.264 - Progress?

As with most of my builds this one is taking on a life of it's own. The hold-up right now is with the free-float tube. I have decided on the 24" bbl, but I don't like the rifle length handguard on such a long barrel, and 15" handguards are hard to find and not what I am wanting. Sooo, I am going to build my own using a Seekins Precision FF handguard nut and a carbon fiber tube. Thus the first hurdle. The nut has an OD of 1.8", most carbon fiber tubes come in either 1.75" or 1.84" ID, do I sand down or shim up....? On a side note, I am going shooting this weekend and have been turned on to the Black Death Challenge. A work colleague came up with his own target and I will give it a try. Feel free to make it your own.

.264 LBC

This is definitely NOT the time to start another build, but I have been doing a ton of research and have decided that I want a long-range rifle that can also be used to hunt pig, antelope, and deer.  I like the idea of the 6.8SPC and have many friends that swear by it's accuracy, but I want something that has some legs.  Thus the .264 LBC, a slight variation of the 6.5 Grendel. This slight change from the 6.5 Grendel gives more consistant accuracy and longer brass life...sounds good.

What I have:
I have, as I have shared before, is a very nice lower that I purpose built for accuracy on my Service Match Rifle.  I love the trigger pull, but the grip and stock is a bit clunky.  I would like to have more tuning options on the length, and a the Pearce grip on my first build is incredible...so, for now I will probably use the lower on my first build.
I also have a nice upper from SOTA Arms.  This is a very high quality piece of engineering that will hold the rest of the upper parts very well. 
I have the rifle length gas tube, a low-profile gas block, and a muzzle break and crush washer from SOTA Arms.
Not a lot, but enough to make me want to finish the upper.

What I need:
The heart and soul of this build will be a BlackHoleWeaponry barrel.  I haven't decided weather I want a 20 or 24" barrel, but am leaning for the 24" just to have the ability to really stretch the capabilities of the .264 LBC round. 
Obviously, with long range accuracy I will have a free-float hand-guard. I will try and keep this as light as I can without breaking the bank.  I am looking very hard at YHM lightweight designs, however I also really like Rock River Arms TRO XL handguard.
Now for the tough part, I need a bolt carrier group. Right now, bcgs are not available anywhere.  I have one on order from Del-Ton, but....waiting....
A bolt is fairly easy to get from Tactical Ammunition, and if I need to I can use a bolt carrier from another upper for the time being.

That's pretty much it for now.... I guess I will see what I can find and hopefully get something together in the next few months.

Service Rifle Build

Here is what I got:
White Oak Armament Service Rifle Barrel: $205
RRA NM barrel sleve: $90
RRA two stage trigger: $75
RRA NM Carry Handle: $115
A2 Stock: Free (traded for M4 Stock)
RRA Stock weight: $20
.050 NM front sight post:$5

Total paid for this build was ~$550 after shipping and misc. pieces and parts. If you check the RRA page you will see that the prices I am posting are way below the retail prices. I have an 03 FFL for the purposes of collecting old firearms, but it really pays off with the discounts RRA offers. If you are serious about building AR platforms, pay the $30 and get your FFL.

The actual build process was very straight forward, the most difficult part was getting the barrel and the sleve installed to where all the parts line up. Also the Front Sight Post on the WOA barrel is windage adjustable, and the set screw lines up right under the sling mount on the barrel sleve. This is a pain, but a few seconds with a dremmel and a cut off wheel created a notch that gave me access to the set screw. The key to a NM build is to take your time, don't force anything, and use the right tools.

Results:
I don't have a 600m range to really put this rifle through it's paces, but after getting the sights dialed in I was sub-moa at 200 yards with very little effort. This rifle is HEAVY, which is bad if I wanted to take it on a jungle patrol, but the furthest this thing will travel on a sling is from the firing line to the mat. Strictly a match rifle, unless the zombie appocolypse hits then I will post up on the roof and get them before they know I am there.

Here we go

After tons of research on the way ahead for the Squad Designated Marksman Rifle (SDM-R) and looking hard at what I am wanting, I decided to build an AR for Service Rifle matches. I have the upper and lower receiver, but I will basically need to start from there. I believe I can do this for under $500 if I am smart and look for bargains.

Barrel ~$200
Sights ~$150
Free Float sleeve~$75
Stock~$50

That leaves about $25 for incidentals.

Mix'n it up

So I inherited my dads AR about a year ago when he died, it is exactly the same as my base model from del-ton, without the add ons. I really don't need two tactical 16" EBRs so I am looking to build a designated marksman 20". We'll see where this leads, but I am looking at White Oak Armament CMP barrel and the ff sleeve.

I really need to get better about posting to this Blog, but no one is reading it anyway. Last I posted I was looking for a 1911 style grip and had everything else. I found the grip and it was $15, I ended up paying ~$25 for the upgrade rubber and the molded finger insert; well worth the money. The last thing I need is a front picatinny sling mount, but that can wait until I get to Parallax Tactical here in San Diego.

Some long awaited photos of the finished project.

Latest update

It has been awhile since I have updated this. Here is where I stand with the EBR. To direct the bullet to the target I have a NcStar Mark III 2-7x32 Tactical Scope with quick release mount on top of a 1/2" Picatinny rail riser, backed up by Magpul Back-up sights (MBUS). I took this set up to the range and it worked out pretty well, I wasn't able to get a real good sight in session but the bullet hit the target in the general area I wanted it to. I need to get to a good range to do things right. At the range I noticed that the rails on the handguard were pretty uncomfortable so I picked up three sets of Magpul XTS rails in Black, Flat Dark Earth, and Olive Drab. This made a huge difference in comfort and looks cool too in a "camo" pattern. I probably need one more set to complete the look but it is functional. I had a forward grip I got from an armorer during a deployment that I stuck on, it works well and folds to get out of the way. Last item that I put together is a single/double point bungee sling I built from looking at pictures and reading other peoples builds, it works well, is fairly comfortable and was about 1/4 what a commercial rig would cost. To transport I built a maple case using some curly maple that I had laying around, it is a bit heavy but looks great and gets attention when I bring it out. That's all for now, I still intend on putting a light/laser, and possibly a bipod. I would eventually like to replace the grip, I found a 1911 style grip adapter that looks really nice and is pretty inexpensive ~$15. As soon as I find someone that has one in stock I will get it.