Need advice on new AR build

[taliv]

Most of my ARs are getting a little long in the tooth.

I want a new go to general purpose carbine. Thinking 18” bbl and rail. Will prob put 1-8x optic on it.

What stock would you use? I was looking for something like the old lmt sopmod but what is the new hotness?

[Inkslinger]

I would nix the 18” barrel. My latest “GP” rifle is a 16” BRT Stainless Recce barrel, Vltor MUR upper, old Stag lower, Geissele SSP trigger and MK14 handguard, and a PA 1-8 with the Griffin retical. For the stock I’m using a B5 SOPMOD. You could probably do well with a 12.5”-.14.5” barrel. An 18” barrel just takes the “general purpose” out of the equation to me.

[pag23]

I would do 16 inch Midlength... just my opinion..

I prefer the BCM Gunfighter and Larue RAT stocks...

[Firefly]

Most of my ARs are getting a little long in the tooth.

I want a new go to general purpose carbine. Thinking 18” bbl and rail. Will prob put 1-8x optic on it.

What stock would you use? I was looking for something like the old lmt sopmod but what is the new hotness?

1. Will this be a patrol weapon that you are staking your life and reputation on?

2. How much shooting (honestly) do you do?

3. Where do you do your shooting? Do you actively take formal training?

4. What purposes do you define as “general”?

Or do you just want to rice your rifle?

If you want to rice your gun get an SLR Rifleworks handguard or something cool looking.

If you want something practical, why 18”? Why not 16”? I too went for the midlength meme. They aren’t bad but logistically I prefer a carbine gas and H1 buffer. My sweet spot is 16” barrel. Maybe you can get away with 14.5 because all that matters is that the projo does two revolutions. Then get a Geissele rail or a URX 4. I like Mk16 rail because it feels good and is comfy. I’d even suggest a Centurion rail.

And why a 1-8? I still use an ACOG on my Colt.
Not trying to bust your balls but what is it that you want to buy that you cannot achieve by shooting more or dryfiring more?

[ssc]

Most of my ARs are getting a little long in the tooth.

I want a new go to general purpose carbine. Thinking 18” bbl and rail. Will prob put 1-8x optic on it.

What stock would you use? I was looking for something like the old lmt sopmod but what is the new hotness?

I prefer and would use the magpul SL-S. I retired most of my sopmod stocks. The SL-S seems to work better for my face. Stocks are a personal thing and what works for me may not work for you.

Cheers, Steve

[AAMP84]

Stocks are a personal thing and what works for me may not work for you.

Cheers, Steve

I second this, try out multiple stocks to find one that works best for you.

[taliv]

I used to shoot a lot of 3gun, before I got obsessed with sniper matches and PRS. I had a lot of ARs from KAC, noveske, colt, etc and lots of my own builds. Then 10+ years went by and it seems like everything has changed. So much new stuff. My old rifles just feel dated. And I feel like building a new one.

My current go to rifles are a noveske 10.5” switchblock SBR with mini brevis suppressor, and an 18” with old JP rifles round handguard. I’m the latter shoots VERY smooth but it’s not as accurate as it used to be. I suppose I could be talked into a 16” midlength but I’ve had many and the rifle length gas and 18” bbl seem worth 2” to me.


1. Will this be a patrol weapon that you are staking your life and reputation on?
I’m just an earth person. No rep. But yeah it will be my go to if something needs shooting.

2. How much shooting (honestly) do you do?
Got a Dillon 1050 and tens of thousands of components ready to load but it’s in storage due to a move last year and I’m not eager to burn through components like I was during the trump admin. Hopefully I’ll get it back up and running soon. But I’m not competing at the moment.

3. Where do you do your shooting? Do you actively take formal training?
Training junkie from 2000-2010 or so. Been a while. But I have carbine/pistol steel targets set up on home range that goes to 400yrds.

4. What purposes do you define as “general”?
Bedside, truck gun, plinking, classes, whatever. But prob not matches. I’d use a race gun for that.

Or do you just want to rice your rifle?
All of the above?

[Stickman]

Most of my ARs are getting a little long in the tooth.

I want a new go to general purpose carbine. Thinking 18” bbl and rail. Will prob put 1-8x optic on it.

What stock would you use? I was looking for something like the old lmt sopmod but what is the new hotness?

I just did a GP rifle, you can check out the what’s and why’s of the build in either my section of the forum or custom build forum. The next build I’ll post is a 16” with a barrel that I got from John Noveske. This second weapon is lighter weight, but set up to use a LPVO, and it’s a favorite of mine.

If you are locking in on an 18” barrel, don’t let anyone sway you. I have plenty of 18” barreled weapons which are all fun, but it does leverage weight against you as well as make things a bit more cumbersome. If you are using this for being out and about actively patrolling, you may find it matters. If you are clearing houses, you will certainly see that the extra couple inches matters. 18 doesn’t do much that 16 doesn’t, but it is always nice to have options.

[taliv]

Maybe you can get away with 14.5 because all that matters is that the projo does two revolutions. Then get a Geissele rail or a URX 4. I like Mk16 rail because it feels good and is comfy. I’d even suggest a Centurion rail.

And why a 1-8? I still use an ACOG on my Colt.
Not trying to bust your balls but what is it that you want to buy that you cannot achieve by shooting more or dryfiring more?

I like the mk16 a lot. That’s what I was looking at. Tempted to go with a v7 because I have a bunch of the old bravoco kmr rails (not the alphas). I loved them. Thin and light. Seems like v7 is same material and dimensions and not really any more expensive than Geissele. I’ll look at centurion too. Thanks.

I like my old acog too. But I like my lpvo more. My eyes are older than they used to be. And I learned a long time ago that acogs slow me way down at close ranges like indoors.

[grizzman]

I personally prefer the Magpul ACS and SL-S to my old LMT SOPMOD.

B5 Systems' Enhanced SOPMOD seems pretty popular, but I've never touched one.