BUIS for AR, recommendations?

You really can't go wrong with Troy sights, or MI. But, if you're on a tight budget, take a look at Magpul's MBUS rear sights.

For cheap, I like Magpul. I have one on my plinker AR and it works well for its purpose as a backup sight.

This would fit the bill. You'd need to get the GAS BLOCK model front sight (notice there are two different heights).

As a technical note, "Front Sight Base (FSB)" refers to the standard, triangle-shaped standard gas block with integrated front sight. Not a base on which to mount your front sight. What you have is called a "railed gas block", and it is standard height (they also come in receiver height variety).

I have had good performance from Yankee Hill Machine (YHM). They are solid and nicely priced.

no offense guys, i don't know how you think magpul is cheap. but, anyways, i shot this weekend.....i have an eotch and my partner shoots aimpoint, he has magpie buis and i have UTG. we always set skeet up against the back stop at fifty yards and shoot them free hand. well after about 20 rounds we decided it was getting too easy, so we decided to turnoff the holo sights and practice with our buis. We loaded up 7 round magus each. He shot 5 out of seven, I shot 7 out of seven. If you are REALLY on a budget, there is absolutely nothing wrong with either utg or nc star flip up rear sights. just my 2 cent.........

I have a promag aluminum fold down BUIS on one of my AR's. It is solid and reasonably priced. I used it as a primary sight for ~ a month, while my Burris PEPR mount was on back order. They make an flip up front sight that will work fine on your FSB.

Unlike glass optics of any kind, iron sight are the most basic, and require no technology to operate. In other words; and long as they firmly mount, front and rear adjustments stay put after being sighted in, then they are a good set of sights. You can pay a little more for flip up sights or an easier type of adjustment mechanism. But the operation of the sights are all still the same. For me; that means I don't have to spend $100+ for a pair of backup sights. As long as they're metal, are mechanically sound, and stay sighted in, then go for what you like. Of course, some have the potential for tritium which adds expense. But as for traditional iron sights, I don't feel compelled to pay $100+ for them. I won't mention brands, because to many have already posted names of high dollar sights, and we don't want to get into a argument. But suffice it to say, you don't have to spend over $100 to get decent iron sights as backups to your optics.

Personally I like the Mangonel flip up sights... fairly expensive but worth it..

I have yankee hill and troy buis flip ups, both are nice and perform well. You may wanna rething the dpms. From what I have heard, quality control and customer service has been going down the tubes. I would look at someone else before choosing a dpms. I have a nicely set up POF 308 for sale and also a 223 POF for sale. Both are going to set you back some cash. Set up with eotechs, single point slings, etc. pics avail. 3250 obo on the 308 and 2700 on the 223.

BTW, if you go with the magpul plastic el cheapos, and you do decide to go with a piston ar or convert a d.i. to a piston system ar, they are going to melt the first time you do a 30 round mag dump. I know, been there, done that.

I've had bad luck with DPMS and Yankee Hill rear sights. Same problem with both of them - cheap and/or poorly heat treated threaded fasteners that stripped out after being mounted and removed a few times. If you go this route, be careful with the fasteners. Loctite might be a good idea.

-C

65nut said:

I have yankee hill and troy buis flip ups, both are nice and perform well. You may wanna rething the dpms. From what I have heard, quality control and customer service has been going down the tubes. I would look at someone else before choosing a dpms. I have a nicely set up POF 308 for sale and also a 223 POF for sale. Both are going to set you back some cash. Set up with eotechs, single point slings, etc. pics avail. 3250 obo on the 308 and 2700 on the 223.

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You have reading to much BS from the internet, we have 3 DPMS rifles and they all work great and have yet to have any problems with them or DPMS quality...

Considering he bought a very inexpensive plinker, I would have recommended the Magpul BUIS.

Here are the 3 sight combo's I would go with depending on budget and desired configuration:

MATech rear with A2 front sight (MATech's can be found on EBay for 35 bucks all day long.) This is if you want to stay true to the military's setup.

Magpul BUIS front and rear set (Normally 85 bucks for a complete set) This is for budget.

Troy front and rear set (Run about 209 for a new set, I seen a guy on here selling just the front sight for 50 bucks though, that can save you some dough.) I think this is the best setup but is the most expensive.

I have experience with all the sights listed I ran MBUS on a 14.5 inch Bushmaster 5.56 and a 16 inch LAR 8 in 308 with no problems. I have a military inspired AR15 with the A2 front triange and the MATech rear that love hitting steel at 500 yards. I also have a 16 inch Bushmaster that has Troy front and rears that I love for speed. And even though these combos aren't mentioned above I have a MK12 in 308 with a MI flip gas block am MI rear which are pretty nice sights as well as a 20 inch BCM with a YHM flip up gas block and MATech rear on the way.

