AR Build

OldTimeyGoodness · Oct 2, 2020

So if you can't tell by my username I like older firearms. Have never owned AR's and only have a few single stack pistols [hence little experience in semi-auto firearms].

I have been living under a rock the last 6 months [sidetracked trading gold and silver] and now that fall firearms season has rolled around I would like to get a few AR's in anticipation whatever goes down politically in November. I have reviewed the firearms search on the MDSP website numerous times and have cross referenced with gunbroker listings and manufacturer descriptions.. and I am having trouble determining which uppers I should / or shouldn't be purchasing.

I believe I have ironed out that I would like to get a few Geissele uppers. The MDSP website says:
Geissele Automatics
Geissele Automatics model Duty Rifle (Heavy Barrel Version)
Not Banned

BUT.. There are so many duty rifles available on their website and none specifically reference a barrel with a HBAR / Heavy profile. After looking at numerous ads I have come to the conclusion that if its at least a 16" barrel with a welded on flash hider I would be OK. Can anyone here offer any insight on this?

Thanks in advance.

alucard0822 · Oct 2, 2020

If you are indeed "building", just get lowers, research the law, and build them at your leisure, parts to build are hard to find, but only the lower needs to be transferred to you by an FFL. Can't have a flash hider, must have a Hbar barrel if it's chambered in 5.56/223, muzzle brakes are fine. You have a little more freedom with some things building an AR braced pistol over a rifle, built rifles must be compliant if you are looking for a specific rifle, good luck.

budman93 · Oct 2, 2020

alucard0822 said:
If you are indeed "building", just get lowers, research the law, and build them at your leisure, parts to build are hard to find, but only the lower needs to be transferred to you by an FFL. Can't have a flash hider, must have a Hbar barrel if it's chambered in 5.56/223, muzzle brakes are fine. You have a little more freedom with some things building an AR braced pistol over a rifle, built rifles must be compliant if you are looking for a specific rifle, good luck.

Since when can you not have a flash hider on your post 2013 hbar? I think unless it also has a folding stock a flash hider should be fine.

(d) “Assault weapon” means:

(1) an assault long gun;

(2) an assault pistol; or

(3) a copycat weapon.

(e)(1) “Copycat weapon” means:

(i) a semiautomatic centerfire rifle that can accept a detachable magazine and has any two of the following:

1. a folding stock;

2. a grenade launcher or flare launcher; or

3. a flash suppressor;

hosspower · Oct 2, 2020

You only need to weld or pin the flash hider if it is on a 14.5" barrel to make it meet the minimum 16" length rifle barrel.

OldTimeyGoodness · Oct 2, 2020

I think i'll stick with a Kentucky rifle to be safe.

outrider58 · Oct 2, 2020

OldTimeyGoodness said:
I think i'll stick with a Kentucky rifle to be safe.

Better carry two, just incase you miss.

SkiPatrolDude · Oct 2, 2020

Brownells has this in stock now and are listed as Heavy Socom barrels. Not exactly cheap but definitely a quality product from Daniel Defense. You would have to pin and weld an extended flashider to hit 16 but that's cheap and easy via a local gunsmith.

Not Geissele, but as good if not better, with exception of not having the option for the new Geisselle mlok rails. You picked a very bad time to "get a few AR's in anticipation for november". You are at the mercy of what you can find in stock for the few moments that things are in stock before they are gone for who-knows how long.

https://www.brownells.com/rifle-par...d-only-14-5in-sku100040692-136059-249139.aspx

From the product description:

The Daniel Defense M4A1 SOCOM Block II Upper Receiver features a quad-rail handguard equipped with a Picatinny-compatible rail sections. The barrel is cold hammer forged from mil-spec chrome-moly vanadium steel and features a SOCOM, heavy profile, with a chrome-lined interior, matching military-style barrels with the same construction. The gas block is a Daniel Defense pinned low profile block, the same as the current generation provided to SOCOM.

I ordered one yesterday. The FDE RIS ii rails alone fetch a pretty penny as take-off's for the hardcore clone scene. You could easily sell the RIS rail on Gunbroker and get the Geissele rail, with prob a hundred or so on top of it, if you really wanted the Geissele rail.

DD only releases a handful of these every now and again and almost exclusively through Brownells (except for a limited run direct from their website a year ago), so this config is somewhat rare for them, and best of all, MD compliant.

cstone · Oct 2, 2020

Build a lower into any configuration you would like. Buy an upper in a MD legal configuration.

Once you have a lower, you can begin collecting uppers without any FFL issues. Your real issues will be magazines and ammunition. I normally consider three times the cost of the rifle for ammunition. What good is the firearm if you don't have enough ammunition?

outrider58 · Oct 2, 2020

cstone said:
Build a lower into any configuration you would like. Buy an upper in a MD legal configuration.

Once you have a lower, you can begin collecting uppers without any FFL issues. Your real issues will be magazines and ammunition. I normally consider three times the cost of the rifle for ammunition. What good is the firearm if you don't have enough ammunition?

