Best AR-15 for High Power

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USMCRotrHed

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I'm just getting started in competition shooting. I want to compete in the Service Rifle class. I have been looking atthe Rock River Arms National Match A2, The DPMS Panther DCM, and the Fulton Armory Mirage NM.

Any thoughts on these rifles? Any other rifles I should consider? Why?
 
How about the White Oak Armament upper? Should be perfect for Service Class. That's what I'm gonna get if/when I decide I want a 20" upper.

Can either be found thru WOA or Adco. :)
 
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I have friends that compete with all the models you mention except the Fulton arms one. Two weeks ago one heck of a shooter with the DPMS won the match. Over last summer, another very good shooter (not me) won three months in a row of our local matches with a Bushmaster CMP rifle with a two-stage trigger.... fairly similar in configuration to the currently offered Bushmaster match rifle. (Since then, I've bought that rifle and love it - it is much more accurate than I am).


Finally, two of my friends shoot RRA National Match rifles with a little bit of gunsmithing done to them. They both shoot well enough to have gone to Camp Perry last year.


I guess my short conclusion is that you couldn't go wrong with any of the choices you mention, plus the Bushmaster. If I were you I'd feel comfortable with any one that I chose, confident that the rifle isn't holding me back.
 
White Oak Armament or White Oak Precision upper with 1:7 barrel and pinned rear sights with several hoods/aperatures.

Mate to lower of your choosing (I recommend Stag or RRA for $200).
 
It's not hard for manufacturers to put the needed so-called NM parts together and have a half decent Match AR. Where the difference lays in in the details and in the odds.

I've seen a bunch of big maker Match AR's out there now. Many are fine, but I've seen more than my share of those with problems. Some minor, some major (Function problems, FSBs not centered up, 8lb match triggers). Same applies to most of the other big makers. I've seen an off the rack Armalite win a National Championship, and I've seen same that wouldn't function properly. All in the odds. I prefer to not roll the dice when I drop several hundred dollars. I also happen to like my stuff to work without having to tweak and fiddle with them.

Since the title on this thread is the "Best" AR-15 for Highpower, I'm going to advise you to go with the best odds and go with something from an AR Maestro like John Holliger of White Oak ("Armament" or "Precision"). His entry level upper ("Armament") is the best deal in accurate AR's today and what I'm steering all of my friends into. No one has come away unhappy so far. Good parts, built right, best innovationexcellent support after the sale (when I was new to AR's and needed a bit of steering).
 
I've got the RRA NM A3 upper (with detachable carry handle) and while I've never shot a high power competition I'd have to say that the gun is definately accurate enough. I shoot really nice groups with it and I'm a TERRIBLE rifle shooter. I slapped it on a lower I put together myself and was shooting tighter groups with XM193 ammo than my neighbor with his Bushy varmiteer and federal gold match. (I could've gotten a good price on that rifle after that. :) )

Just my .02

Regards,
Dave
 
Conclusions

It sounds to me like there isn't exactly a clear cut "best in class". What I heard was go custom builder if you have the money, but most of the better brands pretty much all shoot well.

My main concern is getting a rifle that will shoot better than I can, so I can't use the excuse "The rifle isn't shooting well for whatever reason."

Thanks to everyone who gave me their thoughts. I think I know what to look for from here.
 
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The folks that are winning are shooting White Oak. That's about as clear cut as I've seen.
 
I'm kinda leanin' towards....

Cost vs. quality. I'm looking pretty hard at the White Oak upper mated to a Rock River lower with NM trigger. I think those are doable without breaking the bank. I may even have money left over for ammo, wouldn't that be nice!
 
I was advised to get a White Oak upper on a RRA lower. If you buy the RRA NM trigger, send it to White Oak for a tune up before you put it back in the rifle.
 
White Oak is excellent, especially for the cost. The pinned rear sight is worth the few extra $$ he charges. I wouldn't feel outgunned shooting an RRA. Just remember that matches are won by the best shooter, not by the guy who spent the most on his rifle.

Don't worry about spending big money on the best barrel out there--unless you shoot Master scores right now, you're going to put a lot of milage on the barrel just learning how to shoot it.
 
It's the shooter not the rifle

I do understand that it is the shooter and not the rifle that wins competitions. I have also been given the advice to buy as much gun as you can afford. This will make sure that the rifle is not the weak link in the chain. If I have good equipment, it should last me years into the furture. This does 2 things for me, it lets me know that I am the weak link, and instead of spending more money on another rifle in a couple of years, I can spend that money on practice ammo.

I feel confident that all of the rifles we have discussed here will expose my weaknesses and show my improvements over time.
 
Finally a post to which I know something about!

