My first homemade AR

[dsandfort]

My wife shoots a .204 so I thought I'd take the opportunity to build my first AR with that chamber (not new to ARs, just never built one).

STEP 1...Find the parts.
Found a Shilen barrel, 24" with 1 in 9 twist and a matched bolt.
Decided on a JP hand guard and one of their adjustable gas blocks.
Went radical on the upper receiver and found a LAR OPS-4 ambidextrous side charger.
Standard RRA lower with A2 stock and match trigger.
Couple of tools and some threadlocker and away I went.

STEP 2....Put things together.
Barrel is first class and I really liked the looks/quality of the LAR upper.
JP handguard is also nice but the instructions were a bit confusing. I played with the parts until things felt right with the instructions.
Attached handguard nut to receiver lining up gas tube holes (red loctite). Attached barrel using the extended JP barrel nut (anti seize compound). Things looked good (60 # torque per JP specs).
Attached handguard to JP nut (blue loctite). This is a free-float handguard that can be customized a million ways. I put a bi-pod stud on it and nothing else.
Attached gas tube to gas block and studied how the adjustment worked. Needed to thread the bottom of the gas tube to match the 6 x 32 threads in the block.
This didn't make sense at first but it's now clear that the adjustment screw doesn't go through the gas tube, it just screws under the tube to occlude the hole in the block.
The threading just blends the threads of the block with the gas tube so the adjusting screw slips under the gas tube.
Switched out the LAR bolt with the Shilen bolt.
Pinned the upper to the RRA lower....perfect fit.
Mounted a Hawke sidewinder 8.5x25 using Burris mount.

Good looking gun.

STEP 3...load some rounds.
10 rounds using 40 g Noslers and RL 10x
10 rounds using IMR 4064
Both minimum load from Nosler

STEP 4...off to the range
First shot left handed with back to gun (I'm right handed) into the dirt bank.
Felt and sounded right.
Tracked down the brass and everything looked fine.
CLEAN..CLEAN...CLEAN... my lord is this thing ever going to come clean.
Probably 50 patches to get the copper out.
Second shot...6" high, good windage at 100 yds.
Adjust scope.
CLEAN..CLEAN...CLEAN... my lord is this thing ever going to come clean.
Third shot, different powder. Brass looked good.
CLEAN..CLEAN...CLEAN... my lord is this thing ever going to come clean.
Fourth shot. 2" high, 1/2" right at 100.
CLEAN..CLEAN...CLEAN...wait a minute...it cleaned really well on 6-8 patches.
Lets try 2 shots. No problems and cleaned up quickly.
OK...lets try for a group.
I'm shooting without knowing the powder and I have 6 rounds or each left.
Group 1 measured 0.68 at 100. Not bad.
Group 2 measured 0.44 at 100 with 4 in the same hole. This looks real good (it was the RL10x)

Impressions.....
I love the side charger but it's a bit of a PITA to take the thing apart for cleaning. Not bad, just more time.
Luckily, the barrel broke in so quick that I won't need to take it down frequently.
I closed down the gas block and shot as a single shot. Shoot, roll the gun 45* and eject the brass on the bench.
No more brass hunting at the range. I really liked that.
RRA match trigger...not bad but not in the same ballpark as the Geissele triggers I'm used to (not as expensive either)
Hawke scope...I love the glass, not too big on the turrets. Real vague and mushy feeling. Maybe they will improve with use.
Overall I think this has the potential to be a great shooter and will clearly shoot 1/2 MOV or better (that's minute of varmint),
and maybe even 1/2 MOA.

I'll keep you posted. Off to eastern Colorado next week to see if it works on coyotes.

Del

[brokeasajoke]

Pretty sweet! I have come to love the AR platform and found they can be as accurate as a bolt gun even out of the box.

[204cat]

awesome build. pic please.

[Silverfox]

dsandfort--Great information, but we need PICTURES!!!

[acloco]

I am with Silverfox on this.....PICTURES!

On a related side note, anybody take advantage of centerfiresystem T Day sale on billet machined A3 uppers for $49.99? I did!

So, in relation to your build...."find parts"...this is actually VERY hard to do.

There are NO chrome or reasonably priced BCG's out there. I finally found a nickel boron coated BCG for 140 + shipping.

I will post pictures of mine when finished.....small, lightweight...


Congrats again!!!

[bow shot]

Dang, I always show up the day after, LOL

Congrats folks!!

[dsandfort]

OK, I'll try photos.



Holy cow....it worked.





Next time I'll use a real camera. Sorry for the poor quality.

Del

[acloco]

VERY nice!!!

[204cat]

awesome build. and thank you for the pics!

[inKYfromSD]

Nice build! Thanks for the details and the pics. How did you headspace it?

[ScottB]

Nice build! Thanks for the details and the pics. How did you headspace it?

I don't want to speak for the OP, but headspace on an AR is not really adjustable. You get a bolt, a barrel, and headspace gauges. It either headspaces correctly, or it doesn't. If it doesn't, you can try a different bolt.

I have built 6 AR's. All headspaced correctly. Bolts/barrels from reputable manufacturers will exhibit few, if any problems, in my experience.

[dsandfort]

Please...feel free to speak for me. I'm a rookie at this type of build.
Everything I read confirms what Scott said. I choose a Shilen barrel because they will provide a serial number matched bolt with the barrel. Not only serial # match but headspaced properly. It was pretty much plug and play. I did make a dummy round and confirmed that the bolt (BCG) closed properly. I know that's not a true test for headspace but it was for my piece of mind before firing.

[bow shot]

Well done and thanks for the great pics! Beautiful rig!! Enjoy it!

Big fan of the JP products, BTW. I purchased a 6.5 Grendel barrel from them for my AR build, and was loaded with doubts the more they described exactly what I was getting (strange contour, bolt-on heat sink, 18" rather than longer...). She prints 1" @ 300y, with factory ammo. Doubts removed!!

[dsandfort]

Funny...I too shoot a 6.5. Mine is the .264 LBC. My best 5-shot group at 300 is 1.48" or right at .5" MOA (just like Les guarantees). Shooting the same ammo too. I'm still planning on trying some 130 g VLDs and see how they pattern.

[bow shot]

AINT IT GREAT!!!!??!!