Which Hodge Upper do I have?

[Uffdaphil]

I recently bought an unused Hodge stripped upper and am curious how to tell if it is the standard or exotic aluminum-lithium alloy version. Mine looks to weigh the same as the exotic, but having paid only $100 via private party I’m 98.5% sure it is not. Still, how can you tell? The pics of the two models look the same. Is there a stamping somewhere to differentiate?

Here is a shot with the HD, a Centurion and a Mega - each weighs 7.6 oz with port door attached.

https://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s92/uffdaphil/1E4DD471-08E0-4487-89C6-DD6BB3195F7F.jpeg (https://s150.photobucket.com/user/uffdaphil/media/1E4DD471-08E0-4487-89C6-DD6BB3195F7F.jpeg.html)

[fledge]

Unless my memory fails me, I’ve never seen their exotic version for sale apart from complete builds.

Edit: Found WO carries them. Wow:$400+. No idea how to tell a difference. I bet Roy at WO would be able to give a quick answer. He’s responsive.

https://www.weaponoutfitters.com/hodge-defense-upper-au-mod-2.html

[Uffdaphil]

Yeah, that price is what prompted my question. Probably better to not know for sure. I’d feel guilty and have to send the seller some more $$$.

[Stone]

Have you tried putting a barrel in that Hodge upper yet?

[Uffdaphil]

No. I have had the Hodge 12.5” barrel build done for a while now. My favorite SBR suppressed. Now I have to tear it down for the HD upper. Looking forward to how much tighter the fit will be. Heat gun on standby.

[Stone]

Highly doubt the heat gun will work. Cooked mine in the oven at 350 for 30 min. and I still had to beat it on. Friggen nightmare. Then came to find out the barrel extension and Hodge upper were out of spec. Just got through putting a new upper and barrel on the rifle. Check out this thread.

http://www.weaponevolution.com/forum/showthread.php?11155-Lantac-BCG-5-56&p=168094&highlight=#post168094

Look inside the upper and see if the cam pin cutout is half a circle or if it goes from a half circle to more of a crescent shape as it flows towards the back of the receiver.

[Uffdaphil]

I’ll report back how it goes.

[Stone]

Hindsight is 20/20. If you cant slide the barrel in with a little grease by hand I would strongly encourage you to sand down the inside of the receiver with some 1000 grit wet sand paper to remove some of the anodizing first. Or use a squaring jig. Once the barrel gets stuck in there if your only half way in and it starts to cool down it will be a nightmare...

[Uffdaphil]

Thanks Stone. I’ve dealt with a moderatly tight fit before and expect this one to be at least as tight. While keeping the heat gun going and with generous aeroshell grease, if it still proves stubborn I will carefully sand with a fat dowel to try to uniformly remove some anodizing. I don’t need any new nightmares. Those flying monkeys from Oz have been after me since about 1954.

[VIPER 237]

$400 for an upper?!?! Sure 2099 is more expensive than 7075-T6 but it’s not 4x the price...


Unless my memory fails me, I’ve never seen their exotic version for sale apart from complete builds.

Edit: Found WO carries them. Wow:$400+. No idea how to tell a difference. I bet Roy at WO would be able to give a quick answer. He’s responsive.

https://www.weaponoutfitters.com/hodge-defense-upper-au-mod-2.html

[UWone77]

$400 for an upper?!?! Sure 2099 is more expensive than 7075-T6 but it’s not 4x the price...

I'm one of those that still don't get the whole fascination with Hodge.... and obviously I'm not opposed to buying expensive stuff.

[VIPER 237]

It completely baffles me honestly. I’m sure it’s high quality, and 2099 is low density with high strength, but we’re talking a 6-8% weight difference, and how many 7075-T6 or T651 uppers are having fatigue fracture issues? . I work for a high end machine shop that specializes in aerospace and knowing the cost of 2099 and guesstimating the machine time I feel that hodge is raping people, but they keep lining up to buy his stuff. To each their own I guess.


I'm one of those that still don't get the whole fascination with Hodge.... and obviously I'm not opposed to buying expensive stuff.

[Uffdaphil]

I don’t get the pricing on Hodge or Knights. A HDS Mod 2 factory upper with just barrel, reciever and handguard goes for $1650ish w/o BCG. I’m into my Mod 1 for I think $534 with an SLR handguard. That’s less than for the Mod2 Ultramatch upper I’m building even with the big discount. So that is the extent of my fascination.

[patriot_man]

I know this is a few months old but that is a 7075 upper.

You can tell from the deflector (standard M4 vs swept deflector for Al-Li) and the exterior of the cam pin relief (standard M4 vs rounded for Al-Li).

[Uffdaphil]

Good to know. Thanks Pat-Man. By the way I did get the barrel stuck halfway in using the heat gun by myself. But with my brother keeping the heat on I got enough leverage with both hands to get it out, re-lube and install with no fuss.

[UWone77]

I just noticed the Stripped Forged Mega upper... now talk about hard to get!

[Uffdaphil]

I just noticed the Stripped Forged Mega upper... now talk about hard to get!

Really? I had no idea. I just bought it to match a Gator lower. Should have got a couple more at my LGS.

[fledge]

I sold my forged mega upper at a premium. They sold out a lot faster than the lowers once discontinued.