Two shooting buddies and my son in law have the RRA NM rifles. One of the buddies made master in 2 years and the other buddy is working on it real hard with solid expert scores. My son in law's is so new no matches fired yet. I didn't know he ordered one up until he called me to tell my about it.

I shoot a White Oak Precision upper on a RRA NM match lower, complete with flash hider and bayo lug. (post post ban) The 2 stage trigger has been tuned by John at WOP. The rear sights are pinned. I have the Pac Nor stainles 3 groove with a 6 1/2 to 1 twist. It will shoot 55's OK (not gone lighter than those, sorry) and for matches I've used 69 to 80 gr. SMK's. The reason I went with the 6 1/2 to 1 twist is I was hoping to use 90 gr. bullets at some point. The 80's fly really nice at 600 though.

I know a female shooter who got the same setup I have from hubby for Christmas. She shoots better than he does anyways. She gave him a Lyman DPS 1200II in return for Christmas heh, heh. We know who is going to be reloading for her.

My rifle shoots, I've been either in the money or match winner for most of the 14 matches I shot with it last year. Like I said the the rifle shoots. I think I said the rifle shoots didn't I? Others are right, John at WOP is easy to work with and is very helpful even after the sale. He charges $35.00 to tune up a RRA 2 stage trigger with $5.00 going for shipping back to you.

I don't know anyone who has not been happy with their WOP upper.
 
if you get the pac-nor 6.5 twist barrel you can shoot the 90's which are quite competitive at 600

atek3
 
The other thing I wanted to say is if you have the same set up I have and you don't shoot an X it's not the rifles fault! :p

atek3, what are you using for a load for the 90's? I like R-15.

I've also been thinking of getting a .22 upper for indoor parctice during the winter in a heated indoor range I have a key for. Anyone have any idea's on this?
 
Olympic makes a real good match rifle.LAst shooting season My Best friend went for 450 range to 490 with one.I have shot DPMS for years,and found them to be fantastic shooters.Start with something in that range till You're scores start to climb,then send it out To Hollinger for a new barrel,sight work,etc.Why shoot out the top of the line,till You get in the game and start progressing.
 
bow4828 said:
Olympic makes a real good match rifle.LAst shooting season My Best friend went for 450 range to 490 with one.I have shot DPMS for years,and found them to be fantastic shooters.Start with something in that range till You're scores start to climb,then send it out To Hollinger for a new barrel,sight work,etc.Why shoot out the top of the line,till You get in the game and start progressing.
Click to expand...


Because with careful shopping you can have a top shelf rifle for just a couple of hundred more. If he were looking at a .30, I would suggest shooting out the stock barrel first.

The RRA NM is a good deal and better than Oly. A Hollinger tuned RRA 2 stage trigger is hard to beat. There are those that cost more but the tuned RRA 2 stage is a great trigger.
 
Triggers

OK, I'm looking at the White Oak service rifle upper and either the DPMS or RRA lower. My next question is.......which trigger. I want a Jewell. But is the Rock River match trigger just as good? It costs less, especially if I get it as a unit with the complete RRA lower. I can afford the Jewell, but why waste money on a trigger. If I can have a comperable rifle with the Rock River, I'd rather spend the extra few dollars on ammo.
 
The RRA trigger is probably a better buy. You might look into the Geisselle trigger--they're advertising half the lock-time of the other triggers which is a definite bonus, especially during offhand.
 
The tuned RRA by Holliger at White Oak Precision is the hot ticket these days...

But...I really love my Jewell.
 
OK now we are on track here for a top shelf NM AR. You will NOT regret it.

I would get the 1/4 minutes sights.

Find a FFL who will cut you a bit of a deal or use their FFL for $20.00 bucks or so and order a RRA NM lower from www.eaglefiresarms.net. This is what a guy I shoot with did for his wife for Christmas. Eagle Firearms also has fair prices on good mags. I was lucky when I was getting my rifle built as Eagle Firearms had 20 round Colts for $16.00 ea. 30's will work but might be too long for shooting prone as the mag can't be on the ground.....

You can get finshed RRA triggers from WOP, but if you get the lower now, and send the trigger off the WOP while the upper is being built, you will be ahead of the game. Tuning a trigger is $35.00 with $5.00 used for shipping it back to you.

Put the two together and you will have a rifle that will put them where you shoot em. I've got about $1100.00 in my rifle and the dang thing shoots!
 
The tuned RRA by Holliger at White Oak Precision is the hot ticket these days...
Click to expand...
John hasn't offered the "tuned RRA Upper" for a couple of years now. There were some QC issues and this prompted him to try to put together his own value package. It ended up costing a bit more, but also gave better quality in certain key areas than the RRA NM.
 
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