My AR Build

Marcus99 · Dec 30, 2011

You may remember me asking about this and that regarding building an AR and reloading .223. I haven't gotten into the reloading part yet, but I just finished the build. I put a lot of time, effort, money and research into this and think it turned out pretty well. Put a few rounds down range not really to practice, just trying it out and it was great. I got some great advice here which helped me throughout the process. Thanks for the assistance, and without further adieu here are some pictures with the specs:

Magpul CTR Stock
Spikes Tactical Lower
Magpul MOE Grip
DPMS LPK
Magpul PMag 20 & 30rd's
BCM "almost" stripped Upper
LMT BCG
BCM Charging Handle
Midwest Industries T12 Handguard w/ Cap
YHM Low-Pro Gas Block
Magpul Handguard Cover
Promag forend grip
Burris PEPR Mount
Leupold VX-R 3-9x, 40mm Scope w/ Illuminated Red dot duplex
Butler Creek Covers

track65 · Dec 30, 2011

Marcus99 said:
You may remember me asking about this and that regarding building an AR and reloading .223. I haven't gotten into the reloading part yet, but I just finished the build. I put a lot of time, effort, money and research into this and think it turned out pretty well. Put a few rounds down range not really to practice, just trying it out and it was great. I got some great advice here which helped me throughout the process. Thanks for the assistance, and without further adieu here are some pictures with the specs:

Magpul CTR Stock
Spikes Tactical Lower
Magpul MOE Grip
DPMS LPK
Magpul PMag 20 & 30rd's
BCM "almost" stripped Upper
LMT BCG
BCM Charging Handle
Midwest Industries T12 Handguard w/ Cap
YHM Low-Pro Gas Block
Magpul Handguard Cover
Promag forend grip
Burris PEPR Mount
Leupold VX-R 3-9x, 40mm Scope w/ Illuminated Red dot duplex
Butler Creek Covers

Look's great

Underwhere · Dec 30, 2011

Lookin good.
I like the 12" float rail.

I have used DPMS in some of my lowers and would go with another brand next time. Mine haven't malfunctioned but you can literally feel a difference with the function of the detent pins with other brands.

If you end up doing another build, look into Palmetto State Armory build kits. They include lower parts kits (good quality ones), sometimes nicer triggers, stocks etc and their packaged prices are significantly less than piecing together yourself.

Admin · Dec 30, 2011

Good looking build Marcus

retroLS1 · Dec 30, 2011

Nice looking build. What barrel and FH are you using?

Marcus99 · Dec 31, 2011

retroLS1 said:
Nice looking build. What barrel and FH are you using?

BCM BFH 1/7 twist, 16" mid length chambered in 5.56. I'm using the stock A2 birdcage FH, apparently it is a good, reliable choice that is popular with a lot of shooters.

It shot great at the range. 80rds of the .223 55gr Remington without a single hiccup, really a pleasure to shoot. However I also brought some Tulammo (55gr Steel cased stuff sold at Walmart) and every shot there was either a failure to feed or failure to eject; I gave up after 10rds. I'm wondering if it is because my YHM gas block is slightly canted. But I have read that the hole on the bottom of my gas block is larger than the gas port hole on the top of the barrel, therefore a slight cant shouldn't create a problem. Is Tulammo known to be problematic in AR's?

diesel112 · Dec 31, 2011

I can run everything in mine. I have a Stag model 2 upper. Ive used everything from Wolf and Tulammo, to Remington white box, to the Hornady 77gr target rounds. Never had a FTF or FTE

SJan · Dec 31, 2011

Looks great.

Run a few hundred full power 5.56mm rounds to loosen up everything, then try the steel cased ammo again.

Patriot0717 · Dec 31, 2011

Great job, nice build. I have trouble (burns dirty, FTE up the wing wang) with Tulammo cartridges for rifles and handguns compared to other brands

greencobra · Dec 31, 2011

Sometimes that steel cased ammo is coated with crap that makes them stick in the chamber after a bunch of rounds has been put through the rifle. Im not familiar with this tulammo so i don't know if thats the case here. Try wiping down that ammo before your next range day. Nice build BTW.

newportri · Jan 1, 2012

When I look at the safety/selector it looks like it's select fire, is that right?

jdesro · Jan 1, 2012

newportri said:
When I look at the safety/selector it looks like it's select fire, is that right?

I'm pretty sure Spikes marks all their receivers that way, even though 99.99% of the people that buy them must have semi-auto only.

paulleve · Jan 5, 2012

Spikes marks all of its receivers with three positions, and they do have a sense of humor about it. The zombie lowers are marked "live, dead, undead," and the pirate lowers are marked "parley, aargh, plunder".

ericcif · Jan 5, 2012

I run the cheap Russian steel ammo thru my AK47, and AK74 only (pretty much all your gonna get for the 74) without any problems. I have never ran any in my AR but did try some mostly out of curiousity in my M1 carbine and had lots of problems.

newportri · Jan 5, 2012

paulleve said:
Spikes marks all of its receivers with three positions, and they do have a sense of humor about it. The zombie lowers are marked "live, dead, undead," and the pirate lowers are marked "parley, aargh, plunder".

Thanks for clarifying that.

FREDDY401 · Jan 18, 2012

ericcif said:
I run the cheap Russian steel ammo thru my AK47, and AK74 only (pretty much all your gonna get for the 74) without any problems. I have never ran any in my AR but did try some mostly out of curiousity in my M1 carbine and had lots of problems.

My first AR was a Stag Model 2, always had failures to feed when I used Wolf. For some reason, some AR's are just picky when it comes to steel cased ammo. I would think brass casings would be a lot more forgiving on the chamber as well. AK's are pigs, they'll eat anything you feed it. If you love your AR, dont feed it steel ammo.

beaker · Jan 22, 2012

Looks great!

Fixxah · Jan 22, 2012

Looks nice and killy. Varmints beware!

My AR Build

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