My lightweight AR is about to get Fat

[nortac]

Back in 2020 I built a lightweight AR carbine in .223 with a 16 in. barrel, which for the most part has served me well, but a couple of issues have arisen and I'm about to make a couple of changes. Initially I used a Mission First Battlelink Minimalist Stock which I liked a lot. While it seemed very solid in normal use, it has not stood up under abuse. Usually the gun runs smoothly, but there have been a few stuck cases that resisted normal extraction. While the plastic portion of the stock has stood up well, the metal components of the position adjustment mechanism have not. It's only been a rare occasion that I've had to resort to "pogoing / mortaring"- banging the buttstock on a hard surface while pulling back on the charging handle to force the extraction of a stuck case. The first time I didn't think to collapse the stock first, and the positioning metal parts were damaged to where it wouldn't reposition anymore and became a "fixed" stock. Luckily it was in the position I normally used it and stayed that way for quite a while. But then the rare occasion of a stuck case happened again, now the stock is permanently collapsed!

Minimalist Stock before problems arose.

 

[OkieStubble]

What else do you plan on changing other than the stock?

 

[nortac]

Sorry to leave ya'll hanging, I had to go to work. So I am going in the opposite direction with the stock. I've been curious about the Magpul UBR and it comes in Gray (most important, LOL), so I've ordered one of those. The current pistol grip is one of the hard plastic Ergo grips and is a little small. So since I've abandoned the light weight emphasis, I decided to use the fat tactical deluxe Ergo grip (also in gray), which I have on other builds and like very much. The other thing I'm going to switch out is the safety, which I currently have the push button speed safety, which I found to be a little awkward, going back to a traditional lever safety, particularly since most of my other ARs have them.

This is also the base gun for my "light weight" 6.5 Grendel upper build. I have ordered the barrel from Wilson Combat and sprung for the Gray Armor Coat finish.

I may decide that the UBR is too heavy and change it for something of intermediate weight in the long run. Time will tell.

 

[nortac]

UBR stock has arrived, see Acquisitions thread. The 16 in. 6.5 Grendel barrel from Wilson should arrive tomorrow. I'm awaiting another order of parts before I "fatten up" the lower and build the 6.5G upper.

 

[jkingrph]

Mine have always been "fat". I just prefer bigger, heavier guns as a rule. A couple of my AR Grendels sport 26" barrels, with compensators, one is a free float tubular forearm, the other one of the long aluminum tactical looking models, cannot rememeber the mfr. Buttstocks on both are the Magpul full target model , fully adjustable and heavy. I have a couple of mid lenght carbines, made to be matching, one in 5.56 the other 6.5 Grendel, both use heavier weight barrels and overall are not what I call lightweight. At this point in my life my shooting usually involves gun to truck, truck to range, gun to bench, set up and shoot then reverse to go home. I no longer hunt, so carrying a heavy gun is no problem, the mid length is fine for home defense, and I like the stability of the heavier wieght especially off a bench.

 

[OkieStubble]

Mine have always been "fat". I just prefer bigger, heavier guns as a rule. A couple of my AR Grendels sport 26" barrels, with compensators, one is a free float tubular forearm, the other one of the long aluminum tactical looking models, cannot rememeber the mfr. Buttstocks on both are the Magpul full target model , fully adjustable and heavy. I have a couple of mid lenght carbines, made to be matching, one in 5.56 the other 6.5 Grendel, both use heavier weight barrels and overall are not what I call lightweight. At this point in my life my shooting usually involves gun to truck, truck to range, gun to bench, set up and shoot then reverse to go home. I no longer hunt, so carrying a heavy gun is no problem, the mid length is fine for home defense, and I like the stability of the heavier wieght especially off a bench.

I haven’t hunted in quite awhile. I guess old age just takes the desire out of trampling thru tick infested woods. But I still want the ability to hunt if it again becomes a necessity. I think my Grendel bolt will excel in a tree stand.

This reminds me. I have got to get me a crossbow and learn how to use it.

 

[jkingrph]

I haven’t hunted in quite awhile. I guess old age just takes the desire out of trampling thru tick infested woods. But I still want the ability to hunt if it again becomes a necessity. I think my Grendel bolt will excel in a tree stand.

I hear you about that. It stays so warm down here in E Texas, ticks would be a problem any time of year. Other thing is that hunting here is a rich mans game anymore. I could go over to my sister's place in Mississippi, but it's about the same distance south as we are here, so same tick situation, plus I would have to deal with out of state license. The final thing is I simply don't want to kill anything any longer. I do have a nice little CZ 527 in 6.5 Grendel that would be an excellent stalking rifle or one to use in a stand.

 

[OkieStubble]

I hear you about that. It stays so warm down here in E Texas, ticks would be a problem any time of year. Other thing is that hunting here is a rich mans game anymore. I could go over to my sister's place in Mississippi, but it's about the same distance south as we are here, so same tick situation, plus I would have to deal with out of state license. The final thing is I simply don't want to kill anything any longer. I do have a nice little CZ 527 in 6.5 Grendel that would be an excellent stalking rifle or one to use in a stand.

