All posts tagged Smith & Wesson Uppers

Have enough guns? How about more upper receivers for your AR15?

I don’t think you even need to worry changing calibers if you want something different than a 556 upper.   I’ve seen guys turn an M4 Carbine into a varmint rifle with a snap of two pins on a lower receiver.  The real thing to look out for is changes in calibers, namely to a 5.45×39 upper.   Many times I’ve seen guys skip the hammer spring change and end up with a light strike issue with Russian ammunition. We sold a ton of the Smith & Wesson 5.45×39 uppers a few years ago but for some reason they just don’t seem to be available.

 

The LWRC M6Ak was a one off novelty deal which died a quick death and no word if it’ll ever happen again.
Right  now the biggest selling upper receiver we have are the Adams 5.45×9 uppers.  I had a customer take apart his gun side by side to my AR15 complete upper receivers and compare the piston differences.  There is a difference and I still love my LWRC M6A2 but this gun was a next best thing and a best thing for a 5.45×39 upper.  You still can’t beat the cost of ammunition for these guns and the  caliber does have a better reputation than the 30 caliber AK.   I’ve known guys that took hits from the AK it has so much energy that it just zips through you and the Russians finally caught on that the 5.56 was a better combat caliber.

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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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The modifications can really make it more fun

I think it’s most gun owners fantasy to walk  into a shop and be able to pick things up and try them on before they buy them and that’s one thing that really makes shopping on the internet an easy thing.  Being in the retail business and e-commerce business, we don’t like having to deal with exchanges and returns because it really burns up money.  People think that charging restocking fees is being a dick, but when you give out free shipping and then people tell you they got the wrong part and the same thing happens a dozen times a week, you gotta warn people to put some thought into their shopping.

The way to get around that issue is to got to your dream tactical shop and pick up your magpul gun accessories or stock accessories before you buy.  Just like gun accessories AR15 complete upper receivers are another thing people want to eyeball before buying.  Gun weight and balance is something that each of us has a different tolerance for and preferences.

 

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AR15 upper receivers sold out

I guess the less expensive stuff is what most people seem to go for and right now that is everything from Spikes Tactical.  The funny thing is these guns are so well made for the price that they were in high demand even before things heated up in the Country.  The AR15 is the primary firearm in the United States and transitioning from Civilian to Military with it is an easy step.  Many people forget that the original intent of having an armed population is so that the population could be called to arms at any moment to defend their Country.

Now that so many people own the AR15 changing the guns to something longer or shorter or to MOE can be as easy as pushing 2 pins out.  There are definitely some big differences in the durability of the firearms, but the lower end of the spectrum for AR15 upper receivers is pretty darn good.   Mismatched parts and bad assemble isn’t something I heard about too often anymore.   The poorly run companies seem to have been cleaned out and there are some really good guns being made.  We’ve sold lots of gas piston AR15s this year and the pool is getting competive.

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What do you want in an AR15?

So many people have that itch to constantly modify their firearms, and there is nothing wrong with that, but the one thing that I have constantly seen happen on firing ranges, especially Carbine courses, is people simplifying their firearms and accessories.   The different between a 7lb Carbine and a 10lb Carbine is considerable and you really feel it at the end of the day.  Even the best shot will have trouble keeping up the consistency under stress and physical stress will always occur at some point in the field.  If  you think about it like this, if you had to use a firearm in your home and hold it in a ready position, a double stack 45acp is going to be hard to kept upright on a threat for very long. People with experience in  using firearms always trend towards simplicity.

The trend towards simplicity actually occurred almost 50yrs ago when the Army adopted the M16 and replace the M14.   That was the first major transition towards simplicity and a lighter firearm.   The AR15 complete upper receivers that we sell have very diverse applications.   Some are for designated marksmen applications with longer and usually heavier barrels and then some are for Patrol vehicles and are as short and light as possible.  Right now the Daniel Defense uppers that we sell win the lightest AR15 contest but it’s been too early for us to claim they are as tough as some of the others.

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LWRC M6A3 now a thing of the past

We just got word that the LWRC M6A3 is on the chopping block but right behind it is the new LWRC M6A5.  From the early info we have gathered so far, the M6A5 has a 2 position gas regulator and that is the only difference.  Not sure about any other changes but I think this was just a simplicity issue.   There is nothing wrong with simplifying a design because some gun parts and accessories can wear out or be hard to place or are just a wast of manufacturing time and energy because it is not necessary.   We have seen LWRC stop the M6 rifle because it was just so old and the demand for something more on a carbine was there.