^^^This is the best answer^^^

OldTimeyGoodness · Oct 2, 2020

I will look at 16" heavy barrel with flash hider welded on. The Daniel Defense is really nice. Plus it leaves me room to get more Geissele components like the bolt or charging handle.

rbird7282 · Oct 2, 2020

OldTimeyGoodness said:
I will look at 16" heavy barrel with flash hider welded on. The Daniel Defense is really nice. Plus it leaves me room to get more Geissele components like the bolt or charging handle.

For a 16” barrel there’s no need (unless you want it that way) to have the flash holder welded on

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

SkiPatrolDude · Oct 2, 2020

OldTimeyGoodness said:
I will look at 16" heavy barrel with flash hider welded on. The Daniel Defense is really nice. Plus it leaves me room to get more Geissele components like the bolt or charging handle.

The Daniel Defense on brownells is a 14.5 inch barrel, so it must have an Extended Flash Hider pinned and welded to it to meet the 16 inch requirement.

Can be done easily by many a local gunsmith. Just make sure it’s an extended version. Daniel defense makes one and you can find a standard extended A2 as well pretty easily.

Don’t sleep on these uppers. They’re sure to be out of stock soon and I’ve only seen them in stock every year or so for a very short time.

OldTimeyGoodness · Oct 15, 2020

SkiPatrolDude said:
Brownells has this in stock now and are listed as Heavy Socom barrels. Not exactly cheap but definitely a quality product from Daniel Defense. You would have to pin and weld an extended flashider to hit 16 but that's cheap and easy via a local gunsmith.

Not Geissele, but as good if not better, with exception of not having the option for the new Geisselle mlok rails. You picked a very bad time to "get a few AR's in anticipation for november". You are at the mercy of what you can find in stock for the few moments that things are in stock before they are gone for who-knows how long.

https://www.brownells.com/rifle-par...d-only-14-5in-sku100040692-136059-249139.aspx

From the product description:

The Daniel Defense M4A1 SOCOM Block II Upper Receiver features a quad-rail handguard equipped with a Picatinny-compatible rail sections. The barrel is cold hammer forged from mil-spec chrome-moly vanadium steel and features a SOCOM, heavy profile, with a chrome-lined interior, matching military-style barrels with the same construction. The gas block is a Daniel Defense pinned low profile block, the same as the current generation provided to SOCOM.

I ordered one yesterday. The FDE RIS ii rails alone fetch a pretty penny as take-off's for the hardcore clone scene. You could easily sell the RIS rail on Gunbroker and get the Geissele rail, with prob a hundred or so on top of it, if you really wanted the Geissele rail.

DD only releases a handful of these every now and again and almost exclusively through Brownells (except for a limited run direct from their website a year ago), so this config is somewhat rare for them, and best of all, MD compliant.

I checked this out some more. I don't see it anywhere on the Daniel Defense website. Since Brownell's isn't the manufacturer isn't it a risk if you don't have proof?

UPDATE: After further review here it is on the website for DD.

Doesn't reference heavy barrel

Daniel Defense M4A1 SOCOM Block II Upper Receiver https://danieldefense.com/socom-m4a1-upper-receiver-group-w-sights.html

OldTimeyGoodness · Oct 16, 2020

OldTimeyGoodness said:
I checked this out some more. I don't see it anywhere on the Daniel Defense website. Since Brownell's isn't the manufacturer isn't it a risk if you don't have proof?

UPDATE: After further review here it is on the website for DD.

Doesn't reference heavy barrel

Daniel Defense M4A1 SOCOM Block II Upper Receiver https://danieldefense.com/socom-m4a1-upper-receiver-group-w-sights.html

Bump because I really want that upper on Brownells and am looking for insight on if its OK to buy. Anyone know if a "Socom" barrel is commonly a heavy profile? Thanks.

SkiPatrolDude · Oct 16, 2020

OldTimeyGoodness said:
Bump because I really want that upper on Brownells and am looking for insight on if its OK to buy. Anyone know if a "Socom" barrel is commonly a heavy profile? Thanks.

I know we exchanged PM's, OTG, but thought i'd post for clarification.

The M4A1 Sopmod link you shared is DD's standard M4A1 with the RISii rail and that's it. This product indeed does not have a heavy barrel.

DD did a limited run on a "M4A1 SOPMOD Block ii clone", which included the rail AND socom heavy barrel, however the run didn't last long and they ended up taking the product off of the website. The upper, however, is now available on Brownells for what is also likely to be a limited run.

Brownells is the exclusive distributor of this product, so it's as close to the manufacturer as you can get. It's definitely good to go and indeed does have a heavy profile with no taper to the gas block.

My suggestion is to screenshot the product description. There are also a few articles on the web that describe the DD limited run and mention the heavy barrel.

I hope that DD eventually makes this barrel available for individual purchase. Not a lot of quality 14.5 HB options around.

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