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$49.99 stripped uppers arrived today!

3K views 36 replies 10 participants last post by  moleman 
#1 ·
AR-15 Upper Receiver New GI Spec

this is an update to the CDNN uppers. i took a chance and ordered a couple and this is what they sent me.

the uppers are a3 flat tops with standard feed ramps. the are marked DSA on the front of the upper just above the gas port tube outlet. they have a square forge mark indicating they were forged by BAC. nothing wrong here, i have seen colts use the same upper. i built the middie on one of these from JSE last year.

they are t marked but not outlined. i did trial fit a bolt carrier and charging-handle, they fit fine.

they do have a slight surface imperfection in the finish on the port side just above the rear take down pin. there are some tiny pin-prick like marks in the finish. they are very small and your going to have to look very close to see them. sort of like the finish had a few super tiny bubbles in it that dried and chipped the finish and left these pin-prick like marks.

they could be cosmetic blems or it could be some kind of handling marks--they are so small who cares?

i am happy with them and they will make fine shooters.
 
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#2 ·
I've been on a waiting list for cosmetic blem receivers for a while now that are the same price. I could care less about small cosmetic marks as they will go on hunting guns that will soon have handling marks on them anyway. Thanks for the report J427X, I'll be ordering some!
 
#3 ·
well they are very nice uppers--they are blems and there for not perfect -- you are going to have to look hard if there like the ones that the UPS truck brought me today.

the blems i got from LAR last year were slightly better in that their cosmetic issues were under the a2 sight housing where when assembled you can't see the blem part at all. the could pass for perfect. the flattops are a bit harder to find at a discount price due to their popularity.

for $49.99+ a measly $4.99 weekend shipping discount there a good buy. since i bought two of them they came out to $52.49 each shipped.
 
#7 · (Edited)
well the ones i got do have m4 ramps so there shouldn't be a problem as long as the barrel has the m4 ramps on the barrel extension.

most barrels these days do have the m4 ramps on the extension.



it is when you put the non-m4 barrel on a m4 ramped upper is when there is a problem.

if you do have a barrel with regular ramps you can dremmel it a little and use it with the m4 upper. a chainsaw sharpening stone works well.
 
#10 ·
I currently have a DSA flat-top upper (not bought from CDDN) that has an incorrectly located Fwd assist pin- once the pin is inserted, the fwd assist will not function (it's locked by the pin)

now that i would like to see. do you have a digital camera?

never heard of that problem on any upper before much less a DSA. it must be some kind of factory reject??
 
#15 ·
I think that if i ended up missing that $49 one, ill just grab one of the ones from dsa with the forward assist and dust cover for $90 or whatever it is. Anyone know where to find one of these flat top uppers withOUT the M4 ramps?? buddy of mine is tryin to track a cheaper one down.
 
#16 ·
only ones i have got lately without the m4 ramps was that a2 upper i bought from LAR and one i bought from JSE. i don't know who made it --it was either DPMS or del-ton. i don't think the non m4 ramps will be any cheaper.

the a2 upper i got from LAR was $48 but the shipping was $12--

LAR has some good deals on uppers and lowers but their blemished a3 uppers are all ways out of stock these days.
 
#18 ·
As j427x said LAR has the non m4 flat tops for $48 but you have to get on a waiting list. I have been on their waiting list for several months now and I'm starting to think their waiting list is just lip service. Hopefully I made the cutoff for the cdnn buy. I have an order confirmation, but I haven't got the email notice yet that I opted for.
 
#21 ·
Got my upper today. Its cardinal forge marked. The only issues I can see are the T marks are a little "squiggly" and the finish behind brass deflector is a little rippled. I don't have a problem with either. This is going to be a total beater rifle. It might even get a coat of krylon.:redgrin: I'm debating a 5.45 or going with one of the cheap unfinished $70 5.56 barrels that are out there. I'll see how it fits one of the DM blemish lowers from Rguns later tonight.
 
#24 ·
that is a cardinal forge upper. that is a more pronounced cosmetic blem than the two i got. also the "T" marks look to be on the high of the "T-rail". all my flat-tops that are "T" marked have the numbers stamped in the gap between the T's.

the several cosmetic issues shouldn't cause any problems with function though. should make a fine shooter. and i'll bet those little cosmetic blems are hard to spot without my very up close glasses IRL!

i test fitted mine with the new m4 ramped 7.62x39 barrel and the barrel and receiver ramps matched up perfectly.
 
