So about 5 years ago I purchased two Spike's Tactical stripped lowers and they've been sitting on the shelf collecting dust ever since. I figured it was high time I did something with them. I also have another AR that I built that I wanted to reconfigure a bit, so I guess you could say this will be 2.5 builds in one.
We'll start with the reworked AR since it's the one that's mostly done now. Here's the before...
Anderson forged upper and lower receivers
Anderson BCG
A2 buttstock
BCM Gunfighter Charging Handle
BCM Ambi Selector
Magpul MOE grip
Geissele SSA-E trigger
Troy Industries 15" Alpha rail
Troy Industries Low-Profile Gas Block
DPMS 18" Mini SASS barrel
Precision Armament M4-72 brake
American Defense Mfg. Recon QD scope mount
NightForce SHV F1 4-14x50 scope
Rifle shot my handloads extremely well in this configuration as you can see in the following 200 yard target.
The Mini SASS barrel is a real porker though weighing in at almost 3.5 pounds so I decided it was time to put this rifle on a diet.
Enter a Faxon 16" Pencil barrel and matching low-profile gas block. The Faxon weights in at just 1.2 pounds so I'm shedding over 2-lbs right off the bat. Given how thin it is I know I will likely be giving up some accuracy, especially with the 5.56 chamber, but it's a compromise I'm willing to make given how I'll be using this rifle once I'm done reworking it.
The Mini SASS barrel and Faxon Pencil barrels side by side for comparison
Got the barrel swapped out in short order, though the roll pin hole on the new gas block was a bit tight making it a real chore to get in to secure the gas tube.
New barrel installed
Took it out to the range this afternoon and ran 50 rounds through it at 100 yards just to see how the new barrel shoots. The first 20 rounds were mil-surp Green Tips which didn't group for chit (as expected). The second 20 rounds were American Eagle AE223GTV with a 50gr ballistic tip bullet. They grouped a good bit better, but were still in the 1.5 to 2 MOA range. The final 10 rounds were my handloads for the other barrel topped with 50gr Hornady V-Max bullets and they shot a bit better at 1-1/4" and 1-1/2" respectively. Both groups would have been a under an inch if I didn't have an odd flier in each one. Not bad for a super skinny pencil barrel though.
That's where this one sits for the time being. I plan on changing out the handguard and buttstock to something lighter weight as well and then swapping out the scope for either a 1-6x or 1-8x. Hoping the total weight will be somewhere around 6 to 6.5 pounds when all is said and done.
---------------------Build One------------------------------
Recently I've really been itching to get an AR15 based pistol in 9mm - mostly due to my drooling over the new CMMG Banshee's. The problem with the Banshee's is that they're pretty pricey and just buying one wouldn't help me put either of the Spike's lower receivers I have to good use. Then I saw CMMG's new AR9C magazines and wha-lah! Problem solved! The AR9C magazines are 30rd Magpul Pmag's with the spring/follower replaced with CMMG's replacements to hold 9mm pistol ammo. The mag's are a little salty ($40/ea), but I already have plenty of Pmag's and CMMG sells the guts kits to convert standard Pmag's for a good bit less. Using a standard lower will also permit me to throw on a 22LR pistol upper with CMMG mag's should I ever decide to pick one up.
Starting with the Spike's lower I picked up an Anderson lower parts kit. Not real impressed with this kit and wish I had spent the little bit extra for a Rock River kit, but it will do as I plan on replacing the trigger with a Franklin Armory BFS-III down the road.
Since this one is going to be a pistol I had to find a brace for it. I've never paid much attention to what's out there in terms of braces so I spent about a week researching the various options and ultimately decided on the SB Tactical SBA3 in sniper gray. My main two reasons for choosing this one are 1) it's fairly lightweight and compact, and 2) the rear has enough surface area for shouldering since the BATF has deemed firing a brace from the shoulder doesn't magically turn the pistol into a rifle. I went with the gray just to do something a little different than the usual black or FDE that everybody does.
At this point I pretty much have the lower assembled and ready to go other than I'm waiting on a Magpul MOE grip in gray and the receiver end plate to come in (hence why the read cross pin isn't installed). Now I just need to pry the wallet open and buy the CMMG upper.
---------------------Build Two------------------------------
While digging through my box of spare/left-over AR15 parts I stumbled across my old left-hand DPMS Hi-Rise upper receiver and bolt head. These came off the very first AR15 I ever built back in 2005 or 2006 and I had totally forgotten I still had them. That got the gears in the ol`noggin a turning... I've got all the spare parts I need to build another upper (aside from a bolt carrier), so why not?
So the Mini SASS barrel has been mated up to the lefty DPMS Hi-Rise upper receiver, and when I get a new shorter forearm for the above rifle the 15" Troy Alpha rail will go onto this one. This way I'll still have a dedicated heavy varmint upper if/when I have need for it, and I'll also have my lightweight setup as well. Eventually I'll get that second Spike's Tactical lower put together to go with this upper so I don't have to swap them out, and I'll use the A2 stock from above on it. Thrifty!
One issue I had with the LH upper in the past was that at the time only RH bolt carriers were available and that put the gas vents in the side of the BCG blowing all that crap right into the side of the receiver on the non-ejection side. Need to find out if I can use the DPMS bolt with a Stag LH carrier or if I just need to get a complete LH BCG from Stag so it doesn't get as filthy inside. As it was before it would foul up and start having issues aver about 30 rounds.
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