.243 Gas system.

I’ve been wanting a heavy stainless barrel 243 AR for almost 30 years till I owned one.lol it’s just so freaking heavy that’s not practical for a walking predator gun. There’s a few spots I only walk 40 or 100 yards in and I sure wouldn’t wanna go any further with it.
 
Well after three calls and a follow up call this morning The Bear creek operator told me they got busy yesterday which is fine. She told me that both rear and side charging uppers weigh exactly the same at 6.4 pounds when they tested them in their scales. That got me a little torqued. The DPMS is clearly the winner for lightweight 243 AR’s. I’m just not gonna spend $1500 for one. I’m sure I’ll end up ordering a rear charging 243, 6.4 pound upper from them after the sting wears off.

The more I looked at BCA’s website items the more screw ups I saw. They added a 20” 243 upper yesterday with a picture of a 16” or shorter barrel. They have complete rifles listed with the same weights as the uppers. The 243 22” heavy barrel is listed as the same weight as the 20” lighter contour at 3.1lbs. I could go on and on. Don’t get me wrong, I love their products but just a little frustrated as I finally budgeted for another upper...that I don’t really need... to find out it basically weighs 2 pounds more then advertised. At least I’m glad I found out before I ordered it and got it home to weigh it. I really am contemplating on a side charger as well but between both sides of the receivers being open to have dust and dirt blowing since I hunt and Sandy and Dusty places and I hear that though charging handle will fall off if you don’t blue Loctite it. I hate to be out hunting and have that handled fall off and not be able to charge my gun. And also hate to have that thing get caught or hung up on something going through brush and open up. I think they look cool and it’s a cool concept but I don’t think in reality they aren’t as bullet proof as the rear charger.
 
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I have a Gibbz left eject side charger on my 6.8 and I like everything about it other than not being able to close the bolt quietly. Looked for a left eject right hand side charger with a reciprocating bolt for this AR10 project but could not find anything. As an lefty I think R hand charge is the way to go but hate the gas and brass in the face.
 
I’m a lefty but shoot right so I’m sure I could adapt. I would assume the brass still ejects right no matter if the the lever is on the left or right. I’d probably keep the lever on the right side anyways.
 
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I see the DPMS g2 20” and 16” barrels on cdnn. I would assume they will not work on a full size AR upper or lower and only the special “G2” design? What are the barrel weights on them?
 
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Originally Posted By: jk2paintworxI have a Gibbz left eject side charger on my 6.8 and I like everything about it other than not being able to close the bolt quietly.

i don't own a side charge and never shot one.
but why cant you close the bolt fairly quietly? cant you push the charge handle knob to close the bolt? wouldn't it be like pushing the forward assist on a rear charge upper?
 
Other members here claim the side chargers are quieter for loading and unloading.


The g2 barrels only fit the proprietary G2 actions I found out.
 
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Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the Gibbz model is non-reciprocating therefore you can't push forward on it which is why a non reciprocating side charger is not something I would own.
 
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I ordered the 6.4 pound ( advertised 4&3/4lb) 20” rear charging upper today.

Don’t know how their points work but they gave me 15.9 of them.

Didn’t want to deal with an ambi upper that is open on both sides(no dust shield). Read many stories of the side charger falling off and loosing while hunting( I’d hate not being able to load my gun if it happened), not being able to clear a jam with a side charger, having to remove the handle with an Allen key every time I want to remove my bolt for a jam or cleaning, and the bolt hitting and catching on trees, branches, and brush when cycling or just walking through brush. Read about some three gunners catching their side chargers on obsticales as well and couldn’t clear their jams with the side charger models. Biggest thing for me is no dust shield with both sides open because I hunt in some really sandy and dusty areas. Not trying to pick a fight but that was my justification for choosing a rear charging upper.
 