#25 ·
looks like it in the pics, but the "T" is stamped in the recess's.. The blemish is barely noticable... goin to the crossroads of the west gun show at del mar day after tomorrow, maybe find some more pieces there, start puttin 'er together..(read: bullet button)

..and maybe have a chance to toss bricks at the screw ball that told me "Im selling that (shot out and dark dingy and dirty) yugo barrel with the (busted) front site block and (dented/actually missing a chunk) rear trunnion! You want to buy it? Its only $299! heck fella, ill throw in a free RSB, just for you!"

...I walked away, but did indeed give him the evil eye. :p
 
#26 ·
I got my 2 yesterday. I think I'll build one in 7.62x39 and the other in 6.8, although part of me would love to build a custom in 8mm Kurz. They look really good, and in a first inspection, I didn't find any discernible blemishes. Good deal.
 
#29 ·
Alpha Shooting Sports M4 Upper check these guys out for some inexpensive 7.62 and 5.45x39 barrels. you will have to look under products barrels citadel -

i just got a 16" stripped barrel form them for $107 shipped. i was expecting it to be a turd. but it looks very nice. it has full m4 ramps which might be helpful with the big 7.62 bullets. gi military profile with the light weight profile in the back and heavy at the muzzle. my only gripe about it is the 5/8-24 threads --but that is being nit-pickey.
 
#27 ·
My $49 upper from CDNN came today. Only problem I noticed was that it was a pretty loose fit to my lower. I had another DSA upper that fit a lot tighter. Noticed a "3" stamped on the bottom of the rear lug on the looser upper and a "2" stamped on the bottom of the rear lug on the tighter upper. Anyone know what the numbers mean? I could put an accu-wedge in but I like the tighter fitting recievers. Other than that - it's a great looking upper.
 
#28 ·
the three DSA uppers i got from AIM were marked "2" and "3" they are cardnial forge parts. they are stranegly not marked DSA.

the two i got from CDNN have a "1" stamped there. they are made by BAC and have a square forge mark.

some of the DSA uppers do seem to fit a bit looser on some lowers. they seem to fit much tighter when rifle is fully assembled on the few lowers that seem a bit too loose when trial fitted.

i thought i would compare the cardinal forge ones i got from aim to the BAC's i got from CDNN. on lowers they fit exactly the same.

on my lowers they were tight on the same ones and loose on the same ones. this makes me think they were made by the same people on the same tooling and jigs.

i hope to have some DSA lowers soon. it would be interesting to see how well their lowers fit their uppers.

from my ar-15 the loosest fit on the DSA uppers is still tighter than many of the m16s i used while i was with the peace core. LOL!
 
#34 · (Edited)
Well the mailman finally dropped off my package from cdnn :grumble: If you were wondering who got the last $49 receiver if was me. I ordered 4 and only got one. At least they still shipped my order for free even though it didn't meet the minimum $ requirement. Upon nit picking over the receiver: it has a cardinal forge mark behind the ejection port; engraved DSA over the gas tube hole on the front; a couple of the tops of the "T" marks are wavy but I wouldn't of noticed it if it wasn't for other posts; and there is some pitting in the finish on the left side of the receiver that you'd probably wouldn't notice normally. All in all I'm happy with the receiver but wish it had 3 more buddies in the box with it. I'm still on the list for the LAR uppers so hopefully that'll pan out.
I also ordered a $10 barrel extension from cdnn. It looks nicely machined. The feed ramps are standard (non-M4) with no sharp edges to score the shoulders/necks on your brass so they split upon the next firing. I usually smooth them out if they're sharp with a dremmel and a felt drum with red rouge, but this one doesn't look like it'll need it.
Here's some rec pics.
 

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#35 ·
Upper assembly parts

some nice $65 shipped ones here and a $70 noveskie.

DSG has some DSA uppers for $70. when you sign up on their new website you get $10 off so you could get one for $60 with the discount. probably cost like $5.80 to ship.

i need to take a look over at AIM--they have been having a hell of a deal on spikes lowers lately. though it looks like my DSA lowers finally shipped.

i wish we had got in on these cheap uppers sooner. when i first saw that $49 price i just assumed they were junk-- the two i got look and fit as good assembled as ones i paid $90 for.
 
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