I’m in the process of building an AR pistol, which I will later turn into an SBR. I’m not interested in building an mk18 clone, I just want the most reliable, proven short-barreled upper for a basic setup (i.e. RIS not needed). I guess what I want to know is do I really have to go to a DD or a Colt to get that, or will the LMT or PSA serve me just as well? Of course, I love me some Colts, but if I can get away with spending less for this build I will. Any opinions on any of the uppers are greatly appreciated. Thanks! Happy shooting. 
LMT is a top notch 10.X" upper, if it’s an affordable option then go for it. IMO, the reason to get the Colt is to get the complete factory SBR, and the reason to get the DD would be price or package price with a RIS-2.
I haven’t seen an LMT 10.5 in a long time. Didn’t know if they even still made the things…
There’s one for sale on here.
Yeah… I saw that one. Just wondered why they quit making them.
I don’t believe they ever did quit making them. It’s on their website and various vendors stock it, they just sell out quickly.
I haven’t shot a SAW shorty, but Ken Elmore makes excellent kit. His proprietary tweaks result in a top notch gun. I am actually buying one of his special production guns within a week. Then the fucking wait for the stamps begins.
If you want proven reliability and since you are starting with an AR pistol (which means you can’t buy a factory SBR) then I would get a BCM 11.5" upper.
There all equally good. Go with the one that cheapest or available now if your in a hurry. But honestly since you don’t have the lower sbr’d yet is buy a complete factory sbr.
If BCM made a 10.5/10.3 I would have included them for sure. I already have a virgin stripped lower ready to go, so I will be starting with a pistol, not with a complete SBR. I will SBR it later when I get some more funds. Thank you for the suggestions though. 
BCM doesn’t make one because it was Pauls’ experience that the 11.5" offered better reliability and more dwell time as opposed to the 10.5".
One inch doesn’t make an difference in the real world in this instance. But, don’t take my word for it.
Based on what?
I can’t speak about psa or the colt 10.3 uppers. The shortest colt I’ve shot was a 11.5.
I own a 10.5 inch lmt upper(has a bcm bcg in it) and a 10.3 inch dd barreled upper. My first lmt upper was bad and keyholed cheap ammo but they replaced it quick with good cs. To be fair too it shot everything, just didn’t stabilize crappy 55gr ammo. I mostly shoot 62 gr ammo through them. The lmt generally is suppressed now as I built the 10.3 to shoot unsuppressed.
The LMT gun has had a few thousand rounds shot through it of almost everything. I can’t think of a problem with it and generally it is dirty. Suppressed it is very dirty.
The DD upper is pretty new and only has a few hundred rounds through it and it hasn’t been cleaned yet. Seems to be doing good so far but I really don’t have enough rounds through it to see but so many problems. I know others with the DD mk18 style uppers and they have been happy with them(mine has a fsb).
Really is you want a 10 inch upper I’d say either DD or LMT is GTG. The saw colt ones should be good as well as I’ve never really read anything bad about saw’s stuff working.
I bought an lmt 10.5 recently. I was doing the “budget” sbr build. I cant remember if I bought the upper from BCM or from GandR. It has worked well for me. I went with the LMT because of the cost under the DD. I also had an LMT 14.5 that was pinned, and ran like a champ for 2k rounds. Sure, it isnt parkarized under the fsb, but that isnt a deal breaker for me.
I would buy the Colt, DD, or LMT before I even considered a PSA.
In fact I can’t think of a reason to consider the PSA especially in a 10.5.
I believe the Colt’s record speaks for itself and I can’t recall hearing about any issues with the LMT.
I’ve have had an LMT 10.5 for years since before BCM or DD were offering uppers. At the time the LMT was pretty much the go to 10.5. I have not had the opportunity to run this particular rifle through a class, but it has run thousands of drills with thousands of rounds of ammo without a single malfunction. It has been cleaned rarely but lubed generously with a quality lube. I almost exclusively run it with Federal XM193 or XM855 but it has run some PMC, Wolf, UMC, etc mainly just to test for function.
DD is a reliable company with a quality product, and a DD employee ran a DD 10.5 beside me on the line through an EAG class for three days without a malfunction that I can recall.
I think you will be well served by any of the Colt, LMT, or DD.
Good info, everyone… RD62, just curious what about PSA makes you not consider them? Did you have a bad experience? I’ve heard a lot of good things about them so far, although I know they are new. So far I’m leaning towards the LMT–due to cost/reputation–but I know PSA has some really good deals at times and the LMT is also not always available. Just curious what your thoughts were. Thanks!
I only have hands on experience with one PSA rifle so it’s not exactly statistically significant, but experienced some early teething issues with a 16" Middy of my father’s.
Nothing that wasn’t immediately recoverable and with additional rounds downrange things seem to have smoothed out and I haven’t seen any FTF/FTE in the last few outings.
It was initially the grittiest AR action I had personally felt and I believe whatever was causing this feeling contributed directly or indirectly to the initial malfunctions. It self corrected before a proper diagnosis could be made though, so no attempt was made to contact PSA.
The initial minor issues, their reported and experienced CS struggles, and the fact that the Mid-length system is inherently more forgiving that a Carbine system and even more so than a 10.5" Carbine system leads me to not personally be willing to roll the dice on a PSA SBR upper. Especially when there are so many other proven and quality SBR uppers available and already mentioned in this thread.
For my father who is going to put a 100 rounds or so down range punching paper from the bench once every few months the features and price made sense. He isn’t hunting with it, taking classes, or keep it for HD. Only to tag along on range trips. For those purposes it was a good value. For me personally, I will continue to frequent PSA (they are local to me and have a pretty good selection of quality accessories and ammo in their retail locations) for ammo, mags, etc. For rifles I will continue to buy other brands.
Overall, I think they are trying very hard to offer a quality product at a very competitive price and I am glad they have brought their offerings to my local market, but I think they have issues with the rate at which they are trying to grow. They now have 3-4 retail locations across the state, a full indoor range, their on-line store, and are now offering local training classes. I think it’s too much too fast and their CS and QC can’t keep up. They seem to be good people, and I hope they have continued success, but they’ll have to prove a good bit to me before I look to them over BCM, DD, Colt, or LMT.
Ya get what ya pay for.
For what it’s worth…
Although I don’t have experience with their 10.5’ offering, I have a 12" upper from Palmetto, and a 14.7" , that have been very reliable with a broad spectrum of ammunition in .223 & 5.56…
They are Hammer Forged FN barrels, in the Gov’t profile…
If you want the most reliable, “basic” 10.5 out of the box i’m not sure there are really upper-tier options other than LMT and Noveske. Of those two I would pick Noveske only because I have read a couple people have had reliability issues with basic 10.5 LMT’s.
DD and Colt will have railed handguards for that bbl length which does not fit your “basic” requirement.
This is assuming you are purchasing a complete upper.
All three are great, never an issue with any of them.
Noveske is stainless barreled and a tack driver (shoots better than my 6920)
LMT and BCM are solid performers, reliable and more accurate than expected.
I would say my favorite length if i could only have one is 12/12.5".
If it were me, buy a complete 12" SBR Bravo Co from Grant (board sponsor) for $1,025 (upgrade to a Geissle trigger, Aimpoint H-1 and call it done)
http://www.gandrtactical.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=CQB-MOD011