16 Inch General Purpose Carbine and Bonus Rimfire Upper

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Originally Posted by maximus83

Nicely done and well thought out, impression I get is that you were going for high value but moderately priced parts (meaning you done good: you avoided some of the well known expensive brand components but still got great stuff that's not as well known but probably equal or close in quality).

Also really like your rimfire build, good selection of components and I'm impressed you got one that will outshoot a 10/22. I guess it depends on the 10/22, mine is 'accurized' with a nice trigger and barrel, it can consistently shoot sub-Moa at 100 yards and last week I got a couple 0.5' 5-shot groups at 100 yards with mine. Now usually a factory stock 10/22, even the Target model, will not do that, but still they are surprisingly accurate, even a run of the mill 10/22 with a sporter barrel, decent glass and ammo used, should be able to hold 1" 5-shot groups @ 50y. Curious, can your upper match that? I'm really interested in that, been looking again at the M&P 15-22's and other .22 options for my AR. I used to have the 15-22, then just got tired of the shotgun-like accuracy beyond about 30y or so, you'd get 2 to 3" groups at 50, 4" or more at 100y. From what I've seen the 15-22 is a nice training rifle for AR training, a trainer for kids, and a close-range plinker, and it is fun and reliable, but it is seriously a 3 to 4 MOA rifle. For me, that's just not acceptable in ANY 22 I own. With .22lr uppers, the only ones I know that are really 'precision' are the spendy Compass Lake Engineering uppers, but wow, $1000+ for an upper, and those have some limitations of their own.

So yeah, if you've figured out how to build a reliable and 'accurate enough' upper that beats a 10-22 in accuracy, I'm interested. Who makes the bolt assy for RTB, is that based on the CMMG pattern actions?

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I will swap a bigger scope onto the rimfire upper and shoot it Friday. I have some Green Tag, some Federal match and CCI standard velocity. My 10-22 is a stainless sporter that would probably freak out if I shot decent ammo through it.

Yes, CMMG makes the bolt assemblies and barrels for RTB (Right To Bear).

Andy

Very nice. I have done very similar, but with the M&P15-22 being set up with an 3-9 and offset RDS just to get me used to that a little quicker/at lower cost.

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Originally Posted by maximus83

~SNIP~
Now usually a factory stock 10/22, even the Target model, will not do that, but still they are surprisingly accurate, even a run of the mill 10/22 with a sporter barrel, decent glass and ammo used, should be able to hold 1" 5-shot groups @ 50y. Curious, can your upper match that?

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I made it to the range much later in the day than I would have liked. I had a Nikon P-Tactical 2-7x32 rimfire scope mounted and a front bag. Generally, groups hung around 1" at 50 yards, with Green Tag printing between .5 and .75".

I did not have time to verify the Green Tag groups were repeatable, 2 five shot groups can be a fluke.

A more powerful scope and less rush would have tightened groups a bit, but its safe to say it is closer to a 2 MOA barrel than 1 MOA, at least with me at the trigger.

Reliability continues to satisfy, no malfunctions yesterday and the trigger is so much better than my 10-22 it's ridiculous.

Andy

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Originally Posted by AndyLate

I made it to the range much later in the day than I would have liked. I had a Nikon P-Tactical 2-7x32 rimfire scope mounted and a front bag. Generally, groups hung around 1" at 50 yards, with Green Tag printing between .5 and .75".

I did not have time to verify the Green Tag groups were repeatable, 2 five shot groups can be a fluke.

A more powerful scope and less rush would have tightened groups a bit, but its safe to say it is closer to a 2 MOA barrel than 1 MOA, at least with me at the trigger.

Reliability continues to satisfy, no malfunctions yesterday and the trigger is so much better than my 10-22 it's ridiculous.

Andy

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Excellent 50y accuracy in a .22 upper, nice build. IMHO anything 2 MOA or less at 50y is pretty darn good in an upper that doesn't have a high-end barrel.

what do you look for in a barrel?

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Originally Posted by JLP

That's the next barrel I buy. It checks all my boxes.

