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I have an aero precision stripped lower that I am building up right now. I am trying to decide what brand I should look at for uppers or full build kits to complete it. From the looking I have done it is most likely between PSA and BCA. So if anyone has any advice on which to pick or other suggestions, I am all ears. I am looking to make a cheaper gun but not a piece of shit gun. I was also looking at Ceratac, if anyone has had any experience w. them. I've dealt with their customer service just to ask questions and they were very helpful but they're extremely cheap so I get worried. So any help would be appreciated. Sorry for the wall of text.

TL/DR: I'm building an AR15 and need to buy a cheap(yet somewhat reliable) brand complete upper receiver, any suggestions, advice, warnings, or otherwise relevant information is welcomed and will be appreciated.

I have an aero precision stripped lower that I am building up right now. I am trying to decide what brand I should look at for uppers or full build kits to complete it. From the looking I have done it is most likely between PSA and BCA. So if anyone has any advice on which to pick or other suggestions, I am all ears. I am looking to make a cheaper gun but not a piece of shit gun. I was also looking at Ceratac, if anyone has had any experience w. them. I've dealt with their customer service just to ask questions and they were very helpful but they're extremely cheap so I get worried. So any help would be appreciated. Sorry for the wall of text. TL/DR: I'm building an AR15 and need to buy a cheap(yet somewhat reliable) brand complete upper receiver, any suggestions, advice, warnings, or otherwise relevant information is welcomed and will be appreciated.

(post is archived)

[–] • 2 pts

Both companies are good. PSA has been around longer. I have bought from PSA before so I can vouch for them.

I've built ~70 AR15s, shot plenty more than that. I'm going to say some things that will piss off AR shooters so for those faggots here it is:

There isn't a true "high quality" AR manufacturer. They are all the same at this point, it's only the addons/pimp-my-ride that makes it different.

Here's why: if you bolted/clamped the AR barrel from any AR manufacturer to platform and fired a group of bullets from the bolted position, in a vacuum, at 200 yards it would make a touching circle. None of that other shit on the AR matters. You yourself wouldn't be able to shoot better than that bolted barrel. Almost all AR manufacturers use the same fucking barrels.

All the rest of the parts enhance how fucking cool or "deadly" it looks and how reliable it is.

If you want reliable: upgrade BCG and put in piston system.

If you want accurate: heavy barrel and lighter trigger.

Beyond that: 1/8 twist CAR(bine) barrel will cover most of your needs, M4 feed ramps, 556 wylde and 223 chamber. Then the world is your oyster.

AR15(dot)com for all other info.

[–] • 2 pts

Solid information above. Wylde chamber, 1:8 twist, trigger upgrade, and sights that work for your application. I like to float my barrel but unless you are interested in varmint hunting or benchrest competition floating is probably not worth it. I've never used a gas piston but people I shoot with have never complained about theirs and I've never had problems with my standard system. I suspect it would be hard to find a combination of AR parts that would result in a crap gun. Manufacturers have know what it takes to make good AR parts cheaply.

[–] • 0 pt

Everything I have been looking at has been floating. I'd be lying if I said that I didnt think it looked better and that I didnt care about looks. Looks are a minimal consideration but definitely still a consideration. Thank you very much for your input tho. Any thoughts on caliber to go with? I originally was going to go with. 223 to save money on ammo but lately I've been thinkn I'll just get a 5.56, and figure out what I wanna shoot later.

[–] • 1 pt

The .223 Remington and 5.56x45 NATO are basically the same. The Wylde chamber allows you to get the best benefit of both. The NATO is cheap and plentiful. The .223 is more likely to be loaded for bench or varmint shooters. Go with the Wylde and feed it either.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

Thank you VERY much. Is 1/7 twist to be avoided then? Most of the sets I have been looking at are 1/7. Tbh I am not 100% sure what that means, but I think I know. Edit: also I have long suspected what you said about the similarity in brands. I look at it much like car parts (esp bolt ons). There are a million car brands out there making car parts and many of them make literally the exact same thing, made in the same way, and made from the same material, they just have a different name slapped on the side, and that somehow makes one more valuable than the other. There is only so much you can do with metal. So I have suspected that, but I would never say it, because I dont know enough specifically about guns to know what type of stuff I might not even know about them that could make a difference. So again thank you my good friend just dropped 1600 on a colt LE6920, I'm looking to make this for under 7-800 lol.

[–] • 0 pt

Twist ratio is the "rifling" on the barrel. The rate at which the grooves are cut. Puts the spin on the bullet.

1:7 used to be pretty much standard because it was military default. Heavier bullets. 1:8 covers I would say the largest range of bullet weight. Best middle ground. 1:9 for lighter bullets.

I have found that 1:8 does everything pretty well if you're not competition shooting. It will stabilize 55 Grain Vmax varmit pretty darn good out to 100-200 yards, and those are pretty light bullets.

As for ARs and Cars: you pay for the brand. You can do any number of mods to a decent frame on a car and that will make the car "better/faster".

