Which part of the upper is most important?

[THESEUS]

So I'm looking around at parts trying to save money on an upper build and I'm wondering which parts I should spend the money on and which parts I can upgrade later?
I'm guessing the BCG and the barrel are most important?


How is the Aero 5.56 BCG quality wise? its $200

 

[Dusty94]

BCG and Barrel are the most important, definitely lean more towards the barrel though if accuracy is a big deal as diminishing returns are more prominent in the BCG. I would also highly recommend choosing a barrel with a Mid-Length gas system, there really isn't a need for a Carbine system especially if you're shooting a barrel thats 14 inches or longer, and the added recoil impulse of a carbine system just ends up being something you spend money on other parts like the buffer system to mitigate.

After that, a good muzzle device would affect your shooting the most (if you're doing more action style shooting). Maybe a nicer buffer system like a VLTOR A5, Geissele Super 42, etc.

Things like fancy charging handles, mag releases, etc are just quality of life changes that aren't important to start with, but are nice to have later down the line.

As far as the Aero BCG, it should be good to go. To be honest, I haven't had any issues with any BCGs I own, ranging from cheap no-names to Colt Canada, as long as they have properly staked gas keys you shouldn't have any issues. The fanciest I own are a Colt Canada BCG and a Faxon Lightened BCG, with the Faxon being the only one with an appreciable difference (that being reduced weight).

 

[rifleman338]

I'd sink my money into the barrel. Most BCG's will serve you well, unless you want to drop the coin on one of the skeletoized versions, but then there will be additional costs to get it to run 100% (i.e. buffers and springs).

 

[THESEUS]

BCG and Barrel are the most important, definitely lean more towards the barrel though if accuracy is a big deal as diminishing returns are more prominent in the BCG. I would also highly recommend choosing a barrel with a Mid-Length gas system, there really isn't a need for a Carbine system especially if you're shooting a barrel thats 14 inches or longer, and the added recoil impulse of a carbine system just ends up being something you spend money on other parts like the buffer system to mitigate.

After that, a good muzzle device would affect your shooting the most (if you're doing more action style shooting). Maybe a nicer buffer system like a VLTOR A5, Geissele Super 42, etc.

Things like fancy charging handles, mag releases, etc are just quality of life changes that aren't important to start with, but are nice to have later down the line.

As far as the Aero BCG, it should be good to go. To be honest, I haven't had any issues with any BCGs I own, ranging from cheap no-names to Colt Canada, as long as they have properly staked gas keys you shouldn't have any issues. The fanciest I own are a Colt Canada BCG and a Faxon Lightened BCG, with the Faxon being the only one with an appreciable difference (that being reduced weight).

Great info! So I'm looking at this one for $240 14.5” Hanson Mid. Ballistic Advantage 5.56x45 Performance Series Barrel, 14.5", Hanson Mid-Length W/ Gas Block

I know very little about ARS which doesn't help

Is that one decent and should I go 16" over that size barrel?

 

[Dusty94]

That barrel will serve you well, and it comes with a gas block already which is nice too, you'll just need to buy a mid-length gas tube if it doesn't come with one.

As far as length, it depends what your intention is. I'd personally go with the 14.5 just because having access to shorter barrels with ease is something our American friends to the South can't, and many barrels are made to 16 inches purely because of their own gun laws. The velocity gain from a 14.5 to a 16 inch is negligible, but a 14.5 is appreciably shorter and easier to handle. If you want this AR to be more of a distance shooter, you can always go for an 18 inch midlength. Some guys in 3 gun competitions like to use longer barrels since they can have minimal muzzle climb due to their weight in combination with a muzzle brake, but personally I have a 14.5 inch pencil/gunner profile barrel on my 3 gun AR.

If you want to go even shorter, 11.5-12.5 inch barrels are also available in mid length and far superior to the short, overgassed 10.5 inch barrels that a lot of people with short ARs built in the last decade have. Basically, the short barrels had to have larger gas ports to function reliably (since there was minimal barrel length/dwell time for the gas behind the the bullet to feed through the gas tube and cycle the gun. This meant that at times the gun would cycle too hard and require a heavier buffer, all of which increase the wear on parts. The 11-12.5 inch barrels are enough of a refinement with the extra dwell time that they generally aren't as picky to troubleshoot)

I wouldn't overthink it much for a first AR, I think the 14.5 is a sweet spot where it could realistically perform anything you ask of it, it's a versatile enough length where it doesn't suffer some downsides of very short barrels in the 10.5 inch range, and isn't unwieldy in close range shooting like a 20 inch. The nice things about ARs is that if you really feel the need for a longer or shorter barrel, you can always build another upper and just use the same lower.

 

[thegrandpoohbah]

Brownell's has a sale on this weekend. You can get one of their in-house branded BCGs for $70-80 USD (depending on the finish) plus $10 for shipping. Even if you get hit with taxes and duty it will still be far cheaper than anything in Canada.