TexasCHLforum.com

Rex B wrote:+1 on CMMG Bargain Bin rifles.
Mine was like new, could not find a defect on it.

Drewthetexan wrote:The cheapest kits I've found yet come from Blackthorne Products. They ship a completely assembled, headspaced, and tested upper. Lower parts kit is DIY. I'm not sure about shipping costs, but they claim to be on the spot with shipping if they have the stuff in stock.

I had been looking at model 1 sales, but I've seen such horrible reviews about their customer service and they are saying it is 4-6 weeks before they ship. Their prices are about $100 more across the board on all their kits. Same with AR15-kits.com, mapartsinc.com, rangersales.com, but I'd suggest looking at these websites also for inexpensive builds.


As an aside, I'm looking at this kit in particular: 16" dissipator. Basically a carbine with rifle length handguards and longer site radius. They (most of the cheaper kits) call them dissipators, but the gas tube is still carbine length, just modified to fit under the handguards.

jlangton wrote:

Drewthetexan wrote:The cheapest kits I've found yet come from Blackthorne Products. They ship a completely assembled, headspaced, and tested upper. Lower parts kit is DIY. I'm not sure about shipping costs, but they claim to be on the spot with shipping if they have the stuff in stock.

I had been looking at model 1 sales, but I've seen such horrible reviews about their customer service and they are saying it is 4-6 weeks before they ship. Their prices are about $100 more across the board on all their kits. Same with AR15-kits.com, mapartsinc.com, rangersales.com, but I'd suggest looking at these websites also for inexpensive builds.


As an aside, I'm looking at this kit in particular: 16" dissipator. Basically a carbine with rifle length handguards and longer site radius. They (most of the cheaper kits) call them dissipators, but the gas tube is still carbine length, just modified to fit under the handguards.

I have to agree..Blackthorne products sells some good stuff. Quick to ship,updated as to instock on the website(if it's not listed,they're out of stock-it's that simple) You can't beat their prices either. I'm looking at the $459 20" SS varmit kit to build one of the AR lowers I picked up recently. I've got friends that have ordered from them. Quick to ship-tracking numbers emailed when they ship,and the products are good quality.
JL

jeeperbryan wrote:

Before you jump at Blackthorne, you might want to research them a bit. They have a very, very bad reputation and many people swear against them. I don't have any experience withthem but I'm considering building a dedicated .22lr and the price of their upper is pretty good. Might be worth trying them out.

jeeperbryan wrote:

jlangton wrote:

Drewthetexan wrote:The cheapest kits I've found yet come from Blackthorne Products. They ship a completely assembled, headspaced, and tested upper. Lower parts kit is DIY. I'm not sure about shipping costs, but they claim to be on the spot with shipping if they have the stuff in stock.

I had been looking at model 1 sales, but I've seen such horrible reviews about their customer service and they are saying it is 4-6 weeks before they ship. Their prices are about $100 more across the board on all their kits. Same with AR15-kits.com, mapartsinc.com, rangersales.com, but I'd suggest looking at these websites also for inexpensive builds.


As an aside, I'm looking at this kit in particular: 16" dissipator. Basically a carbine with rifle length handguards and longer site radius. They (most of the cheaper kits) call them dissipators, but the gas tube is still carbine length, just modified to fit under the handguards.

I have to agree..Blackthorne products sells some good stuff. Quick to ship,updated as to instock on the website(if it's not listed,they're out of stock-it's that simple) You can't beat their prices either. I'm looking at the $459 20" SS varmit kit to build one of the AR lowers I picked up recently. I've got friends that have ordered from them. Quick to ship-tracking numbers emailed when they ship,and the products are good quality.
JL

Before you jump at Blackthorne, you might want to research them a bit. They have a very, very bad reputation and many people swear against them. I don't have any experience withthem but I'm considering building a dedicated .22lr and the price of their upper is pretty good. Might be worth trying them out.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

cajunautoxer wrote:As far as varmit rifle I just picked up a DPMS 24" bull barrel. I don't know if 16" would be enough IMO.

The main value of the longer barrel is higher velocity, and possibly another 50-100 yards of range. The 16" bull barrel from DPMS will be just as accurate as a 20" or 24" bull barrel from DPMS, given the same twist rate — maybe more accurate since the shorter barrel is actually stiffer than the longer barrel. The whole point of bull barrels is stiffness, and stiffness is the result of thickness to length ratio. Even a really fat barrel becomes less stiff the longer it gets, so it does not follow that a longer barrel is more accurate than a shorter barrel. And indeed, the only reason a longer barrel is preferable in 1,000 yard competitions is because it gives more time for powder to burn and develop the velocity which will carry a bullet at extremely long ranges. This is why many tactical bolt rifles designed for urban sniping only have a 20" heavy barrel. They don't need the range, but they do need the accuracy.

We have a 16" DPMS bull barreled "low-pro" upper laying on a shelf. My son bought it for a carbine he was building, and set it aside for an HBAR barreled upper he purchased later because he was unhappy with the forward weight bias of the carbine with the bull barrel on it. That said, it was extraordinarily accurate, even when mated to a standard DPMS lower using the standard DPMS parts kit with a standard trigger.

My son and I also own 24" barreled varmint rifles, and they both shoot well. My son's is a RRA 24" Stainless varminter, and he has shot 5 rounds into .25" at 100 yards with it before. He's let total strangers at the range try it out, and on their first attempts, they've shot the best group of their lives with it. The thing is truly magical, and it is the most accurate rifle in our safe. However, it also weighs more than any of our other rifles, including a couple of heavy barreled .308 bolt rifles, one of which has a 26" barrel. In short, it is not "handy," and it would make a terrible "truck gun." If an all around use truck gun is what you're looking for, compromising for a 16"-18" HBAR will make a much better all around use rifle, particularly if it is important to you to be able to mount any kind of flash suppressor. You'll still get pretty good accuracy, and the rifle will be much more fun to carry in the field, quicker to the shoulder (and sight picture), and just a lot easier to live with.

Rex B wrote:IMHO the difference between the cheap stuff and the high-end premium products is a very thin line indeed, and not nearly worth the double or triple price difference the big brands bring.