Spectre Ballistics Light Practical Carbine - NR Receiver Set

[SpectreBallistics]

Can you save us some grief and list the components that you have tried with a quick description of how they worked?

Here's a quick summary:

Mossberg MMR 5.56 Barrel /w various bolts: Fail - sticky chamber. Has the same issue on the donor AR-15. The chamber is visibly rough. Will try polishing chamber to fix, but waiting on tools.

Whitelabel 6.5 Grendle Barrel /w various bolts: Fail - sticky chamber with 1 bolt, would not chamber with another bolt. Headspace is very tight in both cases, and both bolts are very cheap with sharp edges. Polished the chamber which improved functioning slightly. Will try polishing the extractor. Might ream the barrel down the road.

NEA 14.5" 5.56 Barrel /w various bolts: Works well with certain ammo. PMC 223 works well, but extraction is not always smooth. Federal XM855 green tips worked very nice. Independence XM193 works fine. Barnaul steel case jams up and will not extract.

MRA 18.6 223 Wyld Barrel /w various bolts: Works fine with most ammo. Barnaul sometimes will stick. Independence XM193 always sticks. Accuracy is 3MOA at best. This is exactly the same performance when the barrel was installed on a MacDef SLR. Accuracy might get better with 77gr ammo or hand loads.

Faxon 18.6 5.56 Barrel /w various bolts: Works great with all brass cased ammo. Works ok with steel case. Accuracy is excellent, and will achieve 1MOA no problem. This is the same performance when the barrel was installed on a MacDef SLR.

We are going to try out a M&P 15 barrel later this week. I'd also like to try out an IBI barrel soon.

It's important to remember that we're testing out a barrel and bolt, which has little to do with the action. Since it's a bolt action extraction and feeding issue are more obvious. If you have a donor rifle that sorta kinda works and you know has extraction problems or feed problems, those issues will be carried over.

[tinman304]

Sorta.

Obviously we have delayed launching the first batch a bit. Without going into detail, before selling them we have to finish up some corporate administration stuff. Thanks to covid19, this is taking way longer than it should. We have the first batch complete, and the 2nd batch is well underway. We have not stopped, or even slowed down machining receiver sets. While everyone is anxious to get their gun, please be patient as this is currently out of our hands. Trust us, we want to get these things out the door!

On another note we have been doing a lot of testing, specifically with cheap components. We know a lot of people are going to use the cheapest barrels and bolts possible to build these. Unfortunately in many cases the quality just isn't there and this has caused extraction issues in our testing. We found this is related to chamber finish and tight headpace. These issues can be fixed, but that requires special tools. So people should be aware of that. If you're spending $800 on a receiver set, use good components and you'll have a good time. Faxon barrels are working great for us. Excellent accuracy, feeding, and extraction. White label cheapo barrels are not so good.

Just got a faxon barrel last week for this build! I'm good to go!

[SpectreBallistics]

Just got a faxon barrel last week for this build! I'm good to go!

You won't be disappointed with that barrel. Best barrel I've even owned.

[AbHobbyist]

To the SBI Team

Thank you for the constructive update!!

So many possibilities here!!

If we are talking build strategies ................. As I like precision rifles that can shoot a long way inexpensively

I am very tempted to build a 224 Valkyrie on this receiver set.

regards

AbH

[trigger'06]

Have you been brave enough to try steel cased 7.62x39?
I'm very curious about this .

[Jmassecar]

Just got a faxon barrel last week for this build! I'm good to go!

I 2nd the faxon barrel. I have a 9mm AR paperweight barrel. Bought a 6.5 Grendel faxon barrel for this build. Glad I did apparently.

[SpectreBallistics]

Have you been brave enough to try steel cased 7.62x39?
I'm very curious about this .

This week we will.

[Ustauk]

Have you been brave enough to try steel cased 7.62x39?
I'm very curious about this .

This week we will.

I know RWA uses IBI barrels with their 7.62x39 180 uppers, you may want to try that. Good luck!

[Geoff B]

Thanks for the detailed feedback. I want to try out an NEA in 5.56 and maybe 7.62X39. Apparently, NEA barrels were supplied by a well-respected company, but no one will say who.
I promise to give a report once the receiver kit arrives.

[556x45guy]

MRA 18.6 223 Wyld Barrel /w various bolts: Works fine with most ammo. Barnaul sometimes will stick. Independence XM193 always sticks. Accuracy is 3MOA at best. This is exactly the same performance when the barrel was installed on a MacDef SLR. Accuracy might get better with 77gr ammo or hand loads.

ugggghhhh...that's a tad disconcerting; I picked up a 16" MRA wylde barrel specifically for this. I do, however, plan on using heavier pills, handloaded.

Is the tested MRA barrel a 1-8" twist?

Absolute worse case is the LPC gets my 224 Valkyrie barrel and bolt, I guess, but it would definitely **not** be light, practical, or a carbine in that configuration.