Hey guys,
I subscribe to Guns & Ammo and I saw this article on supposedly accurizing the AR-15.
Includes: lapping the receiver, loctite the barrel extension/receiver, “tuning” the gas tube, using a tighter BCG?
Thoughts on any/all of this?
http://www.gunsandammo.com/rifles/ar-15/accurize-your-ar-15/
Best,
Receiver lapping, a press fit between the upper and barrel extension, “bedding” the barrel into the upper with sleeve retaining compound if the fit is not optimal, and tuning the gas tube to eliminate interference with the gas key are all tricks that have been done in the high-power world for years. There are even a few videos on YouTube discussing and demonstrating some of it.
That being said, many (most?) shooters will get more mileage out of a good trigger, quality ammunition, a quality barrel, and most of all time spent working on the fundamentals of marksmanship. If a guy has crappy follow through and doesn’t understand concepts like natural point of aim, bedding a barrel with sleeve retainer isn’t going to do him any good.
His AR is pretty much a joke to begin with. He already ****ed up with a skeletonized BAD receiver set for an precision AR. Theres a reason you dont see custom precision mfgs like GAP using skeletonized anything or even guys who mass produce precision ARs like KAC using plain receivers.
Put a carbon fiber wrapped barrel on top of that now you’re just putting lipstick on a pig with all your lapping and bedding.
I tell you how make an accurized AR for half the cost and none of the BS hes doing.
Useless if you do not start with an accurate BBL.
Most people spend useless amounts of time reading magazines and chasing the elusive golden dragon when the answer is right in front of them. Get a good barrel, use good ammo and have a good optic and you have essentially cracked the code.
Of course, it actually helps to get out and shoot and see how your stuff actually performs as well.
You want accuracy?
1_ If not already done, add a free float handguard.
2_ Get a decent trigger. An ALG ACT or Sionics Enhanced are a good start. Geissele SSA-E would be better.
3_ Start reloading.
4_ Invest in a good optic and mount.
It’s amazing how accurate an off the shelf AR is without going to all that much trouble.
I agree, especially the fundamentals of taking the shot. Case in point. Today I was zeroing my rifle at 200 yds. My breathing was off, my follow through was gone, I had too much stock movement, and my groups showed it. I realized my fundamentals had blown away, started concentrating on these things and my trigger pull and finally got my rifle zeroed.
Other thing that may be worth it if REALLY going down the rabbit hole is to try and find a monolithic receiver or one in which the handguard mounts to the receiver not the barrel nut. I suspect when preloading bipods on a traditional rail setup it may transfer to the barrel nut. It may not even have an effect or be quantifiable, but I’d imagine it can’t hurt. LaRue does it with their rifles as I’m pretty sure rail mounts to receiver and they are known for their accuracy.
I’m NOT saying this is necessary for an accurate AR at all, but it can’t hurt if building from scratch for that purpose.
(Waiting for Iraqgunz thoughts on the matter)
My recommendation to anyone wanting to “accurize” any weapon is to ensure they can shoot well enough to realize the benefits.
How to make an AR more accurate:
Start with a quality rifle
Buy ammo meant to be accurate
Buy an optic to facilitate precision shooting
Learn to properly utilize your system
Practice and log your results
Repeat step 4
Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
Truth.
Why try and learn to shoot well when you can just buy a lead sled and shoot of the bench all day. Show everyone your pristine bad ass looking AR and the tight groups it can shoot. 
Most guns are more accurate than the person shooting them. Start there.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Okay, firstly thanks for the replies. I was just trying to find out if these techniques were valid, but I guess I really asked for the whole ammo, trigger, free float, you suck at shooting thing -which I have read about a billion times on the forum. Appreciate you guys.
I have no doubt the techniques are valid, but it appears many here doubt their necessity. I understand it was for an article, but who is the intended audience? I dare say most shooters have access to more than four loads, and the techniques seem drastic to all but the most dedicated bench shooters who are trying to chase every bit of accuracy possible. If you’re in this category, it may be worth looking into the techniques in the article.
They are all valid, and work. I had never heard of the bossed BCG but you learn something new everyday. Now I am trying to figure out creative ways of tightening up BCG tolerances, thanks man.
The techniques in regard to the barrel, upper, and gas tube are valid. As everyone has been saying, whether the juice is worth the squeeze depends a lot on the individual shooter and the application they intend to use the rifle in.
Here’s one of the YouTube videos I was thinking of earlier. Joe Carlos, a gunsmith who specializes in building match grade ARs for Service Rifle competitions talks about barrel to receiver fit, including a couple of ways to improve it. He mentions that he has seen group size improve by as much as 30% when a loose barrel to upper fit is corrected. But again, his clientele are probably better than average shooters to begin with. IIRC Joe is a MSG (Ret) and was an armorer for the Army Reserve Marksmanship Team for about 10 years. I think he also held the Inter-service 1000 yard Service Rifle Record for a number of years.
[video=youtube_share;pJL-IscH_jo]https://youtu.be/pJL-IscH_jo[/video]
There are several other videos from the same interview that also make for an interesting watch.
Excellent video Tx Aggie. Mr. Carlos did a great job of explaining the problem and solution.
You got your answer early on…high power shooters have been using those techniques for quite a while. But this forum really doesn’t cater to that particular sport, neither does it cater to the sport I like, 3gun. I don’t remember anyone saying you suck at shooting, but we did re-enforce that good shooting for any of us begins with good shooting practices with whatever rifle you’re using, be it a highly worked over accuratized AR or a $500 basic model.