What parts of an ar contribute to making it acccurate?
Here is my take…
If you’re talking tack driving accuracy, it’s pretty much the same as any rife. A properly fitted bolt to the barrel chamber, a high end 20" stainless steel barrel that is free floated (touches nothing from the chamber to the end) , and a very light, and crisp trigger. You also have to have enough optic power to see the size of group you want to shoot. Meaning…you can’t shoot sub MOA at 300 yds. if you can’t see that small of a target area. Without the proper optic, you will have a gun which will “outshoot you” which is pretty much always the case.
Now for practical accuracy in a CQB for CQB applications…
Again, a free floated barrel that is 16" or shorter helps with accuracy, and cooling. The barrel and chamber should be Chrome lined which is pretty standard these days, and a properly fitted bolt to the chamber, which is standard with the quality manufacturers like LMT, Colt etc., and a CQB Optic that will shoot head shots all day long at 100 yds.
This all being said, you could have a 16" CQB with high end barrel, chrome lined, and custom fitted to the bolt, that is free floated, and a Geiselle 2 stage trigger with a rail platform that you could swap optics on, and have pretty much a CQB and Target rifle all in one. This rifle should shoot sub MOA if everything is installed correctly and the shooter does their job.
+1.
And you need good ammo. That’s the last variable to wring out all potential accuracy available.
The skill of the person fireing it!
Most ARs are capable of far more accuracy than the shooter can bring.
That being said ammo goes a long way then barrels
- Quality barrel
- Quality trigger
- Quality ammo
- Quality shooter
C4
Ok i’m still building this ar.So who makes the most accurate barrels? Thinking of wilson combat or les baer for the bolt.As far as the barrel,16" or18" .
What do you want to do with it? If you want to zap varmints, you are going to want to get a 12" twist barrel to shoot light bullets. If you want an SPR-type clone for shooting heavy match projectiles in socila situations, I know a lot of folks who are quite happy with Noveske offerings or the new Larue Stealth Sniper 16" set-ups. I suck at shooting, so a standard LMT and XM-193 works for my purposes.
Are you a shooter of “National Match” caliber? Can you/are you going to make a run for the top spot at Nationals? If not, save your money. Most current production barrels are capable of 1MOA. Find the ammo your barrel “likes”, and the group shrinks. Spend time fixing the idiosyncracies that are holding you back, and the group shrinks. Get it? All you need is a decent barrel, some good ammo, and some quality trigger time. Most folks can’t outshoot the barrel of your basic of the rack AR.
C4I Grant
- Quality barrel
- Quality trigger
- Quality ammo
- Quality shooter
And here’s your winner… Jonny… tell him what’s he’s won…
It really is a simple formula … Ain’t it…
Those are most likely good barrels, but think that you should also look at Noveske.
C4
Previous posts have listed a bunch of good points, although I think that a good trigger (not heavy and not raspy) is one of the most important. From shooting handguns, I really have noticed this to be of great effect. A good trigger is the difference between your shooting poorly and you shooting a target that makes you smile with pride.
Sonny
Don’t forget quality sights.
I have had supreme results with my Shilen barrel. If you would like I can elaborate. (my “custom” barrel was ready in 2 weeks)
Remember… an accurate rifle will only make a mediocre shooter only marginally better…
but a shooter who has a solid grasp of the basic fundamentals is gonna pick up your rack grade weapon and show you how it’s done…
SGT York used a Rack grade Enfield…
- Quality sights
By all means proceed…
I wanted to build a rifle that would get me “about” 1 inch groups at 100yds for recreational shooting and scoped rifle matches. I had a NM M1A with a scope, but was having problems with ammo, cost and other factors. I sold it (dont feel bad, it just wasnt being shot). I was able to trade a handgun for a RRA NM A2. I sold the upper and kept the lower. I replaced the RRA LPK with a JP 2 stage trigger I took out of my work rifle (becuase I believe that a 2 stage belongs in a scoped rifle). I kept the A2 stock. I used a White Oaks Armament upper becuase I did not have the loot laying arround for a billet upper (Vltor or LaRue). I knew that I wanted a GOOD bcg, so I picked up a CMT M16 bcg from Bravo Company with the o ring. I also didnt have a large ammount of money for a railed forarm (wanted to put my money in the barrel) so I picked up a ?YHM lightweight rifle forarm with the anti rotation pins (much better than the old style). I added a MI harris bipod adapter, harris bipod and picked up a MI gas block. I used a LaRue SPR - E and a 16x Super Sniper. I really wanted the adjustable turrents and mildots for ranging. Down the road, handguards, upper and scope will upgraded, as I would really like an illum recticle. I wanted to have a rifle that shot well, but looked stock. I knew I wanted a A2 FH to mount a Gemtech halo on. I spent some time looking arround and reading about barrels and differnt makes. I had looked at some stuff from Adco, Compas Lake, Kriger, Shilen and several others. After doing some homework, I decided that I would support a local company (I live in DFW and Shilen is about 30min south of where I live). I drove to shilen and placed an order for a 20 in select grade barrel (the regular barrel as opposed to the expensive one) becuase I didnt see the minimal increase in precision as needed for my uses. I had them thread the barrel to accept an A2 and dimple the barrel for the MI gas block. I also droped off my bolt for custom fitting to the barrel. My orriginal extimated wait time was several months, I had my barrel ready for pickup in 2 weeks.
I have found that 77gn SMK from BH works best. I tried several differnt bullet weights for performance and fired 5 groups of 10 rounds each to determine a general group size. Here is the grouping.
some of the groups up close.
Please keep in mind that I have only shot a scoped rifle about 10 times and the only “formal” marksmanship trainging I have for accurate shooting is from Bootcamp. I have never taken a scoped rifle class, but hope to eventually with TJ down at Tiger Valley.
I have found that good groups are a combination of Me doing my part, a good weapon platform and good ammunition. This thing is fun to shoot becuase I can run 62gn 855 or generic stuff through it and still get good groups. This makes it a rifle that will be used offten.
cheers.
You sir are wise;)
I was interested because I also chose a Shilen barrel for my .204 being built.
Ricky
You wont regret the purchase.
Which companies offer cryogenic treating on barrels? Iknow DPMS does. I not sure who else does.
And what are the pros & cons of ss barrels & cl barrels?