Geissele's New Heavy Barrel and SOLGW Broadsword project. (First Range session)

[bigjake83]

Just finished this build today, looking forward to running it through it's paces.

The Broadsword Builder kit is extremely rigid and well built with clean machining work. The face of the Upper Receiver is true and showed virtually no Runout

The Upper with it's heavy construction and increased flared forward surface area would be well suited for the heaviest profile barrels. Barrel installation requires a mandatory thermofit, no shims or Loctite required.

Handguard to Upper Receiver fit is exceptional with its integrated anti-rotation tabs and pin create a Rrock solid lockup.
The fit between the 2.5" Titanium Barrel Nut and Handguard are very tight, without even tightening the handguard screws there is no felt Handguard flex. Once the opposing hand guards screws are torqued down with it's wedged Barrel Nut/Handguard design there is absolutely zero flex.

The only down side I would say is thier Broadsword Lower Receiver doesn't have the Full Ambidextrous controls that most quality manufacturers have today.

One of the notable enhancements I do enjoy with the SOLGW lower is they have elongated the grip position so if you have large hands it puts your Trigger Finger in perfect placement.



The Complete Build list is as follows:

SOLGW Broadsword Build Kit with 13" L89 Handguard.

Geissele's new release Heavy Contour Barrel.

SPECS
LENGTH: 14.5"
WEIGHT: 2lbs 2.6oz
RIFLING: Cold Hammer Forged
PROFILE: Geissele Heavy Profile
GAS LENGTH: Mid-Length
GAS BLOCK DIAMETER: .750
GAS PORT SIZE: .076
MUZZLE THREAD: 1/2 x 28
CHAMBER: 5.56
TWIST: 1-7
BARREL EXTENSION:M4
MATERIAL: Chromolly Steel
FINISH: Manganese Phosphate

Lantac Dragon Dead Air KEYMO Wolfman 5.56 Muzzle Brake.

Surprilitive Arms .750 AGB.

Geissele Ambi Charging Handle.

Geissele 5.56 Enhanced AR-15 Bolt Carrier Group - Nanoweapon.

TriggerTech AR-15 Single-Stage Competitive Trigger with flat trigger shoe 3lbs Fixed. (Breaks Clean at 2lbs 10oz)

JP Hand Fitted Takedown Pins.

PWS QD End Plate and Castle Nut.

BAD 60/90 Ambi Safety.

Vltor A5 Buffer system with JP polished Rifle Length spring.

MagPul DT-PR Carbine Stock.


 

Range Report to come.

Jake.

 

[NHPiper]

What do you think of that newer Magpul stock? I used to enjoy running a CTR but the slop when it was locked down drove me nuts. Switched to the B5 sopmod but I was eyeballing one of those Magpuls you have here recently.

 

[bigjake83]

What do you think of that newer Magpul stock? I used to enjoy running a CTR but the slop when it was locked down drove me nuts. Switched to the B5 sopmod but I was eyeballing one of those Magpuls you have here recently.

They're definitely my new favorite for SBR's and Carbines, the DT-PR rides a bag very well and has a solid lockup.

 

[JS8588]

Tagging in for updates

 

[Leicafan1990]

@bigjake83 - Awesome stuff. SOLGW has really been putting out good stuff lately. Although I think Mike Miller at Icon Defense is the guy behind the Drivelock rail and these receiver sets. I'm pretty sure he's the OEM for SOLGW. Not surprised at the quality since Mike is the original founder of Mega Arms.

Did you ever get a chance to check the fit with the SOLGW 89 upper on the Radian lower?

 

[bigjake83]

@bigjake83 - Awesome stuff. SOLGW has really been putting out good stuff lately. Although I think Mike Miller at Icon Defense is the guy behind the Drivelock rail and these receiver sets. I'm pretty sure he's the OEM for SOLGW. Not surprised at the quality since Mike is the original founder of Mega Arms.

Did you ever get a chance to check the fit with the SOLGW 89 upper on the Radian lower?

Not yet, I'll play with them tomorrow.

 

[NHPiper]

@bigjake83 I always appreciate your writeups, thanks for taking the time to do them!

You should try to play with the Ridgeline uppers if you can. I'm very happy with mine.

