Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Side charging upper came in !

This thing is actually pretty nice.
Pulled a different upper off to see how this fit.
Nice n tight !
Fit and finish is nice. Nothing misaligned, or crooked.
Now to pull the 6.5 Grendel barrel off and put my 6mm ARC barrel on.
Gonna reuse that muzzle device. I like it.
Pulled the mount off the Bushnell I'm selling, and pulled a SS 10x mil quad off another rifle.
Just gonna add some colored parts, a single stage trigger, and call it good.
The ARC, just isn't gonna be a lightweight rifle.

Looks good.

One thing I'll like, is the 6 ARC, BA, barrel is a little thinner profile, so a little lighter !
I was thinking going collapsible stock, but I'm liking the prs back end. It balances better to me.

Splat, I missed who made the side charger if you posted it.

Between the stock, scope and barrel, you cant even say light weight with a grin.

I knew the barrel was gonna be a bit chunky, but...
I can always change out the prs to a lightweight ? Different mount, but I like the scope, and another carbon fiber forearm.

Bear Creek Arsenal made it.

Splat:

I'm headed to the range Tuesday morning with my newly acquired side charging 22 Mag upper from Bear Creek for the first time. I would be interested as to how your's runs. Will report back how I make out. The side charging uppers are a plus I think when running scopes for optics. Like your's, mine too fit great on my Anderson lower. Looking forward to a report from you.

Rich

It'll be awhile til I get the barrels swapped. But I'll have to say something about it. Feels almost like cycling my 11-87 ! Very smooth.

Let us know how close a factory-fresh scope is zeroed when you first place it on the upper after the rebarrel.

I can center the SWFA SS 10x, and see....
Don't have one, so I can't.
What's your point ?

To check the upper for straightness.
Barreling an upper should result in a scope that is almost dead-nutz centered without any windage adjustment.

I'm going to true the upper, then use red loctite to bed it.
Don't see me ever rebarreling this one again.
Did the same to my PSA Grendel barrel, and am very happy how it shoots.
Many different bullets and powders, shoot pretty much to the same spot.

Put a triangular forearm on the front and you'll have a PSG-1 twin!

thats taking an assumption that the mounting system is dead nutz also.

That said the 223 BCA I just zero'd for a friend took many 1-2 MOA to center wind. Elevation took a fair bit. On a new scope.

I've never bedded a barre. I have bedded uppers. I've never had anything other than bad barrels create accuracy issues.

That said you should still be able to take the barrel off I suspect.

I've always put antisieze on our extensions before assembly. Allows awful tiny groups and normally under MOA regardless...

A quality cantilever is pretty much dead nutz.

Who said I paid for quality. LOL. a cheap riser and a set of rings will do for well over 50% of uses.

which is exactly what we put on the BCA. Tru glo riser and weaver rings. Works fine.

If you're talking about using between the barrel shank and the inside of the upper I was always taught the use the green lucite there's a certain number and I don't remember the number. But it's supposed to swell up more but not stick if that makes sense to wear it would need heat to get it apart that's what I've always been told by people who are supposed to know more than me.

I've used red on 3 so far, and all is well.
I'll never shoot out a barrel or even want to change one. I don't think it would be hard to pull apart, as no threads are involved. Just a press fit, and filling around the barrel extension.

I use loctite 620. Does it help accuracy any? Dunno, but it is cheap enough. One bottle will do a heap of barrels.

For some reason I can't link, but a bottle on ebay is like 18 bucks.

Most use green 680. This is specifically for cylindrical parts and is a retaining compound that seals diametrical gaps up to .015". It is a high strength formula that has a 4,000 psi sheer strength. This and its seeping in qualities makes it great for bedding the barrel extension into the receiver of an AR15 or AR10 rifle.

I'll try to find some for my next assembly.

Some guys use red, but the green is specifically made for cylindrical parts and retains those parts under extreme shock and vibration. It is also oil resistant and cures even when there is an absence of air on close fitting parts, which most barrel extension/receiver fit up qualify. I believe I heard TWR say he has used red before without issue. Of course, you will have to heat up either one for disassembly, but I imagine the Red would be more of a bugger.

