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Aero M5 'Project' - Sub MOA Made Simple

Mountain

Mountain

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The House Donks and a handful of traitor RINO's just passed that horrible AWB bill and Mass is already a hard place to find key components for Legos guns, so last weekend I sought out my next AR-308 lower. Didn't take long to get responses to my WTB ad. My favorite FFL at the Freedom Mill happened to have a complete Aero M5 lower with the PRS stock, so Mrs. Mountain and I made the road trip.

Project in 'quotes' because I'm totally cheating and being lazy on this one. As mentioned I started with the locally sourced complete lower. Ordered the upper+barrel from California of all places. Rest of the parts I ordered from a couple online vendors or grabbed from my parts pile. Everything delivered by end of week even with the cheap shipping, so I slapped it all together last night. Very simple build:
  • Though the lower and upper were ordered separately and that lower was older stock (pre you-know-who?[rofl]), they match perfectly for color and fit.
  • Barrel is a Ballistic Advantage Premium Series heavy taper fluted. Even with the flutes it's damn heavy, but that's what you need if you want a precision shooter. BA is owned by Aero, though I was acquainted with BA's owner before he joined forces with Aero.
  • Hand guard and nitrided BCG also Aero.
  • Stock and grip are Magpul, came with the lower.
  • Trigger was OK but single stage, so I swapped in a RRA National Match 2-stage trigger. It's good but not my favorite. Pull is ~5.5 lbs with the springs in it now.
  • Brake is a VG6 Epsilon. I'm a fan of their stuff and they come with a convenient little hole on the bottom for us pin and weld fags.
  • Borrowed the scope from my 6.5 ManBun AR - Leupold Mk3i LRP with max power of 14X. It's bottomed at my zero stop for the 6.5, so that's why the groups are high and left.
1659819337890.png

I gave the barrel a good douching before calling it a night then went to the range this morning. 100 yard 5-shot groups off the bench. First group was from my grab bag of misc leftover reloads. Basically a few 'fouling shots' for the barrel, so why waste the primo stuff. Next 5 shots are my basic 168 SMK & Varget loads. That's a .86 MOA group. The 4 shots in the clover leaf are .29 MOA.

1659819411505.png

The one shot above the cluster is probably my bad. That's it for now- those are the very first and next 5 shots out of this rifle. I don't like to take a lot of shots through a new barrel without giving it a good cleaning and a few passes of JB bore paste to slick up the surface after the initial shots.

I would have been happy with 1.5 MOA and hoped for 1 MOA. Looks like this is only a great trigger and maybe more powerful glass away from hitting .5 to .75 MOA all day long. I'm sure I can keep it sub-MOA as is. Not a lot of magic in getting this done- just use the right parts, especially the barrel and BCG. FWIW, I think the BA 'Premium Series' AR barrels are grossly underrated and can hang with Douglas, Krieger, Bartlein, etc. at about half the price. It's an AR, so you can spend all the money you want on a barrel but you'll only go so far in precision.
 
Last edited:
Wow, it took me a good 6 months or so to get all the parts for my ar-10 build in 2020/2021. Good job on slapping that together in a week.

I got the same completed lower, albeit in black. The factory trigger was amazingly shitty, seems that may be a trend on the M5 lowers.

Nice shooting!
 
Mountain said:
The House Donks and a handful of traitor RINO's just passed that horrible AWB bill and Mass is already a hard place to find key components for Legos guns, so last weekend I sought out my next AR-308 lower. Didn't take long to get responses to my WTB ad. My favorite FFL at the Freedom Mill happened to have a complete Aero M5 lower with the PRS stock, so Mrs. Mountain and I made the road trip.