 

[B Man]

In for updates

 

[ut755ln]

Just finished this build today, looking forward to running it through it's paces.

The Broadsword Builder kit is extremely rigid and well built with clean machining work. The face of the Upper Receiver is true and showed virtually no Runout

The Upper with it's heavy construction and increased flared forward surface area would be well suited for the heaviest profile barrels. Barrel installation requires a mandatory thermofit, no shims or Loctite required.

Handguard to Upper Receiver fit is exceptional with its integrated anti-rotation tabs and pin create a Rrock solid lockup.
The fit between the 2.5" Titanium Barrel Nut and Handguard are very tight, without even tightening the handguard screws there is no felt Handguard flex. Once the opposing hand guards screws are torqued down with it's wedged Barrel Nut/Handguard design there is absolutely zero flex.

The only down side I would say is thier Broadsword Lower Receiver doesn't have the Full Ambidextrous controls that most quality manufacturers have today.

One of the notable enhancements I do enjoy with the SOLGW lower is they have elongated the grip position so if you have large hands it puts your Trigger Finger in perfect placement.



The Complete Build list is as follows:

SOLGW Broadsword Build Kit with 13" L89 Handguard.

Geissele's new release Heavy Contour Barrel.

SPECS
LENGTH: 14.5"
WEIGHT: 2lbs 2.6oz
RIFLING: Cold Hammer Forged
PROFILE: Geissele Heavy Profile
GAS LENGTH: Mid-Length
GAS BLOCK DIAMETER: .750
GAS PORT SIZE: .076
MUZZLE THREAD: 1/2 x 28
CHAMBER: 5.56
TWIST: 1-7
BARREL EXTENSION:M4
MATERIAL: Chromolly Steel
FINISH: Manganese Phosphate
View attachment 8542367
View attachment 8542381



Lantac Dragon Dead Air KEYMO Wolfman 5.56 Muzzle Brake.

Surprilitive Arms .750 AGB.

Geissele Ambi Charging Handle.

Geissele 5.56 Enhanced AR-15 Bolt Carrier Group - Nanoweapon.

TriggerTech AR-15 Single-Stage Competitive Trigger with flat trigger shoe 3lbs Fixed. (Breaks Clean at 2lbs 10oz)

JP Hand Fitted Takedown Pins.

PWS QD End Plate and Castle Nut.

BAD 60/90 Ambi Safety.

Vltor A5 Buffer system with JP polished Rifle Length spring.

MagPul DT-PR Carbine Stock.


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Range Report to come.

Jake.

Just to talk nice about SOLGW, their warranty is maybe best in industry. We have three full auto ARs in our rental fleet. While customers don't have to shoot them full auto, they basically always do. We now exclusively use SOLGW uppers because when they inevitably fail some how (normally the throat gets shot out), we send it to SA and they either replace the barrel or send a new upper with no questions asked. We have gone through this process at least six times now.

 

[hlee]

… We now exclusively use SOLGW uppers because when they inevitably fail some how (normally the throat gets shot out), we send it to SA and they either replace the barrel or send a new upper with no questions asked. We have gone through this process at least six times now.

Wait, they warranty against throat erosion?

 

[bigjake83]

Wait, they warranty against throat erosion?

Yeah they have some barrel warranty on the side of the box that says "if you're man enough to shoot out these barrels we will replace or repair them"

 

[hlee]

Yeah they have some barrel warranty on the side of the box that says "if you're man enough to shoot out these barrels we will replace or repair them"

WOW!

 

[wilson3899]

Yeah they have some barrel warranty on the side of the box that says "if you're man enough to shoot out these barrels we will replace or repair them"

Yep, there's a video of Mike saying that this applies to their precision barrels also which they acknowledge having a much shorter life vs the combat barrels. Pretty cool stuff!

 

[bigjake83]

@bigjake83 - Awesome stuff. SOLGW has really been putting out good stuff lately. Although I think Mike Miller at Icon Defense is the guy behind the Drivelock rail and these receiver sets. I'm pretty sure he's the OEM for SOLGW. Not surprised at the quality since Mike is the original founder of Mega Arms.

Did you ever get a chance to check the fit with the SOLGW 89 upper on the Radian lower?

As promised, it matched up pretty well.

