I found out about Daniel Defense’s new lightweight profile barrel while I was at the SHOT show. Ever since coming back and seeing Grant’s thread on the uppers that he offer with the 16" and 14.5" barrels, it pushed me over the edge to put together one to my own spec.
I ordered the 16" barrel from Daniel Defense and the following parts:
From PKFirearms:
Daniel Defense upper receiver
A2 flash hider with crush washer
Carbine length gas tube and pin
Gas block (0.625" dia.) from Midwest Ind.
Troy 11" Extreme XTR Battlerail was purchased on this forum from another member
I already have the TLR-1 light, borrowed the lower, charging handle and BCG from another gun. I’ll eventually get a DD BCG for this upper.
Still need to get the DD BUIS from our local dealer this weekend. I may put the Aimpoint T1 on this unit.
Sorry for the poor quality pictures.
The upper is very light. I can’t wait to shoot it.
That is just what I have in mind. I’ll use a spare Surefire X300, in front of an MBUS sight. An Aimpoint H-1 on a DD mount will be the RDS. I’ll use an MBUS rear.
I already have a BCM Gunfighter CH and FA BCG for it. A complete Charles Daly lower is just sitting in the safe, waiting.
I like where you’re going with this, I did something similar with a Centurion LWHF barrel and the VTAC version of the Extreme rail. I want one of those DD barrels!
My plan is a shorter version of yours. 14.5" barrel and 9.0 Troy tube.
What made you choose the MI gas block instead of the Vltor? I’m actually thinking of using one of these and chopping it up and having it pinned in place. $28 good-guy price!
What did you use on the set screws? I’ve used red loctite or rocksett in the past on well protected DD gas blocks, this time around I’m just using elbow grease and staking to keep the screws from backing out.
Right now, no locking fluid is used yet. I’ve only mechanically tighten them. I will test fire the upper and when I’m satisfied with the functioning, I will make the attachment more permanent.
I might have gone a bit overkill on that block, it was damned near press fit and with the dimple and cup tipped set screws, it is going NOWHERE without a substantial hit. Interestingly, I get no detectable gas leaking from this block whereas I got pretty used to seeing gunk around my FSBs. I think there is room to add a taper pin if I was paranoid about the strength.
You go through all the trouble of putting a lightweight upper together and then go and throw a big ‘ol RDS on it? Heh, looks very nice, I bet it handles great! I need to send my clunky 16" MRP barrel into ADCO for a diet. I’m diggin’ these lightweights.
Hehe, thanks. That RDS is huge. Seriously, I got it sitting around and don’t have a gun to put it on so I am testing it on this upper. If it works good and doesn’t break after a couple of magazines I may leave it on here for awhile. I also may swap the Aimpoint T-1 from my SBR and put it on this upper.
I don’t have a fancy electronic scale, but using an old bathroom analog scale, the gun as pictured came in at 6 lbs.
For comparison, my standard DD M4 with an Aimpoint ML2/Larue mount and the same TLR-1 light was right at 8 lbs.
Edited to add: Finally got a chance to test fire this upper at the indoor range. It was sweet. Functioned 100%, no hiccup. Got it roughly zeroed in at 20 yds, that’s the farthest position :(. Hoping to be able to get it zeroed and verified at 100 yds. this weekend at the gun club.
Hey SAM, what size is that riser on the fastfire?
Have you got a chance to run it yet?
I am looking at one but want to see how well it works before dropping the $$$.
Yes, I finally got to shoot it last night. I updated my post above. It shot very nicely within the 20 yd. indoor range. I didn’t even have to adjust the iron sights, only tweaked the red dot two notches. When I get a chance, I’ll take it outside and verify the zero at 100 yds.
The riser on the Fastfire is 1/2" high. On this upper with the Daniel Defense iron sights, it placed the red dot just on top of the front post. I guess you would call that an absolute cowitness. The riser is manufacturered by YHM but they’re out of the item for at least 6 weeks. I stumbled on it at: http://www.coldwarshooters.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=566
