Post by varminterror on Jan 12, 2015 17:04:18 GMT -8
I'm getting prepped to put together an AR built built around BHW barrels - first time using them. I've built dozens of AR's, mostly back in the early 2000's when the 3gun craze hit the Midwest and you could sell 'race ready' rifles for great profit, but haven't built any for a few years. I cut my teeth building on Bushmaster uppers & lowers (back then there weren't nearly as many makers/relabelers out there!), so right or wrong, I'm building on them again for this one.
For my background, how I came to this project, and what she's looking like:
I grew up a coyote caller back before "predator hunting" was cool, and I'm glad to see that the fad is subsiding - too many new hunters driving around playing Lightning Jack on their FoxPro and educating coyotes. I started out calling coyotes with my uncles as a kid to prevent depredation of our livestock, using a 22WMR, a 22Hornet, a 410, and a 12ga, then got a 22-250 Remington when I got into middle school. I've hunted coyotes with a lot of rifles since then (suppose 25-30 different rifles?), and started using an AR-15 for coyotes out of necessity 'roundabouts 15yrs ago (back before we called them "MSR's), because we had a boom over a couple years where calling 3-5 coyotes into a single set became more common, and - as my dad used to put it - "I don't care if I find the fur after, I want to send a bullet after every d**m coyote that I see". We'd always found that it was easier to run coyotes off than to actually control populations.
My ideal coyote rifle is, of course, an AR-15, but in 223rem with a 20-22" heavy barrel with a 0.750" gas port, free float round tube (no quad rails for me), a 3.5lb 2 stage trigger, and a 3x or 4x bottom end optic, and a high end in the 12x to 16x, with 30mm tube and 50mm objective - side focus, naturally. This isn't so different than what I used to consider my ideal 3gun rifle, but unfortunately, my 3gun rig was worth more to me as dollars than it was as a rifle, so I sold it off around 2007/8. My remaining coyote rigs were the two factory guns that I still owned (moderately improved), a Bushmaster Varminter 24" and a Bushmaster Carbine 16" with A2 upper. Two rifles to do the job that ONE 20-22" rifle could do, but I own them, so I'm less motivated to convert 2 into 1.
So even though my two rifles aren't exactly "my ideal," they cover my needs for the AR-15 in 223rem as a 0-400yrd coyote killer...
BUT...
I have a few properties where I've had cats for many years, and I often end up taking a 22WMR or 22Hornet along as a more fur friendly solution, rather than damaging a valuable cat hide with a 223rem. So between the need for a more fur friendly cartridge, and the general desire for something different, I decided on a sub-caliber AR. As a Ruger fan for life (big time revolver shooter and perpetual lover of the CRF action), I bought a 204Ruger bolt gun when they first came out, but wasn't super impressed, and ended up selling it shortly thereafter. For this build, I was between the 17Rem, the 17/223, and the 204Ruger. After a lot of soul searching, I settled on the 204Ruger over the other two (probably add a 17-223 barrel for the same upper next year), but I'm still undecided between a 20" or 22". It's going to be a 0-400yrd rifle, so I don't need all of the speed, but it's still hard for me to give it all up.
Equally, I have several sets/stands that I've hunted for many years that end up offering 400-600yrd shots, and I've done a lot of blood tracking and lost what I believe to have been pretty well struck coyotes - leaving me wanting a cartridge with a bit more punch. I bought a 16" 6.8SPC when it first hit the scene, but in the original specification chamber, it was lack-luster, and I was young enough to suffer terribly from magnumitis. I sold it off for a 24" 6.5 Grendel within a year, but when AA went under, I didn't have any interest in the 264 LBC non-sense, so I also sold that off. Fast forward to 2014/2015 where the Blackout is the cool kid on the block (zero interest or intrigue for me), I guess I've matured to accept that I don't need a 1200yrd cartridge in a 600yrd rifle, and I'd much rather have an 18" barrel than a 22"-24" tube, so I've settled on the 6.8SPCII for the harder hitting needs.
So now I'm waiting on our tax return to place the order for the final pieces - the 2 barrels and the scopes, for two uppers that will share one lower and serve as my "light hitting" and "hard hitting" predator killers.
The rest of the rifle specs look pretty simple: no nonsense, budget friendly, field effective.
Mag-Pul ACS carbine stock: Fits my cheekweld and my pocket book well enough, and I favor the telescoping carbine stocks to make it easier to get in and out of the truck between sets.
Bushmaster Palm-swell pistol grip, with the palm shelf removed: I have big hands and have spent a lot of time laying on a bench over the years, so old habits die hard. I like a lot in my shooting hand.
Troy Alpha 15" rails: I shoot almost exclusively from supports of one flavor or another, and I dig the look of an almost fully enclosed barrel.
Bushy Mil-spec trigger w/ JP spring kit: Cheap because they came out of my take-off parts drawer - doesn't get cheaper than free. I've cut back the engagement length to eliminate creep, and polished out any grit. She's a bit over 3.5lbs, but it runs quite well. Maybe she'll get a Geis 2 stage next year, we'll see how she behaves.
Bushnell Elite 2.5-16x50mm on Burris PEPR QD so I can share it between the two rifles, with a Burris FastFire III on the 204 and Magpul BUS flip up sights on the 6.8. I also have a Nikon Buckmaster 4-12x40mm in a Nikon M-223 mount that I can slip on at any time, if I need both uppers to be functional at the same time (3 lowers and 4 uppers in my safe).
FDE furniture for now over black receivers. Eventually, the whole thing will get a 3 color camo cerakote job, ending up somewhere in the FDE overall color with darker "grass" streaking.
