jrhan762
01-10-2010, 03:31 PM
Just signed up. My name's John, I'm a Cav Scout in the U.S. Army stationed at Ft. Carson, CO. I bought my first AR-15 (Bushmaster) while on R&R from Iraq. I immediatly made plans for upgrading it, and was reasonably confident in my own armorer skills. But eventually I realized that it would be better for somebody with no experience to just build one from scratch; If I screw up on the Bushmaster, I've ruined the resale value on a $1000 rifle. If I buy all the parts seperately and build it myself, I'm really only damaging parts.
So I spent three months buying select parts, usually having to scrounge & overpay for the parts I really wanted. I was hoping to find a SS 16" in 5.56, and everyone I checked with was sold out. I ended up purchasing a White Oak Armament barrell in .223, thinking that would be fine. It hasn't been fine.
The barrell itself is excellent, don't get me wrong, but the caliber is the problem.
I quickly discovered there is no readily available .223 ammo above 58 grains. Every gun writer I read lead me to believe that 60, 70, and 80 grain loads were a standard thing. I can't find anything.
If I were in a situation where handloading were an option, I would probably stick with .223. But the army doesn't want me to have so much as a kitchen knife in my barracks, so I have to stick with what's commercially available.
So I decideded to chamber-up. 5.56 would be ideal, but why not take it further?
I recieved my White Oak 6.8 barrell and bolt in the mail the other day.
So I spent three months buying select parts, usually having to scrounge & overpay for the parts I really wanted. I was hoping to find a SS 16" in 5.56, and everyone I checked with was sold out. I ended up purchasing a White Oak Armament barrell in .223, thinking that would be fine. It hasn't been fine.
The barrell itself is excellent, don't get me wrong, but the caliber is the problem.
I quickly discovered there is no readily available .223 ammo above 58 grains. Every gun writer I read lead me to believe that 60, 70, and 80 grain loads were a standard thing. I can't find anything.
If I were in a situation where handloading were an option, I would probably stick with .223. But the army doesn't want me to have so much as a kitchen knife in my barracks, so I have to stick with what's commercially available.
So I decideded to chamber-up. 5.56 would be ideal, but why not take it further?
I recieved my White Oak 6.8 barrell and bolt in the mail the other day.