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Im looking at building another rifle. I was wondering how you guys rated the current crop of higher end uppers such as Noveske, LMT, LaRue or any of the others. Im not looking to spend money just to spend it but I would like to get the best value I can for around a $1000. Also please don't come on and say this or that is because your brothers uncle,s boyfriend was in special Forces and said so I'm looking for personal experiances with a product and what experiances you have with a company good customer service means alot to me.

Thanks
J.P.
 
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I have had excellent luck with JTDistributing uppers. They appear well made and they were easy to work with - they had a delay on the 20" Air Matched Stainless barrel I ordered and offered alternatives or wait for the original barrel to arrive.

I'm sure everyone's customer service has taken a hit recently with the huge increase in demand.
 
I just got my LMT everything looks great.Craftmanship, fit and function all very good. They are mpi and presure tested. LMT look good and for what little I have shot it they seem to shoot good. That is the extent of my knowledge, hope it helps
 
Go to Autoweapons.com look under "parts, accessories" and almost everything listed there will be far superior to what has been mentioned here by virtue of having passed USGI acceptance. You can easily spend over $1000 on a USGI upper, but you get what you pay for. With that said some of the uppers on Autoweapons.com are stamped with a recessed "C" these are not the real deal (I can hear the blood begin to boil, sorry to those with sensitive toes). All manufacturers have multiple grades. LMT has USGI grade uppers. These are their highest grade and cannot be beat, but their general commercial grade has not undergone and/or sometimes has not passed the intense inspection and testing process required for USGI acceptance. Government contracts are very difficult to acquire due to the extremely high standards, remember Colt's lost theirs.The grade below USGI you can think of as commercial grade (I've made this term up for convenience of distinguishing from USGI). A manufacturer will spend more time and energy on the appearance of commercial grade parts, this is a marketing technique designed to give the impression of higher quality. I would only consider commercial grade parts from manufacturers that have won U.S. contracts. Keep in mind that the commercial grade parts are most likely ones that have not passed testing. I have experience with both Larue and Noveske and I would not purchase from either of these since there are to many USGI parts available in all price ranges. As far as service and support... rely on yourself...Get the right parts and they will last and not let you down. If you have to return an item then it wasn't properly tested or inspected before it left the manufacturer. As a special forces member I would not want to need a good customer service department to address an issue while in the field, and neither should you or anyone else.

I'm not sure, but I haven't met any other Special Forces members that are boyfriends of any ones uncle. There is that "don't ask don't tell" policy. Maybe you could start a poll with some of the other Special Forces members on this site? Though I think they (members of the SFG or SOG) might take offense at the suggestion?

Happy Hunting
ZG
 
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What is in a name? Not much.
I will share some of my AR "wisdom".
All mil-spec parts are pretty much the same, sans finish.
Just make sure your upper has feed ramps cut in.
Get the best barrel you can get, in reality any Bolt Carrier Group is pretty much serving the same function, get one that has the phosphate coating (Rockwell Hardnesss/wear issue with chrome & TIN). Charging handle is a matter of latch preferance. You can use any other custom parts you like. You can save a lot of money, and have a far superior rifle if you build it yourself.
My advice is to get the best barrel you can and customize the rest of the upper to your preferences.

BG
 
If you can get a Noveskse barrel and assemble your own upper you could save a little bit of money. For me I was able to purchase parts as I had money available.

Is a Noveske barrel worth it? I think so for my rifle... Is it the most accurate rifle? Well with a 4 MOA Aimpoint... I can't judge how good it can shoot.
 
I have worked with Blackwater twice so far. I do not think that they will sell just the upper or lower just yet, just the complete rifles. They build to order and you only pay for the parts and a small build fee!

The quality seems to be high and so far, I am the only person I know of in the Northwest to have, not only one, but two of these AR's...

The customer service is great, you can call directly to the shop and speak with the person who is actually building the rifle (thought that was pretty cool).

They make their own uppers and lowers, install any part which you would like to have (rails, grips, guards, etc..) and use mostly if not only YHM barrels. Don't worry about the barrels being in stock, they have a contract with YHM to supply them and thus they are always out to the private consumer right now.

For run of the mill uppers... I agree with many others, with the quality being very similar. I would just check to make sure that the company is ISO qualified and insure that they have a robust quality system in place!

Well, thats my $.02 :s0155:
 
Thanks for all the unput. I was not trying to crack on Sf guys i have worked with several on my deployments. But I hear alot of "My brothers buddy was (insert elite soldier of choice) and he said the only thing that was any good was (again insert your choice of manufacterer). I was wanting first hand experiences and that is exactly what you guys delivered :s0155: to you all. I have been looking at White oak Armory barrels anyone ever use one?

J.P.
 

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