All in all, I'm pretty fired up about getting these two uppers put together, hopefully in time to get them worked in and shooting right this summer in time to really slay some fur next fall.
For my background, how I came to this project, and what she's looking like:
I grew up a coyote caller back before "predator hunting" was cool, and I'm glad to see that the fad is subsiding - too many new hunters driving around playing Lightning Jack on their FoxPro and educating coyotes. I started out calling coyotes with my uncles as a kid to prevent depredation of our livestock, using a 22WMR, a 22Hornet, a 410, and a 12ga, then got a 22-250 Remington when I got into middle school. I've hunted coyotes with a lot of rifles since then (suppose 25-30 different rifles?), and started using an AR-15 for coyotes out of necessity 'roundabouts 15yrs ago (back before we called them "MSR's), because we had a boom over a couple years where calling 3-5 coyotes into a single set became more common, and - as my dad used to put it - "I don't care if I find the fur after, I want to send a bullet after every d**m coyote that I see". We'd always found that it was easier to run coyotes off than to actually control populations.
My ideal coyote rifle is, of course, an AR-15, but in 223rem with a 20-22" heavy barrel with a 0.750" gas port, free float round tube (no quad rails for me), a 3.5lb 2 stage trigger, and a 3x or 4x bottom end optic, and a high end in the 12x to 16x, with 30mm tube and 50mm objective - side focus, naturally. This isn't so different than what I used to consider my ideal 3gun rifle, but unfortunately, my 3gun rig was worth more to me as dollars than it was as a rifle, so I sold it off around 2007/8. My remaining coyote rigs were the two factory guns that I still owned (moderately improved), a Bushmaster Varminter 24" and a Bushmaster Carbine 16" with A2 upper. Two rifles to do the job that ONE 20-22" rifle could do, but I own them, so I'm less motivated to convert 2 into 1.
So even though my two rifles aren't exactly "my ideal," they cover my needs for the AR-15 in 223rem as a 0-400yrd coyote killer...
BUT...
I have a few properties where I've had cats for many years, and I often end up taking a 22WMR or 22Hornet along as a more fur friendly solution, rather than damaging a valuable cat hide with a 223rem. So between the need for a more fur friendly cartridge, and the general desire for something different, I decided on a sub-caliber AR. As a Ruger fan for life (big time revolver shooter and perpetual lover of the CRF action), I bought a 204Ruger bolt gun when they first came out, but wasn't super impressed, and ended up selling it shortly thereafter. For this build, I was between the 17Rem, the 17/223, and the 204Ruger. After a lot of soul searching, I settled on the 204Ruger over the other two (probably add a 17-223 barrel for the same upper next year), but I'm still undecided between a 20" or 22". It's going to be a 0-400yrd rifle, so I don't need all of the speed, but it's still hard for me to give it all up.
Equally, I have several sets/stands that I've hunted for many years that end up offering 400-600yrd shots, and I've done a lot of blood tracking and lost what I believe to have been pretty well struck coyotes - leaving me wanting a cartridge with a bit more punch. I bought a 16" 6.8SPC when it first hit the scene, but in the original specification chamber, it was lack-luster, and I was young enough to suffer terribly from magnumitis. I sold it off for a 24" 6.5 Grendel within a year, but when AA went under, I didn't have any interest in the 264 LBC non-sense, so I also sold that off. Fast forward to 2014/2015 where the Blackout is the cool kid on the block (zero interest or intrigue for me), I guess I've matured to accept that I don't need a 1200yrd cartridge in a 600yrd rifle, and I'd much rather have an 18" barrel than a 22"-24" tube, so I've settled on the 6.8SPCII for the harder hitting needs.
So now I'm waiting on our tax return to place the order for the final pieces - the 2 barrels and the scopes, for two uppers that will share one lower and serve as my "light hitting" and "hard hitting" predator killers.
The rest of the rifle specs look pretty simple: no nonsense, budget friendly, field effective.
Mag-Pul ACS carbine stock: Fits my cheekweld and my pocket book well enough, and I favor the telescoping carbine stocks to make it easier to get in and out of the truck between sets.
Bushmaster Palm-swell pistol grip, with the palm shelf removed: I have big hands and have spent a lot of time laying on a bench over the years, so old habits die hard. I like a lot in my shooting hand.
Troy Alpha 15" rails: I shoot almost exclusively from supports of one flavor or another, and I dig the look of an almost fully enclosed barrel.
Bushy Mil-spec trigger w/ JP spring kit: Cheap because they came out of my take-off parts drawer - doesn't get cheaper than free. I've cut back the engagement length to eliminate creep, and polished out any grit. She's a bit over 3.5lbs, but it runs quite well. Maybe she'll get a Geis 2 stage next year, we'll see how she behaves.
Bushnell Elite 2.5-16x50mm on Burris PEPR QD so I can share it between the two rifles, with a Burris FastFire III on the 204 and Magpul BUS flip up sights on the 6.8. I also have a Nikon Buckmaster 4-12x40mm in a Nikon M-223 mount that I can slip on at any time, if I need both uppers to be functional at the same time (3 lowers and 4 uppers in my safe).
FDE furniture for now over black receivers. Eventually, the whole thing will get a 3 color camo cerakote job, ending up somewhere in the FDE overall color with darker "grass" streaking.
All in all, I'm pretty fired up about getting these two uppers put together, hopefully in time to get them worked in and shooting right this summer in time to really slay some fur next fall.
I'm not adverse to wildcats, but were it not for those two reasons, I'd likely go with a Practical.