Good source for a complete 6mm ARC upper today that won't break the bank?

[Sid Post]

I am looking to get a complete 6mm ARC upper in an 18" format. I need to humanely kill dogs killing livestock, coyotes, and pasture detroying feral hogs. 5.56 isn't enough payload for longer range shots, though I'm not talking about 600-yard kill shots either. What is recommended for acceptable accuracy that is available today or in the near future?

For clarification, I want to stay in the AR-15 format and could do a SBR option, however, I want the velocity and payload to smack hard with modern bullets. 18"~20" seems to be the sweet spot for the 6mm ARC with payloads in the ~90gr range, and has the legs to reach way out there if needed with the right bullet.

For reasons I don't understand, complete uppers, or complete rifles, seem to be pretty scarce for reasons unknown right now. I'm not a gun plumber right now, so building my own isn't an attractive option today.

TIA,
Sid

 

[RFutch]

Grendel Hunter make good stuff for the money.

 

[rlsmith1]

They are hard to find because everyone loves what they have! I'd recommend a JP bolt and Craddock Precision barrel and simply drop that in your current upper. The Craddock RTR barrels are great and their Bartlien barrels are top shelf.

KAK uppers are reasonable and I've had good luck with their 556 barrels so they might be worth a look too

ETA: on KAK I'd go with a stainless barrel from them

 

[Rob01]

Grendel Hunter complete uppers are affordable and accurate. I have a 22” version and like it a lot.

 

[502Chevelle]

Odin makes a complete upper that you could just drop right on, but I have no experience with their barrels for accuracy and stuff.

 

[Sid Post]

Looks like the 6mm barrel blanks are a problem for most of the people I have reached out to. Debating a Craddock Precision 19.75" heavyweight barrel that should be out in ~3 weeks.

 

[Rob01]

Looks like the 6mm barrel blanks are a problem for most of the people I have reached out to. Debating a Craddock Precision 19.75" heavyweight barrel that should be out in ~3 weeks.

Did you reach out to PVA? I know they have no problems with barrels but I thought you weren’t building. Why are you looking for blanks?

 

[MountainHombre]

If you are on a farm you should have more than the skill set necessary to assemble an upper. It's a pretty quick project.

As of now Midway has a Ballistic Advantage 6 ARC 18" blem barrel for $248. Pair that with Aero or similar upper components. I strongly recommend a Wilson Combat 6 ARC / 6
5 Grendel bolt. The bolt head is not the same as for 5.56 but the bolt carrier is the same.

 

[Abey669]

My grendel hunter is awesome. Cheap too

 

[Sid Post]

Did you reach out to PVA? I know they have no problems with barrels but I thought you weren’t building. Why are you looking for blanks?

I'm not specifically looking for a barrel to self-build, however, if I found one that might be a better option than waiting, however long it takes for one of the better shops to deliver a complete upper. The shops I have reached out to are all out of barrel blanks to support the 6 ARC. Considering how late in the year it is, I don't want to get caught in the Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's slowdowns and into next Spring before I get a good upper in my hands.

 

[Sid Post]

If you are on a farm you should have more than the skill set necessary to assemble an upper. It's a pretty quick project.

As of now Midway has a Ballistic Advantage 6 ARC 18" blem barrel for $248. Pair that with Aero or similar upper components. I strongly recommend a Wilson Combat 6 ARC / 6
5 Grendel bolt. The bolt head is not the same as for 5.56 but the bolt carrier is the same.

Yep, I am aware of the bolt issue, just like the 6.8 SPC bolts. I am starting to consider building my first upper, though I would still prefer to have a complete one ready to shoot show up at my door as I have too many projects going on at the moment. I want to spend what time I have whacking unwanted stuff in my pasture, not assembling stuff.

 

[db2000]

Is the Grendel Hunter not available? Seems that’s the recommended choice in your budget.

 

[Sid Post]

My grendel hunter is awesome. Cheap too

Craddock Precision to me is worth the $150~$200 extra, assuming they have the barrel I want available. I know Grendel Hunter is a frequent recommendation on several forums, but I would be tempted to make my own to get the handguard and barrel I want without wasting money on components I won't re-use.

 

[Rob01]

I'm not specifically looking for a barrel to self-build, however, if I found one that might be a better option than waiting, however long it takes for one of the better shops to deliver a complete upper. The shops I have reached out to are all out of barrel blanks to support the 6 ARC. Considering how late in the year it is, I don't want to get caught in the Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's slowdowns and into next Spring before I get a good upper in my hands.

