The General AR Discussion Thread

Nice write-up Reedo. Sweet pictures to boot too!

Awesome write up. What length barrel would you recommend going with for something that will 98% of the time be used for paper punching at 100-200 yards, I want it to be capable of awesome groups at 200(I know i'll have to save up for some decent glass too)

Thanks for honoring my request for a write up, Reedo! Great info there.

Fantastic write up, Reedo!

Originally Posted by SLVR JDM

Thanks for honoring my request for a write up, Reedo! Great info there.

I was just hoping I got all the points you were looking for. I was bored last night, so I was like "oooh, this will be fun!"

Originally Posted by Adam@Euro-Spec

Awesome write up. What length barrel would you recommend going with for something that will 98% of the time be used for paper punching at 100-200 yards, I want it to be capable of awesome groups at 200(I know i'll have to save up for some decent glass too)

Thanks.
I would recommend just sticking with a 16" barrel so that you don't have to deal with NFA issues. You can get very good groups from good carbine barrels like from Daniel Defense and the lot, but the awesome groups will come from heavier match barrels like those from Noveske and the BCM SS410 barrels. Just combine it with a free float handguard and you will have a good accurate setup. Standard AR carbine barrels will get anywhere from about 1.5-4 MOA, while the heavy barrels are sub-MOA to 1 MOA.

Originally Posted by Reedo302

I was just hoping I got all the points you were looking for. I was bored last night, so I was like "oooh, this will be fun!"


Thanks.
I would recommend just sticking with a 16" barrel so that you don't have to deal with NFA issues. You can get very good groups from good carbine barrels like from Daniel Defense and the lot, but the awesome groups will come from heavier match barrels like those from Noveske and the BCM SS410 barrels. Just combine it with a free float handguard and you will have a good accurate setup. Standard AR carbine barrels will get anywhere from about 1.5-4 MOA, while the heavy barrels are sub-MOA to 1 MOA.

I don't feel like dealing with NFA on my first build. Would it be more beneficial to go with a 18" heavier barrel over a 16" barrel? My range is mostly bench shooting paper punching, when I get out in the woods and open obviously ill have a little more fun, but its not going to be seeing any 2 way ranges or close combat.

Thanks for answering all my millions of questions, much easier then sifting through the bs on ar15.com.

BTW Reedo do you buy a lot from brownells? If so PM me your email address.

I buy most of my small parts and tools from Brownells, but I buy my major components from other vendors that I get discounts from.
I would recommend going with a 16". 18" is nice to have, but it's just a little bit too long to carry around a lot. If you ever want to take an AR training course or something later on by any of the myriad of training groups, a 16" barrel would be ideal. 18" barrels are really only necessary when trying to push rounds out to 500yds and beyond.

Originally Posted by Reedo302

I was just hoping I got all the points you were looking for. I was bored last night, so I was like "oooh, this will be fun!"

Yep, you definitely covered what I wanted to know. Thanks for taking the time to put it together. It really helps those of us who want to know but either don't know where to start or don't want to spend hours on ar15.c

Originally Posted by Reedo302

I buy most of my small parts and tools from Brownells, but I buy my major components from other vendors that I get discounts from.
I would recommend going with a 16". 18" is nice to have, but it's just a little bit too long to carry around a lot. If you ever want to take an AR training course or something later on by any of the myriad of training groups, a 16" barrel would be ideal. 18" barrels are really only necessary when trying to push rounds out to 500yds and beyond.

Good karma coming your way. $25 gift certificate to brownells Enjoy it

What are the advantages of going with a 1:7 barrel vs 1:8 or disadvantages, I was looking at a lot of the Complete BCM uppers with SS Barrels and they are all 1:8 where a lot of Spikes and some other companies are strictly 1:7.

Originally Posted by Adam@Euro-Spec

What are the advantages of going with a 1:7 barrel vs 1:8 or disadvantages, I was looking at a lot of the Complete BCM uppers with SS Barrels and they are all 1:8 where a lot of Spikes and some other companies are strictly 1:7.

The 1/7 twist is necessary to stabilize military L110 tracer rounds, that's why the military uses it and why companies that offer "mil-spec" products offer it. The 1/9 twist is common in commercial AR's and will shoot some of the lighter (<55g) where the 1/7 may spin it too fast.

Basically, both will shoot almost any ammunition that you purchase commercially just fine and are appropriate for general use. It is when you get into the specialized bullets that it really becomes an issue.

For what it's worth, I have one that is 1/9 and one that is 1/7.