Project in 'quotes' because I'm totally cheating and being lazy on this one. As mentioned I started with the locally sourced complete lower. Ordered the upper+barrel from California of all places. Rest of the parts I ordered from a couple online vendors or grabbed from my parts pile. Everything delivered by end of week even with the cheap shipping, so I slapped it all together last night. Very simple build:
  • Though the lower and upper were ordered separately and that lower was older stock (pre you-know-who?[rofl]), they match perfectly for color and fit.
  • Barrel is a Ballistic Advantage Premium Series heavy taper fluted. Even with the flutes it's damn heavy, but that's what you need if you want a precision shooter. BA is owned by Aero, though I was acquainted with BA's owner before he joined forces with Aero.
  • Hand guard and nitrided BCG also Aero.
  • Stock and grip are Magpul, came with the lower.
  • Trigger was OK but single stage, so I swapped in a RRA National Match 2-stage trigger. It's good but not my favorite. Pull is ~5.5 lbs with the springs in it now.
  • Brake is a VG6 Epsilon. I'm a fan of their stuff and they come with a convenient little hole on the bottom for us pin and weld fags.
  • Borrowed the scope from my 6.5 ManBun AR - Leupold Mk3i LRP with max power of 14X. It's bottomed at my zero stop for the 6.5, so that's why the groups are high and left.
View attachment 646914

I gave the barrel a good douching before calling it a night then went to the range this morning. 100 yard 5-shot groups off the bench. First group was from my grab bag of misc leftover reloads. Basically a few 'fouling shots' for the barrel, so why waste the primo stuff. Next 5 shots are my basic 168 SMK & Varget loads. That's a .86 MOA group. The 4 shots in the clover leaf are .29 MOA.

View attachment 646915

The one shot above the cluster is probably my bad. That's it for now- those are the very first and next 5 shots out of this rifle. I don't like to take a lot of shots through a new barrel without giving it a good cleaning and a few passes of JB bore paste to slick up the surface after the initial shots.

I would have been happy with 1.5 MOA and hoped for 1 MOA. Looks like this is only a great trigger and maybe more powerful glass away from hitting .5 to .75 MOA all day long. I'm sure I can keep it sub-MOA as is. Not a lot of magic in getting this done- just use the right parts, especially the barrel and BCG. FWIW, I think the BA 'Premium Series' AR barrels are grossly underrated and can hang with Douglas, Krieger, Bartlein, etc. at about half the price. It's an AR, so you can spend all the money you want on a barrel but you'll only go so far in precision.
Click to expand...
Damn that’s a nice group. Not sure you can complain or improve on that 😂
 
safetyfirst2125 said:
Awesome!
Click to expand...
The Aero / Ballistic Advantage barrels are IMHO an incredible value and the trick to getting such accuracy at a reasonable price. One can spend $1500 to $1800 on just an upper if you go to one of the known precision builders like Compass Lake and include a Bartlein, Krieger, etc. barrel. Aero catches some grief on the forum for not shipping direct to Mass, but they have many dealers who will. Personally, I can't find fault with a small company that avoids the risk of lawsuit from an AG who's happy to blow through our tax dollars to do it.
 
Mountain said:
A little more barrel break-in, better trigger at ~2.5 lbs- maybe?
Click to expand...
Possibly? I dunno.

Makes me want to shoot my new AR with complete Aero upper, for groups. I wonder if mine has a “premium” barrel. It’s fluted SS 223 wylde. Looking at the BA website, all 223 wylde barrels are premium so maybe it is
 
Mountain said:
The House Donks and a handful of traitor RINO's just passed that horrible AWB bill and Mass is already a hard place to find key components for Legos guns, so last weekend I sought out my next AR-308 lower. Didn't take long to get responses to my WTB ad. My favorite FFL at the Freedom Mill happened to have a complete Aero M5 lower with the PRS stock, so Mrs. Mountain and I made the road trip.

