Radical Firearms 18" .223 Wylde 1:8 S.S. Rifle-Length Barreled Upper - 15" M-LOK RPR Gen3 Rail and BMD Brake

The barrel is the best part as well as the muzzle break both are superb.
The handguard however should be tossed in garbage..in the effort to maintain extreme light weight , they extruded it far too thin, the pic rail at the top is as warped as an old rooftop on a 20's home...it will not allow anything mounted to be aligned with the bore..visually terrible..sharp edges especially at rear tabs at received are like razors ...gas hole had a bur in barrel size of Texas, gas block loose and crooked..
I cleared bur , installed a new Aero hand guard , bead blasted barrel surface, drilled dimples for gas block, bored gas orifice .002" over size.
it's good now....bought it on sale cheap so I basicly bought the barrel..

This review is for Radical 18" 223 Wylde upper.

At first I thought it was undergassed (per the other reviews) but it turned out my buffer was too heavy. With a standard 3 oz buffer, it shoots .223 steel case or 5.56 brass reliably.
The reviews are correct about the brake being cocked, but it's not a compensated (anti-rise) brake so it doesn't matter.

Overall, I'm happy.

Great looking upper assembly. A nice heavy stainless match barrel and a light rail. This is a great deal for the price if you get it on sale. The components are excellent, you just have to inspect it and readjust the assembly. Seems Radical firearms is lacking on the quality control. After inspecting the upper easily noticed both the gas block and the brake were not indexed correctly. The barrel is not dimpeled, so you have to pay attention when aligning the gas port. The brake does not have a washer. After installing one it was easy to time and align the brake. After these adjustments everything cycled properly. 200 rds with not a single issue and great accuracy. All for $190.

I've been running this upper on my main rifle for about 1.5 years now and have absolutely loved it. It's been shooting sub-moa ever since I bought it and shoots super soft combined with a carbine buffer tube with an H/H1 buffer. I have swapped the muzzle brake because I got some mud in the one that comes with it and it blew up (user error, not the equipment), but the barrel and receiver held up just fine from it. Overall, I have been extremely satisfied with this product, especially as a more budget friendly option, it's held up as well as my buddy's "duty grade" rifle.

First off, my upper has cycled every round perfectly since day 1(which was about 2-3 weeks ago and I got it for $229). Within those weeks I have put about 1300rnds and I have boxes for 12 different brands of ammo(NOT including hand loads), NATO and .223rem, 40gr - 77gr, it cycles flawlessly. Even running suppressed, Ex.Hvy Buffer and it still cycled, although a standard-heavy buffer spring suppressed generates almost 0 recoil and shoots beautifully. With hornday 55gr vmax factory loads I pull off 3 shot groups at .75"-.88" at 265yrds. It seems maybe the 2 people with the 1 star reviews simply got a defective upper because this upper - the one I was sold is simply awesome - my ONLY neutral feeling I have is the barrel has an "unfinished" look/texture to keep the cost down, but that's my only so-so issue.

I caught this on sale for $189 while looking to build an upper for DMR matches at my home range.
If it didn't shoot like i wanted it to, i'd break it down and true it up.

The first range session, i dialed it in at 100 yds then got some velocity data on 77 grain ammo. Then I proceeded to step it out a bit at a time.
700 yards...that's the first distance that i missed the first shot on!
Stretched it to 800 that day before the wind kicked my butt.
I've shot it in all the local DMR matches on top of a DD lower, and have placed pretty much were i should be (4th to 5th place) based on my skill, not the upper.

It has since shot 6 out of 8 at 900, and touched 1k multiple times with factory ammo.
It shoots suppressed very well with the aid of and adjustable gas block.

All and all, I'm extremely impressed with the out of the box accuracy and performance.

I will be buying another to build a rifle for my daughter.

Had this upper for 2 years now use a aero precision bcg and it is a tac driver never gave me any problems cicles everything ….i will say when you buy one make sure to tighten everything and use tread lock that’s all well worth it

The handguard edges are so sharp I cut my hand just putting the upper onto the lower. I will be replacing the handguard ASAP!

Took advantage of the sale a while back on impulse. Expectations were low but wildly impressed at how a sub $150 upper performed! With M855, was consistently hitting sub MOA and some stacked on each other at 100 yards! At 200 yards, grouping within 3" and constant hits within 8" target at 300 yards. Only gripe would be how the handguard feels in hand but other than that, it's an excellent buy!

It's a good shooter and I would have given it 5 starts but I didn't. The barrel is looking a little ruff like it was dragged across the shop floor. There are scratches and fingerprints all over the barrel. And where the gas block sits that section was cut with a worn cutting bit. You mechanics that have ever cut a rotor with a worn bit know what I'm talking about. But for $150 I was expecting there to be something wrong with it.