Good place to buy 16" blk upper?

[John A.]

Since I usually build, I'm not sure who has decent 16" uppers off the shelf. I've looked around some and not really excited about what I'm seeing.

A friend of mine is asking about buying one, but I'm not exactly sure where to point him.

I know he doesn't want to sbr the lower so he knows he'll have to stick with a 16" barrel.

He's going to deer hunt with it. Home defense with the can.

Knows about the ammo costs and plans to reload for it with my help.

Wants something pretty light and easy to carry around (he has multiple schlerosis and doesn't get around too well)

Since he wants to shoot both subs and supers, and normally suppressed, I told him to look for a 16" barrel with a pistol gas port placement. Probably an adjustable gas system somehow. His eyes pretty much glazed over at that point because he's not very familiar with AR's so that's why he's asking for help because he's not wanting to order something and regret it later because he didn't know what he was doing.

Of course I could build one, but not sure if anyone makes an upper like that off the shelf at a reasonable price and that's why I'm asking here if any of you know a decent upper that would fill his want list and so he could see it and be able to know more about what to look for.

[blaster]

I have bought a few uppers from Palmetto State Armory and have been very happy with them.

[tallburnedmidget]

Palmetto State Armory is good to go.

If you want to get a bit more customized then Mas Defense is great as well.

I've had no issues with either place or upper

[Swampdrake42]

New to the group, just want to put my 3 cents in. I'm currently having one built by Hardened Arms. It takes them a couple weeks because they mil everything in house. Their reviews are great. I got a 16in upper complete (without bolt and charging handle) with upgraded 12 in free float handguard for around 275. Hope this helps, check them out barrel is 1:8 twist

[John A.]

Thanks for the replies guys.

All PSA is showing is 8-10" barrels.

I did bookmark the hardened arms 16" pistol gas upper. Not a bad price either.

[Bustedknuckle]

Primary Arms was offering a stripped Anderson lower for $42.22 delivered to FFL, I paid $15 for transfer.
After looking around for a while I found that PA had a complete 16" upper, Anderson again.$310 total.
Looking for a lower parts kit and I found that Anderson had a lower kit with Magpul stock and grip, ambi safety, right side bolt release, receiver rear plate for a sling for $165.59 delivered.
I've heard the Anderson stuff was crap, I"ll see soon enough.

[John A.]

I've used Anderson stuff on a bunch of different builds. I don't think they're crap.

It's well known that the pistol grip screw hole requires a shortened screw because they don't drill/tap them all the way through into the fire control pocket, that's the extent of the negatives.

I also will say that the only LPK that I have of theirs, they used a stainless trigger/hammer that had the SS marks on it. I don't know where they source those LPK's and I've seen them on Colts complete lowers, Olympic, as well as others, but I'm not real fond of them. They're gritty out of the box and don't feel as good as AR15 triggers used to be but overall, I like their uppers and lowers.

[TRshootem]

I had a 16" carbine stainless 1/8 upper from Hardened Arms that was the most accurate BLK platform I have owned to date. We have built several, some shooting very well with no issues, but the HA upper was a gem. Why did I sell....darn good question. Never sell a shooter folks, regret is a pill that leaves a long lasting nasty taste.

[10Driver]

Wouldn’t a 10.5” pistol with a good brace work well for someone with MS?

Pistol is lighter and the CG is further back towards the receiver. Brace could relieve some of the weight issues. The SBA3 brace is very light and it functions well in all modes.

Shorter barrel would be more compact with a suppressor and the weight wouldn’t cantilever as far out as with 16” barrel.

[John A.]

He wants a stock and doesn't want to sbr it so that pretty much limits his choices. He wasn't all that receptive when he was looking at the various pistol braces. I don't think any of them really appealed to him much. He even made the comment that paying the sbr tax wasn't much more than some of the braces cost in the first place.

I'm sure he wouldn't be against a pencil barrel though. But I can't recall ever seeing one even though I'm sure that would be a good item for someone to sell. Especially with as many people that hunts with their blackouts.

I may could turn him one down on my lathe. I hadn't thought of it until typing up the reply. That would probably mean a lot to him considering the lathe used to belong to his Dad until he passed away a few years ago.