Which upper should I buy?

This one

http://apocarmory.com/collections/a.../patriot-16-complete-upper-nitride-bcg-keymod


Or this one


http://apocarmory.com/collections/a.../patriot-16-complete-upper-nitride-bcg-keymod


Or should I wait for another deal?

Looking to spend $400 total on the upper / bcg/ ch

 

I would say the first link for sure.

 

How is this a 'deal' on a no-name upper? Hell, PSA has a better track record and you can get a mid-length upper for cheap if you're working on a budget. If you're looking for battle-proven go with BCM, Daniel Defense or similar. If you want tier 1 you can pony up for Noveske, LMT, KAC, etc. Personally, I don't deal with this smaller upstart outfits because they have clever marketing or someone I know knows someone who fell for the marketing and talks them up like they're the best thing ever. That's just my opinion though and you know what they say about those so take everything I've said with a grain of salt.

 

But saying it was a deal, I meant wait for a deal . I'm going to mainly use this gun for the range, nothing crazy. As much as I would love a DD upper, I just can't justify spending that much .

So $400 is my budget ...

 

I love this.
There are like, three manufacturers and they rollmark whomevers' name on the part and send them out for distribution.
Come on steeple!

 

Love my daniel defense upper!

 

Build one yourself.

 

I didn't forget anything but you seem to forget that for every one that made it to be trustworthy there was about 100 one-time startups that went the way of the dinosaur. You can be an early adopter but I'll stick to what's been proven especially when the price difference is negligible. In this particular segment there's very little reason to be the early-adopter with something like an established platform like the AR15.

We're talking assembled uppers here champ, not stripped lowers. If your question is which stripped lower is best then I'm right there with you about which roll mark do you like best. When talking about an assembled upper... it's a different conversation. That's what this topic is about.

I also like this but the upper half can be a little more challenging for a newer builder than the lower half. I also think that for someone looking for a budget build there's plenty of cheap options that make building it yourself of very little savings. The real value comes in the knowledge attained from the assembly process itself.

 

It's extremely easy. If you can set a torque wrench you can build an upper. There isn't anything difficult about it. The problem with budget uppers is that 99% of people get them and then swap everything out to different furniture completely washing out any savings.
https://youtu.be/glk1qMbj7S0

 

Orly? Gosh, if only I had ever built a rifle myself maybe I would know that. /sarcasm

For someone who's never built an AR15 the upper can be more challenging especially because it requires special tools that nobody is just going to have in their tool box unless they intent to build an upper. Not everyone owns a torque wrench (which you don't even need BTW but since you brought it up) and not everyone will have an AR15 armor's tool or vise & vise block. Hell, someone reading this may not even have a decent work bench to affix a vice to. A good set of brass punches is also something that not everyone just has laying around. The absolute requirement for each and every one of these is worthy of debate but it's not as simple as 'Buy parts. Assemble parts. Kill paper.' the way some try to make it seem.

This thread is about a guy asking if he should buy specific upper halves. Nowhere did he ask if he should build it himself. I merely suggested he buy neither one.

 

Although that is a possibility ( my buddy's a retired marine that had a armorer as a roomie), I would prefer not to, unless I could build a decent set up for $400 complete ...

That being said, I don't really know what all is needed to assemble an upper , as my buddy told me, he wouldn't want to see me screw up the gas system.

If these aren't good options, I guess I could have an upper built.

 

It's not terribly difficult. If you can follow directions and have access to YouTube you can probably manage but the difficult thing is going to be your budget. I think you can do it in hard parts but the fact that you'd have to buy some tools may take you past that budget. A torque wrench isn't a necessity because the barrel nut is actually pretty easy to install w/o one. You basically tighten it hand tight, back off then repeat a couple of times as each time it will go a little bit further. Then simply tighten to the next hole and you're good. You can get a cheap AR15 wrench but you will cuss the day you bought it every time you use it. You need something substantial (weight and rigidity) to make using it ideal and unfortunately that will come at a price. If you ever plan to use it again (very likely once you get into this hobby) it will pay for itself over and over again though so it's a wise investment. A decent vice can be an expensive thing to own so if you can find someone local to borrow one (if they're a gun guy and have the other tools and time to help you.. even better) or at least just use it briefly you'll also save some bucks. I just don't know your situation so I'm not going to try to guess at the ability for you to build your own to tell you you HAVE to do so.

