My SBR build

[Steeles]

So just shy of two years after my first AR purchase, I'm ready to build my first. My time with my current rifle and getting to shoot other peoples really gave me a sense of what works for me. All in all my original rifle hasn't changed much since i bought it. But i had it in my head i wanted to build one 100% the way *I* wanted.

then I started changing my mind lol. I was originally going to build another 16" rifle with the upper lower and handguard cerakote'd... but decided if i was going to spend the money on cerakote why not do an SBR? so tax stamp it was.

PSA lower and LPK; chosen because they were on sale and I couldn't find huge justification for anything fancier. I thought about getting something Like a BCM or Rainier forged lower since I am gonna have this one for life basically. But the Fiance ordered the PSA for me as a Christmas present, otherwise i'd probably still be debating with myself. well that got the ball rolling.
SBR-1 by Steeles240, on Flickr

For the upper I went with an aero precision stripped no FA unit. I'm not a hunter or a door kicker so I have no need to silently chamber a round, and in two years with my current rifle have never needed it. so why not leave it off. There are other ways to seat it if for some reason i do need to. And I think it looks nicer without it. I did however want a dust cover so I have a generic brownells door for it.
SBR-2 by Steeles240, on Flickr

I'm not a huge fan of quad rails (size/grip wise) so i decided on a nice modular rail. The KMR was receiving all of the attention at the time so I loked at it. i wasn't sold until i held one at a LGS. Decided on a 10.5
SBR-9 by Steeles240, on Flickr

went with a BCM gas block to be sure of fit under the slim rail. I have no suppressor plans in the near future so I opted not to run an adjustable gas block.
SBR-8 by Steeles240, on Flickr

reading the Ultimate battle rifle thread in the AR discussion section here had me sold on a UBR long ago. got to shoot a carbine equipped with one and liked it. A friend sold me one at a really great price so I'll be running it. though honestly i'm wondering how it will balance with the pretty light weight upper. Time will tell if I like the setup. if I don't I'll swap the Vltor A5 from my 16" to this one.
SBR-3 by Steeles240, on Flickr

The AIM V2 nitrided BCG had good reviews value for dollar and all the milspec buzzwords I'm used to seeing.
SBR-6 by Steeles240, on Flickr

I've heard comparison's between the Lantac Dragon and VG6's epsilon. I've shot a Dragon on a friends pistol and like it.. for a brake. wasn't horrible too shoot. so I decided to give the epsilon a try. glossy black nitride and all
SBR-12 by Steeles240, on Flickr

The barrel is from Sionics Weapons. Melonite 11.5 1/7 wist carbine gas, xrayed and MPI. went with 11.5 for a couple reasons, the archived thread on ARfcom where Mr Paul (i wasn't gonna misspell his last name lol) explained why they built 11.5s, and i wanted the 10.5 handguard from BCM. I also liked that Sionics pre dimpled the barrel for the gas block, and seeing the positive rep Iraqgunz has on several forums knowing he worked R&D helped me choose them for my barrel. (i am really not happy with this pic but it'll do for now)
SBR-10 by Steeles240, on Flickr

As I said I'll be running the PSA LPK, with a few changes. Seekins bolt realease/catch, just cause I thought it looked cool, though I'm mad I ddin't get a matching mag release button. will probably swap that soon just for looks. I have gotten used to an Ambi safety, but the recent V7 titanium ambi has me holding off on a BADASS... I'll also be running a Gieselle SSA and I have a Rainier Raptor charging handle to go with it. will be starting with a standard carbine buffer and spring. Also picked up a Magpul BEV block to do the assembly. all my parts are here (hence the post) so just need to get it all assembled and see if she will go bang! I'll up date with some assembly photos as it goes.

[toolboxluis00200]

man that is going to look nice

[UWone77]

Steeles, pretty good pics! I didn't know you were into photography.

[Steeles]

UWone, yeah I mostly shoot people, and mainly for fun. But got a new camera at Christmas and needed to test it out. (Nikon d7100. used the 18-140 kit lens and balanced the window light with an AB800 strobe)

[WHSmithIV]

One of these days I am definitely going to have to pony up for a NFA trust and tax stamps. Nice pics Steeles.

[SeattleDude]

Are you building 223 or 300BLK? =)

Nice pics!

[DutyUse]

So just shy of two years after my first AR purchase, I'm ready to build my first. My time with my current rifle and getting to shoot other peoples really gave me a sense of what works for me. All in all my original rifle hasn't changed much since i bought it. But i had it in my head i wanted to build one 100% the way *I* wanted.

then I started changing my mind lol. I was originally going to build another 16" rifle with the upper lower and handguard cerakote'd... but decided if i was going to spend the money on cerakote why not do an SBR? so tax stamp it was.

PSA lower and LPK; chosen because they were on sale and I couldn't find huge justification for anything fancier. I thought about getting something Like a BCM or Rainier forged lower since I am gonna have this one for life basically. But the Fiance ordered the PSA for me as a Christmas present, otherwise i'd probably still be debating with myself. well that got the ball rolling.
SBR-1 by Steeles240, on Flickr

For the upper I went with an aero precision stripped no FA unit. I'm not a hunter or a door kicker so I have no need to silently chamber a round, and in two years with my current rifle have never needed it. so why not leave it off. There are other ways to seat it if for some reason i do need to. And I think it looks nicer without it. I did however want a dust cover so I have a generic brownells door for it.
SBR-2 by Steeles240, on Flickr