But not at tight as the Complete Radian MOD 1 Upper and lower.

 

[LRRPF52]

That gas port is really clean-cut. Will be interested to see it post-shoot.

I really like their handguard-to-upper receiver mate-up.

I’m with you on the Magpul DT-PR. I put one on my GAP LR-260 with an A5 RET.

 

[Buck Lawman]

Interested in hearing how the new thicc boy barrel from Geissele shoots!

 

[bigjake83]

The Geissele Barrel is an absolute Hammer!!!!

I performed Barrel Break-in by shooting one, clean and bore scope X5. Aftet that I only had time for one 5 shot group and to sight the scope in and tune the gas block.


Here's one 3rd group and one 2rd during brake-in and cleaning.

The 5rd group was a pleasure to shoot, the A5 Buffer system is as smooth as any of my JP rifles. I have not idea what happened on the 3rd shot, it's was a clean shot/break so I'll chalk it up as a outlier with the cheap AAC ammo.

When I have time I'll take it out again with some 77, 73's FGMM.

 

[bigjake83]

It was also my 10yo daughters first time ever shooting as well, I thought I'd start her off with something basic.

She actually did damn good considering she couldn't even reach the table, shooting from a squatting position.

Definitely a proud Papa day.

 

[Jsp556]

It was also my 10yo daughters first time ever shooting as well, I thought I'd start her off with something basic.

She actually did damn good considering she couldn't even reach the table, shooting from a squatting position.

Definitely a proud Papa day.


View attachment 8543577
View attachment 8543578
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Good stuff. Always a good time when one of your kids come to the range and shoots.

 

[bigjake83]

Good stuff. Always a good time when one of your kids come to the range and shoots.

Yes Sir!

Yeah i wish I could post videos, still cant figure it out no matter how short I make the video.

 

[B Man]

Great first range session and definitely good to see one of your kids out enjoying it with you. We may be learning from her one day .

Looking forward to some good time behind it with multiple 5 rds or 10 rds groups to see how it fairs with consistency.

 

[bigjake83]

Great first range session and definitely good to see one of your kids out enjoying it with you. We may be learning from her one day .

Looking forward to some good time behind it with multiple 5 rds or 10 rds groups to see how it fairs with consistency.

Thank you,

I have no doubt it will only get better, I'm so confident I bought two more barrels.

 

[NHPiper]

We just had our first, a boy, last week. I'm already excited for him to start reloading with me and shooting. There is a local 4H shooting club which lets the kids run different steel challenge and IDPA matches. I'm hoping we can add in some 22 or center fire PRS.

Great to see your daughter enjoying the sport.

 

[TxWelder35]

Yes Sir!

Yeah i wish I could post videos, still cant figure it out no matter how short I make the video.

If you have an iPhone you could post an iCloud link or upload to YouTube unlisted and put link in here

 

[Leicafan1990]

As promised, it matched up pretty well.

But not at tight as the Complete Radian MOD 1 Upper and lower.

View attachment 8543116
View attachment 8543127

Thanks for the updates on these parts.


My 89 Broadsword upper arrived earlier today. Maybe I got lucky but the fit between the upper and my Radian lower is extremely tight. The tightest fit I’ve experienced. I actually couldn’t get them to seat at first and I had to lightly sand the inner surfaces of the lower’s front takedown pin lugs to get the upper to slide in. I really have to squeeze the upper and lower together tightly to get the rear takedown pin to go through. It’s annoyingly tight at the moment but I’m sure it will loosen up.

 

[Gtscotty]

They're definitely my new favorite for SBR's and Carbines, the DT-PR rides a bag very well and has a solid lockup.

Agree with this, got one DT-PR to try out and I think it's going to wind up on some of my other rifles too.

 

[bigjake83]

Thanks for the updates on these parts.


My 89 Broadsword upper arrived earlier today. Maybe I got lucky but the fit between the upper and my Radian lower is extremely tight. The tightest fit I’ve experienced. I actually couldn’t get them to seat at first and I had to lightly sand the inner surfaces of the lower’s front takedown pin lugs to get the upper to slide in. I really have to squeeze the upper and lower together tightly to get the rear takedown pin to go through. It’s annoyingly tight at the moment but I’m sure it will loosen up.