I don’t see the need for green or even red really but I’ve used red and blue, had to heat both to get the barrel out.

640 bearing retainer loctite is green. used by the AMU and Marines. On the front sight bases of A2 competition guns. Let me just say the times we did that, rebarreling, which can be needed as soon as 2500 or 3000 rounds just depending, I had to heat the front sight base up with a torch and beat the base off with a 3 pound hammer and block of wood barrel in a vise. 640 is NOT what you want on an extension. At least thats the very last thing I'd want in there.

As noted I use anti sieze and have never had a problem sub MOA and the smallest group we can recall using antisieze on a particularly top line Krieger was 5 shots at 600 into 1.25 inches appx outside to outside measured with a ruler roughly... Thats fairly sub moa for a "loose" barrel.

+1 on aluminum-based antiseize for barrel extensions.

Rebarrel all done.
Barrel extension fit was very tight, didn't use anything. Front of receiver was damn near perfect.
Everything was simple. Finished in about 15 minutes, max.
I now have a side charging 6mm ARC.
Test fire went well. Reloaded a 90 grain ballistic tip over Varget, and used a Grendel mag.
Fed, and functioned, like a well oiled sewing machine.


Waiting for a blue tube, and a Magpul MOE grip. Need a 5/8"/24 flash hider. I like phantoms.

When you get that rifle running, let us know how she shoots.

I will.
I am bad off with my back again.
The wind has been up most days, and it'll take me a bit to set up.
Looking like I am getting fused again....
I was thinking of getting out tomorrow. I have 6 rounds of Varget, under a 90 grain BT, set at 0.030 off.

Sorry to hear your back is bad again. That can surely affect your shooting. Heal up and then show us how your new rifle shoots. That's good that you are able to get that close to the lands. Is that at mag length? That should definitely help with accuracy. I was also eyeballing some 90gr pills for my 6x45. I believe midsouth had some on sale yesterday. Probably still do. Keep us posted.

Using a Grendel mag, I can reach the lands, and still have room in the mag.
A 90 grain BT, with canular that I have a bunch of, is 2.203 oal touching the lands.
I'm not set with heavy, or target bullets.
I have an old Remington Varminter HB, in 243, that I bought in the 80's at the Rod and Gun club in Augsburg, Germany.
It doesn't like anything I found over 90 grains.

I wanna find some lever powder, and some 108's like in that thread.
Stick knows his stuff, and I wanna see how my Ballistic Advantage barrel likes that combo.

Here are some 108's

Keep an eye out for some Lever at your LGS. Mine has some and it is priced around $36/pound. I damn near bought some, but am on the fence about using it for what I load.

There aren't many stores around here to shop.
I needed a rifle length gas tube for this barrel swap, and the only place that had one, is a pawn shop.
When I got there to get it, there was 1 can of 8208 !
50 bucks !! WTF ????

New Mexico sounds like a horrible place!!! I was pretty lucky. Had a small shop that had a bunch of AR parts. I generally keep gas tubes on hand in the spare parts bin. As for 8208 powder, it is pretty popular. That is a steep price to pay, but if it's what you are after and you don't have any, it may be worth getting??? I'm pretty sure it will work well in the 6ARC. It was great in the 6WOA I had. Probably if you go back to buy that powder, you may find it isn't there anymore, as someone else needed it more than you did. Kind of like the damn BR4's I saw last month for $115.00. They stayed on the shelf for 3 weeks, but eventually sold at that price.

I have LOTS of primers, and enough powders to keep me happy for a long time in bigger cartridges.
These little things use powders I don't use, or have, for top velocities.

It's 1st outing today.
Had 7 rounds loaded.
1, to test function...
2nd to confirm boresite.
5 for its first group.
Shot #4, ? Me, most likely.
90 grain ballistic tip, over 28.0 grains of Varget, set at 0.025 off.

That's like leaving us in suspense...

More tomorrow, I hope.

Bought 2 boxes of Sierra 105gr bthp's.
Still searching for lever, but Varget will do til I score.
Gotta cruise around and see what powders work with them.

