First Upper Build Advice

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moog5050

New member
So I decided to take a crack at building my first upper. It’s going to be a 204 with a WOA barrel. Looking for advice on and upper receiver and hand guard. Prefer no forward assist, a receiver that will work with all mil spec lowers and a hand guard that is light with m-lok and QD hole that will work with the receiver. Barrel is 22” so would prefer a longer hand guard. Frankly I am finding it hard to mix and match a receiver and hand guard as I don’t know what works with what. Thoughts welcome!
 
I use nothing but bear creek arsenal side charging uppers. I think their mlok handguards have a qd hole as well. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy a whole upper and tear it down set the other parts aside.
 
Originally Posted By: varminter .223I use nothing but bear creek arsenal side charging uppers. I think their mlok handguards have a qd hole as well. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy a whole upper and tear it down set the other parts aside.

Thanks - a side charger would be cool. Reading up on the BCA side charger, I understand that a gas plug is required for the rear of the receiver. Some have complained that the plug doesn’t line up properly on the BCA receiver. Have you had any issues with that? It’s a very reasonable receiver and BCG combo.
 
Thanks Rookie. I am familiar with aero. I have two 2A rifle that I love. I may use their components if I don’t go with the side charger. BCA is much more reasonable.
 
as far as that gas plug goes it's not supposed to go in tight. You just spin it in until it bottoms out and back it off to get the flat at the bottom. It closes down against the lower. I've got a dozen of those and I've not had any issues except for one bolt carrier that had a hole machined in it too big but I sent it back and they took care of it. Those things function great. Personally I have no need for any other kind of AR upper except for a few mil-spec uppers for shtf.
 
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Originally Posted By: varminter .223 as far as that gas plug goes it's not supposed to go in tight. You just spin it in until it bottoms out and back it off to get the flat at the bottom. It closes down against the lower. I've got a dozen of those and I've not had any issues except for one bolt carrier that had a hole machined in it too big but I sent it back and they took care of it. Those things function great. Personally I have no need for any other kind of AR upper except for a few mil-spec uppers for shtf.
Originally Posted By: varminter .223 as far as that gas plug goes it's not supposed to go in tight. You just spin it in until it bottoms out and back it off to get the flat at the bottom. It closes down against the lower. I've got a dozen of those and I've not had any issues except for one bolt carrier that had a hole machined in it too big but I sent it back and they took care of it. Those things function great. Personally I have no need for any other kind of AR upper except for a few mil-spec uppers for shtf.


Thanks Varminter
 
Originally Posted By: varminter .223 as far as that gas plug goes it's not supposed to go in tight. You just spin it in until it bottoms out and back it off to get the flat at the bottom. It closes down against the lower. I've got a dozen of those and I've not had any issues except for one bolt carrier that had a hole machined in it too big but I sent it back and they took care of it. Those things function great. Personally I have no need for any other kind of AR upper except for a few mil-spec uppers for shtf.


Ordered. Thanks again.
 
You will love the bca side charger, I have several, if the plug is loose when the flat lines up just stick an o ring on it. Be advised that some hand guards with anti-rotation tabs that index on the sides of the upper may not work without modifying the tabs
 
Originally Posted By: moog5050Originally Posted By: varminter .223 as far as that gas plug goes it's not supposed to go in tight. You just spin it in until it bottoms out and back it off to get the flat at the bottom. It closes down against the lower. I've got a dozen of those and I've not had any issues except for one bolt carrier that had a hole machined in it too big but I sent it back and they took care of it. Those things function great. Personally I have no need for any other kind of AR upper except for a few mil-spec uppers for shtf.


Ordered. Thanks again.

you must of got the last one. out of stock now.
 
Originally Posted By: SlickerThanSnotOriginally Posted By: moog5050Originally Posted By: varminter .223 as far as that gas plug goes it's not supposed to go in tight. You just spin it in until it bottoms out and back it off to get the flat at the bottom. It closes down against the lower. I've got a dozen of those and I've not had any issues except for one bolt carrier that had a hole machined in it too big but I sent it back and they took care of it. Those things function great. Personally I have no need for any other kind of AR upper except for a few mil-spec uppers for shtf.


Ordered. Thanks again.

you must of got the last one. out of stock now.


You looking at combo receiver and bcg or the two separate pieces. The combo was out of stock so I bought the parts individually. Cost a few bucks more but didn’t want to wait for the combo to be “in stock.” Kinda silly since obviously they have the parts for the combo in stock. But in the Q&A they say they only set so many combos aside.
 
Originally Posted By: varminter .223You will be pleased! Originally Posted By: varminter .223You will be pleased!

You were right. Upper and bcg arrived. Look real nice. Lubed the bcg and it seems smooth. Now to get the barrel on and hopefully she cycles nice.
 
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