Thinking about building a varmint gun...

[TFin04]

Looking for some insight/advice, here's the story:

I recently purchased my first AR15. It's a 16" A3 Bushmaster and it shoots extremely well. This will be replacing my AK47 for 3 gun competitions.

I want to build a long range target/varmint gun. Punch some paper with it and maybe go Prairie Dog hunting or similar with it. I'm thinking about building a 24" AR platform rifle to accomplish that. Here's the idea:

Buy Cavalry Arms polymer lower for my Bushmaster. It's lightweight and I like the different colors for my 3 Gun rifle. Buy 24" upper and mount that on the Bushmaster lower to create my varmint gun. Put a nice scope on top and call it good. Tools/mags/ammo are interchangeable between both guns.

Now my questions:

1. What do you think of the whole idea?
2. Do you recommend a different caliber than 223 for varmints/target shooting?
3. Do you recommend a different platform for varmints/target shooting?

I am trying to be fairly cheap with this project. I'm looking at around the $600 mark if I use one of the cheaper uppers, I don't know what the quality is like at that price though. Any opinions would be appreciated!!

 

[TFin04]

I just had a bit of an "ah-ha" moment.

What about just buying a 24" upper and placing that on either my existing Bushy lower or buying a Cav Arms lower and selling the Bushy lower to offset the cost? Aside from dialing in the scope again, I could essentially have two guns in one.

As I said, I'm trying to stay cheap here. I really cant afford to have another $700 rifle sitting around, as much as I'd like one.

 

[jkingrph]

I basically did that one lower and two uppers. Get a good flat top upper, free floated match grade barrel, med heavy. Put a good scope on it and leave it there. Not counting the scope cost would be much less than a complete gun , and later on if you wish you could add another lower. For varmit work I would suggest adding a good trigger.

 

[TFin04]

I'm looking at the 24" varmint uppers from Model1Sales.com for $360. I've seen a few people post good feedback about their products, anyone used them?

That makes things much easier just going with two uppers and one lower. I won't have two fully functional guns, but I can just toss $10 or $20 aside every month until I can buy another lower for it, no rush there.

Triggers- Who makes a good one? Can I just rework my current trigger group? What's a good price for an aftermarket one? I've done quite a bit of trigger work to other rifles with good results. How well can an AR trigger be tweaked?

Thanks!

 

[Whitman31]

My advice, spend a little more on the barrel. No point in having an expensive trigger if your barrel can't hold 1 MOA.

I've fully adjusted my stock AR trigger, breaks very clean at around 3 lbs. It's not "easy" but if you've worked a lot of triggers in the past you might be able to handle it. I won't go into details right here, but getting mine where I wanted it involved a welder...

 

[TFin04]

Who would be your recommended company for a better barrel than the Model 1 kit?

Maybe I can find a good used upper somewhere. Gunbroker and AR15.com aren't turning up much so far.

 

[jpwilly]

DPMS 20" SS Bull Barrel upper on my rifle holds 3/4" with commercial ammo better with handloads.

 

[Whitman31]

Who would be your recommended company for a better barrel than the Model 1 kit?

To stay close to the dollar amount you mentioned you'll most likely have to get a match barrel from one of the big name companies (RRA, Bushy, DPMS to name just a few).

If you really want tight groups it's my opinion, you'd have to go with a high end custom barrel from someone like: Krieger, Pac Nor, Shilen, or Les Baer just to name a few.

I'm sure there are $300 complete uppers out there that will shoot MOA, but most wont...

 

[TFin04]

I'm not looking to entering any tournaments with this rifle, just shoot some prairie dogs at a hundred or two hundred yards. The rest is just paper punching.

I think DPMS is a bit out of my price range. $400 is about the most I'd want to spend on a complete upper. New or used doesn't matter, what can I find for that price level?

Thanks for the info so far!

 

[browningguy]

Keep Checking Midwayusa.com, they put the DPMS 16", free floated bull barrel upper on sale for under $400 a couple of times a year. Personally I think thats about the cheapest upper that gives you a better than average chance of getting a good shooter. I've seen some Model1's that shot really well, and some that haven't.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Now my questions:

1. What do you think of the whole idea?

It'll work.

2. Do you recommend a different caliber than 223 for varmints/target shooting?

.223 is OK, but you're limited to about 350 yards. I like .220 Swift and 6mm Rem.

3. Do you recommend a different platform for varmints/target shooting?

Heavy barreled bolt rifle.