Sucks to get old.
Not sure I can make Itty bitty groups any more....
Here's today's results.
Fresh clean barrel at 0.030 off, but only 4 shots. The next at 0.040 off, sucked, and 0.050 looked promising but I'm not sure I pulled that one or not ?
The 0.030 had 3 pretty decent, as the 1 low one, I call as a 1st round fouler.
Had 1 round left, so at 14 rounds on a clean barrel, and 21 total on the barrel, I thought I'd just shoot it to the 0.030 group to finish the 5 shot group. It went well.
Loading 10, right now, to revisit 0.030 off again, then try 0.020 off ?
Pretty tight will clean, and go to distance.
Maybe I can get steady enough again to shoot ragged holes ?

Here's the blue goose !

Hey BSA,
Revisited 0.030 off, and wasn't impressed. Then shot 0.020.
Shot 3 felt good, but ?
So gonna try again.

.020" off definitely looks better. You sure that is optimum charge weight? Hopefully your back if feeling better buddy. I shot a match yesterday, thinking my ribs were pretty healed up and nope!!! Started feeling it right away. Shooting prone off of a cement pad sucks!!! Well, we had a thin mat to lay on, but that didn't help the ribs much. ha ha.. Glad to see your rifle looks like it has potential.

Back won't be better til up coming surgery.
I can fiddle with powder if I can't get a max charge shooting with oal changes.
Gonna try to go shoot tomorrow.
Doc appointments filling the week starting Tuesday.

So I scored some factory Hornady ammo.
The wind is gettin it here, with some pretty strong gusts, but I had to shoot again today.
6mm ARC, Ballistic Advantage barrel on a BCA side charging upper.
Since it's not ideal conditions I only shot 3 of each to see. 1st pic, 105's, second pic, 108 eldm's, and 3rd is a reload I tried with varget, and 105's set at 0.020 off. The 2 shots touching is my 90gr ballistic tip load. The 1 in the circle was aimed there, after a 2 click up adjustment. 1 click left after the shot to call it good.

Not bad buddy. I hear you about the wind. It has been gusting here too. I've been trying to fine tune an old rifle that I just bought. I almost gave in and shot some 3 shot groups today because of the damn wind. I tried to compensate and hold over a bit, ended up fn myself and the group, but shot one I was pretty happy with. Only testing some loads I had on hand for my other rifles. Next will be load development for the old girl... Your arc is not doing bad. I'm surprised Auk and the others are not chiming it on your thread.

If you are looking for small groups at the range, I would think about maybe snugging 108 elds up to the lands if your barrel allows, and running them fast.

I never could get great groups with 105 bthp hornadys, but I think I found an moa group with the Shooters World Varget clone. Not fast though.

If I remember right, my best groups were with Berger 95s in a slotted mag, ran fast and snug on the lands, and 108 elds on the lands ran fast as well.

A surprisingly decent bullet for groups on paper was Hornady's 95 SST or whatever they call it. If I remember right it wasn't much trouble finding a moa group for paper punching, and at least at the time I was playing with bullets, it was a little cheaper and easier to find than other stuff.

Sometime I need to try some Berger 108s or 109s, whatever they are. But I settled on the 108 elds as being plenty good enough for me.

I bought 200, 105's, and just bought 2 pounds of leverevolution.
I am playing with the 6 arc as a range toy, and planning on using my Grendel for hunting.

Another one that might be worth trying is the Sierra 107. I need to try that one sometime myself, just for giggles.

Lever evolution shot best in my barrel. If you don't have any luck with Lever, try some cfe 223 or blc2. But I am betting you will find a good load with Lever and one of the 95 grain bullets, or one of the 107-108-109 class.

Varget and 90 gr ballistic tips are shooting great. A bit slow tho.
Gonna try some 105's at factory oal, and see how that shoots.

If you want speed you better find some leverevolution, 2520 or CFE 223, even then you will be disappointed in the velocity. Should’ve found a 22-24 inch tube. I pulled factory ammo and weighed the charges and it lines up with leverevolution data hornady has listed. I have notes on my foray into the 6 ARC adventure. I eventually chit canned the whole project and bought me a 18inch 1-6.5 twist 224 Valkyrie barrel. I can shoot 88’s at the same velocity as the 6 ARC does with 105-108’s.

