04-08-2014, 05:40 AM
The assumption is that the AA complete upper is merely a collection of readily available, rack-grade parts on the market, with the exception of the barrel and bolt.
After breaking down several AA complete upper receiver groups, I have learned that they are nothing of the sort.
For starters, the upper receiver has a square face to it before it is anodized with a correct Type III hard coat anodizing, and is made from 7075 T6 aircraft grade aluminum. The barrel extension tunnels seem to run on the snug/tight side, which is what you want for accuracy.
I've been looking over the recent offerings of 9310 Grendel bolts, and the AA 9310 bolt is a very high quality component with over a decade of continuous testing and satisfied customer use. AA is acutely aware of the TDP for the M4/AR15, what works well, and what is needed to make the Grendel work well.
AA has been doing testing with different barrel lengths, twist rates, assembly methods, gas port diameters, gas system lengths, buffer weights, and other critical operating system components since at least 2003, and there is a lot of research & development that goes into their products, as opposed to many shops that simply source components, assemble them, and put their name on them.
If you were to try to duplicate the institutional knowledge in the components that go into an AA upper, just by purchasing them if you could find them, you would easily exceed $1000 for just the complete upper, no tools. AA doesn't cut corners on parts, and has critical parts made to their exact specifications that are inspected before they are even considered for assembly.
I jumped into this cartridge with an AA barrel/bolt combo back in 2009, and figured I knew how to put an upper together after dealing with AR15's since the 1980's. The reality is that I would have saved myself a lot of time and money had I just purchased a complete upper.
After breaking down several AA complete upper receiver groups, I have learned that they are nothing of the sort.
For starters, the upper receiver has a square face to it before it is anodized with a correct Type III hard coat anodizing, and is made from 7075 T6 aircraft grade aluminum. The barrel extension tunnels seem to run on the snug/tight side, which is what you want for accuracy.
I've been looking over the recent offerings of 9310 Grendel bolts, and the AA 9310 bolt is a very high quality component with over a decade of continuous testing and satisfied customer use. AA is acutely aware of the TDP for the M4/AR15, what works well, and what is needed to make the Grendel work well.
AA has been doing testing with different barrel lengths, twist rates, assembly methods, gas port diameters, gas system lengths, buffer weights, and other critical operating system components since at least 2003, and there is a lot of research & development that goes into their products, as opposed to many shops that simply source components, assemble them, and put their name on them.
If you were to try to duplicate the institutional knowledge in the components that go into an AA upper, just by purchasing them if you could find them, you would easily exceed $1000 for just the complete upper, no tools. AA doesn't cut corners on parts, and has critical parts made to their exact specifications that are inspected before they are even considered for assembly.
I jumped into this cartridge with an AA barrel/bolt combo back in 2009, and figured I knew how to put an upper together after dealing with AR15's since the 1980's. The reality is that I would have saved myself a lot of time and money had I just purchased a complete upper.