Ok, I'm still looking for the perfect AR....

[InTheSwamp]

1. BIGGEST QUESTION: I want to hunt with a 6mm arc.

You're spinning your wheels...Here;

20" 6MM ARC Complete Upper - Shaw Medium Stainless Barrel - 15" Rail - Comp Brake - BCG - CH - $477.75.

PSA SABRE-15 FORGED LOWER - $259.99. This includes a Hiperfire RBT Trigger with JP Reduced Power Springs

For a grand total of $737.74

Decent for hunting. Now go pick a scope and practice.

 

[BreechFace]

First AR, make it a 223/5.56 IMHO.

 

[CapnMac]

Ok, so I AM researching. This is a forum. It's used to spread ideas and info about things. I can search websites and forums till the cows come home, and I come back to what I said in the first place. I really want to be sub $1k with 6mm arc AND .223 or .300blk capability.

It's a bit of a big "ask."

There's a well-tested niche for shorty 5.56nato builds. Those are down around 14" in the M-4 configuration and do a good all-around job. They will "plink" as well as nearly any other rifle.

Now, 6arc is definitely a performance round. More than some passing debate on whether it's best as a moderate-range game getter. That versus being a slightly heavier varmint taker. Those tend to suggest a much longer barrel, out to 20, 22, or 24 inch sorts of lengths.

For my taste, I want the lower configured to best suit the upper. So, I want a longer, fixed stock to better balance a long barrel; and want a shorter buffer tube and abbreviated stock for 16" sized carbine builds. That's my preference; others' differ.

That being said, I think there's an excellent niche for a 16" carbine in 6arc--this would be a respectable taker for coyotes and feral pigs. Handy for brush country and toting long distances afield. That's very much from how the 6arc is very much a 243 adapted to fit the AR-15 magwell.

This is going to be very much blurred by the recent (very recent) introduction of the 22arc, which is being touted as a 22-250 for the AR. Some of the bullet weights for 22arc are getting to where I'd be comfortable dropping pigs with them, and at distance as well as length-of-pig trap.

 

[Sanderguy777]

Going from 223 to 6 ARC is going to require at minimum a barrel, bolt and magazine swap, and I promise, you aren’t going to swap that barrel more than a time or two before you realize that you’d be better off having at minimum two complete uppers. Just buy the rifle you want in 223 and buy appropriate ammo for the game you are hunting. 223 is just fine for deer within 200 yards.

I understand that, I was just saying that since it is like $200 to $300 for a PSA upper in .223, I could just get an extra. 223 and swap the barrel into it permanently. I'd only do it once, and that one would be the new "6mm arc" upper. But as I myself have done the math, it makes more financial sense to buy the complete 6mm upper from a manufacturer because the barrel and upper would be the same cost as the manufacturer's, without tools, labor, or even thinking about a BCG.

That subject has been beat, ad nauseam. I have had good luck with PSA, like many others, but they are not the only game in town. I also have a El Cheapo DPMS Oracle, which was about as stripped down as you could get and still use it... and it's fine... now. That's the one that had the barrel nut hand tight from the factory. I have a Colt... Colts are a solid choice, but mine has issues... quite honestly, the worst trigger in the safe, and that on an H-Bar target rifle... so go figure. Springy and S&W make good rifles, Ruger makes a good one. The list goes on. Pick one.

Ok, i understand that, but I don't know if I've seen much of anything about S&W ars, much less comparedto colt or the others at once. So, it sounds like colt, S&W, Springfield, and Riger are very similar in quality. Is one better at customer service? If something is wrong with the rifle, will they make it right (obviously they aren't paying for my stupidity I'm talking the barrel nut is loose, or something like that.)

I guess I can throw a picture out...

L to R... PSA carbine build on my assembled lower, my first AR build, mostly RRA parts, and my DPMS Oracle.

My RRA build is a good example... that thing has had parts put on, taken off, disassembled, reassembled... as I worked through what I liked and disliked.

An earlier version of the RRA... with fixed shorty stock and an optic...

...you can't be an Operator without a vertical grip, right?

Folding stock... (excuse the toes...)

Ok, are folding stocks an issue? Or does that matter with rifles. Is it just barrel length, or do they not want you to have a folded stock on the rifle as well?

 

[Sanderguy777]

It's a bit of a big "ask."

There's a well-tested niche for shorty 5.56nato builds. Those are down around 14" in the M-4 configuration and do a good all-around job. They will "plink" as well as nearly any other rifle.

Now, 6arc is definitely a performance round. More than some passing debate on whether it's best as a moderate-range game getter. That versus being a slightly heavier varmint taker. Those tend to suggest a much longer barrel, out to 20, 22, or 24 inch sorts of lengths.

For my taste, I want the lower configured to best suit the upper. So, I want a longer, fixed stock to better balance a long barrel; and want a shorter buffer tube and abbreviated stock for 16" sized carbine builds. That's my preference; others' differ.

