Realistic expectations for carbine length upper

[Dustysa4]

I've got a Colt 6920 carbine, acquired before I discovered competitive shooting. I'm hoping to get some insight to determine whether my expectations for this gun are realistic, or if I should just build another upper.

The short version is that I'd like to transform the rifle to something less military spec, to something slightly more refined, but still a rounded gun, capable of occasional 3-gun, but also things like hunting & plinking. In other words, I'm not looking for a finely tuned sewing machine that requires constant tinkering. I like the general purpose aspect, I'd just like it a little more accurate, and a little lighter recoiling...

Plans would include ditching the m4 handguard for a floated tube. Since the A2 front sight will not fit under the tube, I was thinking of swapping in an SLR Sentry 7 and a reduced buffer of some sort (haven't decided what yet). Then I'd throw a comp on the end and call it done. I'd keep the standard BCG and Colt 16" carbine barrel. In your opinion will there be noticeable decrease in recoil with the SLR + reduced buffer? Or do you think that because I'm maintaining the m4 bcg and carbine gas system, I'd be wasting money, with no real felt difference?

I don't mind building another upper if that's deemed the better option, but since I'm just a casual competitor I'd like to avoid a 100% race gun that will be mostly wasted on me. Thanks for your experience and opinions.

[dcloudy777]

Hell, I'd probably start with the comp and buy a bunch of ammo... rifle splits aren't winning any matches. (If they were, I'd place a lot higher ).

In all seriousness... shoot more matches before making equipment choices, especially expensive ones. What you have now is perfectly fine, especially for "casual competitor" like you self-describe.

[Novie]

Biggest bang for the buck is ammo. Practice a lot, shoot local matches. Then add trigger before anything else. By then you will know what you think that you need to change.

[Graham Smith]

Yup, the shooter is more important than the rifle. Practice first, upgrade later.

[OPENB]

We'll spend your money for you with gear suggestions, but buy some Wolf Gold & shoot!

[Dustysa4]

Thanks for the insight. I do roll my own ammo for this rifle. Basically, I've had minor plans for the rifle for a while, and I'm finally motivated to make it happen. Original plans were only a floated handguard (I own but have not installed it yet) and a trigger. Since the A2 FSB will need to be cut or replaced...this got me internet shopping. The handguard and trigger, those are going to happen regardless. Not to improve my skill or anything, I just think they'd look/feel cool. :-) But of course they do have some added benefits for various types of shooting.

Since the rifle is going to be apart to replace the barrel nut for the handguard, and the FSB will need to be removed for that...it got me thinking about whether there is any meaningful reduction in recoil from a "slightly" lightened buffer and an adjustable gas block on a carbine. My local range has ranges up to 1000 yards. It'd be nice to see the steel bounce at the various long ranges instead of being bumped completely off target, and having to reposition between each shot. If it would help reduce that recoil, would it require adjustments when switching from 55 grain to 77 grain pills? I apologize, as I guess my original post was a bit confusing. I'm definitely doing at least some work to this rig, just curious what benefit or trade off can be expected from an adjustable gas block and a "kinda" lightened buffer on a carbine? I've seen a few threads about rifle length gas, adjustable gas blocks, and extremely lightened buffers and bcg's...the works. Not many threads regarding carbine length with minimal weight reductions. Is it not as beneficial? Not reliable across a broad range of projectiles/charges? At the end of the day I guess it's about a $75 difference between an adjustable and non-adjustable.

[ziebart]

If you want to upgrade get the float tube, and chop the A2 down. Then put a good trigger in. Get a comp that is easy to remove for hunting, or one that isn't too blasty.

Ammo is always good though. You can learn a lot about positional shooting with 22 cheaper if you have some. Rifle is won and lost on LR, or midrange with awkward positions.

[ziebart]

Gas adjustments will come down to how close you cut it, and the burn rates of your different ammo. If it barely cycles with heavy 77smk then it probably won't cycle with 55s.

[RJH]

Trigger and a comp, even before you waste a lot of money on ammo. Get the trigger you like best, try all you can, like you said you are going to replace the trigger regardless. You don't have to spend a lot on a comp, the miculek is pretty good and only cost about 35 bucks. If you don't like 3gun, you have only invested in the comp and can easily sell it.

[polymerfeelsweirdman]

I'd go for a handguard and comp before other things, plus those still work when you change barrels or are building an upper

I strongly dislike carbine length handguards

Edited August 6, 2015 by polymerfeelsweirdman

[jkrispies]

FWIW, While the upper is the glamour half that many people fixate on, I personally advise others to worry about building a quality lower with a high end trigger and whatever ergonomics fits you best before getting too wrapped up in the upper. Once you have the lower built the way you want, you could put a hundred different uppers on it while maintaining consistency with the trigger and ergonomics if changing between uppers. Personally, I've found that my greatest increases in accuracy have come through the addition of a high quality trigger than other parts, including barrel... and I consider the optic more important than the barrel, but that's a different thread!

If I were in your position, I'd shoot the upper you have pretty much as-is while you slowly build up the lower. By the time you get the lower built, you'll have enough match time to know exactly what you want for a competition upper. I'd then build/buy a purpose-built competition upper and not get rid of the carbine upper until you know that the new upper is 100% reliable.

You could then sell the carbine upper or keep it for home defense, camping, etc., and have a backup upper if the competition upper ever goes into the shop for whatever reason. I'd even consider putting a red dot on this carbine upper for short-course matches (where the barrel length and non-floated arm are irrelevant) and have a scope on the purpose-built upper for long-course matches. This way you could pick and choose the best upper for the particular match, or hunting trip, or whatever.

Just a thought.

[OPENB]

I would suggest not cutting your FSB since this is a compromise upper. It is pinned on, & unique to that barrel. Get a low cost low profile gas block that will fit under a free float tube. That way you can put the FSB back on if/when you want to sell it. When you are ready for a true 3gun upper, the difference between carbine & rifle gas systems is noticeable. But we can talk about that later. As suggested above, a trigger, free float tube, gas block, & a Miculek comp. Boom, you're 3gunnin'.

Even if you do all the cool lightened carrier/buffer,adjustable gas block, etc., you still are working with a 16" carbine gas barrel. Not worth it in my opinion.

Edited August 7, 2015 by OPENB

[deanq]

And you want a heavier buffer, not lighter.

[JohnLTD]

I would do the following mods in this order. I would also do them one at a time with a lot of practice in between to see what helps the most.

Quality trigger, comp, FF handguard, adjustable gas block, lightened buffer/JP SCS.

[striped1]

And you want a heavier buffer, not lighter.

not exactly. People are empty buffers with ultra low mass BCG and tunable gas.

[OPENB]

Lighter buffer=less reciprocating mass=less felt recoil

[gerritm]

Can really only do a lightened buffer with an adjustable gas block or key. Heavier works with full gas.

gerritm

[TonytheTiger]

Can really only do a lightened buffer with an adjustable gas block or key. Heavier works with full gas.

gerritm

This is incorrect.

[kurtm]

That can't be "incorrect"!! It was posted on the internet. Come around Tigerman.....geesh!!!!

[TonytheTiger]

My bad Kurt, sometimes I forget that the interwebz is always right!

[Salsantini]

I think the most important change is a good trigger. I like the Geissele SSA-E. Non adjustable. Nice and clean crisp release. Get a brake. The rail is last. A lighter carrier/buffer is going to make a difference in felt recoil. But then the gun becomes more specialized and you said you want the gun for general use. I would try doing the trigger and brake first.

[Steve RA]

Look at the CMC triggers - any of the self contained are much easier to deal with.