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AR Stoner COMPLETE upper $169!!! Now OOS
- Thread starter fast306stang
- Start date
Okayfast306stang , you shamed me into opening the box. Actually, I was somewhat shocked. The packaging was excellent, which isn't always the case with Midway's shipping. Inside, the AR Stoner upper was in great condition, even better than I expected and they even included the "brass" from test firing. I was concerned about the gas block after thinking of how it was attached. However, after seeing it, it has a total of 5 set screws, two on each side (about 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock positions) and a single bottom screw. Impressive, in my opinion, and it felt really tight. As a matter of fact, after removing all the screws and oiling it in an attempt to remove it, it took a couple of strong whacks with my rubber mallet for it to budge. The block, tube, and FH were properly positioned/timed, so I think this first one is a keeper for sure.
My first pic below shows how it came once it was all unwrapped. The second picture shows one possible use, with the installation of the BTE rail height single rail gas block and the addition of a SIG SWAT (M400) handguard and rail. If the removed gas block and tube is valued at the same price as the installed gas block and tube (about $30), I will be all in on the updated complete upper in the second picture at under $222 delivered to my door.
The CH looks and feels like typical MILS-SPEC (identical to PSA) and the BCG looks as good as any others I have used (other than the NiB versions) and, again, side by side with PSA, it looks identical (properly staked and MPI stamped bolt). I am indeed a happy camper. If you didn't pick up a few of these, you may have missed one of the best deals in the last few years (comparable to or even better than the Sig M400 upper $249 deal).
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LOL, I was just "nudging" you to open it! :P
Thanks for the great post with all the details! The upper looks great as-shipped, but with your mods it looks AWESOME! I didn't buy one only because I don't "need" it, but I think maybe I should have placed an order anyway.
You're gonna have some really nice rifles, at an outstanding price, when you're finished with your builds!
Unless you are shooting M855 Tracer or 69 grain or above ammo, you will get much better accuracy out of a 1/9 barrel than a 1/7 barrel. Knowing that the M855 Ball round performed better and was more accurate when shot out of a 1/9 twist barre, the 1/7 barrel twist was adopted by the military anyway, to stabilize the M855 Tracer round which has a longer, heaver, slower bullet than the M855 Ball round. I shoot 55 grain almost exclusively and have both 1/7 and 1/9 Ar rifles. My 14.5 inch 1/9 Sabre Defense barrel produces groups half the size of my 14.5 inch Colt 1/7 barrel when shooting M193 or M855 ammo.
Of course at distances 100 yards and under, the difference in accuracy matters very little. I point it out only to say that a quality 1/9 twist barrel is nothing to be concerned about. If I had know 10 years ago that Sabre defense would eventually stop producing their 1/9 AR barrels, I would have bought 5 or so just to have on hand.
I did not know this...it's funny because I always try to stick with 1/7 incase I want to shoot heavier bullets, but then I always shoot 55 grain because it's the cheapest lol!
Me too buddy! There was a time when I wouldn't consider any barrel for a AR that wasn't a 1/7 twist....you know milspec, heavier bullet stabilization, blah-blah. But when I bought bulk ammo......55 Grain! My only concern when it comes to the AR platform has always been combat accuracy/lethality. It just took my mind awhile to relate that to barrels, lol. 1/7 or 1/9 works for me. Finding a Mil-Spec 11595E 1/9 barrel these days is no easy task, so I usually end up with a 1/7 barrel anyway.
This is me! lol
I don't get to shoot often enough to be able to really do any testing, it's probably been a year since I've even been shooting. But next time I go, I may try to really see what I can do. Right now I've got a 1/7 pencil 16" and a 1/12 pencil 20". I do know that I was really pleased and surprised by my old Colt with the pinned 14.5" SOCOM barrel. I hate thinking about it because everytime I do, I miss it a little bit more...
I just remembered at the end of last year, I got rid of a Colt HBAR 1/9 barrel that had been cut down to 11.5". It came on a Colt rifle I bought from Clyde's and it had a pinned 5.5" or thereabouts flash hider. I wish I had kept it too, but it helped pay for that 20" retro upper...
Let me go ahead and apologize up front for making you miss your SOCOM even more. LMAO!
The science behind why the 14.5 Colt SOCOM barrel is so damn accurate....
http://www.thenewrifleman.com/why-are-colt-14-5-socom-barrels-so-accurate/
It wouldn't be so bad if the price hadn't doubled on those things!
Keep an eye on gunbroker. I don’t know if Phase 5 is still listing them on there anymore or not, but he used to list 4 or 5 of them at a time for less than $200 each.
You gotta jump on it when he does that though because they sell out FAST at that price.
Heck man, those match up pretty good!BangBang will say this is sacrilege, but the image below shows fit and finish sitting on a spare Mega Arms lower. I probably will pair these with the $129 to $139 PSA lowers and be all in at about $300 (or $350 with updated handguard/gas block versions).View attachment 1502903
That Mega trigger looks SWEET too!