The Radian spring loaded plastic detent that is compressed by the rear lug of the upper receiver is probably what you're feeling, I took mine out because I wanted to see what the fit was like without any gizmos or assist from anything else.

 

[bigjake83]

Still loving the 77gr SMK AAC Ammo.

 

[NHPiper]

Still loving the 77gr SMK AAC Ammo.

View attachment 8545684View attachment 8545685View attachment 8545686

What do you see for SDs with that ammo?

 

[bigjake83]

What do you see for SDs with that ammo?

I haven't chronographed it yet.

 

[NHPiper]

I haven't chronographed it yet.

With the 77TMK ammo I had great groups but SD close to 30. Once I got to 600yds+, I was seeing something like 2' of vertical dispersion.

 

[wilson3899]

With the 77TMK ammo I had great groups but SD close to 30. Once I got to 600yds+, I was seeing something like 2' of vertical dispersion.

Yep, this is BH MK262 out of a suppressed 13.7". Groups great but ES is high

 

[Leicafan1990]

The Radian spring loaded plastic detent that is compressed by the rear lug of the upper receiver is probably what you're feeling, I took mine out because I wanted to see what the fit was like without any gizmos or assist from anything else.

I actually messed around with that last night. Did your rear lug compression detent have two springs between the plunger and the setscrew? Mine has a slightly shorter smaller diameter spring inside the larger spring. The smaller spring was basically acting as a hard stop which only allowed the detent to compress a certain amount. I removed the smaller, stiffer spring and now the detent can compress all the way down to the floor of the rear takedown recess.

Removing the smaller spring has reduced the tension considerably when compressing the upper and lower together and the rear takedown pin slides in much more easily. Even with the 2nd spring removed, the lockup between the upper and lower is still rock solid, no wobble at all. It probably also helps that Radian has those small LMT style speed bumps in front of the magwell to apply upward pressure on the front takedown pins. I end up with a small light gap between the upper and the lower but I know that doesn't matter at all so overall, I'm really pleased with how well these two receivers fit together even though they are from different brands. I'm sure the fit is even better with the full Radian build kit but I liked the design of the SOLGW rail better.

 

[bigjake83]

I actually messed around with that last night. Did your rear lug compression detent have two springs between the plunger and the setscrew? Mine has a slightly shorter smaller diameter spring inside the larger spring. The smaller spring was basically acting as a hard stop which only allowed the detent to compress a certain amount. I removed the smaller, stiffer spring and now the detent can compress all the way down to the floor of the rear takedown recess.

Removing the smaller spring has reduced the tension considerably when compressing the upper and lower together and the rear takedown pin slides in much more easily. Even with the 2nd spring removed, the lockup between the upper and lower is still rock solid, no wobble at all. It probably also helps that Radian has those small LMT style speed bumps in front of the magwell to apply upward pressure on the front takedown pins. I end up with a small light gap between the upper and the lower but I know that doesn't matter at all so overall, I'm really pleased with how well these two receivers fit together even though they are from different brands. I'm sure the fit is even better with the full Radian build kit but I liked the design of the SOLGW rail better.

Yup, they all come with double springs.

 

[Leicafan1990]

Just finished this build today, looking forward to running it through it's paces.

The Broadsword Builder kit is extremely rigid and well built with clean machining work. The face of the Upper Receiver is true and showed virtually no Runout

The Upper with it's heavy construction and increased flared forward surface area would be well suited for the heaviest profile barrels. Barrel installation requires a mandatory thermofit, no shims or Loctite required.

Handguard to Upper Receiver fit is exceptional with its integrated anti-rotation tabs and pin create a Rrock solid lockup.
The fit between the 2.5" Titanium Barrel Nut and Handguard are very tight, without even tightening the handguard screws there is no felt Handguard flex. Once the opposing hand guards screws are torqued down with it's wedged Barrel Nut/Handguard design there is absolutely zero flex.

The only down side I would say is thier Broadsword Lower Receiver doesn't have the Full Ambidextrous controls that most quality manufacturers have today.

One of the notable enhancements I do enjoy with the SOLGW lower is they have elongated the grip position so if you have large hands it puts your Trigger Finger in perfect placement.



