SPR question

[shmeddie]

I'm going to build an AR-15 and have decided to go the SPR type route. My question is about what type of barrel to use. Which barrel would give me better accuracy and which would be better for sustained fire accuracy? Heavy match or bull? And also how much more weight does a bull barrel add vs a heavy match?

[5150Marcelo]

Neither. Sabre Defense med. weight fluted FTW!!!

[spdrcr]

Neither. Sabre Defense med. weight fluted FTW!!!

Mine has an 18" fluted Sabre Defense barrel.

[Bug Splat]

Bulls are nice but HEAVY! while they make great bench guns you do not want to lug that thing around, trust me. My good buddy has SPR built AR and he went with an 18" White Oak Heavy barrel with flutes, DD rifle length FF handguard and an Ops Inc comp. Its super light and has very little recoil. It shoots....ok, but it would shot great if he would just reload for it and stop feeding it M855. He seems to be happy with 1.5" groups so I'm not going to rain on his parade.

[264charlie]

Accuracy is a combination of factors ranging from brass prep, chamber, barrel quality, bullets, and many other.

All else equal the stiffer barrel would be more accurate. As your barrel gets longer you need a bigger diameter to maintain the same stiffens as a shorter one. Length in its self will not make a barrel more accurate but it does help with velocities.

What kind of shooting are you planning on doing? Speaking from experience a 20+" bull barrel ARs are painful to shoot off anything other then bags or bipod. I even had it shorted to 18 and still sold it a week later.

Note reloading is a key part of a supper accurate rifle.

Additional reading:

http://www.ar15barrels.com/forming.shtml

http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles/barrel_making.htm

Lilja has some bench rest quality drop-in barrels in stock.

[shmeddie]

Accuracy is a combination of factors ranging from brass prep, chamber, barrel quality, bullets, and many other.

All else equal the stiffer barrel would be more accurate. As your barrel gets longer you need a bigger diameter to maintain the same stiffens as a shorter one. Length in its self will not make a barrel more accurate but it does help with velocities.

What kind of shooting are you planning on doing? Speaking from experience a 20+" bull barrel ARs are painful to shoot off anything other then bags or bipod. I even had it shorted to 18 and still sold it a week later.

Note reloading is a key part of a supper accurate rifle.

Additional reading:

http://www.ar15barrels.com/forming.shtml

http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles/barrel_making.htm

Lilja has some bench rest quality drop-in barrels in stock.

I want to shoot standing, prone, sitting, sustained medium distance. I'm not a fan of bench shooting (It's so boring to me). Weight is important to me, so maybe I should stay away from bull barrels. I have a .223 reloading set up and mostly reload match grade ammo. usdmgtr, thanks for those links.

[Barney Gumble]

You're going to want a match barrel and I think the WOA stainless SPR barrel with rifle gas is a great mix of quality and value. http://www.rainierarms.com/?page=sho...product_id=449



If you want to go all out I'd get a Krieger but it's more $$$ and most people aren't good enough shots to see the difference.

[stphnman20]

A true SPR barrel is a Douglas one.. But the WOA SPRr is good also..

[pacrimguru]

You're going to want a match barrel and I think the WOA stainless SPR barrel with rifle gas is a great mix of quality and value. http://www.rainierarms.com/?page=sho...product_id=449

+1 on this. this is what i have in the rifle length gas system.

[Q]

centurionarms

http://centurionarms.com/

[dchang0]

Bulls are nice but HEAVY! while they make great bench guns you do not want to lug that thing around, trust me. My good buddy has SPR built AR and he went with an 18" White Oak Heavy barrel with flutes, DD rifle length FF handguard and an Ops Inc comp. Its super light and has very little recoil.

Super light! You must have arms of steel! The WOA SPR barrel is 41oz by itself (without flutes, but John at WOA says fluting only removes a couple of ounces)...

[1988]

I want to shoot standing, prone, sitting, sustained medium distance. I'm not a fan of bench shooting (It's so boring to me). Weight is important to me, so maybe I should stay away from bull barrels. I have a .223 reloading set up and mostly reload match grade ammo. usdmgtr, thanks for those links.

Go Recce.

[aplinker]

IMHO the SPR profile is heavier than it need be. RECCE's are nice, too, and will save you some weight, but you'll lose velocity and the nice, long rifle gas.

Do what I do - buy something close to what you want and have Randall custom profile it. WOA barrels are excellent, nominally priced, and accurate. Sub-moa, easy.

[xrMike]

It shoots....ok, but it would shot great if he would just reload for it and stop feeding it M855. He seems to be happy with 1.5" groups so I'm not going to rain on his parade.

I'm with you. What a waste...

[Mstnpete]

2 Barrels I like using on my SPR's.

Lilja & Krieger Barrels