Which precision 5.56 upper?

[Kram12085]

I have one lower (Mega) left and I've decided to build it into a precision AR - I'm thinking 24" heavy barrel upper, A2 or sniper stock, etc.

What do you guys suggest I look at for uppers? What is high quality without breaking the bank? I know DPMS doesn't have the best QC reputation, but I shot my buddy's DPMS 24" heavy upper and it's nice. What do you guys think?

[ocabj]

White Oak Armament : http://www.whiteoakarmament.com

[Kram12085]

White Oak Armament : http://www.whiteoakarmament.com

I've never heard of them but I'll check it out. Do you use their uppers?

[CrazyJeep]

Larue Tactical Stealth Upper

[ar15barrels]

By design, 5.56 uppers are not going to be as precise as 223 uppers.
If you are looking for best precision, you want a 223 chamber.
I recommend the 223 Wylde chamber specifically for it's ability to digest both 223 and 5.56 ammo.

[ocabj]

I've never heard of them but I'll check it out. Do you use their uppers?

Yes, I do. I've got two of their "Complete White Oak Armament CMP Uppers", plus a Compass Lake Engineering upper I rebarrelled with a WOA SR barrel.

Started shooting competitive High Power in 2006 with WOA and been shooting WOA ever since. Great performance.

http://www.ocabj.net/gallery2/f/woa_sr_upper

You can get a custom upper from them. You're not restricted to the ones they advertise on the site.

[Kram12085]

By design, 5.56 uppers are not going to be as precise as 223 uppers.
If you are looking for best precision, you want a 223 chamber.
I recommend the 223 Wylde chamber specifically for it's ability to digest both 223 and 5.56 ammo.

Good point. I was thinking 5.56 because I knew i can handle 5.56 and .223, but that would also mean inherently less accuracy. I will look at the Wylde chamber (do you know any upper makers that have it?) And thanks for the input so far, I also wasn't aware of 26" barrels (I thought 24" was max).

[ocabj]

And thanks for the input so far, I also wasn't aware of 26" barrels (I thought 24" was max).

My friend has a 26" Kreiger 1:7.7 on his Spacegun.

He had to modify his normal 20" Service Rifle load, IIRC, because he was flattening primers.

I think he's using a normal length gas tube, though, and not a modified (longer) gas tube system.

[Kram12085]

My friend has a 26" Kreiger 1:7.7 on his Spacegun.

He had to modify his normal 20" Service Rifle load, IIRC, because he was flattening primers.

Is that because of the 26" barrel or unrelated? Is there any reason why I should stick to 24" rather than shoot for a 26"?

[thmpr]

JP enterprises

[ocabj]

Is that because of the 26" barrel or unrelated? Is there any reason why I should stick to 24" rather than shoot for a 26"?

AR15barrels (Randall) will know more about this than I will, but you've got an extra 6" of barrel after the gas port in the barrel, so you've got more time for the expanding gas to affect the rifle operation. So load that's designed for a 20" barrel may be hotter in a 26" barrel due to the way the pressures affect the gas operation.

White Oak Armament makes a 26" barrel, and extends the gas tube/port 2" farther down the barrel to compensate for this effect.

[bomb_on_bus]

what length are you wanting for your upper as well some of the firearm companies are selling 18-20inch barreled uppers that are pretty darn accurate.

I know of a few makers that turn out good stuff.

WOA.
POF.
Noveske.
JP enterprise.
GAP custom.
J&J armory.

There are several others but these are the companies that I know of that use higher grade barrels then some of the more commercial outfits.

J&J has a decent setup and they were talking about the 5.56 shooting almost 1/4moa and the same for the .308 I haven't seen one yet at the range but it did raise my eyebrow in interest none the less.

All others are just as good depending on the length of barrel you have in mind as some of the outfits listed won't go above a certain barrel length without a custom order.

I have personally shot the JP, Noveske and own POF rifles all of which are capable of at least 1/2 with a good load and the shooter doing their part.

[Beetle Bailey]

One of my shooting buddies had a Rock River Varminter upper with a 24" barrel and Wylde chamber. RRA promises 3/4 MOA and I shot two groups with Black Hills remanufactured 52 grain match ammo and the average was about .75 inch at 100 yards. Made a believer out of me since my bolt-action Savage shot the same ammo with the same accuracy. Sucker was heavy, though.

[aplinker]

Length =. weight, which is about the only trade-off.

Longer is better for velocity.

WOA builds good stuff - excellent for the money

AR15barrels (Randall) will know more about this than I will, but you've got an extra 6" of barrel after the gas port in the barrel, so you've got more time for the expanding gas to affect the rifle operation. So load that's designed for a 20" barrel may be hotter in a 26" barrel due to the way the pressures affect the gas operation.

White Oak Armament makes a 26" barrel, and extends the gas tube/port 2" farther down the barrel to compensate for this effect.

Gas port location has no correlation to overpressuring of brass.

[pyro3k2]

Stag makes a good upper for $595, 24" 5.56, use all the extra money you save on ammo and shoot the **** out of it