Religious Shooter Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 (edited) One of my friends says that one of the AR upper manufacturers said to him that they generally do not recommend rebarelling an upper. I have an upper that's about 3 years old. It probably has 15-20K through it. It's throwing shots. A year ago it was 1-1.5MOA. With the same loading it is now throwing shots and it is like ~3.25 MOA. This is after I gave it a good cleaning. If I rebarreled I would get a 1x8 DPMS, have it cut down to 18" and lightened under the handguard. So it won't be just a straight barrel swap. But given the mileage of the bolt, carrier, comp, upper receiver, etc., would it be more cost-effective to get a new upper? Edited September 30, 2009 by Religious Shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokshwn Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I am pretty sure most manufacturers would like you to buy a complete upper instead of rebarreling....weird. You can rebarrel an upper until the cows come home as long as it is not showing any undue wear on the bolt carrier raceways or the pin holes. Other than those two areas there really isn't much to wear on the upper. The barrel extension houses the feed ramps and locking lugs which you will be replacing with the new barrel. Just make sure if you want to reuse your existing bolt that it is headspaced properly to the new barrel. You will have to purchase a set of headspace gauges (brownells) or find a buddy with some. In general I think it is a good idea to go with a new bolt when you screw in a new barrel. FWIW after having cut down one barrel to 18" and now having a 20" gun, I just don't see the benefits of shortening one vs. the extra cost of cutting one down. YMMV I know DPMS barrels have been in and out of stock...mostly out but I do know Jim @ Firebird has Lothar Walther barrels to whatever length you want and they come with a headspaced bolt for just a little over 300 hundred IIRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Just put another barrel on that puppy! Unless you are going get a Firebird......then go for the complete upper! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Bond Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 One of my friends says that one of the AR upper manufacturers said to him that they generally do not recommend rebarelling an upper. Only if you are the type of guy who trades cars when the first set of tires wear out would this be a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 Well... Rebarrel: $300 barrel and bolt $20 gas tube $50-$150 to install (lighten barrel) ===== $370-$470 New Upper: $600 Complete CMMG or RRA upper (Medium contour) $150 Handguard $100 Comp $50-100 to install HG ===== $900-1,000 So that would be $530+ more than a rebarrel. If I sell the old upper for $400 ==> $530-$400 = $130+ more than a rebarrel. If I use the car metaphor... "tires" should be more like "engine". Do I install a new engine? Or do I sell the old car and buy a new one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Rebarrel. As stated, unless there is undue wear in the takedown pin holes, or the carrier raceway, you're good to go. You may want a new bolt, and you may not. The military views bolts as a consumable. If you were using an M4 as an impromptu SAW, you'd view them as consumable too. A good bolt will last several barrels at least, unless you are re-barreling a select-fire MG. I've got a rifle on its third barrel, with the same bolt, no problems. Then again, your bolt might be one of the walking dead. Short of a magnetic particle inspection (which would cost pretty much what a new bolt would) there's no way of knowing. Toss a coin, cut cards, whatever makes you happy. The carrier? A lifetime part. In fact, you could use the same carrier in rifles for a couple of generations (you, not the rifle) and it will still be fine. The carrier is an alloy steel part that sees little stress. The key may need replacing, but that's easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokshwn Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 How bout this.... $300 for Barrel and Bolt $20 for a new gas tube $75 for the tools to tighten and loosen as many barrels and handguards as many times as you want Why pay somebody to do something you can do yourself, let alone pay them multiple times? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 How bout this....$300 for Barrel and Bolt $20 for a new gas tube $75 for the tools to tighten and loosen as many barrels and handguards as many times as you want Why pay somebody to do something you can do yourself, let alone pay them multiple times? What are the tools needed? I don't have a vise. I may have to buy a saw horse or bench to mount the vise. I don't have a torque wrench. I don't have any of the anti-seize (or whatever) stuff. Are Firebird's barrels lightened (mid-weights)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbrowndog Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 (edited) I think you should ............................................................. edited to remove crticism!!!! trapr Edited September 30, 2009 by bigbrowndog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug H. Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 How bout this....$300 for Barrel and Bolt $20 for a new gas tube $75 for the tools to tighten and loosen as many barrels and handguards as many times as you want Why pay somebody to do something you can do yourself, let alone pay them multiple times? What are the tools needed? I don't have a vise. I may have to buy a saw horse or bench to mount the vise. I don't have a torque wrench. I don't have any of the anti-seize (or whatever) stuff. Are Firebird's barrels lightened (mid-weights)? I know how you feel, I didn't have any tools or vise when I took off my first barrel. Bought a cheap vise, $50, Receiver block and barrel wrench. I was suprised how much force it took to loosen the barrel nut. Torque wrench not really necessary to reinstall. I just turn the nut till its tight and then line up the gas tube hole. After you break your cherry on the first one you will gain a lot of confidence and next one won't scare you so bad. I just swapped a Rock River 16" barrel that I couldn't hit anything with for a 18" Saber that I got from the prize table at the R&R 3 gun match in Oregon. Total cost - $0. I won the long range stage with it at the Inland Empire 3 Gun Match in Idaho last weekend on its first outing. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I just put a new 20" Lothar Walther barrel and bolt from Firebird on my JP upper. Used the same JP SS carrier, just installed the new bolt. The hard part was getting the old JP barrel and hand guard off! Lots of Loc-Tite everywhere! Had to heat everything with a torch to get it apart. We did it in my friends garage. The only special tool you need is a barrel nut wrench and a hand guard wrench. No torque wrench required. Just spin the barrel nut on and snug down. Then tighten until the next hole or notch lines up for the gas tube. Thats it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outerlimits Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 pm sent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.carden Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 The only special tool you need is a barrel nut wrench and a hand guard wrench. No torque wrench required. Just spin the barrel nut on and snug down. Then tighten until the next hole or notch lines up for the gas tube. Thats it. Dont you need a block or something to clamp the reciever in a vise???............I'm coming close to my change-out and look'n to get the tools also..!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 A block doesn't fit since its a JP CTR upper. We just used some plastic vice jaws and clamped it in there. Ghetto, but it works Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokshwn Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 (edited) Precision Reflex makes a block that works on both AR15 and AR10 uppers, it supports the upper from the pin holes so it will work on any upper not just ones that fit in the clamp type blocks. .... you can then get a DPMS multi tool (brownells) or a set of strap wrenches from sears. Edited September 30, 2009 by smokshwn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmon Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 you dont have to clamp the receiver, you can clamp the barrel and do the work there. min torque spec is 35 ft/lbs and not to exceed 80. really you can snug it down with the wrench and then allign the next gas tube hole..just dont get the BFH out and you should be good. Harmon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el pres Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 you dont have to clamp the receiver, you can clamp the barrel and do the work there.min torque spec is 35 ft/lbs and not to exceed 80. really you can snug it down with the wrench and then allign the next gas tube hole..just dont get the BFH out and you should be good. Harmon Whats a "handguard" wrench look like ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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