So you are looking for someone else to build you an upper. If you don’t want a Grendel Hunter because you don’t like the specs then get with PVA and they can get you a barrel and you can build from it. I know they have barrels in stock. If you bought all the parts you wanted they may be able to put it together as it’s an easy job. @bohem Josh is here on the site and I am sure can give you info on what they can do for you.

 

[Sid Post]

Did you reach out to PVA? I know they have no problems with barrels but I thought you weren’t building. Why are you looking for blanks?

PVA 6 ARC

Those look like good barrels, but with another ~$150 to the barrel and BCG cost, I am in the same price range as the Craddock Precision complete upper. My understanding is that they use Satern/Liberty barrels, so I am assuming a similar quality to the Osprey barrel linked. Rock Creek is out of stock and way too expensive, kissing $1K with their BCG.

 

[Rob01]

PVA 6 ARC

Those look like good barrels, but with another ~$150 to the barrel and BCG cost, I am in the same price range as the Craddock Precision complete upper. My understanding is that they use Satern/Liberty barrels, so I am assuming a similar quality to the Osprey barrel linked. Rock Creek is out of stock and way too expensive, kissing $1K with their BCG.

How much is the complete Craddock?

 

[Sid Post]

How much is the complete Craddock?

Replied via message to not clutter up this thread excessively.

 

[Tiller]

Grendel Hunter complete uppers are affordable and accurate. I have a 22” version and like it a lot.

View attachment 8792499

I was looking at doing their 18” version, but it says “mid” gas. Think that will work well? Most other places rifle or rifle+1…

 

[Sid Post]

I was looking at doing their 18” version, but it says “mid” gas. Think that will work well? Most other places rifle or rifle+1…

https://saternbarrels.net/product/6mm-arc-complete-upper-20/

These are 20" and rifle gas @ $688. Might be worth a look.

 

[Rob01]

I was looking at doing their 18” version, but it says “mid” gas. Think that will work well? Most other places rifle or rifle+1…

I highly doubt they would offer it if it didn’t work. They come with adjustable gas blocks so you can tune the gas to where you want it.

 

[bohem]

PVA 6 ARC

My understanding is that they use Satern/Liberty barrels, so I am assuming a similar quality to the Osprey barrel linked.

I think I would tend to disagree here, but some of that is personal bias as I'm sure Steve Satern would say he makes a better barrel too.

Whatever barrel or upper you go with I would recommend an adjustable gas key over the adjustable gas block. On every gasser I've assembled with an AGK I've been impressed with how easy it was to tune and also how much less sensitive they were to suppressed vs. unsuppressed. This was especially true of bigger, more overbore cases like the ARC and Valkyrie AI's.

 

[Sid Post]

I don't know about Liberty barrels, I've never seen one personally. However, before you assume the Osprey is comparable quality to a Satern we should have a conversation about what goes into an Osprey and you can see if it matches up with what you've heard/know about Saterns. The general consensus of Osprey customers is that they compare more closely to things in the top tiers than the OEM tiers.

Whatever barrel or upper you go with I would recommend an adjustable gas key over the adjustable gas block. On every gasser I've assembled with an AGK I've been impressed with how easy it was to tune and also how much less sensitive they were to suppressed vs. unsuppressed. This was especially true of bigger, more overbore cases like the ARC and Valkyrie AI's.

I have tried to PM you here but, I get this error.

You may not start a conversation with the following recipients: bohem.

If I am coming across negatively, this certainly is not my intention. I did not previously know your barrels. The premium AR-15 barrels I am familiar with are Satern and Douglas.

Pre-Covid I bought 3 Satern barrels, which were built into AR-15 DCM uppers. They are real hum-dingers! The Douglas is in a KAC SR-15 LPR rifle. This leads me to expect a high-quality barrel from their Liberty line in a format similar to yours. Grendel Hunter apparently uses the Liberty barrels, and the feedback I have from multiple sites suggests they are a very good option at a more modest price than a lot of other options that are in the $1200 range.

Your barrels appear to be top-tier tier too. Please check your email or shoot me a PM here where I might be able to reply. A phone call may be best to cut to the chase. The PVA website suggests your barrels are very high quaity, but I have some questions I did not find answered in the various discussion threads or webpage sale pages.

