All posts tagged AR15 complete upper receivers

Spike’s Tactical Complete Upper Receivers

Now that we have our FFL, we can still see the same sales data that proves that Spike’s Tactical is still the #1 AR builders brand name.    We have a long history of selling the Spike’s Tactical Complete Upper Receivers.   Now that the new wave still leans towards Pistol AR’s and SBR’s,  the pattern is still there.   We are planning on stock more of the AR15 Upper Receivers in 2018 as well as various lower receivers, most are in and around the $100 range and they have been a high volume product line.   We are also see quite a few of the 9mm lowers sell.

People are very particular about the rail sections they want, the M-Lok and SAR and SAR3 are the top movers and you can put those handguards on whatever Carbine you already own.   All of the Spike’s Tactical Complete Upper Receivers we sell all come with the complete bolt carrier group and charging handle, far more people buy complete AR15 uppers than build them, the lower receivers are what most people put together.

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AR15 Complete Upper Receivers for sale

Many people are still finding out how easy it is to “build” their own AR15 configurations.   With the political changes in Washington DC, the firearm industry is in a full reset.   Many in this industry had a free ride with the previous Administration pushing a political agenda which artificially drove up gun sales.   I’d have to say that in 2018, I expect that atleast 50% of firearms sales are going to be done online, and those sales are going to increase.   People are very particular about what they want, the sights, the handguards, the triggers, the grips, that you can just find an FFL to do the transfer and get exactly what you want instead of expecting to have a gun store already have it in stock.  Many People still buy their AR15 Complete Upper Receivers and don’t build them.   They buy the complete upper with the handguard they want, and sometimes the sights.

There are always changes being made, from MOE stocks to Keymod and M-Lok.   There recently has been a trend back to quad rails because people are finding out that you don’t have to worry about your rail design becoming discontinued.  Quad Rails will always be around.   Many of the AR15 Complete Upper Receivers we sell will come with fixed sights, Magpul Sights and sometimes Troy Battle Sights.  The ever changing optics world has moved people away from iron sights to red dots with magnifiers and now towards variable low powered optics.   We still move a lot of Spikes Tactical Complete Upper Receivers, Adams Arms Complete Upper Receivers, LWRCI Complete Upper Receivers and CMMG Complete Upper Receivers.    They each have their pros and cons, sometimes its all about price point.

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Building or Buying AR15 Complete Upper Receivers

Right now it’s a buyers market, we’re seeing a huge drop in buying of parts because so many people are getting complete AR15 carbines for dramatically reduced.  I recently was told by a few customers that they were getting Ruger 556 complete firearms for $450 from some dealers.   Well, welcome to the complete and total reset of the gun industry, it was all politically driven and the free ride gun stores have had for the last 8yrs is over.   Last month there was a 25% drop in background checks across the Country and it’s back to normal soon.

The one thing we’ve know is building AR15s is still going to increase and eventually it will be the majority of all AR15 sales.   Buying a stripped lower receiver and putting it together is something you can learn pretty fast, and once you’ve practiced it a few times it will forever affect the way you shop for an AR.   Buying an AR15 Complete Upper Receiver is still fairly common because it takes a little bit more skill to put one together, but still not very difficult.   The buyers market is still going on but it’s going to reset very soon.   Some companies are already laying off and only the best will be around a year from now.

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Adams Arms Complete Upper Receivers now taking Pre-Orders

There were some changes with one of our distributors regarding Adams Arms parts and receivers so we ended up going direct with them.  The one thing I have to say regarding Adams Arms is that they have filled a “niche” in the piston driven AR15 world in a certain price range.   There isn’t much a debate about whether something is good, or works anymore because there are so many different DI AR15 designs in different price ranges that are all quality products.   The metals have improved, the lubrication has improved and the magazines have improved.   Barrel life is also something that has dramatically advanced over the last 20 years.

Suppressed firearms is all the rage right now and there are many reasons to consider getting into it, but if you do, there are some issues that can arise depending on barrel lengths.   If you have an AR15 that is over 14.5 inches in barrel length, you won’t have a reliability issue, but if you go shorter, the majority of people i talk to still say piston driven AR’s still own it.   I have shot enough suppressed firearms to know that I prefer piston guns because there is not all of that gas being blow in your nostrils.   If you are considering building an AR, and only have a certain price range to work with, Adams Arms Complete Upper Receivers are something to think about, they have adjustable gas settings for suppressors.  There has also been a big increase in .308 AR and Adams has several options, one being the Adams Arms Small Frame .308 – PATROL BATTLE RIFLE UPPER,  

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Bushmaster firearms and upper receivers for builds?

Bushmaster upper receiversI remember back in the day it seemed like everything was either Bushmaster, Olympic Arms or Colt when it came to AR15 rifles.   There were cheap AK’s, Cheap SKS’s and the guys with the AR15’s were the guys that had money.   Now that the AR15 is the number #1 most popular rifle in the Country, it’s the difference between lincoln logs and legos as far as the changes they’ve made.   Every AR15 out there is made of metal that is sometimes 7x’s stronger or more than barrels made 10yrs ago.   I still have a Bushmaster XM15E2 that I got which is the heavy barrel AR15 and that is almost a dated firearm.

Most operators are going for lighter firearms, but lighter does  not mean weaker.   The Bushmaster upper receivers that we get in now feel and look nothing like the gun I had from 15years ago and the price points still make them a competitive firearm for those that want something new, are doing a new AR15 build or just want a quality AR15.   There are many calibers of AR15’s from the 450, 5.45×39 and the 556mm and now 6.8SPC.    The 308 has really taken some ground now that companies like Magpul are putting out quality 20rd magazines which was something that was pretty scarce previously.