Originally Posted by Serbonze

The 1/7 twist is necessary to stabilize military L110 tracer rounds, that's why the military uses it and why companies that offer "mil-spec" products offer it. The 1/9 twist is common in commercial AR's and will shoot some of the lighter (<55g) where the 1/7 may spin it too fast.

Basically, both will shoot almost any ammunition that you purchase commercially just fine and are appropriate for general use. It is when you get into the specialized bullets that it really becomes an issue.

For what it's worth, I have one that is 1/9 and one that is 1/7.

I'll be shooting commercial round since I dont plan on getting into hand loads. Do you notice a big difference shooting commercial rounds?
What uppers do you have?



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Originally Posted by Adam@Euro-Spec

I'll be shooting commercial round since I dont plan on getting into hand loads. Do you notice a big difference shooting commercial rounds?
What uppers do you have?

Sorry, I realized that I didn't fully answer your question about the 1/8. As you can imagine, 1/8 is right in the middle and would be considered by some to be "ideal". Smith & Wesson is the only large company that I know of that is offering them on fully built rifles. I'm sure there are others, I just don't them off the top of my head (I don't think BCM sells complete uppers with the 1/8, do they?).

Originally Posted by Serbonze

Sorry, I realized that I didn't fully answer your question about the 1/8. As you can imagine, 1/8 is right in the middle and would be considered by some to be "ideal". Smith & Wesson is the only large company that I know of that is offering them on fully built rifles. I'm sure there are others, I just don't them off the top of my head (I don't think BCM sells complete uppers with the 1/8, do they?).

I was looking at their SS410 series as reed suggested and all of them are 1/8 twist rates

http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-S...%20ib%20bk.htm

Originally Posted by Adam@Euro-Spec

I was looking at their SS410 series as reed suggested and all of them are 1/8 twist rates

http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-S...%20ib%20bk.htm

Gotcha. That is definitely a match grade barrel!

1:7 twist was developed for slower bullets, but it was also developed for shorter barrels. When the military shortened the barrel of the M16A2 from 20" to the 14.5" of the M4, they ran into an issue with the ammunition velocity. For every 1" of barrel length reduction, there is a loss of 50fps velocity for a standard 5.56mm bullet. When you have M855 coming out of the A2 at ~3200fps, you will have a velocity of 2925fps out of a 14.5" barrel with the same ammunition. Tighter twist rates are designed to stabilize slower bullets. The tighter twist rate allows the lighter rounds to stabilize when shot out of shorter barrels where the velocity is lower at the muzzle. This is why an SBR that is NOT chambered in 1:7 or 1:8 is basically worthless in my book.

1:8 twist is really a match twist, or precision twist. It is specifically designed for optimal performance 69gr, 75gr and 77gr loads. Getting a 1:8 twist will allow the use of all kinds of ammo. The average person will not notice any difference with factory ammunition between twist rates in the 1:7-1:9 range when shooting at under about 300m.
My SPR is a 1:8 twist and it's a tack driver when it wants to be.

Originally Posted by Reedo302

My SPR is a 1:8 twist and it's a tack driver when it wants to be.

When it wants to be, or when you want to be?

Adam - I think you are going to be fine with whatever you choose; 1:7, 1:8, or 1:9, stainless or chrome lined. More than likely, and I mean no disrespect at all because I fall into the same category, the rifle will be able to out-shoot your capabilities.

Any my apologies for not fully reading the posts above. I was trying to answer some of your questions from my phone and clearly didn't see the BCM option that Reed suggested. I went to their site last night, and I never even knew that they offered SS uppers. Granted, I had never looked for one either. =)

I appreciate all the responses. I know the rifle will be much more accurate then I'll probably ever be which is good and what I want lol. Figured if I build my dream tac driver right the first time in not going to regret any parts on it. Just so many damn choices and specs.

Still trying to decide to go with a complete upper or piece it together.

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Originally Posted by Serbonze

When it wants to be, or when you want to be?

A little from column A, a little from column B...


Truthfully, I think the rifle is WAY too light. I need more weight on this thing so that it stops moving all the time. I am going to slap on the Magpul PRS one of these days to make it heavier. I'm also going to get a better rear bag and invest in a proper front rest.

What is the stock on there now?

Originally Posted by Reedo302

A little from column A, a little from column B...


Truthfully, I think the rifle is WAY too light. I need more weight on this thing so that it stops moving all the time. I am going to slap on the Magpul PRS one of these days to make it heavier. I'm also going to get a better rear bag and invest in a proper front rest.

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