Monolithic vs Standard upper

[oneanddone]

Hey all,
So I'm in the process of building my first ar15, and have tackled most of the questions newbies run into (di vs piston, carbine vs mid, you get the idea). My last hurdle is whether or not to go with a monolithic upper or stick to the standard. What do you guys think? Does the supposed improved accuracy out weigh the need for proprietary parts? (The maker of the upper to be is LMT, for context).

[RAMCHARGER]

Going Mono your pretty much married to it. I like the idea of Mono but I'm always tinkering with my AR so not being able to modify my upper is no go, My poor little AR I got 6 years ago has transformed countless times with barrels, hand guards, rails and such.

[serjm1a1]

Hey all,
So I'm in the process of building my first ar15, and have tackled most of the questions newbies run into (di vs piston, carbine vs mid, you get the idea). My last hurdle is whether or not to go with a monolithic upper or stick to the standard. What do you guys think? Does the supposed improved accuracy out weigh the need for proprietary parts? (The maker of the upper to be is LMT, for context).

It's really more of esthetic issue, I love the way they look...I like a streamlined rifle.I like it to look like one cohesive piece but other than that, it really does little for functionality

[FourT6and2]

I don't see how mono vs standard can have any affect on accuracy unless you plan on mounting an optic forward of the receiver. Even with normal BUIS... they aren't that accurate anyway. So if the hand guard is a thousandth of a fraction of an inch off somewhere, it shouldn't make that much of a difference with iron sights.

[essjay]

Isn't the main advantage to monolithic upper that you can mount a large optic in certain positions without straddling the break between a traditional upper and railed forend?

[m850168]

I have an LMT MRP rifle length upper.

The long, uninterrupted top rail is fantastic for mounting optics, but not really necessary in most situations - a cantilever scope mount will solve the issue most of the time. It is nice to be able to move them around wherever you want, though. It turns out I like my red dot right where the seam would be, but moving it forward or back a little bit wouldn't make much of a difference.

The drawback of the LMT is weight. The SOCOM profile barrel doesn't help, and the rail has a lot of aluminum involved where the barrel nut would be. The combo acts as a pretty good heat sink (I see little to no change in group size, even after a long string of fire), but my rifle is definitely heavy for an AR.

All that said, easily my favorite upper. Looks badass, and the (so far unused) ability to convert to a different caliber appeals to me.

Finally, this is LMT specific - in about a thousand rounds, it's never had a single hiccup. I have not cleaned or lubed it for the last 500 rounds. I took a carbine class in the rain and mud and my rifle was one of the only ones (possibly the only one) that didn't get have any problems that day, and I did not baby it at all. I have an LMT standard BCG in there.

[m16]

I have a Vltor mono upper with a Colt SOCOM barrel, it is one of my favorites to shoot.

Front sight is pinned to the barrel, sling is attached to the rail.

This is the ultimate setup if you use your sling hard, POI will never change no matter how hard you are yanking on it.

[ar15barrels]

Isn't the main advantage to monolithic upper that you can mount a large optic in certain positions without straddling the break between a traditional upper and railed forend?

Yes.
Most people don't realize that you should not straddle the gap though as I see optics straddling the gap all the time on traditionally assembled uppers.

[MrPlink]

LMT is damn good stuff. If you dont need the mono upper stick with LMT with a std receiver and the savings into ammo/optics etc

[Spaceghost]

Sometimes, I wish you were known for exaggerating.

Yes.
Most people don't realize that you should not straddle the gap though as I see optics straddling the gap all the time on traditionally assembled uppers.

[calspyderman]

You running the DI or the Piston upper?

I have an LMT MRP rifle length upper.

The long, uninterrupted top rail is fantastic for mounting optics, but not really necessary in most situations - a cantilever scope mount will solve the issue most of the time. It is nice to be able to move them around wherever you want, though. It turns out I like my red dot right where the seam would be, but moving it forward or back a little bit wouldn't make much of a difference.

The drawback of the LMT is weight. The SOCOM profile barrel doesn't help, and the rail has a lot of aluminum involved where the barrel nut would be. The combo acts as a pretty good heat sink (I see little to no change in group size, even after a long string of fire), but my rifle is definitely heavy for an AR.

All that said, easily my favorite upper. Looks badass, and the (so far unused) ability to convert to a different caliber appeals to me.

Finally, this is LMT specific - in about a thousand rounds, it's never had a single hiccup. I have not cleaned or lubed it for the last 500 rounds. I took a carbine class in the rain and mud and my rifle was one of the only ones (possibly the only one) that didn't get have any problems that day, and I did not baby it at all. I have an LMT standard BCG in there.

Thanks for you observations of the LMT. Are you running a DI or Piston upper?

[oneanddone]

Alright so what I'm getting is that the mono looks sexy as hell, but is more or less unnecessary. This is the kind of info I was looking for! Since this is my first ar I want a jack of all trades rifle. Able to use for cqb but if I need, be able to consistently punch 2-3" groups at 100-150yds.

[FlyingPen]

I like the AERO COP system.

Mono looks cool and it feels nice to have a single solid piece.

[Jaybird]

Have a few mono and a few standard uppers. I definitely favor the mono setups and just did my SPR type build using a VLTOR KM-14 receiver. Definitely has a nice look and feel to it. Prob my new favorite.

[m850168]

Cal - running a DI.