The Complete Build list is as follows:

SOLGW Broadsword Build Kit with 13" L89 Handguard.

Geissele's new release Heavy Contour Barrel.

SPECS
LENGTH: 14.5"
WEIGHT: 2lbs 2.6oz
RIFLING: Cold Hammer Forged
PROFILE: Geissele Heavy Profile
GAS LENGTH: Mid-Length
GAS BLOCK DIAMETER: .750
GAS PORT SIZE: .076
MUZZLE THREAD: 1/2 x 28
CHAMBER: 5.56
TWIST: 1-7
BARREL EXTENSION:M4
MATERIAL: Chromolly Steel
FINISH: Manganese Phosphate
View attachment 8542367
View attachment 8542381



Lantac Dragon Dead Air KEYMO Wolfman 5.56 Muzzle Brake.

Surprilitive Arms .750 AGB.

Geissele Ambi Charging Handle.

Geissele 5.56 Enhanced AR-15 Bolt Carrier Group - Nanoweapon.

TriggerTech AR-15 Single-Stage Competitive Trigger with flat trigger shoe 3lbs Fixed. (Breaks Clean at 2lbs 10oz)

JP Hand Fitted Takedown Pins.

PWS QD End Plate and Castle Nut.

BAD 60/90 Ambi Safety.

Vltor A5 Buffer system with JP polished Rifle Length spring.

MagPul DT-PR Carbine Stock.


 View attachment 8542260View attachment 8542261
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Range Report to come.

Jake.

Are you a fan of the Geissele Reliability Enhanced BCG? How does it compare quality wise to the BCG’s from JP?

 

[bigjake83]

Are you a fan of the Geissele Reliability Enhanced BCG? How does it compare quality wise to the BCG’s from JP?

The Geissele Enhanced BCG is definitely quality and built for hard use.

There's a shit ton of quality BCG's on the market that work just as well as the Geissele without the price tag.

JP BCG's are still the gold standard for precision builds.

For my Bolts in 5.56 and 6ARC I've switched to Young Manufacturing HMB bolt kits.

Some of the other complete BCG's that I've been happy with are Radian Enhanced and Sharps SAGRS Adjustable BCG.

 

[Edsel]

Geissele's new release Heavy Contour Barrel.

SPECS
LENGTH: 14.5"
WEIGHT: 2lbs 2.6oz
RIFLING: Cold Hammer Forged
PROFILE: Geissele Heavy Profile
GAS LENGTH: Mid-Length
GAS BLOCK DIAMETER: .750
GAS PORT SIZE: .076
MUZZLE THREAD: 1/2 x 28
CHAMBER: 5.56
TWIST: 1-7
BARREL EXTENSION:M4
MATERIAL: Chromolly Steel
FINISH: Manganese Phosphate
 View attachment 8542260

Couldn’t find this one on their website, or perhaps I’m misidentifying it.

Do you have a link?

EDIT: Is it part 05-2807?

 

[Leicafan1990]

The Geissele Enhanced BCG is definitely quality and built for hard use.

There's a shit ton of quality BCG's on the market that work just as well as the Geissele without the price tag.

JP BCG's are still the gold standard for precision builds.

For my Bolts in 5.56 and 6ARC I've switched to Young Manufacturing HMB bolt kits.

Some of the other complete BCG's that I've been happy with are Radian Enhanced and Sharps SAGRS Adjustable BCG.

Did JP resolve the issue you experienced with their QPQ finish wearing off super quickly?

What is it about the JP that makes it better for precision builds? Is it just down to the super tight tolerances of the bolt itself or is the increased surface area of the carriers rails adding to that as well?

Maybe its just marketing hype but I’m interested in Geissele’s use of forged bolts. That seems like a great idea and I’m surprised other companies haven’t done that before. After some internet research, I haven’t come across any examples of breakages for the Geissele enhanced forged bolts.

 

[Jsp556]

Pretty sure melonite treatment doesn’t just wear off. The black color is just carbon. You can polish it away and the surface hardness remains the same. @Constructor can elaborate if he still gets on the forum.

 

[BravoSector1]

I'm assuming the barrels are outsourced to DD, FN, or another entity? I wasn't aware Geissele had their own in house hammer forging process.