300 BLACKOUT UPPER FOR AR 15

[throttletony]

comparing the BCM and CMMG. Seem comparable for price point. One thing I don't see mentioned anywhere on the CMMG site is if their barrel/chamber are chrome lined. I'm in the 700-800 range.

In that price range you can buy a nice, complete upper.
Go for BCM, Wilson Combat, etc.
Just look at their sales, full price is always a bit crazy for some of these

 

[D2VW14_20]

I may get FLAMED, for this, but the 1500, is coming up .....

I havent been to a 1500 in about a year and a half. I was considering this also, but Im not sure how their price points are on stuff anymore. Anyone shed some light?

 

[pack-indy]

Are you looking to go pistol/SBR or otherwise? I have a Hardened Arms pistol upper and like it a lot (thanks TT). PM inbound OP.

 

[Borock]

Thanks everyone for the great information.

 

[jonny4523]

"Drop right in" = dissasembling upper (muzzle device, gas block+tube, etc), change barrels + check head space, torque, reassemble upper = a lot of work for average joes that might not want to do that every time

It is much more convenient to have a complete upper, unless someone was making a permanent switch to 300blk. Since the OP asked about an upper, I think that's what he/she wants.

*for what it's worth, I really liked assembling my 300blk upper, but I wouldn't want to do it every time I wanted to change between calibers

Dito.

I too vote for BCM, but then I'm partial. I would have loved to build a BCM upper, but they are giving away BCGs with upper purchases, so I couldn't beat their price.

 

[Thegeek]

Lots of votes for BCM. So what's with all the love for Bravo and none for others like CMMG? Just a curiosity. I've checked out some CMMG products personally and they seem to be comparable to any other quality brand. Then I see these Noveke components on the big web stores that seem to be 40% more expensive than any other.

 

[jonny4523]

Lots of votes for BCM. So what's with all the love for Bravo and none for others like CMMG? Just a curiosity. I've checked out some CMMG products personally and they seem to be comparable to any other quality brand. Then I see these Noveke components on the big web stores that seem to be 40% more expensive than any other.

Personally, for me, it's the quality control. There are numerous stories of them rejecting shipments of parts due to some being out of spec. Prime example, the KMR rail (which is an aluminum / magnesium alloy) is difficult to find in stock right now. I found an email the other day that someone has posted from a BCM rep explaining that their materials supplier was having quality issues that didn't meet BCM's spec (also probably the reason they started coming out with the all aluminum KMR ALPHA). So instead of accepting non-compliant material, they seem to send it back and tell them to try again. I could tell you from personal experience that if you are making similar parts for two difference companies, there is a general consensus on how flexible each company may be with accepting deviations. Company A may be looser with what they will be willing to accept, so more non-compliant parts can be sold to them and your scrap rate goes down. While company B is a stickler on every dimension on a print, so you over produce for the order to make sure you have enough compliant parts, they buy ones that meet the drawing, then the others get scrapped (also resulting in you having to increase your per unit price).

I've built quite a few rifles using a variety of supplier parts. I've learned to go with certain manufacturers for certain parts. You can definitely tell difference between the quality of companies in parts like barrel extension to upper receiver fit, gas block to barrel fit, lower receiver hole alignment for take-down pins, bolt stop arm length, etc. I REALLY like BCMs low profile gas block. They hone the I.D. AFTER finishing to what seems to be a .001" fit to the barrel's gas port diameter.

Also, when I company knows they are going the extra mile for quality, they usually exploit that, as they should, because it's just good marketing. And let's face it, BCM has PHENOMENAL marketing team. And being an engineer myself, I love the details. So when someone goes this much into detail to describe a standard 16" barrel, it gives me some respect for that company. For example:
BCM BFH™ 16" Mid Length Barrel, Stripped

Now I doubt BCM is making all of their own parts. I imagine as time goes on, they are doing more and more machining in house. And they seem to do all of their own assembly in house, per their videos. So I imagine many of their suppliers are the same suppliers to other rifle manufacturers. But again, how much you allow a supplier to deviate goes a long way. If I was a supplier to them and had an entire shipment rejected, I'd probably go to Brand X to see if they would accept the parts rather than eating the cost of scrapping the whole order.

And lastly, would be final inspection quality. It's amazing how many issues you see with mass produced rifles on items that would be very easy to check. Issues like the barrel nuts not torque properly (as in the case of 2 out of 4 Bushmaster rifles only torqued to 5 ft*lbs, Brass vs. Steel Cased Ammo - An Epic Torture Test), or improperly staked gas keys that work loose and can cause cycling issues, or castle nuts that are not staked that back off, releasing the buffer retaining pin and ejecting the buffer. So with all that said, and considering how reasonable BCMs prices are, it just makes sense for me. Now CMMG could very well produce an equivalent quality rifle. Their prices seem to be in line with BCMs. So when you are looking at two similar uppers at around the same price point, why not go with one who has BCMs reputation?

 

[jonny4523]

And a quick note about Noveske, I believe they machine their own barrels, and they are darn nice match grade barrels. They are quite spendy, but they are very well made. So that just goes back to what the customer is assigning value to, cost vs accuracy. I have 1 Noveske, a 10.5". It'll put up the nicest group of any of my rifles.

 

[Thegeek]

Love the first hand knowledge of BCM quality. That's confidence inspiring.