During the blogshoot, Dave let me shoot his Scout Rifle 2.0. That rifle was lighter, had less felt recoil, and (once the suppressor was removed) swung better than my own DPMS Oracle. Still, I thought that there were some areas of his rifle where I could change to suit my own needs. It was at this moment that a project was born.
Ah, but it is VERY hard to get parts to do a project gun. That means that instead of a new rifle, I am starting a (re)build as a search for a better all around rifle. I am looking to change this into a rifle that has the power of a 308, with the ergonomics, recoil, and ability for rapid follow up shots of an AR15. I want a rifle with less recoil, lower weight, better balance, and better shootability than my Oracle currently has.
So keeping in mind that I am limited by parts availability, I am starting this project. .
I want:
- Less felt recoil
- A rifle that is at least a pound lighter than my Oracle's 9.2 pounds.
Since this will be a complete rebuild of my Oracle, I am beginning with the DPMS lower and upper that I already have. I am changing the 16 inch heavy barrel that came with the Oracle out for an 18 inch Faxon pencil barrel. From JP enterprises, I am adding an adjustable gas block and an LMOS lightweight bolt carrier. So far, that comes to about $630.
Once that stuff arrives and gets installed, I need to decide on a handguard and compensator.
Then we will see if we can get this rifle to function.
If you don't have them, buy or borrow a set of go/no-go gauges to check headspace as bolt and barrel coming from different vendors; this is an important safety check. (If you buy both bolt and barrel from Faxon they will, for a small charge, verify the headspace for you and I believe engrave the set as matched.)
ReplyDeleteFaxon also makes nice AR-10 handguards, as do OdinWorks. If Seekins makes a NoXS version for the AR-10 that would be quite tempting.
Look at getting the handguard now ... Many free-floaters use their own barrel nuts, so if you get one later you'll likely need to pull the gas block & old barrel nut a second time.
ReplyDeleteYou got hooked hard... When you grabbed that rifle, I saw that sparkle of madness in your eye and a bit of drooling too. :)
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