I'm not a huge fan of quad rails (size/grip wise) so i decided on a nice modular rail. The KMR was receiving all of the attention at the time so I loked at it. i wasn't sold until i held one at a LGS. Decided on a 10.5
SBR-9 by Steeles240, on Flickr

went with a BCM gas block to be sure of fit under the slim rail. I have no suppressor plans in the near future so I opted not to run an adjustable gas block.
SBR-8 by Steeles240, on Flickr

reading the Ultimate battle rifle thread in the AR discussion section here had me sold on a UBR long ago. got to shoot a carbine equipped with one and liked it. A friend sold me one at a really great price so I'll be running it. though honestly i'm wondering how it will balance with the pretty light weight upper. Time will tell if I like the setup. if I don't I'll swap the Vltor A5 from my 16" to this one.
SBR-3 by Steeles240, on Flickr

The AIM V2 nitrided BCG had good reviews value for dollar and all the milspec buzzwords I'm used to seeing.
SBR-6 by Steeles240, on Flickr

I've heard comparison's between the Lantac Dragon and VG6's epsilon. I've shot a Dragon on a friends pistol and like it.. for a brake. wasn't horrible too shoot. so I decided to give the epsilon a try. glossy black nitride and all
SBR-12 by Steeles240, on Flickr

The barrel is from Sionics Weapons. Melonite 11.5 1/7 wist carbine gas, xrayed and MPI. went with 11.5 for a couple reasons, the archived thread on ARfcom where Mr Paul (i wasn't gonna misspell his last name lol) explained why they built 11.5s, and i wanted the 10.5 handguard from BCM. I also liked that Sionics pre dimpled the barrel for the gas block, and seeing the positive rep Iraqgunz has on several forums knowing he worked R&D helped me choose them for my barrel. (i am really not happy with this pic but it'll do for now)
SBR-10 by Steeles240, on Flickr

As I said I'll be running the PSA LPK, with a few changes. Seekins bolt realease/catch, just cause I thought it looked cool, though I'm mad I ddin't get a matching mag release button. will probably swap that soon just for looks. I have gotten used to an Ambi safety, but the recent V7 titanium ambi has me holding off on a BADASS... I'll also be running a Gieselle SSA and I have a Rainier Raptor charging handle to go with it. will be starting with a standard carbine buffer and spring. Also picked up a Magpul BEV block to do the assembly. all my parts are here (hence the post) so just need to get it all assembled and see if she will go bang! I'll up date with some assembly photos as it goes.

Wow this is scarily similar to my 11.5 :D

Only difference is mines a pistol vs SBR.

Awesome photos, well planned and executed build!

[din]

UWone, yeah I mostly shoot people, and mainly for fun.

Dude.

[Steeles]

Dude.

with the camera. with the camera!

[Steeles]

.223 I want a 300blk. but the cost to me isn't worth it yet. maybe once the wedding is over and we actually get into a house I can start reloading and i'll play with it then.

Thanks!

[Steeles]

I didn't take nearly as many pics of the build process as I meant too. The upper build pics are on the Iphone I'll get them up later. The MOE trigger guard that came with my LPK would not work, the front screw stripped the hex head out trying to get it to screw into the guard. So I robbed the Fiance's LPK for hers and it did the same thing. So no trigger guard for now. Everything else went smoothly enough (considering its my first build) the KMR is TIGHT. had some issue with the second screw, as in I'm not convinced it will EVER come out! I knew the UBR was heavy but when its tucked in and i'm in the sights (well where the sights will be) it's not so bad. bathroom scale subracting me unloaded and no optics i weighed it at 6.4 pounds. overall length stock collapsed was 29". for comparison I put the upper on my 16" lower. that lower wears a Vltor A5 7 position and a B5 systems bravo. weighed a full pound less.

[UWone77]

I am a fan of a UBR on a SBR, especially if you plan to run it suppressed. It balances out the gun well, but it is heavier overall.

[WHSmithIV]

I didn't take nearly as many pics of the build process as I meant too. The upper build pics are on the Iphone I'll get them up later. The MOE trigger guard that came with my LPK would not work, the front screw stripped the hex head out trying to get it to screw into the guard. So I robbed the Fiance's LPK for hers and it did the same thing. So no trigger guard for now. Everything else went smoothly enough (considering its my first build) the KMR is TIGHT. had some issue with the second screw, as in I'm not convinced it will EVER come out! I knew the UBR was heavy but when its tucked in and i'm in the sights (well where the sights will be) it's not so bad. bathroom scale subracting me unloaded and no optics i weighed it at 6.4 pounds. overall length stock collapsed was 29". for comparison I put the upper on my 16" lower. that lower wears a Vltor A5 7 position and a B5 systems bravo. weighed a full pound less.

Send Magpul a message. They'll get you out replacements that should work. I had a little problem with that screw myself after Magpul sent me one because i didn't have it. It seems that the trigger guard isn't actually threaded for the screw and the screw is supposed to do the threading. I ended up using a punch to give it a couple very gentle taps to get it to seat properly. I suppose if I ever need to change the trigger guard, I'll find a way to get it out if it won't unscrew out.

[Deadwing]

Sounds like an awesome build! I use a cap head screw with the same thread pitch to tap those polymer trigger guards before threading in the supplied set screw. A bit easier to get started, and the larger hex head hasn't stripped out yet.

[Steeles]

Sadly when i started this I was originally going to order the Seekins billet trigger guard. but decided to save the money since the LPK came with this one. So i may return to my original plan. I dunno yet. it's still extra money vs MAKING this one work. I do like the Rainier one too with the screws in the rear as well. My big fear was to break one of those "ears" of putting the roll pin in and destroying the lower i've got a 200 tax stamp on...