cars for rich people.

[Buck]

Give VLTOR a call and ask them how they make their receivers and how they test them...which is better will be clear at that point.

The purpose of this forum is the spread of knowledge and intelligent debate... This is not a taboo subject... What did they say??? Why do you think they are better??? What essential and necessary steps that ensure accuracy in a upper receiver does VLTOR do that no one else does???

Inquiring minds want to know...

[Trim2L]

......................

[vinesr6]

Both companies are awesome. I had a MUR upper that just doesn't fit any of my lowers. I e-mailed them and got a replacement the next day w/some goodies for my trouble (per VLTOR). If you have the extra coin spend it however you want.

Oh about the Lambo or Ferrari thing....see avatar..:D

[Gunfighter.45]

It's not that I don't like larue's stealth upper I think it's great, and the only reason why I went with the Vltor is because it has the M4 feed ramps were as the larue does not, and the Vltor looks alot better.Just my opinion as far as looks go.


http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u57/gunfighter308/DSCN0106.jpg

[Leonidas]

It's not that I don't like larue's stealth upper I think it's great, and the only reason why I went with the Vltor is because it has the M4 feed ramps were as the larue does not,

My Larue Stealth Upper has the M4 feed ramps......:p

[SuicideHz]

The Vltor and Larue have completely different looks. It's not fair to say one looks better than the other.

I do like the MUR much better because of it's looks though.

[Patrick Aherne]

My experience with meeting both the guys who run Larue Tactical and Vltor is that they are good guys who make fantastic products. I don't think you will go wrong with either, and I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

[Paulinski]

I wouldn't hesitate to use either one.

[Gunfighter.45]

My Larue Stealth Upper has the M4 feed ramps......:p
Iam sorry to tell you,Larue does not make the Stealth A3 upper with M4 feed ramps.Now unless you sent your Larue to a gs or bought it from GTS which they add them on after then I understand.:D

[ErikL]

Iam sorry to tell you,Larue does not make the Stealth A3 upper with M4 feed ramps.Now unless you sent your Larue to a gs or bought it from GTS which they add them on after then I understand.:D

You sure about that? Might want to check your source of information, before you state it as fact.

[USMC03]

Iam sorry to tell you,Larue does not make the Stealth A3 upper with M4 feed ramps.Now unless you sent your Larue to a gs or bought it from GTS which they add them on after then I understand.:D


Hmmm....... My LaRue Stealth upper has M4 feedramps as well. I remember that M4 feed ramps or no feed ramps being an option when I ordered my upper. Maybe things have changed since them, but my LaRue upper definately has M4 feed ramps.



-Jeff

[Gunfighter.45]

Once agin for the people who second guess, you can not buy them from Larue directly,but you can get the from GTS and I belive there is another company out there.BUT these companies add them, were as the Vltor comes with them from factory.

[tiger seven]

Grant has LaRue Stealth uppers with M4 feed ramps listed for sale on his website. (I plan on buying one in the not-too-distant future. :) ) I was under the impression that these are specially produced by LaRue but are only made available via dealers (like Grant at G&R, Denny at GTS, and Wes at MSTN) and not directly to the general public. I've never heard anything about the feed ramps being cut by the dealers.

I'm sure Grant has more info on this.

Derek

[ErikL]

Once agin for the people who second guess, you can not buy them from Larue directly,but you can get the from GTS and I belive there is another company out there.BUT these companies add them were as the, Vltor comes with them from factory.

Well how about this I'm not second guessing you, you are just wrong. The companies that sell Larue Stealth uppers with the M4 feed ramps don't add them,they are made that way at Larue. Let me guess you looked on Larue's website and couldn't find them so that ended your futile attempt at researching the item, and declared that the ramps must be done in house by the people that build them?

I don't work for Larue, but I do own some of their stuff. I also don't work for Vltor but I own some of their stuff. I have no dog in this argument other than I hate to see people talk out of their ___, and spread inaccuracies on the errornet.

Both are good products and both receivers are probably designed better than what ANY end user realistically needs, IMO.

[blake6551]

Once agin for the people who second guess, you can not buy them from Larue directly,but you can get the from GTS and I belive there is another company out there.BUT these companies add them, were as the Vltor comes with them from factory.

I have an complete upper straight from MSTN with a factory cut M4 Stealth. MSTN did NOT add the M4 ramps. Additionally, I spoke with Denny at GTS while the very first M4 cut Stealths were arriving as he was working on a build for me and was told that LaRue added the M4 cuts at his request and that of others (Noveske, MSTN...).

[USMC03]

Once agin for the people who second guess, you can not buy them from Larue directly,but you can get the from GTS and I belive there is another company out there.BUT these companies add them, were as the Vltor comes with them from factory.



I purchased my LaRue Stealth upper directly from LaRue (late 2006 / early 2007).

My upper came directly from LaRue Tactical with M4 feed ramps.



-Jeff

[Gunfighter.45]

Well how about this I'm not second guessing you, you are just wrong. The companies that sell Larue Stealth uppers with the M4 feed ramps don't add them,they are made that way at Larue. Let me guess you looked on Larue's website and couldn't find them so that ended your futile attempt at researching the item, and declared that the ramps must be done in house by the people that build them?

I don't work for Larue, but I do own some of their stuff. I also don't work for Vltor but I own some of their stuff. I have no dog in this argument other than I hate to see people talk out of their ___, and spread inaccuracies on the errornet.

Both are good products and both receivers are probably designed better than what ANY end user realistically needs, IMO.

My apologies to everyone on this matter.Didn't mean to talk out my a@$,My mistake.

