Looking for a New 5.56 Upper - Opinion on Radical Firearms Complete Uppers?

[medved11 71]

I'm hoping to get some opinions on Radical Firearms complete uppers.

 

A little background...

 

I've got a Bushmaster XM15-E2S with a fixed carry handle upper that I bought awhile back that hasn't seen much use in awhile. I'd like to start taking it to the range again when I get the time but would first like to swap out the current upper receiver with a flat top so that a red dot scope can be mounted.

 

I'm thinking about building a new upper from scratch but I'm also considering just buying a new complete upper and calling it a day. I want to keep myself within a budget of $500-$600 for the new upper and that's when I stumbled onto the Radical Firearms complete uppers over at the Primary Arms website. They seem to receive good reviews overall 

 

I'm leaning towards the route of buying a complete upper instead of building one since I don't want to invest a lot of money in tools that I may only be using once.

 

Does anyone have any experience with these complete uppers?

[Eric. 9]

While I can't offer any experience withRadical Arms, I'm of the opinion that if you are building an occasional range toy, then a moderately priced Radical upper with a free float rail might be perfect.  I like their 16" SOCOM.  1-7 twist, m4 feedramps, mid gas, keymod free float rail.  Not bad for $320.  The mid gas should still work fine with your rifle buffer.

 

On that note, if you decide to build, I would be happy to torque your barrel nut on for you.  I have an armorors tool and upper mounting block.  The rest of it you can do with hand tools.

[Krdshrk 3,878]

Radical uppers seem pretty decent - haven't heard anything bad about 'em.

[medved11 71]

I'm giving this a little more thought and I think that I may want to "bite the bullet" and build my upper using this as the base. I'll just extend my timeline a little and start buying parts piecemeal:

 

http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-Upper-Receiver-assembly-M4-Flat-Top-p/bcm4-ur-m4.htm

 

Can anyone suggest any other uppers that I should I take a look at?

[Eric. 9]

I've used BCM "blems" and Aero Precision "blems".  It's basically the same thing, with cosmetic scratches(very minor scratches) for almost half price.

[medved11 71]

I'm starting thinking last night that I may try to go a different route and try to "salvage" the barrel, gas system, and BCG from my existing upper, buy a new upper (like the one I've linked to below), and then re-install everything. This would (seemingly) save me a decent amount of money.

 

Is there anything wrong with this plan? Is there anything that I need to watch out for?

 

http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-Upper-Receiver-assembly-M4-Flat-Top-p/bcm4-ur-m4.htm

[T Bill 649]

http://www.ar15fornoobs.com/to-m4-or-not-to-m4

 

Build an upper, easy to do, there are decent inexpensive barrels available, everything else needed can come from any reliable seller.  Torquing the barrel is easier than  you think. Plenty of people around to help you with that.   Pinning the muzzle break is easy also.

[Shawnmoore81 623]

I have a radical upper on my .300 blackout. I couldn't build it for what they charge for it done and I have no problems with it

 

 

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[medved11 71]

I have a radical upper on my .300 blackout. I couldn't build it for what they charge for it done and I have no problems with it

 

 

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Did you already have a lower in your possession when you ordered the complete upper?  

 

The reason that I am asking is that I'm still thinking about buying a complete upper, but I'm wondering how to do so legally if I already have a lower and the complete upper assembly is shipped with the "evil" features intact (bayo lug, flash hider, and threaded barrel). Wouldn't doing this put me into the whole "constructive possession" problem. Does an upper like this need to be shipped to an FFL so that they can do the compliance work?

 

I'm sure that this has probably been addressed in other threads - I just haven't had a chance to use the search function yet

[Shawnmoore81 623]

Yeah I have lots of lowers and complete ar's

 

 

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[jeff47 30]

Ship it to work, or someone else if it worries you. I shipped my non compliant lower to my dad, stopped by with some silver solder, mapp torch and dremel. Done.

[SmittyMHS 603]

Don't ask...don't tell...

[medved11 71]

I ended up buying a BCM stripped upper and barrel on Friday. I figured that it's time that I teach myself how to put together an upper.

 

I'm assuming that I shouldn't have any issues with the fit between the BCM upper and my Bushmaster lower. I can deal with a little bit of slop as long as it won't cause any issues with function.

[T Bill 649]

While any 'sloppiness' between the upper and lower has no effect on accuracy, a properly sized o-ring placed on the front post of the upper will tighten it right up.

[Eric. 9]

While any 'sloppiness' between the upper and lower has no effect on accuracy, a properly sized o-ring placed on the front post of the upper will tighten it right up.

Even better, there is something called the Accurizing Wedge, which is a rubber piece that sits behind the rear post lockup area rhat takes up the slack very well. Lasts forever too.

 

Thats why i like Aero gen II lowers; they have a screw with nylon tip that can be adjusted to take up the slack.

[T Bill 649]

Accurizing Wedge does not work will all lowers. High shelf lowers like PSA do not have enough room to trim the wedge to fit properly.  O-ring works every time.

[Eric. 9]

Accurizing Wedge does not work will all lowers. High shelf lowers like PSA do not have enough room to trim the wedge to fit properly. O-ring works every time.

Are PSA lowers considered mil spec?

[medved11 71]

Now that I've got the upper, barrel, and gas block/tub ordered, I'm wondering if I'm going to need a new buffer?

 

I'm assuming that there's a carbine weight buffer in the gun now given its current configuration - should I wait to order a mid-length buffer until I can test fire it after I put the new parts on or is it a needed part change?

 

One other question: What grease should I be using when I install the barrel on the upper?

 

I've seen various posts which say that you should use Shell AeroShell, but I haven't seen anywhere where that's even remotely economical. Can anyone recommend an alternative?

[Recon Racoon 49]

When I built mine, I didn't use a grease for the barrel to receiver install. I did use a touch of anti-seize on the hand guard mounting threads though. Made threading a lot easier, and reduces the chance of galling the threads. Just a small dab will do you with that stuff too.