Converting Ar15 to 300 blackout

While it's true you could just switch out the barrels and go, there's a bit more to it than that. You would need a barrel nut wrench to untorque and retorque the nut every single time you want to stitch the calibers, on top of removing and reattaching the gas block and tube every time.


The other side of converting the gun this way is that buying a barrel alone doesn't save you that much money over buying a new upper. I think barrels alone start at $150+ whereas you can get a whole new upper for $300 and share the bolt. Palmetto State Armory has them for $300 or $350, and all you need to do is take the bolt out of your existing .223 upper and put it in the .300 Blackout upper and your ready to go. Switching between calibers this way means you only have to pop the two takedown pins and throw on the new upper and go shoot. Can't beat that! Good luck!

Wow your right! Maybe someone can chime in, but the cheapest I can find (through Google) is ~$550. Come to think of it, that deal may have been a Christmas deal...

Ok option #2 might be to buy a barrel ($170-$200) then the rest of the parts to build it yourself. I'm not sure if this will save you too much money over buying one pre-built though between necessary tools and actual parts.

The $315-$325 16" carbine gas system 300BLK uppers can be found at DSA Inc. (park vs SS barrel) BCG not included...

Nick

Nikdfish said:

The $315-$325 16" carbine gas system 300BLK uppers can be found at DSA Inc. (park vs SS barrel) BCG not included...

Nick

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Thank you! I knew I wasn't going nuts!

You can just use the BCG from your .223/5.56 upper if you already have one. The 300BLK uses the standard AR15 bolts, mag's, etc.

If you don't, you need a complete lower, bolt carrier group & charging handle plus an optic or at least a rear sight. You can pretty much mix & match stuff from vendors as you please. There is quite a range of prices and features out there. Shop around and see what works for your budget and taste.

Nick

bwsmith said:

PERFECT! I see the upper (http://www.dsarms.com/DSA-ZM4-Forge...300AAC---DSZM4CBU300/productinfo/DSZM4CBU300/). So I need a complete lower, bolt, bolt carrier and charging handle?

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You've got it, except the bolt carrier and bolt are usually sold together as a "bolt carrier assembly" like this.

Now as for the rifle itself, I say get the entry level AR for the sake of having a .223 AR to practice with for dirt cheap. Whenever I suggest an AR, I always say to have the .223 upper, because even if you don't need it, it makes for cheap plinking and the easy theft of ammo from friends Chances are, your going to want to get the upper later anyway, so I'm for getting it now.


If however your a little stubborn and just want the .300, you can build a lower for $150 and using the instructions on AR15.com it's the easiest thing on earth. (I can pm you a couple extra tips too if you go the build route). Then you would just need the bolt carrier group (~$100 for a good one), charging handle (~$25), and magazines (~$10-$15 a piece) in addition to the upper itself. Let me know and I'll PM you a piece by piece break down of necessary parts for a cheap but decent AR that's easy enough to assemble.

bwsmith said:

thanks so much for all your help. I may hit you up in PM for random questions.

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No problem my friend! Feel free to ask what you must!

I want to chime in here and ask a question: so I have a 223 lower (M&P) and I want to get the 300 blackout upper. The upper on advanced armament is like 1000 dollars! Is there a cheaper way. Because I have heard some people talk about buying this upper and it didn't function well with their lower so that's a lot of money especially if it results in issues. So is there a cheaper way that will work extremely well? I don't mind buying the actual upper already build but if there is a cheaper way that would be extremely difficult or time consuming I would do that instead. Thanks for the help!

Ummm, the < $340 DSA 16" upper? From comments over at the 300blktalk site, accuracy & function are good to go... (just wish they'd fill some backorders - )

Nick

I have a 300 AAC upper from Noveske and I love it. Granted the price is a little stiff but everything was assembled correctly finish is excellent and it has its own BCG that is headspaced correctly. Because I live in Ma I had to have the flash hider replaced with a muzzle brake and the one I picked was a few bucks more but I can fire it at the range without hitting people on my left or right side with muzzle blast.

cmmg makes one also