Back in January, before my mother passed, the last thing on my mind was building a rifle. Things were bad, 4 of us were taking turns spending the night with her, I had a business to run, my adult daughter seemed to be running off the rails plus all of the other things in life that demand attention.
I had been wanting to build a semi-auto long range rifle for a while, but it was simply on the back burner because of all my life circumstances.
As I stated in my Kidd 22 build, semi-auto rifles are a force multiplier. I dreamed of a SR25/AR10 that would be chambered in the Creedmoor. The 6.5C was designed from the ground up to accomplish several goals. Use long skinny high BC bullets at moderate velocity/recoil that can be seated far out from the powder column due to a long neck plus do all this while fitting into standard AR10 magazines.
It is a winner. You may not want to admit it, I know it gets a lot of hate from certain folks but facts are the darndest things and it simply works like gangbusters. It meets every benchmark that can be asked of a short action AR10 friendly cartridge and goes like the Energizer Bunny. It is still supersonic long after the 308 is done. No 308 hate here, I love it too but time marches on and tech is constantly evolving. The 6.5C is here to stay and with good reason.
The following is from Strelok Pro, based on a 20” barrel, using Hornady’s 147 ELD. As you can see, at 1300 yards it is still supersonic with over 500lbs of energy. It does this with half the recoil of 308, fits into standard SR25 Pmags and is affected by wind far far less than every 308 projectile. The fact you only need to dial up 13 mils at 1300 yards is simply amazing if you are familiar with 308 ballistics.
If any of you get emails from Palmetto State Armory, you know that sometimes they run clearance deals that are incredibly hard to resist. I was at my mom’s one evening and fired up my iPad when she was asleep to find a deal I could barely believe.
A complete PA10 lower, with Magpul Miad grip, STR stock and enhanced Mil-Spec trigger for the princely sum of $179. I thought what the heck and ordered it, shipping it to my dealer. The thought was to wait a while and possibly a Creedmoor upper would be on sale eventually.
A few days later I was about to leave a customer’s home for my next appointment when I checked my email and there was the 20” stainless 6.5C upper, with the rail I preferred for $399. These uppers use a BCG designed specifically for the Creedmoor with dual ejectors and come with an adjustable gas block. I sighed heavily and ordered it.
Along about this time I began reading about some of the tuning issues with big ARs and after speaking with a fellow who had build multiple PSA big ARs, some recommendations were made and I went back online to get what I needed.
A Tubbs flat wire AR10 recoil spring is more than it would seem and is quite a piece of engineering. They are available from LaRue cheaper than from Tubbs, it is $20 well spent.
Another item to slow the bolt unlocking and enhance reliability is a heavier buffer. PSA offers a Viltor length receiver extension (buffer tube) now that allows standard AR15 carbine length 3.25” buffers instead of the short buffers that previously had to be used. My lower came with this new longer tube. This means any AR15 buffer can be used with this longer extension. It was recommended that an H3 5.6oz buffer be used. So I ordered one.
The heavier buffer along with the Tubbs spring allows the bolt to stay locked up just a touch longer and the brass to shrink away from the chamber eliminating functional issues that sometimes plague big ARs. The adjustable gas block is the last part of the puzzle and you simply tune it to get the brass ejecting somewhere around the 4 o’clock area.
So I had the upper, lower and a few extra parts. It’s a start.
Since “Reach Out and Touch Someone” was the theme, I decided name it “Ma Bell”.
Part 2 very soon.
Great info Lawless! I will anxiously await part 2!
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