All posts tagged AR15 Uppers

Boresnakes and gun cleaning kits for the AR15

I’m really starting to accumulate a lot of gun cleaning accessories in recent  years.   Not that I really felt I needed them, but I was wanted to know if they were useful and helped speed up or simplify the process.   Every firearm I own needs to be cleaned in a different manor.   I am very careful how I clean my Russian SKS rifles because I have seen on several occasion that using the wrong cleaning liquids like WD40 can actually cause the gun to double or go full auto.  Bolt action rifles are in another category because you really could get away with mostly just using gun oil or a rust inhibitor.

I have several AR15 rifles and I like shooting all of them, but when it comes to cleaning, It doesn’t matter what cleaning tools I have, my LWRCI M6A2 is my favorite to clean.   I don’t need to clean the LWRCI upper receivers pistol area more less than once every 2500 rds and there is absolutely no need for using a scraping tool inside the locking lugs or the bolt carrier like my direct impingement guns.  Depending on what type of AR15 fits your needs the LWRCI gun may cost you 30-50% more than a less expensive gun, but there are hobby guns and there are combat carbines. And you get what you pay for.  How about accuracy, reliability and easy cleaning?

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The 6.8 SPC still not catching on

I was never a big fan of the .223 or 556 caliber until I actually got off the bench and started doing real gun fighting.   I started out like many, with a Russian AK variant which was extremely reliable, but when it came to target engagements out to 400 meters and for close quarters gun fighting, there was a substantial difference in hit ratio.  Hit ratio was something that I never dealt with before because it was all about penetration and accuracy.   Now I know that being able to shoot a reliable rifle doesn’t mean you are going to win a fight, it’s all about hits and who gets the hits first.

There have been times when an AK74 type of rifle has done almost as well or equal to an M4 Carbine, but the shooter has to have more experience in gun  handling skills to keep up.  I compared the close quarters hit ration of the 6.8 SPC and found it to be closer to a 7.62×39 AK than a .223 variant. CMMG upper receivers are something to be considered if you are looking to mess around with bullet calibers.  Muzzle hop or flip will affect  your accuracy and speed and that is something to be concerned about.  Room to room and house to house fighting is something which occurs in seconds and putting 5 hits on paper is better more reliable at stopping a threat than one bad hit.   Bullet penetration is also something that can be over blown when it comes to CQC because that is a bad thing in a hostage situation.

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5.45×39 upper receiver options

I recently got to witness the Smith & Wesson 5.45×39 in action a zombie shoot competition.   This upper has been on the market for a few years, but in all honesty I don’t know anyone that has actually put one to hard use.   I always thought that the direct impingement design didn’t lend itself very well to Russian ammo.  Many AR15 jam up and do not work very well with Wolf ammo and from my experience there are more FTF when mixing Russian ammo with American guns.    Not only do many of these guns fail to fire, the ammo is ditier and can cause failures to extract.  Sure you can always get around some of these issues by constantly cleaning,  but I wouldn’t expect my AR15 to be combat reliable with Russian ammo, especially when the round count gets up there.   We’ve sold a great many upper receivers in the 2010 and the Smith & Wesson 5.45×39 is the number one seller.

Smith & Wesson 556 guns were one of the best made guns in 2009 and many of my fellow firearms instructors will testify to this.   Even though there are still some issues with the DI type guns, the guns being made today are superior to the AR15 DI guns from 10yrs ago.   LWRCI has their own short stroke piston upper receivers in 5.45×39 , but from what I have seen in the firearms market, I don’t jump on the bandwagon with new guns until they’ve been out in the field for several years.   I saw changes to firearms from Rugers LCP and LCR  and even the Springfield XD guns were all slightly modified after being out for only a year.   Let the feedback from the end user determine which guns are better unless you want to be the beta tester.

