Maybe a new upper

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Ohio3Wheels
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Maybe a new upper

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

I have been considering a new upper for my AR15. It has come down to either the 6.5 Grendal or the 6.8 SPC. So things to consider:

1 Overall cost of the conversion ie complete upper
2 Component cost - I already shoot a .270 and have numerous 6.5 mm tubes
3 Dies probably close if not the same
4 and the potential bugaboo my AR has a composite lower

What say you builders of ARs?

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Re: Maybe a new upper

Post by GasGuzzler »

Don't own any composite lowers. Not sure there.

What ran me off both of those in the past was component cost plus the mags and upper parts are high. That's true for anything other than 5.56 though.

Don't have any 6.5 6.8 or .270 stuff so that's a positive for you not me.

My next top will likely be a 7.62X39.
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Re: Maybe a new upper

Post by akuser47 »

I say price out everything and do the projected actual cost verses each other best way to go on this choice. I have no other advice other than weigh the cost verses your goals to see if your reward will be with each build.
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Re: Maybe a new upper

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

Looking at cost, so far only Primary Arms, the two are about equal with the 6.8SPC being a bit higher, which kind of surprised me. Primarily looking at varmints and predators and either would do the job with the 6.5 having maybe slightly longer legs. Just in the thinking stage right now.

I looked at 7.62x39 some years ago and maybe they've gotten better, but at the time everyone I came across that had one was having trouble. I understand it has mostly to do with the case tapper and the straight AR magazines. I currently have the SKS that I mostly shoot cheap steel case stuff as it messes up the good re-loadable brass.

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Re: Maybe a new upper

Post by GasGuzzler »

I don't shoot brass in my AK-47 so I'm used to $0.24 per round on 7.62X39 ammo.
I have read the reviews on them too and there are two issues generally....magazines and light strikes.

Get good magazines and that issue is solved. I can fix light strikes, etc. by changing springs, polishing and greasing, etc.
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Re: Maybe a new upper

Post by Archer »

Sorry I'm late to this.
IF price is your primary driver then as AK says do the math. Pay particular attention to the ammo costs as those will be recurring.

With respect to 6.5 Grendel take the time to make sure you get compatible components, that is to say that your barrel and bolt are both either type II or type I. Alexander Arms barrels use an oddball muzzle thread compared to everyone else. One of my coworkers built a superlight 6.5 using AA parts and he loves it but advised me that he was not happy with that non-standard muzzle thread and suggested I avoid the AA barrel for that reason.

I was thinking 6.8 SPC myself but ran up on a couple component sales that made me pick up 6.5 Grendel as an impulse buy. In my case DSA ran a sale on a 6.5 Grendel 20" Odin Works barrel, BCG and gas block that was a bit too tempting to pass up. Later Midway was running a sale on some ARStoner stuff and I ended up buying a 24" barrel and BCG in 6.5 Grendel and a barrel with a bolt in 12.7x42.

I've come to prefer certain manufacturers and build components. I like Fail Zero BCGs but they don't currently manufacture a 6.5 type II BCG. VG6 makes 6.5 muzzle devices and I've seen a few other providers of 6.5 specific muzzle devices. Some folks use .308 brakes or flash hiders since the threading is the same if you avoid Alexander Arms barrels. An adjustable gas block was highly recommended by JP Enterprise with the claim that just about all the barrels are over gassed and it would make the gun softer shooting and increase component life.

Primary Arms is an excellent source of low cost build components, sometimes their name brand prices are very good but they do cycle up and down. I advise checking several other sources but in the process remember to include shipping costs. I have seen speculation that Bear Creek is the source for AR Stoner bolts sold through Midway but cannot confirm. I've also seen indications that Satern is the source for some of Midway's AR Stoner barrels.

I tend to buy a case or two of ammo as starter material for reloading. I know some folks who buy components from the start but as a rule when I do the math that way, unless I'm going with a specialty bullet or particular brand of case I can't get ammo in I come out way ahead buying the ammo initially.
JP Enterprise has a note regarding 6.5 from back in 2010 as a high performance round:
http://www.jprifles.com/safety.php?document_id=55
and suggest Hornady and Lapua brass only.
JP Enterprise's 6.5 bolts are supposed to be very good.

There are several YouTube vids regarding Odin Works 6.5 barrels and BCGs. Most seem to have good results without ripped up brass.

Hornady ammo seems to be priced almost reasonably through several outlets and if you can find it on sale it can be about as cheap as .30-30. Wolff has apparently produced some brass case. Given JP's reloading comments I linked to above I'm a little leery of that but those comments were from 2010 and that's been a while.

I may at some point build a 6.8 or two as well but for now I'm headed down the 6.5.
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Re: Maybe a new upper

Post by GasGuzzler »

I got five 7.62 AR magazines from Primary Arms, a Texas company. First time I have dealt with them. Best price on the industry standard CPD magazines which may be the largest contributor to 7.62 AR function issues and they had them here in two days. Many places are sold out of them.
Last edited by GasGuzzler on 26 Jan 2018 06:44, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Maybe a new upper

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

What little experience I've had with primary I've been pleased and they have always answered any question I've had with in a day.

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Re: Maybe a new upper

Post by GasGuzzler »

I see the Primary Arms has the Bear Creek Arsenal 7.62X39 BCG on sale for $59.99 which is a very good price.

http://www.primaryarms.com/BCA-BCG762-1 ... tpagedeals
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Re: Maybe a new upper

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

I'm leaning more and more to picking up a complete upper in 6.5 Grendal from Primary Arms most likely. I don't have all the tools to build one from scratch and by going complete I should avoid the compatibility problems Archer spoke o.

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