That being said, I think there's an excellent niche for a 16" carbine in 6arc--this would be a respectable taker for coyotes and feral pigs. Handy for brush country and toting long distances afield. That's very much from how the 6arc is very much a 243 adapted to fit the AR-15 magwell.

This is going to be very much blurred by the recent (very recent) introduction of the 22arc, which is being touted as a 22-250 for the AR. Some of the bullet weights for 22arc are getting to where I'd be comfortable dropping pigs with them, and at distance as well as length-of-pig trap.

Yes, it is definitely a tall order. The only way I can do it is to go pretty cheap on everything, including the 6mm upper (which isn't great cause I want good accuracy from that).

I'm honestly tempted to just go with a 6.5cm ar10. Only thing keeping me from that is that it would be more to kit it out, and I'd have to spend more on ammo (why I want the .223 in addition to the 6mm).

I think the .223 is the best deal at the moment. Seems better rounded than the 6mm based on the very limited choices I've seen.

 

[CapnMac]

I'm honestly tempted to just go with a 6.5cm ar10.

Running 5.56nato in an AR-10 size rifle probably will not meet the "cheap" requirement.
Going with 6.8 or 300BO might be easier overall.

Remember you are going to need glass, too. And not just once, but twice (once per upper). And the "game rifle" is going to want an LVPO or similar glass. (The 5.56 plinker can just get a Sig Romeo RDS, but you'll still need a couple hundred bux in the budget for that.)

 

[InTheSwamp]

I think the .223 is the best deal at the moment.

Yep. And WC is having deals on barrels...why wait?

Rifle Barrels - Wilson Combat

Wilson Combat has been the innovator in custom pistols, long guns, and accessories since 1977. Home of the Wilson Combat 1911, EDC X9, WCP320, and more!

wilsoncombat.com

 

[Nature Boy]

Keep looking. Perfect is just over the hill and around the bend……,

 

[Sanderguy777]

Ok, so looking into it, I can get a Vortex red dot with a S&W rifle, which also happens to be the one they have in stock at Bass Pro. $800 for a rifle ans I get a free $280 red dot? Sounds pretty perfect to me!

 

[LoonWulf]

This is my dads gun.
Aero lower, Anderson lpk, JP springs, magpul stock and grip, bca uppers....tho i did change to a AGB and an UL bolt carrier on the Grendel since i had them
All in just under 1k runs like a top with either upper.
I did have to do some tinkering to get the 556 upper running reliably, but it was minimal.

Figure if i ever get into shooting ARs again ill put together an ARC the same way.

 

[Sanderguy777]

View attachment 1178103
This is my dads gun.
Aero lower, Anderson lpk, JP springs, magpul stock and grip, bca uppers....tho i did change to a AGB and an UL bolt carrier on the Grendel since i had them
All in just under 1k runs like a top with either upper.
I did have to do some tinkering to get the 556 upper running reliably, but it was minimal.

Figure if i ever get into shooting ARs again ill put together an ARC the same way.

What scope?

 

[LoonWulf]

Bushnell Prime 3-12x40 in a Monstrum mount and the dot is a Riton.

Sales on both put total cost there under 200

Cant remember what the Brake is off of.....

 

[Charlie98]

Ok, are folding stocks an issue?

No. I don't believe there is an overall length issue as long as the barrel is 16" or greater, in much the same manner as a slider all the way in doesn't cause an issue. FWIW, I did NOT like the folder... the pivot point whacked me in the teeth because I shoot nose to the charging handle. Folders are a very niche item, a typical slider solves the majority of the size issues.

Also, be aware that a 6.5CM AR is the big frame AR-10... not an AR-15. Two different things going on there. If you want compatibility with another upper in 5.56mm, you will need to stick with a cartridge that will fit in an AR-15 size lower.

 

[Sanderguy777]

Bushnell Prime 3-12x40 in a Monstrum mount and the dot is a Riton.

Sales on both put total cost there under 200

Cant remember what the Brake is off of.....

Wow! That's sure affordable!

No. I don't believe there is an overall length issue as long as the barrel is 16" or greater, in much the same manner as a slider all the way in doesn't cause an issue. FWIW, I did NOT like the folder... the pivot point whacked me in the teeth because I shoot nose to the charging handle. Folders are a very niche item, a typical slider solves the majority of the size issues.

Also, be aware that a 6.5CM AR is the big frame AR-10... not an AR-15. Two different things going on there. If you want compatibility with another upper in 5.56mm, you will need to stick with a cartridge that will fit in an AR-15 size lower.

Good to know.

Yes, I know. I was just thinking about skipping the .223 all together. But I'll probably just get the S&W or something in .223 so I get cheap ammo, then upgrade. Just the same as the suggestion above.