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what are some of those boxes?
what should you look out for when purchasing a new barrel?

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Originally Posted by AndyLate

This is my "General Purpose" 16 inch 5.56 AR and a 16 inch dedicated .22 LR upper. I will concentrate on the 5.56 gun and then briefly cover the rim fire upper.

https://i.imgur.com/x4EgI0a.jpg

This turned into the great American novel somehow, sorry.

I decided I wanted a more up to date 16" AR with the ability to reach out a bit compared to my BCM-based 16" gun with FSB and MRO, specifically a lighter trigger, free float rail, and a LPVO. I wanted quality components, but wasn't trying to spend "botique" money either.

Components - used parts are marked with an asterisk:

BCM "blem" upper
* Black River Tactical Light Optimum 16" barrel. A machinist at work pinned the BRT gas block. Comments below
13" ALG EMR V3 MLOK rail - affordable, has a good barrel nut design, and are light. I wanted a full length picatinny and feel they stiffen the EMR
BCM rail covers
A2 flash hider - best bang for the buck.
Sionics phosphate BCG - quality and I bought it on sale
* BCM Mod 4 charging handle
Sionics "gutless" lower with ambi safety, bolt catch, Magpul SL stock - great quality and no paying for parts you will replace anyway. Basically includes LPK minus FCG
BCM Mod 3 pistol grip - love them
LaRue MBT-2S two stage trigger with "heavy" trigger spring
H2 buffer and standard BCM carbine action spring
* Trijicon Accupower 1-4 - comments below
Warne X-Skel fixed mount - affordable, US made, fairly light

The Black River Tactical barrel has some great features like optimum gas length, a great profile, hybrid target crown, and 5R Rifling. 1/8 twist works with most bullet weights. 16" barrels make a lot of sense, shortest length that does not require p/w or a tax stamp, decent velocity, reasonably handy. Barrel is 24 ounces. BRT is all about "gas drive" and it shows, this is a smooth shooter with zero tuning. It has been reliable and as accurate as I am with a 4x scope.

The gun weighs 7 lbs 15 ounces on my scale. Optics are heavy, no way around that.

I am very happy with the gun, and the only change I would/will make is to replace the Trijicon Accupower. I plan to replace it with an Accupoint, also 1-4. Much brighter and bigger/bolder reticle choices.

I built a dedicated .22 LR upper because ammunition was about 1/10 the cost at the time and cheaper practice sounds great. It's not perfect of course, recoil and blast are non existent and the bolt release doesn't work like a 5.56 gun (unless you use S&W mags).

Components:
Sabre Defence stripped upper. Purchased from Numrich, does not have M4 feedramps
Right to Bear (RTB) 16" 22 LR melonite pencil barrel, 1-16" twist
RTB stainless bolt assembly
Matrix Arms 13.5 MLOK full float rail - Light, cheap, small diameter, full length pic rail. Not a hard use rail but fine for a .22
Nikon Black Force 1000 1-4 LPVO - Bargain at $200, very good glass, useful reticle, not daylight bright to me, weird tall capped turrets
Aero 30mm SPR mount - I have had this for a while and I may have picked it up on the EE (?).

The upper has been very reliable (for a 22 lr) with CMMG and Black Dog mags and Bore Buddy extra power extractor springs. I don't shoot target ammo and measure the groups with it, but it's more accurate than my 10-22. I am guessing I have 5000 rounds through it. I have broken a couple firing pin springs, it's a known issue with the platform, so buy spares. I also have a Bore Buddy bolt weight, but have not shot enough using it to really comment.

Andy

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Very nice!

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Originally Posted by j102

Very nice!

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Thank you!

Andy

Great job on these. I like the BRT barrel myself, and you've built a great set up. It covers all the practical bases, and the Sionics/BRT/ALG combo is hard to beat for general use, period.

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Originally Posted by opngrnd

Great job on these. I like the BRT barrel myself, and you've built a great set up. It covers all the practical bases, and the Sionics/BRT/ALG combo is hard to beat for general use, period.

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Thank you