I'll take the 224 Grendel over all of it. Vastly superior brass,shorter case and more bullet,in like COAL and at greater velocity. Hint.

Lever' is of course where it's at and it's a mainstay in a coupla dozen High Zoot Rifles. Kiss,find pressure and rock on...if only as per always. Pass the Lapooey brass and hold the Fluff. Hint..............


Edit: gotsta' be better than 3-dozen rifles,after a re-thunk. 223,223AI,224 Grendel,22 BR,224Wby,270,243 Grendel,6 BR,264 Grendel...offa the top of my head.

I need to build a 224 Grendel and call it a day. The Valkyrie can be a finicky mf’er and brass is iffy. Like to be able to use lapua for my brass that’s what makes the 224 Grendel even more appealing.

Edit to add in a AR platform. Bolt gun I just build a fast twist 223 to shoot thd 88 eld-m.

I have 2 pounds (the limit) of leverevolution on its way.
So Stick, you saying your loading the 105's right at the start of the rifling?
No set back ??

The magazine is going to dictate the OAL. If using ASC stainless steel mags you can seat out to 2.310-2.315ish. I would start from their and seat in how many thousandths increments be it .005 or. .010, best thing if you don’t have a pile of bullets or powder is to use Berger bullets method. Using 2.310 as your starting point
6-2.310
6-2.260
6-2.220
Shoot 3 shot groups not 6 shot groups. Yeah I know 3 shot groups but this how Berger recommends doing it.

I bet the sweet spot is between 2.260-2.310.

I was getting my best Around 2.270-2.290 when the rifle would shoot.

Factory 105's shot under an inch, so I thought of trying that oal length too.
Don't know what it is right off the top of head. Pain pills make me stupid !!

Repost...if only to keep someone from getting hurt. Hint.



"It is VERY fhuqking easy to simply Start At The Fhuqking Start and KNOW what is doing what and more importantly why. Hint.

Headspace CONTROL and seating depth,are the two greatest benefits to Reloading,but folks line up for miles to disregard both for "reasons" I'll never fhuqking understand. Hint.

Positive headspace is finite control of Virgins and subsequent firing(s). Less control,ALL bets are off. That in regards to accuracy,precision,case life and safety. If brass chambers less mechanical(felt) resistance,you should be scared to fhuqking death. NEVER move more brass than is requisite to establish same and thus the impetus to START with positive headspaced false shoulders. Hint.

Conjoin same with a Smooch and all starts straight,by literal default. Accuracy,precision,case life and safety are all greatly bolstered. Given that headspace is obviously fhuqked up,you are certainly over gassed and driving too much cyclic rate to boot. I like heavy buffers,for more than a few reasons,as they are more static than Adjustable Blocks,which suits my applications best. Hint.

If only again,Scotch Tape and a Sharpie will reveal all. Hint................."

Old thread I know, but I feel like this knowledge below would benefit me. Can someone who speaks Stick please translate, to help my thick head learn?

Ain't nothing in there that you won't find in a reloading manual. In English.

In plain text, only squeeze your brass down enough to chamber tightly. Start long, and slowly adjust down to when your brass will chamber. It now sits tight to the chamber dimensions.
Then test seating depths. Start at 0.010 off, and go back .005 .(my way) You'll find a depth your barrel will like.
I hope I typed this easy enough to understand ?

Thank you! I actually did know that, turns out. Ha.

Now what is this about scotch tape and a sharpie?

Size a case with your die that you believe to be properly adjusted, apply layer of scotch tape to the case head and trim around the circumference, and then see how easily it chambers. Kind of a makeshift field gauge. Once you verify your sizing die adjustment for proper headspace, seat a bullet in one such case and blacken the bullet with a sharpie then chamber it. Extract and eject, and inspect the blackened bullet for evidence of contact with the lands. IMO you want to be off the lands by a minimum of about 0.005" to 0.010" to make sure that chambered rounds aren't jamming the bullet into the lands...otherwise you might have some very aggravating problems when you attempt to unload a loaded chamber.

There are other ways to accomplish the same goals.

Aha, very nice. Thanks for the translations!

No kidding