swapping AR upper receivers
I bought an Armalite AR-15 A2 national match, shoots like a dream but having a hard time finding an affordable 24" flat top, so Im wondering how hard would it be to put a flat top upper receiver on my barrel? Am I just wasting time with this idea? I had considered just selling this AR and buying a flat top, but it seems nobody wants an A2 around here. Its like new in the box with exactly 50 rounds through it. any thoughts?
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Well if you have the tools, about $100 worth it is very easy to swap receivers.
So are you wanting a 24" upper or are you just looking for a flat top receiver for your gun?
If you are wanting to do a flat top are you wanting to keep your front sight post or are you wanting a railed or smooth gas block?
I have the tools to swap pull barrels. If you are interested I would be willing to swap them for you if you supply all the parts. Only cost would be shipping. I would need a better idea of exactly what you are trying to do though.0 -
Its very easy... Totally feasible, don't be deterred from it. The only tool you really need is a barrel wrench tool, which IMHO if you own an AR you should have anyway. AR's are very easy to learn to work on, very modular, and very fun. Be careful or you'll end up with more parts and not enough recievers, hahahaha 
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You also need the receiver blocks, a tapered punch, pin punch, hammer and a sturdy vise.
It's an easy job using these tools.
The A2 receiver with a 16" featherweight barrel makes for a handy, lightweight carbine.
Once you have the tools you can also change gas blocks and install free floating handguards.
I put together four different uppers (three 223s and one 6mmx45) and want to keep them all.0 -
Don't be in such a hurry. Right now there is a bottle neck on AR parts and such. Later there will probably be a glut on the market. One of the best features about the AR platform is that you pull the two pins and swap out the upper in about 5 seconds. What you want to get is a complete 24" flattop/scoped barreled upper and don't even think about swaping barrels. Even here in Calif where many guns are no longer allowed you can get AR parts, like complete barreled uppers. So even after the Commies in DC do their thing barreled uppers should still be available as they will just be parts to maintain existing rifles. And if you were to only have one style of AR, the A2 is not a bad one to have......... 0 -
quote:Originally posted by bait dunker
I bought an Armalite AR-15 A2 national match, shoots like a dream but having a hard time finding an affordable 24" flat top, so Im wondering how hard would it be to put a flat top upper receiver on my barrel? Am I just wasting time with this idea? I had considered just selling this AR and buying a flat top, but it seems nobody wants an A2 around here. Its like new in the box with exactly 50 rounds through it. any thoughts?
I am building a couple of AR lowers and would like to install an A2 upper on one of them. I think there is demand for the A2 uppers out there. As stated above you could purchase a complete new upper and either keep or sell the A2 upper.0 -
Well what I really wanted is a flat top with a heavy barrel for varmint hunting, praire dogs, rock chucks, sage rats etc. A scope would be a necessity for longer shots. This barrel on the national match is 20" so I thought it might be a perfect candidate. Perhaps I will just wait until I find what Im looking for, or buy some pieces and assemble something from scratch. Thanks for all the advice. 0 -
You already have the right barrel.
It would be cheaper to buy an upper receiver, a gas block and a free floating handguard plus the tools. Get rid of the fixed front sight.
With the wide selection of AR components out there you can assemble
exactly what you want. Brownells among others has most everything.
If the job intimidates you, a gunsmith should be able to do it reasonably.0
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