Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

New Upper for Colt Sporter Match H-Bar AR-15

olsenjb
I purchased (new) a Colt Sporter Match H-Bar .223 AR-15 back in the early '90s (pre-ban), and I'm interested in putting a new upper on it in a different caliber. I'm wondering what companies folks on here would recommend and if there's anything special that I would need or should watch for to replace an upper on a pre-ban Colt AR-15 such as mine? I am thinking maybe a .204, or a neighbor of mine has an AR in a .243 WSSM that's pretty sweet that White Oaks made for him. Thanks for your help.
0

Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • shoff14
    You will have large takedown pin holes. In order for other uppers to work you will have to purchase some bushings.

    As far as companies go, this would depend on what you are looking for. Most companies make a decent product. With prices the way they are now, I would just buy a whole gun.
    0
  • USN_Airdale
    quote:Originally posted by olsenjb
    I purchased (new) a Colt Sporter Match H-Bar .223 AR-15 back in the early '90s (pre-ban), and I'm interested in putting a new upper on it in a different caliber. I'm wondering what companies folks on here would recommend and if there's anything special that I would need or should watch for to replace an upper on a pre-ban Colt AR-15 such as mine? Thanks for your help.


    what different caliber do you have in mind ? your Colt lower magazine well is the determining factor in changing calibers.., e.g., 7.62X51 NATO will NOT work. 6.8X43 SPC will work, .499 LWR (12.5X45) will work, basically any cartridge that will fit lengthwise (45mm) in a standard AR-15 magazine will work. you can even change it to a .22 rim fire if you want, my preference for this application is the .22 cal. TacSol upper
    0
  • sandwarrior
    olsenjb,

    It depends on what you want to get out of it. If you are launching light to medium bullets then either a 6.8 SPC or a 6.5 Grendel (6.5 Sporter) could be the ticket.
    If you are looking to increase your long range cabability then I might try either a 6.5 Grendel, or a 6mm AR. You can shoot standard bullets for these calibers. The best thing about these was high BC bullets pushed at fast enough speeds to get you over 1k supersonic.

    The real powerhouse in the AR15 platform is the 6mm BRX or 6.5 BRX. They have great numbers, but you need to buy the bolt, and magazine to fit them. You can buy them separately and put it together yourself.

    -good luck

    Edit:

    quote:Originally posted by v35
    The 6x45 is around again. It takes 223 brass expanded to 6mm and uses same bolt and magazines.
    It will shoot 70-90 grain bullets between 3100fps (70gr) and 2700 fps(90gr)



    I'll second that. You don't have to change pretty much anything but the barrel. And as noted with lighter bullets gets all the velocity you need for flat trajectory and effectiveness.
    0
  • 62fuelie
    I bought a Model 1 upper in 6.8 SPC for mine and it has worked just fine. Need to use magazines set up for the 6.8 for good functioning. They are available from a variety of sources.
    0
  • v35
    The 6x45 is around again. It takes 223 brass expanded to 6mm and uses same bolt and magazines.
    It will shoot 70-90 grain bullets between 3100fps (70gr) and 2700 fps(90gr)
    0
  • do_wa_diddy
    they have what called offset pins for the colt lowers. as far as uppers go they are all the same. everybody basically makes the same stuff. it is all what flavor YOU prefer. while people may argue that bushmaster is better than colt who is better than model one. it really doesn't matter. They all use Govt spec. parts. We use SURLUK for all our builds. They have a new barrel with the flashhider CNC'ed into the barrel (not pinned or soldered on)
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity