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Sidro wrote:Gun is finished except for scope and low-pro 45 degree flip up sights and is really a neat lightweight package.

The lower is built with a nickel-boron trigger and mft minimal stock. The lpk came from Toms Tactical. Priced all the parts and after tallying up the cost it was cheaper to buy the upper already built.

16" ss 300 blackout bbl m4 contour with low pro gas block, ss comp and 15" keymod ultra slim free float hand guard. Extended aluminum tac latch and the upper receiver is forged 7076-T6 aluminum(m4 ramps) and AR-15/M16 Nitride Bolt Carrier Group. The cost for the upper shipped was $460 from Sanders Armory.

Would post picture but I ain't smart enough, maybe will be able to when son comes home in near future.

Sounds like you got a nice rig. Are you planning on reloading for it?

Wag2323 wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote: That particular lower is NOT cheap though......... $450.00! But well worth it. It is the nicest lower I've ever seen.

Yea I didn't notice that one when I was looking at uppers but unlikely I would have went that route for this first one. I never owned an AR or build one so starting with a billet upper would have really upped the cost of my first try.

I built my first 2 or 3 using inexpensive forged uppers and they work just fine. I installed ambidextrous safety selector switches, but I found the original bolt release to actually work well for a left hander, and got accustomed to using my right hand to push the mag release button. Even now, after having owned a fully ambidextrous lower for a while, I still sometimes use the right handed controls out of habit.

The one thing I've never owned is a left handed upper that ejects out the left side of the receiver. As a left myself, I'm sure they are moderately more pleasant to shoot (especially suppressed because of gases wafting back into your nose), but they also violate the principle of commonality of parts. I would think that they'd also require a lefty bolt/carrier group. AR shooters in my extended family besides myself include my wife, son, daughter in law, son's father in law, and his 2 brothers in law. Each owns at least one AR. We all take a long term view of prepping, and I've laid in a small supply of common parts like spare bolts, bolt rebuild kits, spring kits, barrel nuts, stuff like that; and from that perspective, it doesn't make sense to buy lefty specific parts since I'm the only one who shoots left handed.

Wag2323 wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:

Wag2323 wrote:Then I changed some parts to make it lefty accessible.

FWIW, the Spikes Gen II Billet lower comes with fully ambidextrous controls and anti-walk pins, and no trigger. I dropped a Timney 3.5 lb Match trigger in mine.

I'll keep that in mind for the next build. Thanks

That particular lower is NOT cheap though......... $450.00! But well worth it. It is the nicest lower I've ever seen.

Wag2323 wrote:Then I changed some parts to make it lefty accessible.

FWIW, the Spikes Gen II Billet lower comes with fully ambidextrous controls (bolt release, safety, and mag release) and anti-walk pins, and no trigger. I dropped a Timney 3.5 lb Match trigger in mine.

Sidro wrote:Bought an Adcor lower, lpk, buffer tube and stock at a decent price. Would like to mount a 16"bbl .300 blackout upper with 13" or 15" slimline handguard on it. Can I beat $390 price shipped for built upper by building it myself? Anyone have suggestions or advice they can share?

There's two factors at work. One is, you save on the labor if you build your own. The other is that vendors of pre-built uppers can take advantage of economies of scale. In other words, whatever barrel you like, they buy them 20 at a time, so they get a better price than you can. Ditto with handguards.

I enjoy building my own, and I don't like to use anything but the best parts, so on the last two builds I did — a 16" 5.56 carbine using matching Spikes Tactical Gen II Billet receiver halves and a Rainier Arms Select Medcon barrel; and a second upper for that rifle using the same upper, with a 10.5" .300 Blackout Rainier Arms Select Medcon barrel — I saved on the labor, but they were easily far and away the most money I've ever spent on any firearm. But they are worth it........to me. Rainier guarantees sub-MOA on these barrels with match ammo.

As far as the handguard goes, I really like the Bravo Company KMR Alpha rail I put on the SBR upper. It's a keymod system, and it is quite easily a much smaller diameter than the keymod Samson Evo handguard I put on the 16" upper. If I had it to do all over again, I'd put the KMR on the 16" upper too.

But that said, if you just want to get to shooting, and you're not that interested in building, there are a lot of .300 Blackout uppers out that that match your requirements. And if you don't like the handguard that's on it, you can always change/upgrade down the road.

BCM also sells full upper receiver groups in .300 Blackout, using that KMR rail: http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-Uppe ... -s/207.htm. They are nowhere near cheap, but you'll be getting something that's pretty darn good........and they'll be a LOT cheaper than a complete upper from Rainier Arms.