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Firearms may become easier to get, but parts is another issue

AR15 complete upper receiversI spoke to several of our Reps for that work and various high end gun manufacturing companies and they told us that they are no longer taking orders for upper receivers, only complete firearms.  We pretty much figured that out when we saw the panic buying and the surplus of gun parts just disappeared.  I was involved with a company called Section 8 Tactical several years ago and we sold an M4 parts container kit that I would love to revive again someday.  I would hold a bolt, extractor and all of the parts you need if something on your bolt carrier group goes down.

If you snoozed for the last 4yrs and didn’t get a spare parts kit, you might have issues for several more months and possible years trying to acquire them.   Trying to find AR15 Complete upper receivers in a climate like this is going to be difficult but keep your eyes open for reasonable deals.   Prices will eventually come down to some degree but trying to get the good stuff is going to be difficult.  Some of the higher end products tend to not be made in high volumes so those waits are probable close to 1yr if you are lucky.

 

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All of those gas piston guns out there….

There are many guns popping up that are now piston driven, everything from Ruger, Adams, POF, and many more.  One of the best levels of advice I’ve given to people when they ask about a certain firearm is to not be the first  one to buy it because you’ll be the first one that has to send your gun back when they find out there is a design flaw or an upgrade.  This happened with the Beretta 92F and we ended up with the Beretta 92FS, and even the LWRC M6A1 had some major internal changes after the gun was first fielded and this is considered the Cadillac of AR15 piston driven guns.

We’ve sold a lot of the LWRC M6A2 guns in the last year or so because they still are the kings of the piston guns.   Recently we’ve also sold a  lot of the Adams gas piston upper receivers which are different in design but I can’t tell you which is better or if they are worth what they are selling for until they have been fielded and  used on the ranges  long enough.   I’ve seen many minor issues with guns from spring flaws, weak pistons, making the bolt carrier group a one piece and eliminating the screws that keep the gas key in place.  These were sheering off on the guns after a  few thousand rounds but anyone that purchased these about 2yrs after they came out got the better version.

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Higher end and lower end AR15 Upper Receivers

There have been so many improvements and changes with AR15 designed guns that I would probable need a 50 page blog post to fill everyone in on what has changed.  My old Bushmaster XM15E2 was the first AR15 I ever owned and although it is  my number 1 training rifle, it’s definitely showing it’s age due to it’s early version of the design.  Bolt carrier groups, staked screws ect were the first things that made the gun a better carbine, but now there are barrels that have 5x’s the life span that many AR15’s had a few years ago.  Throw in the fact that barrels and rifle have gotten even lighter.  I hardly ever see heavy barrel AR15’s anymore.

We’ve sold more LWRC Upper receivers in recent months that ever  before because everyone that was looking for a mid-price upper had so much trouble finding them that the best thing to do was just spend another $400 more and get a piston LWRC guns.  Our second most popular upper receivers are the Noveske upper receivers they are probable the nicest DI guns that we are selling and just holding them in your hands tells you, you got what you paid for.  I would highly recommend stopping in our store to hold one in your hands before you buy, but they sell out so fast that you might have a bit of a wait.  We have an option on our website to allow customers to put in their email address under specific products to allow them to be notified when a certain gun magazine or AR15 complete upper receiver comes in stock.

 

 

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Are you having a hard time finding the AR15 upper that you want?

After seeing about a 4yr increase in sales of firearms, we’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that certain .380 pistol magazines, gun holsters and firearm accessories are going to be hard to get for a few more months.   Much of what is going on is an increase in firearm sales due to the social and political problems we are facing.  We have elected individuals to higher office that do not have traditional patriotic values and seeing them gain power is disturbing to anyone that understands the Constitution. Runs on emergency food storage and ammunition were the next things to go prices have increased with the demand.  We’ve seen more sales of higher end firearms and accessories because the cheap stuff was all gone.

We have backorders for AR15 uppers going back to November for Spikes Tactical, Daniel Defense, Smith & Wesson and many more.  The real issue is that many of the manfacturers are selling more complete guns and making AR15 upper receivers for sale is not something as important as selling a complete gun.  Many gun shops would rather sell guns than uppers.  If you having a hard time getting the uppers make sure you put your email in the “email me when back in stock” option on our website.  We do get in many uppers but the quantities are small and come in sporadically.   It’s a hard time for people building AR15s because there are some waiting periods if you know what you want.

 

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So many choices and so much good stuff!

Instead of getting a new AR15 upper receiver with a longer or shorter barrel, instead of buying a better quality bolt carrier group or doing some minor tweaking, just change the furniture.    Magpul industries is King of the AR15 accessorizing and the new MOE products really do give you something new to adjust to.   We have a blue rifle that we attach accessories to and let our customer hold them in their hands and try them out.   All gun grips should be customized by the shooter because just like footwear, our feet as well as our  hands come in different sizes, so why would we issue the same size rifle stocks or attachments to a Carbine.

A good operator knows that this is true and each of us has to be able to adjust our accessories to the job that we intend to do with our Carbine.  We have sold a lot of CMMG and Spikes Tactical uppers as well as many of the higher end AR15 uppers like LWRC and Noveske.   There isn’t really much of a difference between these guns as far as reliability, but there gas piston guns are much lower maintenance.  This year Spikes Tactical uppers have been so hard to acquire that many have actually chosen to save up their money and pick up piston driven uppers.  We’ve sold more LWRC M6 uppers this year than ever before.   Stay tuned for the new M6A5 coming out later this summer.

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