C8 Replica build-plan for review

That also looks like a new design of short-lever ambi safety in LF's last pic. Hex-head screw stands out a good bit more than on USGI ambis too.

Right now, my brain is going in two different directions, one line of thought being attempting to keep up with Current Spec, the other to freeze at Afghanistan Combat setup in memory of your countrymen who gave their lives alongside our GIs over there.
 
Update: Rail just arrived and installed! Big thank-you to Josh at Buckeye Tactical in Colorado for special-ordering 'em for me.
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josh1976 said:
I've enjoyed reading your thread. A great compilation of information. I built an original C8 in memory of my brother.
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Thanks--someday I hope to write up a definitive "How To with best commercial equivalents," taking into account the handicap of parts availability on opposite sides of the border. Having both in hand, comparing the commercial Presma endplate to the original CF single-slot, if you don't know the exact detail differences to look for the two come pretty close, for example.
 
BCM C8 SFW URG has an extra 0.3" over CF spec to make it Title I/NFA-compliant. The upper group was a complete, off-the-shelf purchase with only rear BUIS, handguards/rail/VFG and replacement front sight added by me--otherwise the upper is straight out of the box.

Sorry, fellas, a third of an inch isn't worse $200 extra, months of waiting, and having to ask some arsebandit bureaucrat "Mother May I?" every time I want to take it to a match in Oregon or Idaho. If NFA ever gets an overdue Die-In-A-Fire I might consider having it shortened to "proper clone spec," but not before.
 
Update: Time to order a stock, and it's decision time...

M&A Parts has the basic CAR they've offered for years for around US$25. Retro Rifles offers what appears to be the same molding in an OD Green that they claim to be Canadian clone spec (I doubt it, they also try to pass off Olive Drab triangle handguards as "Canadian") for $25, and Brownells just introduced a new clone engineered by B5 Systems (one of the two US Government-approved SOPMOD stock contractors) for $40. Three different options, different pros and cons.

M&A:
Pro - Better price, generally better comms. Black color would ensure more consistent matching when Cerakoted with rest of furniture set.
Con - Older tooling, may not be as precise a clone as more modern reverse-engineering technology.

Retro Rifles:
Pro - Price. Already a shade of green.
Con - Unreliable product description. Possible skeevy misleading product descriptions. Utter lack of response to communications.

Brownells:
Pro - Freshly re-engineered by a leading shop. Known reliable vendor. What Brownells has chosen for their clone CAR-15s.
Con - Almost twice the price.
 
And one's installed while the other gets Cerakoted.
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To do: Recoil pad, tri-rail, both in process of arranging. Mags, waiting for DSG to restock their 10-pack screaming deal. Time to start loading SS109 (I forget what your version of the SS109 projectile is, down here M855 Green Tip) into stripper clips while I wait...
 
So what do you think of the Brownell’s CAR stock?

Love the Colt CAR but they’re getting scarce.
 
Leg said:
So what do you think of the Brownell’s CAR stock?

Love the Colt CAR but they’re getting scarce.
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Stipulating that I've never handled an original myself... looks believable, feels solid, no regrets here. B5 Systems knew what they were doing when they made it, and Brownells knew what they were doing when they subcontracted B5 to do the engineering.
 
So, these will be the last pics until the green furniture comes back from the gunsmith. The Umbrella Corp. lower isn't clone-correct, but it's a little personal touch for the GF--and since UCWRG's tolerances make Colt look loose by comparison she's getting a better piece of hardware for it.

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The endplate sling-mounts are admittedly toed out at a different angle than the latest CF, but they look pretty close to the right shape and I'd bet could be hammered in closer; I have references in my gunsmith's hands to make a final recommendation on Cerakote and get me a quote and then this thing will be properly Canadian Green-ified. What's left that I need to work on?
 
Just a few minor updates now that the build is almost fully finalized. It doesn't have a bolt-carrier group installed even though I have one meant for it in-hand, testing will be done with the BCG out of another AR because I wanted to save one piece of the job for my gal to put the "finishing touch" on herself like Leland Stanford personally sledgehammering the last Golden Spike to complete the rail line to California. The Toolcraft BCG's deviate from milspec only in nitrate rather than phosphate finish treatment, I find the former both slicker and more durable.

