All posts tagged AR15 Uppers

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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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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Daniel Defense and what else there is !

Well that may not be great English but that’s what I felt like saying,  I spent all day yesterday reading and watching the Daniel Defense videos and trying to figure out what we’ll be doing this year as far as stocking gun parts, namely AR15 uppers.   It feels like it was only yesterday that we the Mapgul MOE was new, but it’s been more than a year since we started moving those out the door to wanting customers.   I am and will always be primarily an LWRC fan because there is just too much I like about the guns to want to move on to something else.  Considering the price ranges of a good AR15 these days, $2000 is about what you will spend and there is a lot of stuff to decide.

The trend right now is absolutely about lightening the weight of the firearm.   This is something that Daniel Defense Uppers absolutely are getting done very well.   I really have to laugh at the whole lightweight upper thing because when I first purchased an AR15 it was all about heavy barrels.  Everyone and there dog had a Bushmaster XM15E2 that had a heavy target barrel and the debate was about how these firearms held up to sustained firing

 

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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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Going form one AR15 to another configuration

The thing that I love about the AR15 is that there are so many choices out there and the guns are just getting better and better.  I personally prefer LWRC guns because they are easy to maintain and the machining and quality is so good.  Many of the gas piston driven AR15’s out there are kind of pricey but in the long run they should cut your gun cleaning time by 75%.   Although that whole argument about gun reliability doesn’t real  hold any water anymore because AR15 reliability has more to do with the type of gun magazines you use than how much cleaning you do.

Several firearms instructors I have spoken to have told me that they’ve seen more firearms damaged by over cleaning than guns ruined by not being cleaned.   It’s seems that many AR15 upper receivers for sale at Rogue Elite can be found on Youtube with some type of malfunction drill where dirt and water tests were done and the guns passed.   All firearm machining has improved in the last decade and the differences between the manufacturers has more to do with the mission or preferences than about durability and reliability.

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Fall Special on LWRC Upper Recievers

The news coming from LWRC this Fall is that the new Lightweight Stretch upper has replaced the older M6 LWRC rifle.   There is very little different about this upper than the M6.   The LWRC Lightweight upper comes standard with the Magpul MOE Handguard.   It took me awhile to figure out what the big deal was when all of the MOE stuff started showing up.   Sometimes it’s a royal pain to have to research all of the new products that come out around this time of the year because we know that people are going to call about them and we try to look as smart as we can.   If you haven’t know it by now, gun accessories, primarily for the AR15 fill the void for the guys that grew up and stopped playing with LEGOS.

Some of this stuff really does improve the fit and feel of a firearm and lightening your Carbine without weakening it a great thing.   As anyone in the military if they could change something on their M16 to take off 8 oz and they will tell you it’s a good thing.   We recently got in the new LWRC uppers for sale that is the lightweight stretch upper.  This gun comes with the New Magpul MOE stock which is all stock with rail attachments.   There is an aweful lot of un-used weight on many M4 Carbines and the Quad rail thing is great if you are using it, but most people don’t.

 

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Don’t sell your AR15, get a new upper

There are plenty of upgrades and things you can do to a less expensive AR15 to make it better.   As long as it’s a Mil-Spec gun, go ahead and replace the springs first off, make sure the proper areas are staked on and don’t get carried away.  Staking your gas key is probable one of the biggest things I’ve seen AR15 owners not pay attention too and if you shoot enough rounds, you’ll find out what  happens.   Gun magazines are an obvious area of importance, but many still think that they will get good reliability out of their guns.
I call bullshit on that one and the complacent gun owner is going to be the one that has the firearm go down at the wrong time.   It’s been a few years, but not that long that a guy who had put on a Spikes tactical upper receiver  on his gun stated that he runs his guns dry and doesn’t have problems, well that is another individual that is going to get a shock when his MOA AR15 goes down after rapidly firing off 30rd and that dry run firearms goes down.   Complacency is something that really catches up with a gun owner or Law Enforcement officer.   If you want a better gun, learn how to upgrade it or maintain it properly and just buy a better barrel or upper receiver.

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Gun cleaning is a talent

When most people think about gun cleaning they usually think about how fast they can get it done and what gun cleaning supplies they can use to get the job done.  Most of the time I just use Break Free CLP on all of my guns and rarely bother with Hoppes cleaning solvent.   I’ve learned to avoid those really harsh gun cleaning chemicals and only use them when I am shooting lead or haven’t cleaning a firearm for awhile after shooting it.

Last week I got an opportunity to shoot some of the LWRC M6 rifles.   A few weeks before that I got to shoot an LWRC M6AK.   The only simliar type of AR15 upper receivers I shot were the Smith & Wesson 5.45×39 uppers.  These guns varied in cost, but when I cam home I don’t think I shot up more than $50 worth of ammo and I must have expensed more than 500rds.   When we were done I was told to clean them with Windex!  And that’s another story.

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Ok, So LWRCI has something less expensive

I think the best bang for the buck is buying a 5.45×39 upper for your AR15, but you will have to do some research on using the magazines and possible changing a few things in your AR15  like a new buffer or a hammer spring.   The main reason I didn’t start shooting one of these was because I didn’t have a spare lower to try out.   Last year I did some shopping, but I’m not really a fan of swapping parts in and out of uppers and lowers just to do caliber changes.   I think its a better idea to pick a caliber and keep a lower for the gun.

The 5.45×39 ammunition is dirt cheap and the Smith &  Wesson seems to have been king of the realm for awhile, but direct impingement and 5.45×39 don’t mix very well.   LWRC uppers have been increasingly expensive and yes, you can buy a whole new Colt AR15 for the price of an LWRC upper, but recently we were informed that the LWRC M6SL which is the lightweight stretch upper costs just about $1000.   I got my LWRC M6A2 for more than than about 4yrs ago.   Even though we’re selling them we want to hear from people on how they are holding up.

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Long range shooting with an AR platform rifle

I don’t know all of the facts and figures, but given just what I see every day on the New York and Ohio firing ranges around here, I would say that the AR15 is the most popular rifle in America.   Now that caliber changes are as easy as swapping out your AR15 upper receiver and possible only a minor change in your lower receiver like a hammer spring, you can go from a .223 varmint rifle to a 6.8 SPC rifle, or down to a CQB rifle at almost the pop of two pins.   I was never a big fan of upping the caliber on a AR15 rifle, but I am a big fan of the 75gr HPBT for close up fighting.   The 75gr bullet seems to yaw better and slower velocities and give more thump just from my experiences.

When it comes to taking your AR15 rifle to a longer range, there are records being broken every week with the AR15 platform.  People use to laugh when they would hear of some one shooting an AR15 at 1000yds,  but it is done and can give a .308 a run for it’s money.   The real thing to consider when it comes to caliber changes on AR15 upper receivers  is how powerful is the round vs just accuracy competitions.   I have a friend that came back from service over in the Middle East and he gave first hand accounts of how bad 9mm ammo was in combat and that at least 3rds of M855 was necessary to take down a threat with an M4.   Consider the ammunition you are using and not just how far out you can shoot, you may want to trade accuracy for energy.

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