One thing you want to consider is actually shooting the thing. Many people set budgets on equipment and don't realize that you can easily exceed the cost of your rifle in ammo costs in a few trips to the range. Start with good equipment which will cost more money and you will be thankful you did in the long run as it will be a very small fraction of the pie decades later when you see how much you spend on ammo. Too many people who are newer to the sport think rifles and handguns are expensive but it's nowhere near the cost of ammo that you won't have anything to show for after you blow through it (other than experience, training & entertainment) and when you're all done your rifle will still be there worth at least as much as you paid for it years earlier. Don't be afraid to spend money on quality parts/firearms now because they will most likely appreciate in value over the years.

If you have no plans to shoot the thing and just want to tell friends you have an AR15 then by all means, do whatcha like!

 

I have access to all the needed tools, including the barrel wrench , maybe if I buy one piece at a time it won't hurt so bad.

 

That's the way a lot of people but just know that AR15s, AR15 components, ammo & ammo components will be on the rise over the next 6mos & will likely become next to impossible to obtain w/o paying a premium in the months to follow that. If you anything at a 'sale' or even 'reasonable' price I suggest buying right now.

 

https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_7_159..._15_M4_Style_Complete_Upper__375_shipped.html


Thoughts? Everything I've seen is that.sabre used to make good rifles. It fits my budget and will get me out there shooting .

 

No. Are you even reading what people are saying or are you just destined to buy someone else's crap/problem to be different?

 

Sabre is out of business because they were shut down for gun running. What I've read is that colt, lmt, and sabre all came out of the same plant, and that they made really good rifles.

I bought it, it's everything that I need and its in my price range.

Having said that , I thank you again for your input , but I was not going to spend $700 on a upper. (Which this one retailed for new) Just doesn't make sense to me if I'm just going to shoot it a few times a year at the 100 yard range.

It came with the bcg, ch, 4150 cmv CL barrel, basic bare bones which are what I need . Also the guy says he put less then 1000 rounds through a CL barrel which is good for me.

My goal was to build a quality reliable rifle on a budget. Which it seems I'll accomplish. When I comes in I'll update the thread. And after I shoot it I'll also update it.

After its all said and done ill be around $600 into The rifle. Which works for me.

 

ROFL... of course you bought it.

Colt & LMT have NEVER been "made in the same plant". Ever. Pure BS. Sabre made alright stuff (not great) but they're out of business so who cares? Would you buy a Pontiac Fiero? Same thing. What this upper retailed for new means absolutely nothing today. At all. Nobody here said you should buy a $700 upper and I was pretty sure I even told you a few ways to buy an upper brand new well under your budget and have full customer support after the sale should you need it.

Who cares why they're out of business. They're out of business. You could have got just as good of an upper from a trusted source that's still in business and still available for support for about the same price. I have no idea why some people insist on blazing new paths which almost always ends in wishing they had listened to others in the first place. Some are destined to learn lessons the hard way.

You're excited for a complete rifle 'around $600' using questionable and used parts and I clearly spelled out an easy way to get a brand new rifle for about $500ish and have customer support after the sale. PSA has been running daily deals with uppers in desirable configurations for $300 or less (one was a 16" midlength MOE edition w/o BCG or CH for $219) pretty regularly. The uppers with BCG & CH (which you could source locally from buy/sell forums for probably $75 total or less) go for just over $300. They just had a complete Magpul MOE edition blem lower for $189. So why is it you're excited to buy no-name and no support used uppers with thousands of rounds (that he's telling you about) down the tube? I just don't get the mindset of some people sometimes and this is why I generally avoid threads like this entirely.

Enjoy your upper and I hope it gives you years of headache free use.