Customizing upper help

[Sturnovik]

I bought a brand new ammo surplus upper (the one with the flag engraved) and found out my bushmaster barrel and BCG from my carbon 15 won't fit it. Can anyone here recommend a good BCG and barrel to pop on and finish this build? Already have a charging handle and dust cover/FA.

Im preferring a 14.5 with 2 inch flashover or an 16 inch with smaller brake/flash hider.

It looks like a BCM BCG is 70-90 without MPI which isn't a bad deal. Budget is 240/260. I don't do long range shooting. Any ideas?

[Josh3239]

Barrel and BCG is $240-$260 is tight.

Maybe I am missing it but I don't see any BCM complete BCG for $70-$90. I see an MPI bolt only from BCM for $70 though.

I'd recommend against 14.5'' because one with a FH already on it cannot allow a barrel nut to fit over it. Unless the barrel nut is already on the barrel and I don't know if any are offered like that.

Not sure what kind of barrel you want to go for, I'd like to know what gas system and contour you'd like. If your willing to step up the quality I think the DD lightweight, midlength, 1x7, hammer forged barrel is a killer deal here. For bolt groups, if budget is an issue look into Del Ton or DPMS.

[Sturnovik]

I'm sorry I should have stated the 240 ish was for the barrel. I realize it may e easier to find a decent barrel right now than BCG. But I'd Love to save unless 240 is the best amount for a decent barrel

[Sturnovik]

Sorry phone won't let me edit.

I'm thinking 1/7 twist and not a pencil barrel is more toward the direction I want.

But I'm liking the barrel you linked me too!

[Josh3239]

AR15Barrels has a great write up of the different types of barrel contours. A lot of people unfairly don't like the lightweight barrels. If you aren't shooting full auto or doing 100rd mag dumps (heck most of us don't even do 20rd mag dumps) the lw barrel will be just fine. And the weight savings, atleast to me, is important. The only change I'd make to my barrel is go from gov contour to LW contour. Most people go for the government style contour. Lower end government contour barrels typically use the carbine gas system. Midlength to me is the way to go.

For barrel manufacturers my favorites are:
1) Centurion which is what I have. Noveske also uses these barrels. They are made from m249 SAW blanks, machine gun barrels that are made to last. Chrome lining is essentially doubled. Midlength, 1x7, HPT/MPI and hammer forged. Gov contour here and lw contour here.
2) Daniel Defense. I linked you my favorite one from them. They have different contours but all are top shelf.
3) BCM, they offer pretty much the same quality.
4) For precision only, DPMS. For precision I'd go for the Mk12 easy. SASS is good too but for a 5.56mm it uses a proprietary, expensive gas block.

For bolt groups, purely for piece of mind I'd shell out the extra $20 or whatever and buy a good one from Rainier, LMT, Daniel Defense, Colt or BCM.

[Sturnovik]

AR15Barrels has a great write up of the different types of barrel contours. A lot of people unfairly don't like the lightweight barrels. If you aren't shooting full auto or doing 100rd mag dumps (heck most of us don't even do 20rd mag dumps) the lw barrel will be just fine. And the weight savings, atleast to me, is important. The only change I'd make to my barrel is go from gov contour to LW contour. Most people go for the government style contour. Lower end government contour barrels typically use the carbine gas system. Midlength to me is the way to go.

For barrel manufacturers my favorites are:
1) Centurion which is what I have. Noveske also uses these barrels. They are made from m249 SAW blanks, machine gun barrels that are made to last. Chrome lining is essentially doubled. Midlength, 1x7, HPT/MPI and hammer forged. Gov contour here and lw contour here.
2) Daniel Defense. I linked you my favorite one from them. They have different contours but all are top shelf.
3) BCM, they offer pretty much the same quality.
4) For precision only, DPMS. For precision I'd go for the Mk12 easy. SASS is good too but for a 5.56mm it uses a proprietary, expensive gas block.

For bolt groups, purely for piece of mind I'd shell out the extra $20 or whatever and buy a good one from Rainier, LMT, Daniel Defense, Colt or BCM.

Finally on my computer!

I may very well go with a thinner or lighter barrel, I just liked the M4 style one that came on the Carbon 15, and it didn't seem to heavy at all.

It sounds like barrels aren't getting much cheaper than the 200 price range?

[Josh3239]

The cheapest I've seen are government contour and heavy barrel, chrome lined mostly carbine gas length barrels go for is $190. If you drop chrome lining it gets much cheaper.

Nothing wrong with government contour, I am not sure how much of a weight difference it makes. Probably not much, but I like my ARs lightweight.

[freonr22]

Why not lmt barrels?

[Sturnovik]

The cheapest I've seen are government contour and heavy barrel, chrome lined mostly carbine gas length barrels go for is $190. If you drop chrome lining it gets much cheaper.

Nothing wrong with government contour, I am not sure how much of a weight difference it makes. Probably not much, but I like my ARs lightweight.

True, I kinda like the idea of having it but dont need it. So lets say the chrome is out, what happens to my price? I'm browsing a couple sites as we speak.

Why not lmt barrels?

haha never said no to them! But are they that expensive?