16 Inch General Purpose Carbine and Bonus Rimfire Upper

[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.



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

[JLP]

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

[opngrnd]

Very sensible builds. I wish I had thought of doing a 22lr build before everything went crazy.

[Straight Shooter]

Cant find any fault in anything you chose brother. No doubt, thats a shooter. I too want a BRT barrel for my next build.
That Mod3 pistol grip- Ive wondered about those. Would that be good for prone shooting, or it it more for offhand, or what?
One of THE biggest things Im kicking myself over today, is not buying 1-2 of those lowers you used from Sionics earlier this year.
Kept puttin it off & puttin it off then BAM-gone.
The 22lr upper is extry nice.

[gaijin]

Should be a dandy AP Carbine Andy.

You might be surprised with long(er) range precision of your set up with more glass.
I have a similar set up with 2-10X that is a decent compromise to 600 yds with 77 gr. OTM. It is not a great CQB gun however.

[ThatPunkGirl]

what do you look for in a barrel?

[empiregladysNY24]

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

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

[AndyLate]

Cant find any fault in anything you chose brother. No doubt, thats a shooter. I too want a BRT barrel for my next build.
That Mod3 pistol grip- Ive wondered about those. Would that be good for prone shooting, or it it more for offhand, or what?
One of THE biggest things Im kicking myself over today, is not buying 1-2 of those lowers you used from Sionics earlier this year.
Kept puttin it off & puttin it off then BAM-gone.
The 22lr upper is extry nice.

Thank you

The BCM Mod 3 grip just has it all for me, I have come to really like the steeper grip angle for offhand shooting and don't notice a difference prone or from the bench. The BCM grip fits me because I have big hands but short thumbs. I can flick the selector to safe easily with the BCM or A1/A2, not so easily with other grips. I also like the texture.

Grips are very subjective though.

I really like the "gutless" concept, and of course Sionics builds quality stuff.

The 22 upper has honestly proven itself a useful trainer. My splits and accuracy at speed improved with a 5.56 due to training with the rimfire. It keeps you honest because if the gun is moving during a string of fire, it's the shooter.

Andy

[AndyLate]

Should be a dandy AP Carbine Andy.

You might be surprised with long(er) range precision of your set up with more glass.
I have a similar set up with 2-10X that is a decent compromise to 600 yds with 77 gr. OTM. It is not a great CQB gun however.

Thanks
I know the 1-4 and my vision are not going to get all the range out of the gun that a higher mag optic could. Unfortunately, the higher mag (1-6,8,10) optics come with a higher price and weight. I think the Accupoint 1-4 should work well out to 400 yards and be a solid red dot replacement at 1x. I just need to quit buying frivolous things and get one. And a light.

[Straight Shooter]

Thanks
I know the 1-4 and my vision are not going to get all the range out of the gun that a higher mag optic could. Unfortunately, the higher mag (1-6,8,10) optics come with a higher price and weight. I think the Accupoint 1-4 should work well out to 400 yards and be a solid red dot replacement at 1x. I just need to quit buying frivolous things and get one. And a light.

My eyes are awful. But thankfully my Steiner 1x4 helps SO much. Great glass does help.Ive not used an Accupoint..but if it dont float your boat- at least look at the Steiner, I was hooked first time I peeped thru one.