So I'm lookin' to procure one of those .223 varmint uppers with the heavy stainless barrels in a 24" length. I've seen a few of them in SGN; price hovers around $350-400 for almost all of them. I kinda like the Rock River Arms one with an elevated sight rail. Has anybody here used the RRA 24-incher? What did you think of it? Is there something better For a Few Dollars More?

Rootbeer,
I've built some 24" Varmint uppers and used RRA parts for many of them and they do shoot well. I used Lothar barrels instead of their's but they should shoot well also. I have both uppers in standard flattop and the EOP receiver and I prefer the standard flattop. I used Armalite's fine one piece scope mount and it put the optics in the perfect place for my eye. With the EOP, even with low rings the scope is much too high for me. I will definitly stick with the standard flattop upper from now on.

Thanks for the reply. I got the new DPMS catalog the other day; they have a plethora of varmint uppers to sell but their prices leave me to ask why are theirs so much more than RRA or Model 1 Sales? DPMS is easily $200-250 more than the others for what I would have to think is a very similar item in that the basic parts probably come from the same suppliers. A little more homework is required yet before I pick up the phone. I have to get this thing going pretty soon because I want to move out to Idaho in about 6 weeks and want to go up to northwestern PA and shoot groundchunks with a cousin before I head West. My cousin goes everyday with his 22-250; the farmers are always glad to see him. He's been doing it for several decades now. Some guys have all the luck, eh?

[ 08-20-2003, 18:07: Message edited by: rootbeer ]

rootbeer-

PM sent.

Was just over at www.model1sales.com looking at their upper assemblies. They ask me to choose the caliber: .223Rem or 5.56NATO. Now, I am not totally ignorant, but aren't these two one in the same? RRA has what they call a Wylde chamber; I was told here a while back that this is just a close-tolerance .223/5.56mm chamber. What's all the fuss about; why all the confusion? Can somebody clue me as to what to order and so I can just get this done with? If you had $400-500 to blow on something like this, what would you buy? Thanks for any reasoned, intelligent input.