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Standard A2 to CQB

AR15 UpperI strongly recommend starting new shooters out on some sort of 22LR bolt action rifle.   It doesn’t matter if it is magazines fed or a single shot.  Learning the basic shooting skills of aim, hold, sqeeze and learning how to hit the X at 100yds is important.   If you are dealing with a young adult, one of the most fun things you can teach them on is a standard A2 AR15 and show them how to use the sighting system and the sighting system.

The Standard A2 Target models are probable the best instroductory semi-auto.   If you are firearm instructor or a Dad that has young sons to teach, that’s your best option, but if you want to have another firearm ready for home defense, we highly recommend picking up an M4 style AR15 Upper carbine and putting a white light on it.   You can keep one configuration for target shooting and training and another for close quarters situations.    The AR15 has quickly become a favorite amongst serious gun owners especially due to the ease and balance of the weapons firing controls.

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Upgrades and modifications

AR15 UpperAR15s are as accessorable as legos.   You can add on everyone accessory you can possible think of to an AR.   There have a been a few funny spoof photos of people putting can openers and headlights on their guns, but it’s not far from the truth.    There are reasons to have rails on various parts of a firearm, but most people won’t need anything more than a mount for optics, foregrip and a flashlight.   Military applications open a whole new can of worms.

You can take a standard AR15 lower and snap out and snap in an M4 AR15  Upper or swap it out for a longer range 20 inch barrel A2.   There are now a few caliber changes you can make with just pushing two pins out and snapping on a new upper.   Ever since the ammo price increases, the 5.45×39 upper made from Smith and Wesson has gained enormous ground within the shooting community.   You can get your money back after putting 2 or 3 thousand rounds through your gun and compare that to 5.56 prices which might cost close to what an upper costs you per thousand rounds.

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Hobbies, accessories and reasons

Tactical GearThere area a lot of good upgrades one can do to a firearm, a fighting rifle should be customized to fit an operator.  Advanced Technology makes some quick and easy upgrades for your shotgun or carbine that can give you better grip or balance.  Shotgun shell holders on the buttstock or riding side saddle is a practical tactical upgrade you can do on your remington 870.  The fiberforce stock for the MAK90 is a way to legally get around some firearm bans and are a big step up compared to the stupid thumbhole stocks.    Attach a rifle sling that fits yoru purpose from Blue Force Gear, they come in 1 point, 2 point and 3 point attachements. Minor firearm modifications make need to be done to attache rifle slings, but do some research on various rifle sling configurations to see what works for you.

We’ve all seen the massive accessorizing of firearms in recent years.   Firearms likes SKS rifle and Mini 14s are not immune to the firearm attachements and modifications that have run rampant in the AR15 community.   In my opinion, there are a lot of firearm owners out there that had their Legos taken away from them and they brought that mindset into gun accessorizing and tactical gear stockpiling.    That’s about as harsh as I can be about why people do what they do to their firearms, but some of it is for hobbie reasons, some for practical reasons, and some because people have the obsessive compulsive behavior of needing to spend money.

 

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More bang for the buck

Smith & Wesson 5.45 UppersWe’re still waiting to get feedback from our operators to see how well this upper holds up over time.   I don’t believe they’ve been on the market long enough to get combat worthy reports yet, but we shall see.  There seems to be a dry spell on finding a good AK in 5.45×39 and the AR15 Upper may be your best option.  The Upper comes in an flat top configuration and will be a great secondary or primary weapon to keep around.

 

The S&W 5.45×39 is probable the most financially useful upper you can get.   There are pistol caliber uppers you can get that are also not very expensive, but the 5.45×39 rifle ballistics are far superior in energy and lack of over-penetration compared to pistol caliber variants.  Smith & Wesson 5.45 Upper Most of the 5.45×39 may not be using this gun for home defense, but it is something to think about and there is absolutely nothing wrong with using this caliber for home defense.   The Smith & Wesson 5.45×39 upper comes with 1-30rd mag Item # SW812005

 

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