[C4IGrant]

Once agin for the people who second guess, you can not buy them from Larue directly,but you can get the from GTS and I belive there is another company out there.BUT these companies add them, were as the Vltor comes with them from factory.

This is incorrect. We stock the Stealth with M4 cuts and we get them that way DIRECT from LT.



C4

[TY44934]

Not to confuse things further, but would either of these brands be as accurate as the JP Billet Upper?

Using the race car analogy, JP is the race company extraordinaire when it comes to ARs and I know there stuff is the best for race accuracy; question I have is: how do these other two brands compare to the JP as far as accurate is concerned? Anyone do a comparison? If not, maybe a 3way test is in order? I think a test would be hard though, unless the same barrel/load were used for each upper. Thoughts?

[Robb Jensen]

Not to confuse things further, but would either of these brands be as accurate as the JP Billet Upper?

Using the race car analogy, JP is the race company extraordinaire when it comes to ARs and I know there stuff is the best for race accuracy; question I have is: how do these other two brands compare to the JP as far as accurate is concerned? Anyone do a comparison? If not, maybe a 3way test is in order? I think a test would be hard though, unless the same barrel/load were used for each upper. Thoughts?

Douglas,
I've assembled some very accurate rifles using standard forged upper receivers. I assembled one for co-worker Pete (member cavscout (https://www.m4carbine.net/member.php?u=1171) here) that shot .220" groups at 100yds with 60gr VMAX (Black Hills red box). IIRC it was a standard rifle ramped forged Bushmaster upper receiver. It was a 20" stainless Wilson barrel with a LaRue 12" rail, TTi brake, YHM flip front sight gas block, standard Bushy AR15 carrier, bolt and CH. He wasn't even using a great scope mount, he had a cheap riser (YHM I think) and Burris rings with a Leupold scope. Some friends of his that are bolt gun match shooters were extremely impressed with the accuracy of that rifle traded him a bolt action McMillan .50 (he had to add some cash too) but he got it for a steal.

Would his AR have been even more accurate with a billet upper receiver? Maybe. But I think pretty much the planets were aligned on that one and it really wasn't going to get any better. I just did the few tweaks I do when assembling a SPR type AR. Things like lapping the upper receiver, checking the crown, red Loc-Tite the bbl extension into the receiver and bedding the gas block in green Loc-Tite, using about 15-20ft lbs of torque on the muzzle device and using Rocksett to secure it.....................it worked.

To be quite honest I like the billet receivers, but mainly for looks. I don't think most people are capable enough shooters to even see the increased accuracy that they give. If one is using a rigid scope mount like a LaRue, ADM, KAC, ArmaLite etc where the mount is reinforcing the upper receiver reducing the flex I don't think a billet is going to much more.

Robb



Here's Pete at Quantico Range 305 shooting that rifle I mentioned.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v408/gotm4/peteshootinghis20ar-1.jpg

[TY44934]

Thank you for the explanation Rob. Effectively then, the accuracy difference between these three uppers and a mil-spec flat top is the same for 99.9% of users and scenarios. A bench-rest competitor might "need" a billet upper. But, for everyone else, it comes down to:

-looks.

Since its about looks, I though this thread could benefit from pictures to illustrate hos these three uppers look and their cost over the mil spec parts:

The Vltor: $199-$229

http://www.vltor.com/images/mur1-272x166.gif


LaRue Stealth (tactical) $249

http://stores.homestead.com/Laruetactical/catalog/P1018390200.JPG

The JP site does not list their billet upper as a stripped part.

In contrast, the latest flat tops come with an important feature: "T" reference marks in high contrast white paint over hard coat cold anodizing; I found these at many locations and on average, the cost for the latest was:

$78.

Photo could not be posted, but here is a link to one retailer's photo:

http://www.del-ton.com/AR_15_Uppers_Flat_Top_s/91.htm

For the price of a billet upper, its possible to buy 3 mil-spec uppers. Or, you could buy 1 mil spec upper and a BCG. But the main advantage to the billet upper other than a possible smidgen of extra accuracy is:

-looks.

If there is another advantage to these uppers that justifies paying 3x the price of a mil-spec, please clue me in. I do agree, however, the billet uppers do look nice.

[C4IGrant]

Thank you for the explanation Rob. Effectively then, the accuracy difference between these three uppers and a mil-spec flat top is the same for 99.9% of users and scenarios. A bench-rest competitor might "need" a billet upper. But, for everyone else, it comes down to:

-looks.

Since its about looks, I though this thread could benefit from pictures to illustrate hos these three uppers look and their cost over the mil spec parts:

The Vltor: $199-$229

http://www.vltor.com/images/mur1-272x166.gif


LaRue Stealth (tactical) $249

http://stores.homestead.com/Laruetactical/catalog/P1018390200.JPG

The JP site does not list their billet upper as a stripped part.

In contrast, the latest flat tops come with an important feature: "T" reference marks in high contrast white paint over hard coat cold anodizing; I found these at many locations and on average, the cost for the latest was:

$78.

Photo could not be posted, but here is a link to one retailer's photo:

http://www.del-ton.com/AR_15_Uppers_Flat_Top_s/91.htm

For the price of a billet upper, its possible to buy 3 mil-spec uppers. Or, you could buy 1 mil spec upper and a BCG. But the main advantage to the billet upper other than a possible smidgen of extra accuracy is:

-looks.

If there is another advantage to these uppers that justifies paying 3x the price of a mil-spec, please clue me in. I do agree, however, the billet uppers do look nice.


I am willing to bet that just about all forged upper receivers are canted in some way. Remember that this is a $35 dollar item to produce (if that much). What billet uppers provide you with is a true and square rail. While I don't think this matters much when installing a 1X optic, I think it does matter when putting something with magnification on it.


C4