Just depends on use and budget, if you have any more questions about the sights I have used post 'em here.

If I'm not mistaken DPMS ARs have commercial height (A2) sights so that's what they sell. Anyway, just off the top of my head, I'd be careful that any gas block sight and rear sight be of the same height so there's no problem zeroing. Most third party sights are milspec height which is 0.04" higher than commercial. Also I'm not sure how DPMS does the gas block, normal height? Anyway, throwing this out there - worth double checking just in case...

Check out GG&Gs, they are middle of the road in pricing and mine work well. Especially like the MAD rear sight.

Ok well just the Magpul for the rear then. And as long as they are both AR height sites I don't see why you couldn't mix and match.

I've seen a few people here suggest the Magpul brand. The only problem there is the specifically state "Not for use on front gas blocks".

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If your gun has a railed front handguard, or you aren't opposed to putting a section of rail on it, you mount it to that.
I'm not aware if there is a "standard" height for iron sights, so it may be possible to mix and match or it may not, depending on height differences and how much adjustment range they have. I'd check out the specs on each. I would assume that most rears are set to line up with a fixed front and most flip up fronts are supposed to be the same height as a fixed front when deployed so it seems it would work, I just haven't tried it.

Most rear sights are milspec height and are designed for milspec height on the front (ie: F-marked FSB not A2). DPMS, Bushmaster, ArmaLite and others stayed with A2 height while Colt changed the A2 standard when it introduced the M16A4 flat top. I ran into this problem with my ArmaLite which had their A2 height front sight mounted to the railed gas block. When I bought a milspec height rear sight I didn't have enough adjustment and had to buy a Bushmaster taller front sight post to correct the problem. Cheap fix but annoying. If I'd bought an ArmaLite rear sight then no problem but I found something else I liked.

If your gun has a railed front handguard, or you aren't opposed to putting a section of rail on it, you mount it to that.
I'm not aware if there is a "standard" height for iron sights, so it may be possible to mix and match or it may not, depending on height differences and how much adjustment range they have. I'd check out the specs on each. I would assume that most rears are set to line up with a fixed front and most flip up fronts are supposed to be the same height as a fixed front when deployed so it seems it would work, I just haven't tried it.

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For a rifle like that, billed as "light duty" by the OP, why bother with sights at all? He's putting a low magnification scope on it, in what, a high end removable highly repeatable mount? Doubt it. Just skip the sights altogether.

What scope and mount are you using, anyways?

For the rear I like the Matech with the BAD clamp upgrade. My go to rifle is Matech and a YHM front flip up. I used a bud's rifle with a MI set, it was pretty nice. I have a Troy set for my 7.62 and 6.5 rifles, seldom used. It was on the 7.62 upper when I bought it, they are nice, but spendy.

I shoot with optics, but I really like iron sight shooting and like to practice it frequently. I wanted a flip-up rear sight that would work as well as the factory carry handle sight, which means adjustable windage AND elevation. The vast majority of flip-up sights do not have any elevation adjustment, though. You have the GG&G MAD, which has 4 different apertures for use at different distances. Then you have the Matech BUIS, which has an elevation switch with positions for 200, 300, 320, 400, 500, 550, and 600m. That is what the military uses. Then you have the KAC 2-600m model, which actually adjusts in MOA-incremented clicks, just like the factory fixed rear sight, and has the settings for each 100m increment from 200 to 600m marked out.

I went with the KAC, even though it is more expensive than other flip-up rear sights, but I find it to be well worth it. It is a great sight that does everything a factory carry handle does, but in a small, foldable package. The Matech would be my second choice for a low-priced alternative that does almost as much. I prefer actual MOA-incremented clicks rather than just yardage settings (which would be different for different barrel lengths, ammo types, etc.).

Or if you consider your iron sights to be truly just backup, emergency sights that are probably not going to be used for any kind of distance shooting, then go ahead and get any one of the many folding iron sights out there that don't have adjustable elevation. You can set them for a battle sight zero and call it good. Though considering the price of a Matech, I see no reason to go with anything that doesn't have adjustable elevation at the rear.

If anyone is interested, Spikes Tactical, in their closeout section, has some Yankee Hill Front sights on closeout prices. Normally $85; closeout price $50. They have both the "Same Plane" Forearm/rail mount; and the traditional gas block height. Definitely a good price. They don't have any rear sights on closeout right now, but front sights are usually the more difficult to find. Especially good ones for gas blocks because of the intense heat. Just about all rear sights are the same height. Anyway; spikes tactical is a very reputable vendor. Here's a link

http://www.spikestactical.com/new/z/close-out-c-139.html