Project in 'quotes' because I'm totally cheating and being lazy on this one. As mentioned I started with the locally sourced complete lower. Ordered the upper+barrel from California of all places. Rest of the parts I ordered from a couple online vendors or grabbed from my parts pile. Everything delivered by end of week even with the cheap shipping, so I slapped it all together last night. Very simple build:
  • Though the lower and upper were ordered separately and that lower was older stock (pre you-know-who?[rofl]), they match perfectly for color and fit.
  • Barrel is a Ballistic Advantage Premium Series heavy taper fluted. Even with the flutes it's damn heavy, but that's what you need if you want a precision shooter. BA is owned by Aero, though I was acquainted with BA's owner before he joined forces with Aero.
  • Hand guard and nitrided BCG also Aero.
  • Stock and grip are Magpul, came with the lower.
  • Trigger was OK but single stage, so I swapped in a RRA National Match 2-stage trigger. It's good but not my favorite. Pull is ~5.5 lbs with the springs in it now.
  • Brake is a VG6 Epsilon. I'm a fan of their stuff and they come with a convenient little hole on the bottom for us pin and weld fags.
  • Borrowed the scope from my 6.5 ManBun AR - Leupold Mk3i LRP with max power of 14X. It's bottomed at my zero stop for the 6.5, so that's why the groups are high and left.
View attachment 646914

I gave the barrel a good douching before calling it a night then went to the range this morning. 100 yard 5-shot groups off the bench. First group was from my grab bag of misc leftover reloads. Basically a few 'fouling shots' for the barrel, so why waste the primo stuff. Next 5 shots are my basic 168 SMK & Varget loads. That's a .86 MOA group. The 4 shots in the clover leaf are .29 MOA.

View attachment 646915

The one shot above the cluster is probably my bad. That's it for now- those are the very first and next 5 shots out of this rifle. I don't like to take a lot of shots through a new barrel without giving it a good cleaning and a few passes of JB bore paste to slick up the surface after the initial shots.

I would have been happy with 1.5 MOA and hoped for 1 MOA. Looks like this is only a great trigger and maybe more powerful glass away from hitting .5 to .75 MOA all day long. I'm sure I can keep it sub-MOA as is. Not a lot of magic in getting this done- just use the right parts, especially the barrel and BCG. FWIW, I think the BA 'Premium Series' AR barrels are grossly underrated and can hang with Douglas, Krieger, Bartlein, etc. at about half the price. It's an AR, so you can spend all the money you want on a barrel but you'll only go so far in precision.
Click to expand...
All Day Long , All Day......
 
Well you beat me to it and started way after! My very similar build is still at the shop being assembled and they can't get it to cycle! Looks awesome. Makes me wish I didn't go black again...
Barrel length?
 
Soundwave said:
Well you beat me to it and started way after! My very similar build is still at the shop being assembled and they can't get it to cycle! Looks awesome. Makes me wish I didn't go black again...
Barrel length?
Click to expand...
18".

I saw the Desert VTS sets and am now jonesing for one. I might just have to strip down my black 6.5 CM Aero M5 and have it Cerakoted like that.

apcs100762-m4e1-t-builder-set-w-sm15-handguard-desert-vts-1.jpg


Regarding your shop, I'd be surprised if they can't figure out the issue. Probably somewhere in the gas system.
 
Mountain said:
The House Donks and a handful of traitor RINO's just passed that horrible AWB bill and Mass is already a hard place to find key components for Legos guns, so last weekend I sought out my next AR-308 lower. Didn't take long to get responses to my WTB ad. My favorite FFL at the Freedom Mill happened to have a complete Aero M5 lower with the PRS stock, so Mrs. Mountain and I made the road trip.

Project in 'quotes' because I'm totally cheating and being lazy on this one. As mentioned I started with the locally sourced complete lower. Ordered the upper+barrel from California of all places. Rest of the parts I ordered from a couple online vendors or grabbed from my parts pile. Everything delivered by end of week even with the cheap shipping, so I slapped it all together last night. Very simple build:
  • Though the lower and upper were ordered separately and that lower was older stock (pre you-know-who?[rofl]), they match perfectly for color and fit.
  • Barrel is a Ballistic Advantage Premium Series heavy taper fluted. Even with the flutes it's damn heavy, but that's what you need if you want a precision shooter. BA is owned by Aero, though I was acquainted with BA's owner before he joined forces with Aero.
  • Hand guard and nitrided BCG also Aero.
  • Stock and grip are Magpul, came with the lower.
  • Trigger was OK but single stage, so I swapped in a RRA National Match 2-stage trigger. It's good but not my favorite. Pull is ~5.5 lbs with the springs in it now.
  • Brake is a VG6 Epsilon. I'm a fan of their stuff and they come with a convenient little hole on the bottom for us pin and weld fags.
  • Borrowed the scope from my 6.5 ManBun AR - Leupold Mk3i LRP with max power of 14X. It's bottomed at my zero stop for the 6.5, so that's why the groups are high and left.
View attachment 646914