The wife and I went to check out some lake community property, because we are interested in obtaining a couple of 1/2 acre lots to build on. We weren't out there a half hour and when we got back, I showered and went to bed. Woke up the next day and went to take my morning tinkle, and found a small tick attached to the bottom side of my belly button.

Pulled the tick off with my fingers in just a couple of seconds. Took the wife 20 minutes to dig the ticks head out of my belly.
Nasty little buggers are loaded with lyme disease or rocky mountain spotted fever anymore. I could tramp thru the woods all day when I was a kid and not bring a single tick home?

 

[nortac]

I essentially have the 6.5 Grendel upper built; I'll mount the scope and post picks when I rebuild the lower with the UBR stock.

 

[nortac]

Finally got phat! Magpul UBR stock and Ergo Fat grip installed, also swapped out the speed safety for a Radian safety. New 6.5 Grendel upper, Wilson 16 in. barrel, Superlative Arms adjustable gas block. VG 6 Epsilon brake , Radian Raptor SD NP3 charging Handel, Aero Precision light weight scope mount, Vortex Viper 2-10 scope. Have yet to shoot it and sight in the scope. Of course the lower will also be used with the previous.223 upper.

 

[OkieStubble]

Finally got phat! Magpul UBR stock and Ergo Fat grip installed, also swapped out the speed safety for a Radian safety. New 6.5 Grendel upper, Wilson 16 in. barrel, Superlative Arms adjustable gas block. VG 6 Epsilon brake , Radian Raptor SD NP3 charging Handel, Aero Precision light weight scope mount, Vortex Viper 2-10 scope. Have yet to shoot it and sight in the scope. Of course the lower will also be used with the previous.223 upper.View attachment 1520276

Damn that thing looks scary!

Can’t wait to see those targets!

 

[oc_in_fw]

Finally got phat! Magpul UBR stock and Ergo Fat grip installed, also swapped out the speed safety for a Radian safety. New 6.5 Grendel upper, Wilson 16 in. barrel, Superlative Arms adjustable gas block. VG 6 Epsilon brake , Radian Raptor SD NP3 charging Handel, Aero Precision light weight scope mount, Vortex Viper 2-10 scope. Have yet to shoot it and sight in the scope. Of course the lower will also be used with the previous.223 upper.View attachment 1520276

Freddie Mercury was right- fat bottomed girl make the rocking world go round. Now I’ve found my ear worm of the day

 

[nortac]

So the build as it sits above weighs in at 9 lbs. even.

 

[Mlee]

Finally got phat! Magpul UBR stock and Ergo Fat grip installed, also swapped out the speed safety for a Radian safety. New 6.5 Grendel upper, Wilson 16 in. barrel, Superlative Arms adjustable gas block. VG 6 Epsilon brake , Radian Raptor SD NP3 charging Handel, Aero Precision light weight scope mount, Vortex Viper 2-10 scope. Have yet to shoot it and sight in the scope. Of course the lower will also be used with the previous.223 upper.View attachment 1520276

That's a nice looking MSR.

I've been feeling the urge lately to build another upper, maybe a 6.5 Grendel. My boss has a 6mm ARC upper, he seems pretty happy.

 

[nortac]

I chrono'd a few rounds trying to do a ladder test using Ramshot TAC powder and some Barnes Match Burner 120 gr. BTHP bullets. Not the accuracy I had hoped for. Best group of the day was a little over 1 MOA for 10 shots. I know that the gun can shoot better than that. I don't know if I was hampered by using only a 10X scope or the non-target grade, but still good, LaRue trigger. I did shoot a 5 shot group with Hornady factory where 3 shots went into a ragged hole that looked like 2 shots, but the other 2 shots opened up the group to about 1 MOA. Probably just me. Note, I did tweak the windage on the scope a bit after this.

Phat AR with 16 in. 6.5 Grendel Wilson barrel. Using the Magnetospeed chrono.

 

[KW Driver]

The wife and I went to check out some lake community property, because we are interested in obtaining a couple of 1/2 acre lots to build on. We weren't out there a half hour and when we got back, I showered and went to bed. Woke up the next day and went to take my morning tinkle, and found a small tick attached to the bottom side of my belly button.

Pulled the tick off with my fingers in just a couple of seconds. Took the wife 20 minutes to dig the ticks head out of my belly.
Nasty little buggers are loaded with lyme disease or rocky mountain spotted fever anymore. I could tramp thru the woods all day when I was a kid and not bring a single tick home?

tweesers with a light pull and counter-clockwise twist (180 degrees works) gets them out. 2-4 times a year it's tick season for my pups.

*not sure if you have to twist them clockwise down under.

 

[OkieStubble]

tweesers with a light pull and counter-clockwise twist (180 degrees works) gets them out. 2-4 times a year it's tick season for my pups.

*not sure if you have to twist them clockwise down under.

This is funny! I should just twist the tweezers whichever way the water in the toilet goes when I flush it?

 

[KW Driver]

This is funny! I should just twist the tweezers whichever way the water in the toilet goes when I flush it?

maaaaaybe. I haven't tested the theory.

 

[dreadpirate]

I have a very similar Grendel build. It's a wonderful caliber. Love it.

 

[nortac]

^ I like it!