I still have my original LWRC M6A1 carbine and I love it although it isn’t the same guy it was when I first purchased it.   The thing about the AR15 upper receivers that I have held and shot, is that there are so many configurations and variations out there that sometimes the guns are just flat out not the same.   The AR18 is also know where near the same as an LWRC gun nor is it like the Sig 556.   There are differences between rifle grips and some are mil spec and some are commercial

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Lots of people wondering what happened to the LWRC M6AK

We sold off the last of the M6AK rifles a few months ago but people are still calling and asking about them.  I remember being in the LWRC facility a few years ago and it was just at the beginning of the product run.  I was told second hand that the M6AK rifle was made of left over parts from the other M6 rifles and it was a one off product thing.   I have seen a lot of the Smith & Wesson 5.45×39 uppers go out the door with very few complaints, but I never thought it was a great idea to make a gun in 5.45×39 that was a direct impingement gun.  Just too damn dirty if you ask me.

The LWRC guns were all sold out and gone about a year and half after production and that was it.  As far as AR15 complete upper receivers,   The Adams 5.45×39 seems to be the next hot seller.   You will have to replace the spring in your lower so expect to designate a lower for this caliber.  It’s not a good idea to be lazy and not replace the hammer spring on your firearm. The great thing about AR15 uppers is how interchangeable they are but once you get into caliber variations, you probable want to just get another gun.

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Uppers and Lowers and endless modifications, what’s the answer?

The simple answer is get more guns.   The real problem I see with many people that tinker too much with firearms is that they can really mess stuff up.  I remember seeing this with guys that overly modified their 1911s and put springs in the guns that they should not have and they ended up with an accurate POS.   I don’t know how many times i’ve say behind a guy on the firing line that continuously informed me that his firearm was reliable but I’d watch them clear malfunctions all day and they would just blame the ammunition.

In my opinion, that is like watching a guy put tires on a car that are  not the same size and saying the only reason he crashed the car was because when he made the wide turn the tires that were not uniform made him loose control.   Well, stop messing around so much with your AR15 lower receivers and your AR15 upper receivers and make sure that once you get something that is reliable, stop screwing around with triggers and springs.   You are better off with multiple firearms that do different things than trying to push a firearm to do everything.  There is a trade off between reliability and accuracy and rarely does a firearm do both for very long.

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Varmint hunting with military firearms

There are plenty of guns and calibers out there that are good for specific jobs but they are not very versatile.   Larger calibers may be good for long range shooting but for under $100yds they are beyond an over kill and actually can be unsafe to use.   A good 30/06 rifle is probable now considered to be a medium range rifle now that the 338 Lapua and 50 BMG have seen so much use.   Long range shooting is now about 2000yds longer than it was previously possible for a one rifleman.  Now that the AR15 is king of the rifle world and barrel lenghts, weights and calibers can vary.

The .223 is a very versatile cartridge, it is far more effective than just about any handgun caliber gun especially if you are using the right ammunition.   I have seen white tail deer taken with M4 Carbines and 75Gr hpbt bullets and if you want more range just slap on a any of the new AR15 upper receivers for sale.   The most popular AR15 uppers we sell are the CMMG uppers and the Smith & Wesson AR15 upper receivers.   If you have the money, the Cadillac of the AR15 world are the LWRC guns.

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Getting bored with your AR15?

It wasn’t until the later 1990’s that the M4 carbine really took hold in the civilian market.   We usually only saw the AR15 A2 on the firing line and that was about it.   Then we started to see the heavy barrels and then the light barrels.   In the last 6yrs there have been so many calibers and manufacturers making the AR15 firearms that I have completely given up on keeping track of them.   There are so many custom AR15 models that it’s really more like asking someone what kind of Legos do they like to build.

I am going to be taking the dive into the AR15 market again very soon.   I recently got to fire a Ruger 556 and was really amazed that Ruger of all people would step into the market, even more so than Smith & Wesson have the guts to make a 5.45×39 AR15 upper receivers.   CMMG makes a darn good version for the money and we’ve sold a ton of those to people that didn’t want to spend $1800 on another firearm.    Once again, the beauty of the AR15 design is that you can put any type of AR15 upper on them and only have a minimal amount of gunsmithing to do if something doesn’t fit quite right.

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