ComponentM4C8A3
Upper Receiver GroupDSA 14.7 Service SeriesBCM C8 SFW, comp replaced with A2 FH
Furniture FinishFDECerakote H-189 Noveske Bazooka Green OR
KG Gunkote #2402LF Light OD OR
KG Gunkote #2402OA Oasis Green
Rail Systems/
Handguard/
Rail Covers		KAC M4 RAS included with upper
Manta M4 cover kit, FDE		6-hole skinny CAR handguard
BCM Tri-Rail
G&G airsoft (barf) Tri-ad, Cerakoted for heat resistance
Cadex CMR-418-01 handguard rail
cut Magpul OD ladder-cover to fit Tri-ad
Front SightMilspec .072" Square FSPBlitzkrieg Components .040" Round FSP
Rear BUISMatech 200-600mDiemaco fixed from an anonymous friend here (you know who you are, and thank you)
Bolt Carrier GroupToolcraft black-nitrideToolcraft black-nitride
Charging HandleMilspec
Badger 249-02 latch		Milspec
True North Arms "hook" latch (temp. not shipping to USA)
Lower ReceiverAero M4 Clone(not clone-correct) Umbrella Corporation, custom color-fill
Atomic Engraving custom 80%
KG Gunkote #2500 Anodized True Black
Buffer AssemblyMilspec 6-position kitMilspec 6-position kit (thanks to Wigbones at M4C)
Tiger Rock SA011 double-QD endplate (not precisely latest CF spec but a close "fake it")
Colt Canada double-slot or "triangles" endplate
Warlord Tactical steel airsoft (yuck) L119A1 endplate OR
Odin Works ambi sling endplate
StockB5 SOPMOD, FDEBrownells CAR
Canadian-surplus green recoil pad
Warlord Tactical airsoft (ick) C8 buttpad, Gunkoted in 1202NG Napa Green
Fire Control GroupALG QMSALG QMS
Safetymilspec ambimilspec ambi
Mag CatchCDNN Sports clone NorgonCDNN Sports clone Norgon
Grip and
Accessories		FAB Defense AG43, FDE (my go-to grip)A2, Gunkoted 2402NG Napa Green
Otis Grip-Kit
ForegripGrip-Pod GPS-02 OR
KAC Broomstick		Cadex 622-000 OD
OpticTrijicon ACOG OR
Aimpoint PRO		Eotech 552 w/ Eotech LBC laser battery-cover and Insight tape-switch
computer cable-ties for mounting tape
GG&G #1190 Accucam QD lever and #1275FTE lens covers on the way
ADM #1601 Eotech riser on the way
Weapon-Mounted LightSurefire G2 with 6PX head upgrade
Vltor SM-CK mount
Surefire XM07 tailcap/tapeswitch upgrade		Insight M3X unavailable
Inforce WML
SlingBlue Force Gear VCAS-125-OA-CB
Damage Industries 1.25" sling swivels
Canadian-issue unavailable for US import
Elite Survival Systems Shift 2-to-1 as "act-alike"
Non-standard Personal ModificationsUSB drive "logbook," mounted on QD swivel w/ black ID tag
USB drive "logbook," mounted on QD swivel w/ green ID tag
Future revisions will be editing this post rather than adding new ones, most future activity will probably be as my M4 progresses--I fast-tracked "her gun" due to parts disappearing from the market.
 
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New parts: Tape switch for laser, cable-ties for switch and substitute sling (we're going with ESS Shift as an "acts-like" stand-in) in-hand and installed. Lens covers, QD lever and riser for Eotech all on the way.

Furniture has been narrowed to Gunkote Light OD or Oasis Green. (The GF's picks from the KG catalog, then she told me to have my pro smith use whichever he thinks best.) Then I just need to figure out how to subdue that bright-white BCM logo without obliterating it, and get the recoil pad arranged. Bayonet is my beloved's problem, a responsibility she's cheerfully embraced on this project. I just hope that when C. drops the bolt-carrier in to complete it, it's a weapon worthy of the effort this community has put into helping me craft it. There will of course be completion shots, but now it's time to debate whether to throw my M4 clone into this thread since they're meant to be a His & Hers set or spin up a new one once I get my half's URG ordered next year.

I'm not going to proclaim gunsmithing greatness here (though I *am* using this build as a resume trying to see if my pro smith will sign me on as an apprentice), but I have no qualms about trumpeting that this project is what it is because of you guys picking me up and carrying me on your shoulders.
 
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