Rifleshooter.com teams up with Brownell’s to update an old AR-15

The following article chronicles our build and is for informational purposes only.  

Reflecting on the round count for the carbine I am currently shooting, I stop counting at 10,000 rounds.  Consider this, the barrel was fairly heavily used when I purchased it a few years ago- now we are well past the point of getting my money’s worth out of it.  The trigger pins had begun wearing away at the receiver until I installed KNS pins three years ago.  Notably, most major AR15 manufacturers are represented in this rifle; the Colt upper and SOCOM profile barrel; Daniel Defense Omega Rail; Larue BUIS, Aimpoint mount and bolt carrier group; DPMS gas tube, buffer and ejection port cover; Magpul grip and MOE stock; Geiselle SSA trigger; Vltor butt stock extension, Bushmaster lower and VTAC sling.   The hodge podge of parts are covered in multiples layers of chipped paint highlighted with various witness marks and arrows drawn on with an assortment of paint markers.  This is a “Frankenrifle” in every sense.

Time to build a new rifle.  Looking through my safe, I found my old Colt 6601, a pre 1994 20″ rifle with a 1/7 20″ government profile barrel.  This rifle, equipped with A2 sights and an A2 stock is similar in appearance to the M16A2 I was first issued in the Marines.  While there is a sentimental value to the configuration, I rarely shoot the rifle, and speaking to Marines currently in service, I was horrified to learn the 20″ guns are now referred to as “muskets”.

Before beginning the update, it is important to make the rifle safe and empty.

Begin by ensuring that the rifle is pointed in a safe direction, with the selector on “safe”.  If a magazine were present, it would be removed.  Then the bolt is locked to the rear and the chamber and magazine well are inspected TWICE to ensure that no ammunition is present.

Rifle is clear.  Lets begin!

The bolt is released forward and the front and rear pivot pins removed.  The upper and lower receiver are now separated.

Since the the entire upper receiver is going to be replaced, it will be stowed for later, sentimental use.  The butt stock can now be disassembled.

The lower receiver is now stripped.

Upper Receiver:

I started this upper receiver build by selecting the barrel I wanted to use.  The choices in barrels may seem overwhelming at first, but the basics of selection are fairly easy.  I prefer direct impingement guns to piston driven guns, so direct impingement it is.  Barrel length, well that is easy, 16″.  Sight radius is determined by the length of the gas system, rifle (longest) mid length or carbine (shortest).  I selected the carbine gas system.  Why?  I have spare parts.   Daniel Defense’s 16″ M4 profile barrel (100-005-853) fit the bill.  Daniel Defense hammer forges, then chrome lines their barrels.  This yields an incredibly durable product that last for thousands of rounds.

The barrel will be installed into a flat top upper receiver (100-005-853), that was included as part of a kit I received from Brownells.  This kit includes a upper receiver, charging handle, hammer and complete bolt carrier group coated in Fail Zero’s proprietary EXO coating system which provides a permanent dry lubricity to the treated parts.

To address the small parts I will need to finish this build, I ordered a Colt upper receiver completion kit (080-000-607).  The kit contains all of the small parts you need to turn your barrel assembly, hand guards, upper receiver, charging handle and bolt carrier group into a complete upper.  The Colt kit costs slightly more then some of those by other vendors, but you get what you pay for.  In this case, parts from the company who has been building this rifle for over 40 years.

I start by installing the forward assist into the upper receiver.

I like to start with the pin that retains the forward assist first.  Use a roll pin holder to guide the pin and gently tap it in enough to start it.  Be careful not to drive it in to the point where it will impede installation of the forward assist.  I placed the upper on a rubber mat for this operation.

The spring slides over the forward assist’s body, then insert it into the upper.  If you have an AR with a forward assist, you can reference the inside in order to properly align the forward assist pawl.

