Ar upper rail

[cbright1]

I want to do another AR build for 300-400 yard bench shooting. This is for recreational shooting, but I would like it to perform well. My questions are: For this range, should one use an 18" barrel or move up to a 20"? As far as an upper rail is concerned, is a free float rail really going to make a big difference in accuracy? Should this be a single stage or 2 stage trigger?

[Abraham32]

I would do a 20" minimum for those distances... The rail won't help greatly with accuracy but any little bit at those distances will be seen. It will help more with getting your bipod or rest farther forward more than anything. Trigger is personal preference, I prefer the SD-E two stage. I would think long and hard on getting a bolt gun or building an ar-10, the prices have come down on ar-10 parts and ammo is easily available... For those distances .223 is starting to loose alot of steam I always saw best accuracy at around 200-300 yards it starts to fall off after that...

[Twystd1]

I shoot 500 yards+ all the time in .223 using AR based rifles AND carbines.

If the rifle is going to be used on a bench or prone for most of it's life.
Weight won't be a hindrance. Thus a heavy 20 inch + barrel will be fine for that distance.

The quality of the barrel and ammunition is the most important part of the mechanical equation. Optics comes next. Then your ability to hit the target using your hardware.

A below 4 pound single stage trigger is best for me when shooting for groups either prone or benching. Most of my bolt guns are WAY less than 1 pound. My ARs are around 3 pounds.
These aren't battle rifles. These are target / plinking rifles.

Free floating hand guard is mandatory. I suggest whatever you can find that is cheap and is quality.

If I am correct. (And I am usually wrong)
This apparently is to be a range gun.
The beauty of the AR platform is that you don't have to spend a bunch of money to build a good medium distance rifle.

Your optics may well cost more than the entire rifle if you have the coin to spend on good optics.
I see you live in North San Diego. I am in the OC and shoot out in the desert often. You can try my target / varmint AR rifles if you so choose. All of them are good to 600+ yards if you can dial a scope in and use match ammo.

I have 6 ARs you can choose from that seem to fit closely to the description of your build.
You can shoot either .223 or .204 Ruger or several AR10s in .308 if you so choose. Leupold, US Optics, Night Force and Burris DMR optics. Take your pick. You supply your ammo. As I don't let others shoot my hand loads in a semi auto.

NOTE: These are all Lego guns. I built them. They all shoot bug holes. And they are fun to shoot.

You bring the samiches. I bring gunz. tables, bags, rests and steel.

Let me know if that is something that will help you in your endeavor to build a new AR 15 in .223.
Or PM me with a phone number.
I have walked your path before and may have some pertinent input for you.

Cheers and good luck on your build.
Twystd1

[cbright1]

I shoot 500 yards+ all the time in .223 using AR based rifles AND carbines.

If the rifle is going to be used on a bench or prone for most of it's life.
Weight won't be a hindrance. Thus a heavy 20 inch + barrel will be fine for that distance.

The quality of the barrel and ammunition is the most important part of the mechanical equation. Optics comes next. Then your ability to hit the target using your hardware.

A below 4 pound single stage trigger is best for me when shooting for groups either prone or benching. Most of my bolt guns are WAY less than 1 pound. My ARs are around 3 pounds.
These aren't battle rifles. These are target / plinking rifles.

Free floating hand guard is mandatory. I suggest whatever you can find that is cheap and is quality.

If I am correct. (And I am usually wrong)
This apparently is to be a range gun.
The beauty of the AR platform is that you don't have to spend a bunch of money to build a good medium distance rifle.

Your optics may well cost more than the entire rifle if you have the coin to spend on good optics.
I see you live in North San Diego. I am in the OC and shoot out in the desert often. You can try my target / varmint AR rifles if you so choose. All of them are good to 600+ yards if you can dial a scope in and use match ammo.

I have 6 ARs you can choose from that seem to fit closely to the description of your build.
You can shoot either .223 or .204 Ruger or several AR10s in .308 if you so choose. Leupold, US Optics, Night Force and Burris DMR optics. Take your pick. You supply your ammo. As I don't let others shoot my hand loads in a semi auto.

NOTE: These are all Lego guns. I built them. They all shoot bug holes. And they are fun to shoot.

You bring the samiches. I bring gunz. tables, bags, rests and steel.

Let me know if that is something that will help you in your endeavor to build a new AR 15 in .223.
Or PM me with a phone number.
I have walked your path before and may have some pertinent input for you.

Cheers and good luck on your build.
Twystd1

Thanks a ton. I will send you a pm when i know I will have time in my schedule...Thanks again

BTW, you are correct. Just a range gun. I just want to enjoy the whole process of semi long range shooting, learning the procedure etc... and I don't really want to get into yet another caliber.

[Twystd1]

By the by.

A bolt gun will probably be a bit cheaper if you buy slightly used equipment.

This is assuming you want to build the most accurate rifle you can build.
On the cheap.

How much money do you want to throw at this rifle minus optics?
And what kind of funds do you have available for optics?

As the above will dictate the build.

-T

[NorCalFocus]

20" mininum barrel in 1:8 or 1:9 twist, in either HBAR or Bull profile. Free float extended rifle length hand guard. Fixed stock, quality bolt, decent trigger. Those things right there will get you a nice range gun flowor shooting to 500 yards easily.

Save money on the furniture, receivers, and small stuff. Invest the saved money into the barrel and optics.

Good luck! I built my rifle for pretty much the same thing and I love it.

[milotrain]

We are having a fairly big discussion over on the nationalmatch forums regarding AR barrels. General consensus is that you can't get much better than a well chambered and profiled barrel of nearly any manufacturer.

Buy a barrel from Compass Lake, or White Oak and you'll have as much barrel as you can shoot. A 1:8 is about as perfect a twist as you can get for 300-600 yard shooting. If you want to buy a full upper Frank at Compass Lake can build you whatever you want, but his varmint upper with a douglas SS barrel is your jam and it will absolutely HAMMER.