Quality of AR upper?

[velocette]

Question for serious AR accuracy shooters.
Does the quality of the upper receiver have much affect upon accuracy?
Assume that the upper in question is at least Milspec and a good quality
barrel is properly fitted.

 

[Minesweeper3433]

Yes it has an effect. I prefer higher end name brand upper receivers due to the higher grade aluminum used in them. My personal favorite is BCM makes a hammer forged upper that you can get. Very very tough and functions great. They do take a while to break in and smooth out compared to others like my Stag but they last. My hammer forged upper from them is on my match gun. Runs a boron coated carrier a 18" daniel defense chrome lined barrel and a 14" noveske float tube. Light fast accurate and very very durable. Have not cleaned this upper out in over 800 rounds so far. Just lube and shoot.

Also for stiffness if building a varmint rifle or an AR that you don't mind the weight I have a 6.5grendel on a DPBS thick upper. Noticeably stiffer, even just cycling the action you can tell it is stiffer from the sound and feel.

I would like to finish with I love the AR and would never give up mine or register them in any capacity what so ever at any point.

 

[stool]

you should spend some time on the ar15 forum....
about who actually MAKES AR PARTS vs who sells and assembles them.

Yes it has an effect. I prefer higher end name brand upper receivers due to the higher grade aluminum used in them. My personal favorite is BCM makes a hammer forged upper that you can get. Very very tough and functions great. They do take a while to break in and smooth out compared to others like my Stag but they last. My hammer forged upper from them is on my match gun. Runs a boron coated carrier a 18" daniel defense chrome lined barrel and a 14" noveske float tube. Light fast accurate and very very durable. Have not cleaned this upper out in over 800 rounds so far. Just lube and shoot.

Also for stiffness if building a varmint rifle or an AR that you don't mind the weight I have a 6.5grendel on a DPBS thick upper. Noticeably stiffer, even just cycling the action you can tell it is stiffer from the sound and feel.

I would like to finish with I love the AR and would never give up mine or register them in any capacity what so ever at any point.

 

[Minesweeper3433]

I haven't gone there in years due to people constantly making useless comments that don't contribute to the discussion. Being I build uppers pretty regular I have never had someone come back to me with problems from upper components when sold by certain companies that I would consider higher end compared to companies like Model 1 giving friends problems as well as DPMS uppers of the Flat top M16 style upper. For instance my Stag is ok but I wouldn't consider it higher end due to how fast it broke in just like my spikes upper broke in fast. My spikes while good also has dents in the upper from set screws from my riser showing how soft it is. But the hammer forged upper from BCM has shown none of these attributes and runs great even after years of hard use and abuse. Hence why it is my favorite for a flat top M16 style upper of nonbillet type. I haven't done many billet uppers for people due to expense when most people don't want to put "to much" into their rifle. The ones I have done were all nice and pretty but were built by people who work more than they play and hence don't get shot much except at a few local carbine matches a year.

 

[stool]

you do not have to read their bs, just go to the threads on who actually MAKES uppers and lowers...

none of the top sellers of ar15's ( colt bushmaster armalite etc) MAKE THEIR OWN UPPERS AND LOWER RECEIVERS.

i doubt that recieiver is hammer forged..........more like drop forged like half the rest of the field...just a word game in marketing.

 

[DR1586]

V,

I've built all of the uppers I've shot over the last 10 years. I have used both DPMS and Bushmaster upper receivers and to be honest, as long as the thing is structurally sound, you're fine. In fact, the best shooting upper I had was built on a factory second upper I bought at Perry. That gun won a couple State matches, made the 100 twice, and cleaned the 600.

John

 

[Cjg626]

Most upper receiver manufacturers use 7075t6 aluminum. The only difference is between milled and forged. Milled is made from a solid piece of aluminum and forged is where they pour aluminum into a mold. Now with that I feel that milled/billet uppers are the way to go, they are cnc'd and are better than mil spec. What's more important is how it fits to your lower receiver minus a "acu wedge" what lower receiver are you planning to use. If you don't have one yet I would recommend that you go with a billit upper and lower matched pair. Mega arms has the best for the price. Those are my two cents. Just stay away from 6061 aluminum.

 

[stool]

why would the machining of a forging be that different than that of a billet....no sense at all.

when it comes to strength( which i do not believe is an issue to begin with either billet or froging) the forging has better grain structure.

Most upper receiver manufacturers use 7075t6 aluminum. The only difference is between milled and forged. Milled is made from a solid piece of aluminum and forged is where they pour aluminum into a mold. Now with that I feel that milled/billet uppers are the way to go, they are cnc'd and are better than mil spec. What's more important is how it fits to your lower receiver minus a "acu wedge" what lower receiver are you planning to use. If you don't have one yet I would recommend that you go with a billit upper and lower matched pair. Mega arms has the best for the price. Those are my two cents. Just stay away from 6065 aluminum.

 

[Cjg626]

Billet fits tighter than forged, it is possibly a difference in opinion

 

[Cjg626]

http://www.gunsumerreports.com/review_firearms_materials_and_processes_001.php

 

[captkaos]

For a service rifle A2 upper about the only thing I look at is trueness of barrel extension to receiver fit. I will true up the receiver so the barrel extension makes contact as much as possible using carbide smoke.

 

[boltgunluvr]

Too many to choose from. A buddy dropped some cash on a SunDevil setup. Seems to be pretty sweet. For me, when it comes to ARs, I'm a purist which means a plain A2 16" or 20" BUT my favorite is my boringly plain DPMS 16 Lite with a Weaver V3 (1-3x) mounted on top of the carry handle. One can keep both eyes open for clearing and it will get you plenty of practical distance AND one key feature....no batteries required. something thats not considered by many. Hey, if the s#!^ hits the fan, no one will be able to get their hands on batteries. But thats just me.

No matter how you deck them out, they're all beautiful pieces of machinery.

 

[stool]

utg makes a 1-4.5 that is multi color reticle Plus black in the off position...$150 life time warrantee .

Too many to choose from. A buddy dropped some cash on a SunDevil setup. Seems to be pretty sweet. For me, when it comes to ARs, I'm a purist which means a plain A2 16" or 20" BUT my favorite is my boringly plain DPMS 16 Lite with a Weaver V3 (1-3x) mounted on top of the carry handle. One can keep both eyes open for clearing and it will get you plenty of practical distance AND one key feature....no batteries required. something thats not considered by many. Hey, if the s#!^ hits the fan, no one will be able to get their hands on batteries. But thats just me.

No matter how you deck them out, they're all beautiful pieces of machinery.