Confused about the AR's

[Norsesmithy]

I've got a Del Ton, it's a great gun.

I've got a Bravo, it's a better one.

I had a frankengun with RRA, LMT, CMMG, DPMS, and Daniel Defense parts, and it was OK, but not the best (mostly the RRA bolt sucked). I fixed it, though, and it worked fine afterwards.

Biggest thing is configuration. My Del Ton is an HBAR 20 inch, it weighs damn near 10 lbs. Accurate as all get out, and it functions great, but I know that the barrel won't last as long as the hammer forged and chrome lined Bravo, and it's kinda a pain in the ass to carry around for blasting, or extended off hand shooting sessions. I really should tweak this one into an optics friendly stick, but right now it's got an A2 style fixed carry handle, no free float, and a standard FSB.

My frankengun was a carbine length gas system 16 inch government profile. It was overgassed, had too short of a sight radius, weighed more than it should have for how accurate it was, and while it was a fine rifle (once it was running), now that I've tried a 16 inch lightweight profile midlength gas system gun, memories of the carbine seem to pale. Once I knew what I liked, I could tell immediately that I didn't like that carbine.

The Bravo is a 16 inch midlength gas system pencil barrel. It's just over 6 lbs unloaded. I've free floated the barrel using a Vtac TRX Extreme Battle rail (top rail only, no bottom or side accessory rails), I ground the finger groove off of the A2 pistol grip, and stippled it, it's got a Magpul CTR stock, an ASAP burnsed loop, a Vickers padded quick adjust 2 point sling (front threaded through vent in handguard, back on ASAP sling attachment point), and a BAD lever.

If I were as informed as I am now, when I purchased my Del Ton kit, I would have done several things different. I would have started with a lightweight gun, and purchased a heavier, more precise weapon later. The lighter weight rifle is more fun to shoot at plinking style targets and handier to carry around when trying to scare up a rabbit. And it's not like it's all that less accurate in regular use. Sure, I've recorded a couple 10 shot 3/4 inch groups at 150 yards with the 20 incher, but on an average day, it is I am shooting in the 1 1/2-1 3/4 inch range, and that same load out of the 16 inch is generally in the 2-2 1/2 inch range.

Del Ton builds are not bad rifles, I really like mine, and I'll probably order rifle kits, parts, or uppers from them in the future, as I look for more specific things (like a lightweight 20 inch A1 clone, or maybe a pistol, etc).

But if you've got room in your budget (and the patience to order from a company who's customer demand is significantly higher than their production supply), a Bravo Company rifle is super nice.