alberta tactical rifle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- calgary alberta
$300 - $350 for a barrel depending on the configuration required. Upper price depends on the components you choose. Doc's upper was roughly $1200
300 Fireball AR15 (Brass forming - post #150)
- Thread starter Suputin
- Start date
alberta tactical rifle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- calgary alberta
Yep and we are trying to get another one finished today. The barrel is up in the lathe at this exact second. 
alberta tactical rifle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- calgary alberta
The forend we are using for this particular build has a series of cooling slots, so we arranged the barrel engraving to be visible through the slots. It seemed like a nice touch. (Yes Doc, yours is the same as this)
Call the shop 403-277-7786, we have a second 300 Fireball upper ready to go in a few days. Just waiting on some paint and a minor part.
Call the shop 403-277-7786, we have a second 300 Fireball upper ready to go in a few days. Just waiting on some paint and a minor part.
This... is... HOTTTT!!! Oh man, so awesome. Seriously.
And keeping my barrel stainless is a good touch too, I think. The more I look, the more I like.
-M
And keeping my barrel stainless is a good touch too, I think. The more I look, the more I like.
-M
The forend we are using for this particular build has a series of cooling slots, so we arranged the barrel engraving to be visible through the slots. It seemed like a nice touch. (Yes Doc, yours is the same as this)
Best impulse purchase EVER!
alberta tactical rifle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- calgary alberta
Someone just called up and purchased the second upper.
To everyone else ..... you snooze, you lose.
To everyone else ..... you snooze, you lose.
Someone just called up and purchased the second upper.
To everyone else ..... you snooze, you lose.
Shabang!
Rick, something tells me you're going to need to put together a few more of these... I've got some buddies up here (non-CGNers) who are frothing at the mouth to see mine already.
That, plus the response here on CGN, makes it look like it could be a pretty good AR15 'niche'...
-M
Did ya buy one??? Are we gonna be .300 Fireball / Whisper buddies???
-M
Yup...couldn't let that opportunity pass me by! I see you are in the Edmonchuck area as well...if work ever gives me some time off I'm seriously itching to make some brass.
Someone just called up and purchased the second upper.
To everyone else ..... you snooze, you lose.
Last edited:
alberta tactical rifle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- calgary alberta
Remington makes new 221 Fireball brass and Wholesale Sports has it in stock. Its not exactly cheap but it is available.
Yup. That's where I'll be heading.
Just as a buffer against the eventual shock... it's about $78-81 a bag at WSS if I recall correctly.
I have dies on the way from Sinclair... I should've ordered two sets, but knew that Suputin has his own dies already and wasn't sure if/when someone else would jump on board with us two.
-M
You guys should really get the reamer that lets you use chopped down 5.56 cases though. It gives you a cheaper and more reliable source of brass, without having to go through the hassles of neck turning. It also gets you away from the potential for donuts from sizing up the .221 cases.
The 5.56 cases are rated for higher pressure and have a thicker web, which is advantageous for supersonic loads and subsonic loads with bullets heavier than 240gr. Marstar has 260gr. plated bullets for a good price.
The 5.56 cases are rated for higher pressure and have a thicker web, which is advantageous for supersonic loads and subsonic loads with bullets heavier than 240gr. Marstar has 260gr. plated bullets for a good price.
I'm going to use 5.56 chopped for the bulk of my loads, but for speed and ease's sake I'm starting off with 100pcs of .221 and necking up.
I'm sitting on a good pile (a few thousand) .223 brass that gets circulated through the AR15... military brass too, ex-IVI. So that's where I'm planning on getting most of my eventual brass-pile from.
-M
I suspect most who get one of these will also. $150 for a reamer, split over several guns isn't a whole lot for what it saves you. If those are the prices you're paying for the .221 cases, its covered by the cost difference of 3 bags of brass.
Yup.
The great part is that RCBS makes a reamer that fits as a pilot in their trimmers; since i have an RCBS trimmer, it's a natural addition during the "final trim to length" on a .300 Fireball case. Sinclair was sold out/backordered or I would have bought one when I bought my dies...
For now, it's neck turning for me - using the equipment I actually DO have.-M
We have the reamer that we have and that is unlikely to change. This project was an iffy proposition from the beginning because it had no official support. It was simply something I wanted to do for myself. We ended up having some orphan barrel banks and managed to turn those into uppers just to see how they would work. A lot of the credit for that should go to DocM cause he was the one whining to me to get an upper made. They turned out so nicely I decided to post them to the forum. I had no idea there would be so much interest.
There is zero point in using subsonics that heavy. I can maybe see the point of eking some extra velocity out of supersonic loads but that wasn't the point of the original project so I am quite happy with the tighter chamber tolerances that we ended up with. I had always intended on using necked up 221 brass to avoid having to make brass. I am also building a 221 Fireball varmint rifle so I was always going to have to buy the brass.
For those who do want to go to the trouble to make brass, it is one additional step (inside ream the neck) to perform, which shouldn't be a big deal compared to the work that goes into cutting and forming the case in the first place.
