benefits of ar15 monolithic uppers?

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jason41987

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i was looking for something different to try with a new, upcoming ar15 build and ive been looking at some of these monolithic uppers and ive been wondering what their purpose is... surely there has to be some advantage to them besides a full length top rail as i recall seeing forearms that were actually held on to the rifle by mounting to the A3 top rail giving a full length rail...

so is there some other reason these exist? do they provide a lighter rifle, or typically a heavier one since theyre made of aluminum, are rifles made with these stronger, more rigid, or in the end is it all really just a gimmick?
 
you can mount an optic anywhere on the rail because it wont move independent of the receiver. If you mount an optic on a delta ring mounted quad rail or similar it will never hold a zero.
 
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thats obvious about the optics remaining solid with the receiver no matter where you mount them, but i cant recall where mounting optics in front of the receiver is common enough to need a monolithic upper, so besides that, what else does it offer?... im guessing little in strength, probably a bit more weight..

so besides the rare optics set ups, what else is it useful for?
 
jason41987 said:
thats obvious about the optics remaining solid with the receiver no matter where you mount them, but i cant recall where mounting optics in front of the receiver is common enough to need a monolithic upper, so besides that, what else does it offer?... im guessing little in strength, probably a bit more weight..

so besides the rare optics set ups, what else is it useful for?
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You can balance the weight of the rifle any which way you like by placement of the optic, possibly forward of the receiver, with a magnifier in tow and plenty of room.

I like a front heavy AR, points better.
 
They offer a rock solid mounting surface, an uninterrupted top rail, free float barrel, and are typically a little lighter than a standard flat top upper with a separate quad rail.
 
mounting a scope an a standard flat top upper is not easy, my two pc ring set is not spaced apart like my hunting guns . If you look at most ar scope mounts they are canted forward to compensate for the short rail
p449856756.jpg


longer monolithic rail solves that issue. Also you can mount lasers anywhere you want.
 
there are options for mounting the scope obviously, as shown with the canted scope mount above, and there are free float tubes available without a monolithic upper...

basically, i would like to try out a monolithic upper, but im looking for a good solid reason besides optics to do so, i have my eye on the aero precision COP.. but in doing so, youre losing the ability to swap out forearms, and severely limiting your options of stripped uppers you can use (such as one without forward assist, or a side charger).. so it just seems like youre giving up a lot in terms of future upgrades, mods, or accessory changes only for a longer optics platform, which leads me to think there has to be more to it
 
The LMT version offers simple barrel swaps with their monolithic rifle. It is the evolution of the AR, small incremental changes dont look like much on the surface but compare today's Ar to the Vietnam era Stoner. Maybe one day a monolithic will be Mil-Spec and all our parts will interchange. Who's ever pattern becomes the standard will get lots of royalties.
 
how does the quick change barrel on the LMT works? does it use standard AR15 barrels?
 
it would appear the LMT is an entire upper.. and at the price available i could afford an ACR or XCR if i cared that much about a fast change barrel, so im looking more towards the aero precision cop upper and the mega monolithic tube uppers should i go that route..

lighter weight would be a plus as would the full length rail.. but is this really all it offers? and is it enough to give up the ability to swap forearms or change out stiripped uppers? hard to say...

the cost of a monolithic upper is roughly the same as the cost of a good stripped upper and a good quad rail, so the cost wont be much different... and well, i guess if i was certain the length of rifle i wanted i wouldnt have any reason to change components anyway... and this build will spend most, if not all its life with a medium contour 16" 6.8mm SPC barrel... so what the heck.. i guess ill give the monolithic thing a try, and see how i like it.. and i like how the lower part of the aero comes apart for barrel changes and different rails so ill probably get that if theres nothing significantly better available
 
lighter weight would be a plus as would the full length rail.. but is this really all it offers? and is it enough to give up the ability to swap forearms or change out stiripped uppers? hard to say...
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What else would you expect it to offer? Also, how many times are you planning on changing the forearm? And how many times do you plan on tearing apart the assembled upper just to change the upper receiver itself?

The majority of people I see slap a quad rail on, cover 90% of the mounting space with rail covers, and leave it alone until they sell the gun or bury it in the back of the safe. If you want to be able to swap setups, then assemble a second upper. This will allow you to change setups in mere seconds without any tools.

Right now I'm thinking very hard about assembling a short barreled AR next year, and if I do go through with that project I will probably start with a pistol registered lower and a Vltor VIS monolithic upper. Currently I have a Colt 6940, and I love the uninterrupted to rail and how rigid the entire thing is.
 
Mega has discontinued their monolithic uppers. They are going to be coming out with a new mono upper that is the next generation of innovation. I has about to order a mono upper, but I'm going to wait for the new Mega.

To our Valued Customer:


Announcement regarding Mega Arms Monolithic MTS upper receivers:


We have both good news and also tough news to deliver. So to quickly get the bad news out of the way: we are no longer manufacturing, or offering for sale, our MTS Monolithic upper receivers. This includes sets involving the MTS upper in AR-15 and MATEN. If you are a custom MTS client, please contact us.

You must be wondering why we are taking this step. No, we did not have any safety or quality issues. You already know that our MTS upper is made to our high expectations and has been the pinnacle of the industry since its inception. We recently became aware that a competitor is about to obtain a patent, and we believe that this competitor will assert its patent against us. We have strong defenses, but we are not a large company that can sustain ongoing litigation expenses. Plus we would rather be working on providing a superior replacement.

The good news is that we are working on a new platform that far exceeds anything currently offered in the industry. It will be exactly what you would expect from Mega Arms. We have no specific time frame on when we will be able to start shipping the new platform, but stay tuned for news on that front.

The MTS upper for AR-15 and MATEN has been a huge success for us at Mega Arms, and we are just as disappointed as you are with this decision and change. We convey our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause to you or your customers. We at Mega Arms look forward to our new platform, and believe that it will be a platform that the industry would expect to see from us at Mega Arms!

Sincerely,

Mega Arms
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I prefer the astethics of the Vltor unit over most of the others, plus it seems to be available just about everywhere you look. There are four different rail lengths to choose from and you can also buy complete uppers from both BCM and Noveske built on the Vltor.
 
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