Honest truth about billet uppers

[Johnny Thujone]

Not to put words in anyone's mouth, but i remember Wes Grant talking over at TOS about how milled uppers were "straighter" more consistently than their forged brethren. He used it just like that, putting straighter in quotations and not really delving further into exactly what it meant, but i'd take it milled uppers have more consistent tolerances upper to upper (At least, LaRue and VLTOR uppers do, which are the two he uses.).

I figure, if someone knows something about accurate ARs, it's him.

[Skyyr]

Not to put words in anyone's mouth, but i remember Wes Grant talking over at TOS about how milled uppers were "straighter" more consistently than their forged brethren. He used it just like that, putting straighter in quotations and not really delving further into exactly what it meant, but i'd take it milled uppers have more consistent tolerances upper to upper (At least, LaRue and VLTOR uppers do, which are the two he uses.).

I figure, if someone knows something about accurate ARs, it's him.

Uppers, yes. Lowers, no. There's nothing about the lower that contributes to the inherent accuracy of the upper.

[Hmac]

As I understand it, the stress relief involved in the forging process makes for a stronger upper given the same amount of aluminum. I guess I'd always think that a billet upper or lower was a cosmetic choice, not a functional one.

If I thought rigidity were something important that my skills could take advantage of, I'd get a VLTOR MUR with or without a VLTOR VIS long before I'd go with a billet upper.


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[ALCOAR]

A lot of people like the looks of them. Billet is milled and they can mill different designs can easily be milled into them. But again all of that is also what makes them more expensive.

DING...I put my money on this almost exclusively being the deciding factor for why somebody buys a billet.

I want a dimpled barreled billet upper receiver

[mstennes]

Not to put words in anyone's mouth, but i remember Wes Grant talking over at TOS about how milled uppers were "straighter" more consistently than their forged brethren. He used it just like that, putting straighter in quotations and not really delving further into exactly what it meant, but i'd take it milled uppers have more consistent tolerances upper to upper (At least, LaRue and VLTOR uppers do, which are the two he uses.).

I figure, if someone knows something about accurate ARs, it's him.

The problem I have with that, is even raw forgings, have to be milled to their finish specs, if the CNC program is correct, and the equipment doing it is in good order, how could a billet be straighter than a forged unit?

[BaileyMoto]

Plenty of 'run of the mill" and "off the shelf" upper receivers are built and shot to .5 MOA (and better). I'd LOVE to see a measurable difference by someone who claims a billet upper receiver is producing better accuracy. I'm staying away from this kool-aid for now.

[Johnny Thujone]

The problem I have with that, is even raw forgings, have to be milled to their finish specs, if the CNC program is correct, and the equipment doing it is in good order, how could a billet be straighter than a forged unit?

VLTOR are forged (Per their site.), so i was wrong in my statement.

Looking for the exact quotes, but i suspect that it's dependent on the manufacturer holding unit to unit tolerances and VLTOR and LT happen to do it much better than most, even though VLTOR is forged and LT is billet.

[Militant83]

DING...I put my money on this almost exclusively being the deciding factor for why somebody buys a billet.

I want a dimpled barreled billet upper receiver

Its crazy what people will do for looks.. And I cant say it hasnt crossed my mind before. But my thought is save some money and get a forged and take the money you saved and put it into a better optic or other quality parts.

[mstennes]

VLTOR are forged (Per their site.), so i was wrong in my statement.

Looking for the exact quotes, but i suspect that it's dependent on the manufacturer holding unit to unit tolerances and VLTOR and LT happen to do it much better than most, even though VLTOR is forged and LT is billet.

True, but if its milspec than it HAS to be to the specs, so any top tier manufacturer would be good to go, now bets are off once you drop down to second or third tier, thus the reason they are there in the first place.

ETA, like said in the SS barrel thread, you pay for quality.

[Sry0fcr]

I think the honest truth is that the advantages are probably more theoretical than practical. There's probably no real "need" for them, but so long as they don't negatively affect function I don't have any beef with people using them.