The 6.5 Creedmor Lego Build Pt.1
If you followed my Remington 700 precision rifle platform, you will enjoy this one as well. The Remington 700 package was a great rifle. It shot very accurately, consistently, but there was some room for improvement.
This brings me to the 6.5 Creedmor based off of the DPMS pattern AR10 platform. In Part 1 of this blog, I am going to explain why I chose the gas-gun route v.s. the bolt action, purpose of the rifle, and the parts going on this rifle.
Why the gas-gun instead of a bolt action?
As with anything, there are pros and cons with any setup. However, for my purposes the gas-gun won the pros and cons battle.
1. The AR platform has become much more accurate with all of the new options for barrels, matched bolts, and higher quality parts.
2. The AR market has many options for parts whereas some bolt action rifles have proprietary actions/chassis/barrels or they are based off of a Remington 700 action. So if you bought a Savage action, not every chassis will fit it. The DPMS pattern AR10 platform has a much wider range of parts to choose from which gives me a lot more flexibility.
3. Follow-up shots--with a bolt action, you take your shot, watch the bullet trace, see the impact or miss, and then you run your bolt which delays your second shot or follow-up shot. With the gas-gun, you just pull the trigger, dispatch the target or make your second shot correction much faster. You could argue that the difference in that time is miniscule but I would have to disagree depending upon the distance of the shot.
For example, if you are shooting a target at 1,000yds and your bullets TOF (time of flight) is roughly 3 seconds, then you run your bolt which takes about 1.5-2 seconds depending upon how fast you are, and then your additional 2-3 seconds to fire another shot. You could run your bolt right after the shot and watch the trace but that's not always an option. So the total time of the engagement was about 7-8 seconds. If you subtract 3 seconds for TOF, that still leaves you with 4-5 seconds before the next shot was fired.
So how is this relevant? How fast do wind conditions change? The wind changes sporadically for the most part, so if I am making a second shot correction or a follow-up shot based on a hit, it's important for me to use that same DOPE to shoot in the closest of similar conditions again.
Many high-level precision rifle shooters use bolt actions. I am not saying they are wrong for doing so at all. I personally prefer a gas-gun for the reasons listed above. Where the AR platform loses out is velocity. All things being equal, the bolt gun will have higher velocity numbers.
What is the purpose of the rifle?
My intentions with this rifle is to fit multiple purposes. It's not uncommon to see someone who has a hunting rifle, competition rifle, "battle rifle", and their hobby rifle. I don't know about you but I would rather have a single rifle that performs multiple roles instead of spending more money on four others.
This will be used as the hunting rifle, competition rifle, and ect.
What parts am I using?
Upper and lower reciever- I went with the AERO Precision M5 set. I wanted a high quality set that had minimal slop between the upper and lower. This set fits with no slop at all and it's made from the same material as your higher priced Mega Arms recievers.
Rail- AERO Precision M5 keymod rail 15". I wanted a lightweight rail that would give me plenty of clearance for a low profile adjustable gas block. I also didn't want to worry about tight clearances from the gas block to the rail coming into contact with one another due to barrel flex/harmonics during firing.
Gas block- SLR rifle works is what I went with. This is my first time using this product but it looks very promising. I wanted an adjustable gas block so I don't have anymore excess gas creating excess bolt velocity, fine tuning gas flow with different reloaded ammunition, and shooting suppressed/unsuppressed.
Trigger- Geissele 2 stage. I just went with the bare bones 2-stage trigger. In my opinion, the national match and DMR doesn't warrant the additional $90.00 for adjustment capability. I have used the GS2 for a while now, and I am very happy with it.
Buffer tube- AERO carbine buffer tube. It's a buffer tube; it fits tight, and you don't need to spend a fortune on it. This one from AERO is only $25.00.
Stock- Magpul STR is what I chose. I wanted a stock that was relatively light with a good setup for a nice cheek weld. I could have went with the "L" version instead of having the battery compartments but a little smidge of extra weight in the back doesn't hurt.
Be sure to check back for Part 2!