 

[bohem]

I have tried to PM you here but, I get this error.

You may not start a conversation with the following recipients: bohem.

If I am coming across negatively, this certainly is not my intention. I did not previously know your barrels. The premium AR-15 barrels I am familiar with are Satern and Douglas.

Pre-Covid I bought 3 Satern barrels, which were built into AR-15 DCM uppers. They are real hum-dingers! The Douglas is in a KAC SR-15 LPR rifle. This leads me to expect a high-quality barrel from their Liberty line in a format similar to yours. Grendel Hunter apparently uses the Liberty barrels, and the feedback I have from multiple sites suggests they are a very good option at a more modest price than a lot of other options that are in the $1200 range.

Your barrels appear to be top-tier tier too. Please check your email or shoot me a PM here where I might be able to reply. A phone call may be best to cut to the chase. The PVA website suggests your barrels are very high quaity, but I have some questions I did not find answered in the various discussion threads or webpage sale pages.

Here's my email and the shop line. Feel free to call whenever. I don't do PM's on here because it turned into a source of confusion and little trackability within our order production system.

484-696-7874
josh (at) patriot valley arms (dot) com

 

[WeR0206]

I am looking to get a complete 6mm ARC upper in an 18" format. I need to humanely kill dogs killing livestock, coyotes, and pasture detroying feral hogs. 5.56 isn't enough payload for longer range shots, though I'm not talking about 600-yard kill shots either. What is recommended for acceptable accuracy that is available today or in the near future?

For clarification, I want to stay in the AR-15 format and could do a SBR option, however, I want the velocity and payload to smack hard with modern bullets. 18"~20" seems to be the sweet spot for the 6mm ARC with payloads in the ~90gr range, and has the legs to reach way out there if needed with the right bullet.

For reasons I don't understand, complete uppers, or complete rifles, seem to be pretty scarce for reasons unknown right now. I'm not a gun plumber right now, so building my own isn't an attractive option today.

TIA,
Sid

Here is my list of 6 ARC complete uppers:

• Noveske Gen 4 18” SPR 6 ARC Upper ($1850)
• Grendel Hunter 18” complete upper with cerakote barrel ($540)
• Centurion Arms 6 ARC Complete Upper ($1,200)
• Various (Wilson/BA/Satern/Shaw): 6 ARC Complete Uppers (~$600-$700)
• Piston: PWS Long Stroke Piston 6 ARC Complete Upper ($1,130)

As you already noticed it's kind of slim pickings re: off the shelf ready to go complete uppers.

I like building uppers so if it were me I'd go with a PVA Osprey b/c I think they are the best bang for the buck but I don't know if you have all the tools/time/knowhow re: building one so I can understand just wanting to grab a complete one off the shelf somewhere/have one built for you.

If needed I put together a series of youtube videos/playlists covering upper build tools and also upper build steps (I also created Youtube posts summarizing the info in the videos):

Upper build tools playlist:


6 ARC Upper build videos playlist:


Posts:

Post from Custom Guns and Reloading

AR-15 upper build tools & instructional videos: Amazon list for tools/supplies mentioned on the channel: 3QMZQX5CVKWR2 This post goes hand in hand with my 2 ...

www.youtube.com

Post from Custom Guns and Reloading

Thread Lockers and Assembly Grease For AR-15 Upper Builds: Assembly grease: - AeroShell 64 Grease (for preventing different metals from galvanizing together,...

www.youtube.com

Post from Custom Guns and Reloading

AR-15 Upper Build Steps for 5.56 barrels: Part 1: 1. When the barrel arrives clean the muzzle threads, chamber, and bore with 91% Isopropyl alcohol then take...

www.youtube.com

 

[Jsp556]

https://www.eurooptic.com/seekins-precision-dmr-6mm-arc-22-1-8-1-2-x28-tpi-bbl-black-rifle-0011300095-blk

It’s not cheap but it’s in stock. 1 left. Lol

ETA: It’s cheaper than the Noveske upper if you need justification for buying the whole rifle.

 

[WeR0206]

https://www.eurooptic.com/seekins-precision-dmr-6mm-arc-22-1-8-1-2-x28-tpi-bbl-black-rifle-0011300095-blk

It’s not cheap but it’s in stock. 1 left. Lol

ETA: It’s cheaper than the Noveske upper if you need justification for buying the whole rifle.

Seekins = good to go as well. I'd def get one of their full builds over a noveske upper.