Push the forward assist in the remainder of the way and use a roll pin punch to drive the pin flush.  The use of the proper punch is critical with roll pins, convention punches can damage the pins and slip off, possibly damaging the parts.  The roll pin punch has a small guide in its center that prevents this from occurring.

Next step, install the ejection port cover.  Here are the parts:

Begin by placing the “c” clip into the ejection port cover pin.

The remaining installation is simple.  I start by inserting the ejection port cover pin into the ejection port cover.  Once the pin is started, align the spring as shown below and finish pushing the pin through until the “c” clip hits the receiver.  Close the cover and flip it open when you are done.  The cover should be driven open by the spring, if the cover is not under tension to stay open, you installed the spring backwards.

Time to prep the barrel for installation.  Begin by removing the front sight base.  This can be a tricky process if your front sight base is installed with mil spec taper pins, this is the case with the Daniel Defense barrel.  To aid in the process, Brownells makes an AR15 front sight bench block  (080-000-252) specifically designed for the task.  I have tried this with standard bench blocks and hockey pucks, this is another case where the right tool helps get the job done.  Once the barrel is secured in the block, I start the pins with a short replaceable pin punch and then finish driving them out with a standard punch.  Slide the front sight assembly off of the barrel and secure the pins.  I typically keep a supply of small bags on hand to secure parts as I progress along.

This upper receiver will use a Daniel Defense FSP Rail Interface System II (RIS) in flat dark earth (100-005-809).  Weighing in at 16.2 ounces, the RIS II rail system is constructed of aircraft grade aluminum and coated in military specification hard coat type III anodizing.  It has 12.57″ of rail surface and a cut out to allow a standard front sight to protrude through the rail.  Begin by placing the bolt up plate and the barrel nut onto the barrel.

Insert the barrel extension into the upper receiver.  I typically put a light  coat of oil on the barrel extension to help it slip into place.  In this case I am using a light coat of Clenzoil Field and Range.

Now it’s time to torque the barrel onto the upper receiver.  Begin by securing the upper in an upper receiver bench block.  These blocks are typically equipped with a polymer insert to prevent receiver breakage.

Once the receiver is in a vise, use the Daniel Defense Lite Rail wrench to tighten the barrel nut.  This wrench is not included.  Do not use a single point steel spanner, you will end up gouging the aluminum barrel nut.  Daniel Defense recommends between 50-75 foot pounds of torque be applied.

The barrel is now attached to the upper receiver.  To proceed, we will need to attach the gas tube to the front sight base.  This requires the carbine length gas tube and gas tube pin, both of which are included in the upper receiver completion kit.

With the gas tube attached to the front sight base assembly, the rail and front sight can be slid onto the barrel.

Once the four screws are installed,  verify alignment of the rail and begin to tighten the six screws to between 29-32 inch pounds of torque.  Daniel Defense recommends that you torque the center screws first, then the upper screws and finally the lower screws.

Now you can slide in the bottom part of the rail.

Installation of the rail is complete.

The Primary Weapons FSC 5.56 is an outstanding muzzle brake.  Even though a 2.23 rifle doesn’t kick much, the reduction in muzzle flip is immediately noticeable.

I’ve installed these brakes in the past and indexing them can be tricky.  Normally, alignment is accomplished through a crush washer or a peel washer.  Primary Weapons now includes a “Muzzle Device Alignment Set”, this set includes three different thicknesses of washers, each offering a its own correction of the orientation of the muzzle.

Since the FSP RIS II rail is so long on this upper, the barrel cannot be secured in the vise using a barrel block.  In this case we will use some rubber lined vise jaws.

Install the charging handle and the bolt carrier group and the upper receiver is complete.  Time to work on the lower.

Lower Receiver

Since this lower receiver uses nonstandard .169″ trigger pins (most AR-15s  use .154″ pins), trigger choice is somewhat restricted.   Geiselle makes excellent triggers for the AR platform, and their service rifle trigger is available with .169″ trigger pins (100-003-615).  The Geiselle Hi-Speed Service Trigger is an adjustable two stage trigger with a first stage from 3.2 to 5 pounds and a second stage from 1/2 to 1 1/2 pounds.  More information on this trigger is available here, check out the trigger profile on the second page.

