Which barrel for AR15 is better for me?

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zerobarrier

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Hello,

Two barrels I am considering are:

Wilson SPR 5.56 Match

Wilson super sniper 223 wylde

So I want to rebarrel my AR and get it shooting sub moa. Right now it has the current S&W factory barrel and with my hand loads shoots 1" at 100 yards. I will shoot this out to 600 yards occasionally, but the bulk of the time will be 200-300 yards. All bench or prone with a bipod.

Since I reload I will see which weight bullet works best in it 69gr-77gr. Most of my shooting is done with a suppressor so if I get the super sniper barrel I have to have it threaded which is $125 in my area.

I can't decide between these 2. Is the bull barrel really that much better that I should consider the extra cost to thread it? Plus I have to get a new gas block as well since it is .936. The other barrel will use my .750 gas block.

Any suggestions, I'm open to other match grade barrels, but I don't want to get crazy in price. I'd like to stay around $300, Krieger barrels can get over $500.
 
Both are very good barrels. I would go with the lighter of the two, you wont have to get it threaded and you can use a standard gas block.

If you were shooting 600 more often, them maybe the 20", but the 18" is heavy enough to dissipate heat.
 
Primalmu That 20" black hole barrel looks nice, but its not a 223 wylde or bull barrel. Would you still recommend it over the wilsons? Also I really don't need the stripped upper
 
Or should I just get this upper?
Rock River R3 competition

and have them remove the muzzle brake. Once I tally up the price of the barrel, gas tube, new handguard because I have a carbine length one, and shipping, its only $100-150 more to buy the complete upper from rock river. They have a 18% of sale, so the upper will be around $620ish. Then I could probably sell my upper for $200-300.

Not sure what the accuracy difference will be between the Wilson, black hole, or rock river barrel.
 
One of the most accurate uppers I've ever built used a 1:8 16" SS bull barrel with 11° target crown from J&T Distributing. Short and stiff with little flex or whip. Decent commercial ammo or handloads consistently yielded 1/2 MOA; some heavier loads would group in the .2s or .3s from the bench.

No idea why I sold it to a shooting buddy. Well, that's not really true...I was just a dumbass.
 
Blade, I went to the website and found a nice 20" bull barrel that is fluted, threaded, and nitrid lined. If I add that, one of there AP carbon fiber handgaurds 15", rifle gas tube, and pri low profile gas block the total is about $640.

Would this setup be that much better then the Rock River R3 competition upper for about the same price?
 
RRAs have a reputation for accuracy, but that is a lot of money for an upper in this market. Plus the muzzle device doesn't have wrench flats and isn't meant to be replaced by the user.
 
"Blade, I went to the website and found a nice 20" bull barrel that is fluted, threaded, and nitrid lined. If I add that, one of there AP carbon fiber handgaurds 15", rifle gas tube, and pri low profile gas block the total is about $640." - zero

Sorry for the late reply...super busy right now. I built a coyote rifle using that same barrel; used the match free-float tube because weight wasn't an issue. With commercial .223 ammo, it shoots .4s - .5s from the bench. Haven't worked up a handload yet.

"Would this setup be that much better then the Rock River R3 competition upper for about the same price?"

Lots to be said for the Wylde chamber, but my experience has been that you'll get the same or better performance for less money if you're willing to try different loads. Maybe then you won't have to sell the existing upper. :cool:
 
I would go with the Super Sniper Wylde. I re-barreled with one and couldn't be happier, very accurate. Note that the S/S is not threaded if that's a concern.
 
A heavier gun lessens shooter variable.

My last rig was Stag upper and lower, JP Springs and polished reg trigger w setscrew mod for creep removal. ER shaw heavy 16" (non chrome lined).

w 2-7X Redfield I got .75" for 5 shots at 100, half arsed rest, cold day.....running Hornady V max. Did it back to back. My hunting bud shot it from a better rest, and more bundled up, and got it to go just over an inch.

He bought it.

Blasted his first yote with it........running, at 75 yards.

My mover rig this yr is another Frankengun, 16" heavy. It's chrome lined, and has yet to be scoped/zeroed at 100.

If it's like my old 1-9 Bushmaster 11.5/5.5 and Rock River 16"............it'll do an inch no prob. If I spent the $ for a much better trigger, maybe even better. I always go 1 in 9 and run 55gr. Maybe more forgiving? I dunno.

For chucks and yotes 55gr tears 'em up plenty.
 
My bud did do a higher $ build with Wylde chamber and said he wouldn't do that again, but I can't remember his reasons.

Another did some even more $ 24" super varminter rig..........and it shoots great.
But when it comes time to trudge the snow on long loops for yotes..........they all have gone to 16" rigs.
 
Stoner Barrels are made by ER Shaw, which makes everything from cheapos to above average barrels. If I were you, I would compare that in price to barrels where people have at least reviewed them and said what kind of accuracy they are capable of.

For example, for about the same price is a Green Mountain barrel, which people say does sub-moa for them. I don't own that one, but I have a 20" chrome lined A2 barrel from them, and it does MOA with a couple loads.

http://www.gmriflebarrel.com/gm-m20-20-223-wylde-chamber/
 
Good steel, rifling, twist; heavy [3 lbs.] and on clearance with no reviews.

Mixed reviews on the company. The price, even on clearance, isn't that great. Before I'd buy, would check whether the fluting was done before the rifling or after. Suspect the latter...and that can distort the barrel enough to affect accuracy.
 
I went with a barrel from J & T distributing. It is a 20 inch Wilson bull .936 barrel 1:8 twist air gauged that is threaded and I had it nitrided. I also got a Midwest industries keymod 15 inch handguard.

I hope this setup will work well for me.
 
My RRA Varmit has a Wilson 1:8 Wylde barrel and I can drop 20 rounds in a hole the size of a quarter.
It's very heavy. Some day I want to have it fluted to remove some weight.
 
I honestly don't think you could go wrong with either of the Wilson barrels. And I will +1, +2 and +3 the White Oak barrels, they have made a name for themselves in a lot of competitions.
 
Ok here it is. I went with a Wilson air gauge barrel from J&T Distributing 20" 1:8 nitride HBAR. Along with a new handguard, scope, and rings. Im going to the rang tomorrow with my 55gr Nosler ballistic tips and hornady vmaxs that are my handloads. I also bought some 69gr and 77gr matchkings match ammo and 75gr hornadt match ammo. Lets hope it groups well, I want sub moa.

The pic shows a big color difference. I am guessing because the handguard is aluminum and the stock and grip are plastic, so the light is reflecting more off the handguard. I person the color difference is barely noticeable.

I'll post a pic of the 5 different types of ammo tomorrow.

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