AR15 upper

J

Joe Portale

New member
Hi folks,

I'm sure that this has been beaten to death, but plase let me ask. I just picked up a Bushmaster lower reciever and will get an upper assembly to complete the rifle. Given your druthers, would you stick with the Bushmaster setup or is there another maker that I could look at?

Also, will Colt uppers fit or modified to fit on the Bushmaster? I know where a sweet preban is for a reasonable price.

Thanks.

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Joe Portale
Tucson, Arizona territory

"The unarmed man is a subject, the armed man is a citizen."
 
Hi Joe in answer to your first question...it depends on how much you want to spend. Do you want to shoot in service rifle competitions? If so, consider a service rifle upper from Compass Lake Engineering - http://www.compasslake.com
If you want an accurate high power rifle without the carry handle and more for use with a scope you could get a space rifle upper from Compass Lake too. Nothing wrong with the BM stuff though, I have a few of them myself; but, my CLE stuff is far superior to my BM or Colt uppers. Just depends on how much you want to spend.

I assume your BM lower you just bought is a preban that was assembled as a complete rifle verifiable by the factory. If so, then legally you will have no problems putting the preban Colt upper on your lower.

[This message has been edited by slickpuppy (edited January 20, 2000).]
 
I hope you're in no hurry to assemble your rifle. I ordered a top end from BM a month ago with the understanding the backlog was four to eight weeks. I have since read on this forum (I forget where) that some have waited as long as eight months. I haven't tried contacting BM yet. I'll give them another month like they said it might take.
 
Thanks for the comments guys. Yes, it is a pre-ban that was assembed atthe factory. The guy I got it from bought a truck load of these things to build custom AR's. It seems the bottom of the market dropped out or he over estimated the market and is getting his butt kick with these things. I picked it up for what it cost him, still in the box.

Actually, I'm not in that much of a hurry to get the upper. I'm still chewing on what configuration to use. I am more concerned with performance and strength than money. It would sure be embarrasing to pick up a bargin bin upper and have it peel apart at the range.

Thanks for the input.



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Joe Portale
Tucson, Arizona territory

"The unarmed man is a subject, the armed man is a citizen."
 
For the upper if possible I'd stick with bushmaster. That way your gun has better resale and the finish is more likely to match. If not the colt uppers will fit, although you may need a special front takedown pin. The dpms uppers are also a very nice choice. I usually stay away from the rest of the manufacturers, I'm just not very happy with the fit and finish and worry about the quality.
 
Hello again,

Thanks for all the responses. First things first, my source does not have any pre-ban lowers for now. The place I bought it from is a class III dealer and seems to be able to get stuff like this fairly often. But with his permission I will let yau all know when he mores in and his phone number. he is actually a really nice guy and he keeps his prices fair.

Second, through this guy, I git the name of an ATF agent that is sympathetic to gun owners for the real skinny on this non-sense.

Here's the poop: I already knew about the flash hider, bayonet lug, etc. What was confusing me was the pre/post ban assembly rules, which are not all that clear in the ATF pamphletes. If a pre-ban lower did not leave the factory as a complete assemnble firearm before the 1994 cut off date, IT BECOMES A POST BAN WEAPON. Therefore, when I complete this rifle it must be a post ban configuration. No matter what the lower is. If this was a part stripped from an assembled pre-ban gun, no problem. Since my lower is brand new, in the box, even though it is pre-ban, I must make a post-ban firearm.
Of course, this makes no sense what so ever.
Just another sterling example of your tax dollars at work.

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Joe Portale
Tucson, Arizona territory

"The unarmed man is a subject, the armed man is a citizen."

[This message has been edited by Joe Portale (edited January 21, 2000).]
 
Joe: If you want to buy an upper that is actually a work of art, buy a complete CLE upper, in whatever configuration you decide best fits your needs and wants. Frank will put together just about anything you can dream up, though for something that requires a special barrel blank, it might take longer to get it built. Go to www.compasslake.com
to see how he sets a barrel up for turning and chambering. His match chamber reamer will allow you to load anything from 40gr.VMax screamers to 80gr.VLD's and get incredible accuracy out of them. He recommends Douglas barrels as they are nearly $200 cheaper than Kriegers, and in my experience, shoot just as good, even after over 4600 rounds. He uses Bushmaster uppers - my last one has a purple color and doesn't match the BM lower real well, but it still shoots great, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. CLE has a sterling reputation for quality among High Power shooters.
 
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