Rosco Manufacturing 12.50-inch Complete Upper (From $565)

With very few exceptions, it’s difficult to purchase a finicky 5.56 AR these days. There are a ton of AR15 upper options on the market today and all but the most educated consumer may find it difficult to navigate the good from the better to the best. That said, there is good, and there is definitely better.

We love several things about Rosco Manufacturing’s 12.50-inch complete (including the bolt-carrier group) upper receiver. The first is the barrel length; a 12.50 inch is arguably the best of all worlds when it comes to 5.56-barrel lengths. It’s short enough to be extremely handy, lightweight, and maneuverable in confined spaces while long enough to provide the velocity the 5.56 needs to be effective. We consider it the goldilocks of barrel lengths. Second, Rosco uses a 10.5-inch MLOK compatible Wedge Lock handguard attachment, which is arguably one of the most rigid, well-designed attachments currently available. If you mount an aiming laser on this handguard, it won’t flex, which means your laser stays zeroed, nor will it fail in harsh field conditions. Of course, because it’s a Rosco, the barrel will shoot lights out, and this upper performed as expected. A multitude of options exist that can be selected during the build process. For more information, contact Rosco Manufacturing; Tel.: (401) 228-0120; Web: www.roscomanufacturing.com