I gave the barrel a good douching before calling it a night then went to the range this morning. 100 yard 5-shot groups off the bench. First group was from my grab bag of misc leftover reloads. Basically a few 'fouling shots' for the barrel, so why waste the primo stuff. Next 5 shots are my basic 168 SMK & Varget loads. That's a .86 MOA group. The 4 shots in the clover leaf are .29 MOA.

View attachment 646915

The one shot above the cluster is probably my bad. That's it for now- those are the very first and next 5 shots out of this rifle. I don't like to take a lot of shots through a new barrel without giving it a good cleaning and a few passes of JB bore paste to slick up the surface after the initial shots.

I would have been happy with 1.5 MOA and hoped for 1 MOA. Looks like this is only a great trigger and maybe more powerful glass away from hitting .5 to .75 MOA all day long. I'm sure I can keep it sub-MOA as is. Not a lot of magic in getting this done- just use the right parts, especially the barrel and BCG. FWIW, I think the BA 'Premium Series' AR barrels are grossly underrated and can hang with Douglas, Krieger, Bartlein, etc. at about half the price. It's an AR, so you can spend all the money you want on a barrel but you'll only go so far in precision.
Click to expand...
Did you buy the upper and barrel separate or a complete upper?
 
Broccoli Iglesias said:
Did you buy the upper and barrel separate or a complete upper?
Click to expand...
Together- I think cheaper that way at least how I got it. Used a nitrided Aero BCG as I like they way a nitride finish runs smoothly and it's easier to keep clean. The upper source seems to only have Faxon BCG's available Total lazy ass on this one and I guess more of a Duplo block project than Legos project. Swapping triggers and timing then pinning the VG6 brake were the only things that took a little time and half a brain cell. I think this was the most I have ever had to squish a crush washer to get the timing correct.

One thing worth noting is that the trigger pin holes on the Aero lower were on the small side vs. the RRA trigger pins. I think the RRA pins are slightly oversize to account for any slop in a milspec AR15 lower. I used the pins that came with the Aero lower. Next time I see a sale on LaRue match triggers I'll get one and install it as I like the LaRue's almost as much as a Geissele.
 
Mountain said:
Together- I think cheaper that way at least how I got it. Used a nitrided Aero BCG as I like they way a nitride finish runs smoothly and it's easier to keep clean. The upper source seems to only have Faxon BCG's available Total lazy ass on this one and I guess more of a Duplo block project than Legos project. Swapping triggers and timing then pinning the VG6 brake were the only things that took a little time and half a brain cell. I think this was the most I have ever had to squish a crush washer to get the timing correct.

One thing worth noting is that the trigger pin holes on the Aero lower were on the small side vs. the RRA trigger pins. I think the RRA pins are slightly oversize to account for any slop in a milspec AR15 lower. I used the pins that came with the Aero lower. Next time I see a sale on LaRue match triggers I'll get one and install it as I like the LaRue's almost as much as a Geissele.
Click to expand...
I have the RRA in my AR-15 but have the Larue MBT2 going in the AR-10. I wonder if I'll even be able to tell a difference.
 
PPU ammo is reasonably priced and the brass is decent. There are places to find blems and/or bulk .308 HPBT bullets for reasonable money. I use Varget for damn near everything including .308, but found great results with 2520 which is cheaper and easier to find. If you find bulk surplus mil ammo, watch for staked primer pockets that will probably need to be reamed before you re-prime.
 

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