Spare AR-15
 

It's not certain yet, but I think a friend is going to give me/sell cheap an AR-15.

I'm soliciting suggestions on what to do with it. Getting a new upper is the obvious choice...but I'm not sure what to go with. Something that will really reach out there would be nice...been thinking about a .50 upper.

What would you do and why?

Ooooooh! I love projects! :D

Which .50 upper are you thinking about?

Do you plan on reloading? Or buying off the shelf?

How far out do you want to reach and with what kind of power?

I hope you are on my side when SHTF. :D

As long as you are member here, you are good to go. :p

Not sure yet. The Bohica and Watson's caught my eye. A bolt-action is fine...no need for mags. Looking at a BMG.

Off the shelf.

A couple hundred light-years would be nice, but I'll settle for 600-1000 yards.

That brings glass into the equation, but we can wait on that for now.

I'm not interested in 5.45x39 or 7.62x39. The 6.5 Grendel and 6.8 SPC might have potential. But if I'm gonna go broke on ammo, it might as well be something fargin' heavy...the .450 or .50 or in that neighborhood.

So I guess the theme is "stupid long range with unquestionable knock-down power".

No, I have no application for this. But why should that stop me?

(Yes, freddy, I'm on your side.)

I don't think the .50 Beowulf is a very good long range round, but I may be mistaken. I would consider some of the uppers in .300 OSSM or 6.5 Grendel.

.50 BMG?? Oooooohhhhh, I just really have a problem with that application personally on that poor little aluminum lower. I know what everyone is saying, that it's been tested and you can replace the aluminum pins and blah, blah, blah....

And the end of the day, you have two pins going through an all aluminum lower holding on to what is basically a platform for a small caliber missile being launched. Not a recipe that I would condone to those I love. :eek:

Problem with the .450 and .50 caliber rounds is that they are not "long range" - they are medium range HEAVY knockdown types of rounds. And you are going to go broke buying ammo for them....

EDIT: http://www.alexanderarms.com/beowulf_ballistics.pdf

6.8 SPC has gone through a couple of changes, I was just reading some stuff on that today for Duner. The new rounds are pretty good, but once again they are more of a medium range round with the potential to go further, but it's more of a moonshot trajectory.

Since the AR has a flat top receiver, that means you are going to need to add a scope with MASSIVE adjustments for elevation or add a new base with 20MOA built in which is going to pick your head up higher off the stock to be able to see through the glass.

The Grendel is a great round for range, and it will hit with some power, but you are going to most likely be reloading to get what you want for performance and then you are back to going broke getting set up for it unless you know a guy....

You are going to go broke loading for the Grendeal regardless because I think the only company that makes brass for that round at this point is Lapua, and we are talking over 100 bucks for a bag of fifty. My pops has an AR with a Grendel upper. Nice rifle, super accurate, has a recoil about like a 20 guage shot gun, but I wouldn't read into al the hype about this being such a great 1000 yard caliber. The accuracy really does kind of go into the crapper much past 600 yards. Even though balistically, they surpass the .308 at 600 yards in terms of speed and energy. Don't ask how this works, but I have seen it first hand and shot the rifle at these ranges. Olympic Arms does make some uppers with some wild calibers though, for a decent price, but you are going to have to hand load for them.

Not for range, but for some oddness & fun: Did you see the .410 shotty uppers the other day? One of the vendors is offering them. I don't trust DI or particularly want an AR-platform, but one chambered for shotgun shells would be interesting (and probably quite funny on a group hunt). :D

With some of those funky HD rounds for the "Judge", the .410 AR could probably be a pretty good home defense firearm as well.

http://www.firearmstalk.com/forums/f53/safir-arms-410-ar-15-a2-upper-mag-469-99-a-34009/

Well...I've been wondering about that. Sure, the two pins hold the upper to the lower in a vertical concern, but the recoil is directed mostly back with the back part of the upper against the stock/recoil plug portion of the lower.

There's a helluva lot more stress. But it's not only on those two pins. Whether or not it's safe is another matter. Got any links providing material evidence that a BMG is a really bad idea for an AR? I'm willing to accept your word as gospel on this, but I'm curious is all.

:D Understood. I'm not opposed to reloading, but I don't have the equipment for a Grendel yet. That can be fixed.