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Well in my opinion that side charging is worth every downside to it for guys contemplating it. Everybody I've ever introduced them to has switched over to them and been very happy. After you use them a bit it just becomes second nature to give that charging handle a little spin. Anytime you shoot them they work loose so if you're in the field I've never had one too tight I couldn't get out with my fingers. The thing to do is put a little drop of Loctite down in the handle so when you drop your screw through it sticks there and you can get enough Leverage to spin it tight and loose without the handle just spinning on the screw.
 
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...I at least bought the upper per your recommendation just with rear charging. I got a feeling it’s gonna be a while till I see it because Bear Creek says my order is still processing and I ordered it around 2 PM. I also tried calling a couple times afterwards to ask them about the points accumulated and it went right to the answering machine. I did talk to them earlier in the day though about The weight of the old M loc upper. It should make a good addition to the 243 Family in my safe.
 
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Last year I built an AR10 in 6mm Creedmoor. I do have the JP bolt, JP bolt carrier, JP buffer spring and JP adjustable gas block. All have worked flawlessly. My titanium firing pin however did become sharp and started punching holes in my primers after about 300 rounds through the gun. The tip of the firing pin broke off and I mailed it to JP and they are going to replace it.

I really do like the JP parts and barrels but there are many other great options out there for ARs.

Without Scope or suppressor my gun is still over 10lbs. With my heavy scope, suppressor and everything else on my gun it will be closer to 15lbs. I don't mind packing a heavy gun like that with me for a mile or more. I have other predator guns as well and change what I carry on a particular stand depending on conditions and what I feel like shooting.

Besides weight another downside about my gun is the cost. If I had to order all the parts today without any discounts it would probably cost close to $2000 to build (not counting scope or suppressor).

Good luck on whatever you decide to build.
 
Gibbs side charger is very nice and I agree w .223 on that especially with the right charge left eject. I just wish is had a fwd assist so I could nurse the bolt closed like a rear charger. Or if someone made a reciprocating right charge with a left eject I think it would be perfect. Maybe there is one out there but I could not find one so I went the rear charge V7 rec set. I do like the side charge concept a lot though.
 
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Originally Posted By: SlickerThanSnotthe points are converted to cash. if you got 15.9 points it is the same as $15.90. you can use it on your next purchase. will pay for the shipping.


Sweet, i’ll probably just order some swag with it since I think the points only last six months.

I know the OP wants a light weight Setup. I just checked on my Areo M5 complete alower receiver minus a stock which is $249 right now. I paid $213 on Black Friday for it shipped. Bear creek 243 complete uppers are $312 to $384 with MOA guarantee. So IMO i’d be buying one now before the price hike between the panic of people thinking somebody’s going to steal their toilet paper or the upcoming election. I didn’t need the one I bought because my current A.R. stoner/ Bear Creek upper works perfectly and shoots very tiny groups with my hand loads but for 300 bucks I’m buying a lighter spare.
 
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Originally Posted By: jk2paintworxI am starting on a lightweight .243 that I will be using for coyote hunting. I have built several AR15 platforms but this is my first large frame. I am using 18” X Caliber .243 1:10 twist barrel with Rifle length gas port and a adjustable gas block.

But I’m not sure what BCG/Spring system to use. I have my eye on the JP LMOS because It’s only 9oz but not sure the light carrier is enough weight to run the rifle reliably and not sure I can have the best of both world (light and reliable). Also not sure what buffer/spring system to use.

Does anyone have experience with getting the 6mm AR10s to run well? They sound like they are a little more finicky than the AR15s And the parts are spendy when shaving weight so I wanna get it right the first time. I will be shooting suppressed 100% of the time and using lighter weight bullets 55-90gr

I run a Mega Arms AR10 .243 with 22" X barrel. I use Heavybuffers.com set up and its worked perfect from day one. I know use his buffers and springs in all my AR's.
 
I did some research on the Remington AR 243 and it says it weighs 7.7 pounds vs some poster here said it was a little more then a pound lighter. My 20” BCA rig is 3/4 of a pound more for half the price. I can buy two BCA uppers and Aero lowers for the price of one Remington.
 
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