Since the trigger installation is quite complex, it will not be covered in detail here.  If you would like complete instructions, Geiselle has a them posted on their website (installation instructions).

I used my trigger weight set (678-017-000) to verify the trigger could pick up a 4.5 pound weight (this is the lightest I like my triggers).

Note:  Colt used to install hardened steel sear blocks in their lower receivers.  These were not required by law, but installed by the company.  If you plan on using this trigger in a lower with a sear block like I did, you will need to remove the sear block.  The block was very difficult to remove and is designed to destroy the receiver.  I Google’d “Colt sear block removal” and found a few links that offered advice.  Basically you cut the block lengthwise with a Dremel and the side pins fall out.  Then you pull up on the block itself.

Geiselle trigger

 Furniture:

Last up is furniture and pistol grip installation.  The pistol grip is the Tango down BG-17  (100-006-310).  The BG-17 has a larger size then the standard AR-15 and fills most shooters hands a little better.

Brownells offers AR-15 stock mounting kits from various manufactures.  These kits, available for A2 and collapsible style stocks, include all parts necessary to install a collapsible stock.  In this case, a receiver extension, end plate, castle nut, buffer and recoil spring.  Since this is a Colt receiver, a Colt kit is being used (080-000-620).

Finishing touches

I like to keep a light on all my carbines.  The primary advantage of the Daniel Defense FSP RIS II is the extended surface in front of the factory front sight base.  This is an excellent location for a light.

The Surefire X300 (152-000-041) simply slides onto the rail and is quickly removable by the user.  The light has a rugged LED lamp and a 170-lumen output with a 2.4 hour run time and includes adapters for various handgun rails as well as the standard weaver rails found on many long guns.

Sling and Mount

Readers of this site will not be surprised that we selected the VTAC sling (100-005-404) for this carbine.  Since the VTAC sling is a two point design, requiring a mounting interface on the front and back of the rifle, an attachment point is needed on the rail. The Daniel Defense RIS II does not include a QD loop mounting hole on its surface like some.  While there are a few ways to address this, VTAC has once again answered the called with a novel sling mount that works with most systems.

The VTAC L.U.S.A. (100-004-331), attached to a rifles rail system via an integral clamp, provides the shooter the ability to attach the sling via a QD sling swivel, traditional loop, hook attachment or by simply running the sling through the slot on the mount- one adapter, many options.

 

 

Optics

Reader of this site are well aware of how much we like the Aimpoint T1.  The sight, while small and compact does have two slight disadvantages; an uncommon battery size and a small tube.  For this build we selected the Aimpoint Comp M4S.  This site is equipped with a 2 MOA dot, half the size of the T1, which should aid in shooting past 100 yards.   The 4MOA dot on a T1 subtends 8″ at 200, which is quite a bit larger, this will only subtend 4″ at that distance.  The M4S has a larger tube and the dot is easier to pick up for the new shooter, additionally the optic uses standard AA batteries.

Conclusion

Upon completion of the build, this old musket headed to the range.  The system worked perfectly, there is something to be said for using quality parts to build a carbine.  This project truly is greater then the sum of its parts.

 

For the AR rebuild 

Fail zero upper kit 100-005-446

barrel 100-005-853

rail 100-005-809

upper completion kit 080-000-607

Magpul CTR stock 100-002-946

Colt  stock mounting kit (080-000-620)

(2x) QD swivels 100-004-880

Vtac sling 100-005-404

BUIS 080-000-510

Aimpoint Comp 2.0 MOA M4S100-003-734

Light 152-000-041

Brake 100-003-302

Trigger 100-003-615

Trigger scale 678-017-000

Tangodown BG-17  (100-006-310)

AR15 fron sight bench block 080-000-252

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