Colts (larger receiver pins) are assembly slightly better than Bushmasters, but who gives a shit. If you like colt and it shoots great, then shoot it!! If you want to save money and say you built it, then shoot it!! An barrel can only shoot as good as the person shooting.

[–] • 0 pt

Ah riffling, ok. Good to know. And thanks again. I get it now. Im still a newbie, esp on ammo. So I'll take your advice when I comes to buying my first case. You the man bro. Grateful for the passing of legitimately valuable info.

[–] • 1 pt

Avoid 'billet' or 'milled' uppers that are not standard spec or you may end up running into compatibility issues with your fore end. Other than that it truly does not matter much any more. I tend to price shop and I don't worry much about brand. If I am being picky and I care about looks I will be more discerning but even then it is about the finish/coating and making it match the lower.

[–] • 0 pt

Nice. Thank you very much for the input. I have been wanting to but a kit from Ceratac but the only reviews I can find online (which is only like 2), are both horror stories that end in the gun not even being able to cycle without aftermarket upgrades. Idk how trust worthy they are tho.

[–] • 1 pt

Few last things:

PantsAnt mentioned free floating, I do agree with that. The barrel "whips" when shooting. That whip adds to accuracy (once again wholly dependent on the shooter) but free floating allows the "whip" with no interference in the harmonics of the barrel, it hence subjective better accuracy. Look at a slow motion Mini14 for barrel whip.

Note: I fucking hate talking about accuracy. It's all subjective to the fucking shooter. It's goddamn keyboard warrior talk and its a waste of time, but you will read this shit time and time again so I will list all the "accurate" shit to pimp your AR. DON'T GET SUCKED INTO THE DEBATE, BUY A RIFLE AND SHOOT IT*

Standard trigger replacement a must: 6-8lb stock pull is horrific. I'm not a big fan of all-in-one drop in triggers since Chimney had issues in a couple of their first designs. However, drop ins are now TOP quality. I still don't like them because if they fail, you can't just replace a part of them.

You can replace sear catch springs and hammers strike springs, these work great and take pull to about 4/4.5-5 lbs. Some spring suffer from light hammers strikes (read reviews if going this direction.)

Single stage triggers are the stock design. Clean break, clean reset. My personal favorite. If I pull I don't want to waste time taking up slack. If it's for defense or offense, single stage. Some good crisp single stages out there.

2 stage/match triggers. Take up slack at the start, then super light break. Excellent match triggers, fun for critter or bench. Either trigger at 3-4 pounds are far more accurate than stock. You can take trigger pull down to 2lbs but that light of a pull you also risk AD.

Sites: A good scope is worth all the money. Enough said. Most of the time you get what you pay for when it comes to optics. If it's inexpensive: it's cheap or unknown. If it's expensive it's because it was used in the middle east and it works. Iron sights always work.

Barrel length: Longer barrel = more accurate and faster velocity. It's situational. 16" standard will be accurate in all circumstances (shooter dependent). You CAN clear rooms with 20" barrels but WHY!?

Heavy barrel = more accurate due to less whip. But they ARE HEAVY. Carrying a 16" heavy barrel isn't any fun.

And that's it. Shoot more, become better, become better, shoot more.

[–] • 0 pt

Hey man, first off just gotta say thank you. This is exactly the type of knowledge I was looking for. I had already decide that my first upgrade would be a new trigger, but I just assumed drop in was the way to go. You def make a good point though, so I might rethink that. I have been looking at shorter barrels. Mainly 10.5". I have heard that anything shorter than 14" with an AR is too short (I forget the reason why. It was either that length was the minimum for desired velocity or accuracy, I forget which).

I just figured I would not be doing a lot of long distance shooting but I might be doing a lot of maneuvering, esp possibly indoors.ive heard that shorter than 7" shoots fireballs, and as cool as that sound, I was thinkn 10.5 seemed like a decent middle ground/starting point.

Thanks again tho. I appreciate the information.

[–] • 0 pt

Last heads up: You have to register barrel lengths shorter than 16" with the ATF, it costs $200. You basically let go of some of your constitutional rights to own a short barrel or suppressor or full auto. It's a FED offense (prison time) to get caught with SBR, so consider where you live. However, if you buy a SBR and hide it so that when SHTF then nobody but you will know.

You can register the AR as a "Pistol" AR and use a "brace" and for now, technically, it's legal.

Buy a 16", then if you really like shooting or have a need for anything shorter, then decide what you want to do.

[–] • 0 pt

Thank you. Sorry for the late response. I haven't been on here at all. I have another ? For you if it's ok. I was looking at a kit on PSA. https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-10-5-5-56-nato-1-7-nitride-9-m-lok-moe-ept-sba3-pistol-kit.html This one. And in the comments someone asks if it will work with a piston kit. The answer given was " no, it's a DI assembled upper". What does that mean? Lol. Also I'm about to pull the trigger and but this kit. Thoughts? Also I live in a good gun state. No extra bullshit for AR pistols unless you make it a SBR.