Accurize my AR next step.

[Lovesbeer99]

I have a BM with a factory 20" target barrel. I added a 2 stage trigger, freefloat tube, accue wedge, and wieghted the stock for balance. With a scope and handloads I can shoot 1.5 moa consistantly at any range up to 300 yards (I haven't shot past this yet). This is a great improvement from what it was out of the box.

What's my next step? I'm assuming a match barrel would do the trick. Do I need a matched bolt, or is that just nice to have? What can I expect by adding the barrel?

I shot my buddies bolt gun and at 300 yards he has a 1/2 moa gun. I don't know if I can get my AR to this level, but I also don't plan to spend 2000.00 on a custom rifle.

 

[cracked butt]

Barrel.
You don't need to match the bolt, but you can pay extra to have a matched bolt for a tighter chamber. There really is no comparison between a Krieger, pacnor, wilson, White Oak, etc barrel and one of the craptacular chromed barrels that come on a factory rifle.

There are a few other modifications you can make- small and cheap, but worthwhile.

If you are getting a new barrel and want a flash hider, do not use crush washers. Use peel washers to index the muzzle device. Crush washers put strain on the barrel and can stretch the last inch or so. Unless you are using your rifle for bayonet drills, attach your gas block using lock-tite sleeve and bearing retainer or set screws (set screws add a little strain to the barrel, but also give you windage adjustability to your front sight tower. Do not use taper pins. If you are standard A2 iron sights, you drill and tap under the front sight pin and add a setscrew under the front sight to eliminate any wiggle.

I did all of the above modifications with the same rifle along with a PacNor barrel replacement, freefloat handguard, and a '15 minute trigger job (google it), and it shoots 1/2moa 10 shot groups. These rifles can be incredibly accurate if set up right.

 

[cracked butt]

Here's a website where I found out how to modify the front base.

http://www.gswagner.com/arsight/arsightmods.html

 

[Lovesbeer99]

OK, so let's say I pick a barrel. Where's the best place to buy? I'm kind of partial to Shilen and Krieger, but I'm sure Wilsons are good too. I didn't see a pac nor that was longer than 18" I must have missed something.

I see an option with Krieger to send in my upper to have them install the barrel for 170.00. This includes headspacing etc. Is this worth the money? I've replaced an AR barrel before, but to get the full experiance of the Match Barrel are there special tools or install procedures?

Thanks in advance again.

 

[cracked butt]

You can't go wrong with a Krieger, though its pricey. Personally, I would go with White Oak Armaments. Pacnor barrels used to be offered by WOA, but it looks like they sell their own brand along with Kriegers. Their offerings of barrels seem to change fairly often.

Headspacing to a bolt- I'm not sure how much accuracy this will gain for you. If you are reloading, You want to check the movement of your shoulders- in a factory rifle, they will expand by 6-7thousanths, with a match barrel not headspaced to a particular bolt, the expansion will be less than 1/2 of that. If you are going to shoot the rifle a lot, it might make sense to have a bolt headspaced to the barrel as you'll be changing barrels every 3000-5000 rounds and will want to replace the bolt with a new one at the same time anyhow.

Barrel installation- if this is going to be a one-time deal, $170 to install a barrel is a bit steep to me, but FWIW, you'll need at least $75 worth of tools to do the job yourself. If you plan to shoot a lot and probably swap barrels every other year or so, its worthwhile to do it yourself. I paid $35 for a DPMS armorer's wrench and $30 for a Model-1 upper receiver block. I already had a torque wrench (though its not necessary as you'll be indexing the barrel nut to match up with the gastube hole anyhow) and a vice on a sturdy workbench.

 

[Lovesbeer99]

how do you headspace a .223 AR? I thought the barrel was set in a fixed position and tha the bolt floated?

 

[cracked butt]

Re:headspacing.

My understanding is that factory barrels are usually set at or near the maximum SAAMI headspace in order to allow reliable functioning. The bolts are supposed to be identical and interchangeable, but there still are going to be small manufacturing variances.

Some outfits will ream chambers to fit a particular bolthead for minimal headspace. This should in theory increase accuracy but also decreases reliability which isn't that much of an issue with match rifles.

 

[The Deer Hunter]

I shot my buddies bolt gun and at 300 yards he has a 1/2 moa gun. I don't know if I can get my AR to this level, but I also don't plan to spend 2000.00 on a custom rifle.

Well with an $800 rifle to start with, and the stuff you have added to it I wouldn't look at it like that as you might encroach on $2000.

Also, you don't need to spend $2000 on an accurate bolt action rifle.

 

[tiger rag]

I think the most cost efective way to shrink your group size is at the reloading bench developing a pet load.

 

[mtlucas0311]

I've seen a few posts mentioning White Oak Armament, they are right. Even though you've spent some money on a tube and weight I think you should just by an upper made by White Oak. You'll spend seven and change, but what you'll get is a work of art. If you add up everything you'll spend on individual parts it will be about the same as the whole upper put together by a pro. Call up White Oak and talk to them, they are very nice and will answer any questions. You will shoot right with that bolt gun with one of their uppers.