This Seekins handgaurd works well for sandbags, bags... with its flat bottom. ARCA rail friendlier if you ever decide to go with that way. Seekin builds quality stuff.

https://seekinsprecision.com/p...rv3-mod-rail-16.html

Back to a barrel. Suggest 1" under the handgaurd for a precision rifle. If threading the muzzle for a device, suggest 5/8" opposed to the common 1/2", more meat around the barrel.

I ordered a Geissele MK7 service rifle rail. Just have to save my pennies for a barrel. Might go with WOA or Kreiger.

Compass Lake seemed to be a bit out of my price range, but some day...

Thanks again for the info, my friends.
Tony.

With a 20+ length barrel my preference for handgaurd would be longer to get the bipod out further to 15"-18", more stable. Bipod at around 12" recoil pulse/sight picture is most likely going to be a bit bouncy with those barrel lengths. Ideally for a 22-24" barrel should have a +1, +2 rifle length gas system. Longer handgaurd will also cover/protect more of the gas tube.
JP Rifle handgaurds are rock solid, how their barrel nut/handgaurd attaches...

Cool! I'll do that on the next build. I wanted this one to be service rifle legal in case I decide to shoot a few matches.

Tony.

I’m a big fan of Douglas stainless barrels.

Most recently I purchased and had built a precision upper using a V7 stainless poly barrel and I have to say, it is the most accurate barrel I own.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I'm thinking Kreiger, Lothar-Walther or...?

I've got an AR that needs a new barrel and I'm considering making it a long range AR. Open to 22" and beyond barrel lengths. I'd like something for my son to be able to do some easy precision plinking at the range to keep up with the guys running 308 and 6.5 bolt guns.

What free float tube do you recommend? It will either be sand-bagged or using a bipod.

Tony.

While I am not a big AR guy, I do shoot with others who are. It seems that the most accurate barrels they have are Lilja and they are easily 0.5 MOA barrels.

I originally tried to build a precision AR with a 20” Criterion barrel, could never get it to shoot 1 MOA at 200yds, tried extensively. Eventually replaced the barrel with a Compass Lake Kreiger with the CLE chamber. Much happier. Definitely not as good as my bolt gun, but follow up shots are faster!

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I ordered a Geissele MK7 service rifle rail. Just have to save my pennies for a barrel. Might go with WOA or Kreiger.

Compass Lake seemed to be a bit out of my price range, but some day...

That Geissele rail looks good, especially for the thicker-profile barrels. I have slim-profile Mlok rails for my ARs. With my DCM-profile 20" barrel, there isn't all that much space between the rail and the barrel -- just forward of the receiver. This makes it a bit challenging to put Mlok accessories on the very aft portion of the rail. For me, that means a short ARCA rail mount.

If you need a barrel right now, and if budget is really an issue, consider the current 15% off sale at Wilson Combat. 223 Wylde barrels are $229 for unfluted and $259 for fluted. They're not Bartlein or Krieger, but they're really quite good.

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I ordered a Geissele MK7 service rifle rail. Just have to save my pennies for a barrel. Might go with WOA or Kreiger.

Compass Lake seemed to be a bit out of my price range, but some day...

That Geissele rail looks good, especially for the thicker-profile barrels. I have slim-profile Mlok rails for my ARs. With my DCM-profile 20" barrel, there isn't all that much space between the rail and the barrel -- just forward of the receiver. This makes it a bit challenging to put Mlok accessories on the very aft portion of the rail. For me, that means a short ARCA rail mount.

If you need a barrel right now, and if budget is really an issue, consider the current 15% off sale at Wilson Combat. 223 Wylde barrels are $229 for unfluted and $259 for fluted. They're not Bartlein or Krieger, but they're really quite good.

Thanks for the heads up! I contacted a friend of mine who happens to be a highpower shooter who build AR's for the TX state junior rifle teams (Nez Rongero) and offered to trade some M14 barrels for a heavy match barrel. He says he has one for me and we're going to work out a deal after his elk hunting is over.

I do know for sure that at some point I'll get a barrel from WOA. Maybe next summer or the year after that.

Tony.

4 groove Bartlien 12.5", midlength gas, gas port sized for suppressor only, CLE chamber. Most accurate AR barrel I've owned, it's a hummer! Shot these a few days ago to see if changing to a new lot of 8208 mattered, it did not. Shotmarker targets at 445yds. Shot prone, rear bag, bipod, 15X magnification.

23.5 and 23.8/8208/77TMK/Rem 7.5/2570 and 2600fps.




Today putting any rifle together is not a quick process. I'll gladly wait a little longer to save a few more bucks to get a quality barrel. About to send out a bolt and gas block to CLE, guessing the wait at 3 months, hopefully!

Worth noting, brass used is virgin LC, no prep. I'm the no prep king! I previously would run new brass through a Dillon 650/case feeder with just a mandrel die to straighten out the necks. Did some A-B comparison between it and virgin brass, couldn't shoot the difference. I do cull severely dinged necks that can't seat a bullet w/o scraping.

lilja

https://riflebarrels.com/produ...-in-barrels/ar/ar15/

Bump.

What are the thoughts on a complete Compass Lake Upper? Prices seem decent and with a choice of barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by Riley:
Bump.

What are the thoughts on a complete Compass Lake Upper? Prices seem decent and with a choice of barrel.

At least a dozen CLE AR's around me, all shoot very well. Mostly 4 groove Bartliens a couple 4 groove Kreigers. No experience with their upper components, no doubt you'll be OK. FYI, if you send them any uppper components, they'll assemble for no charge.

Shooting matches with it? Barrel length? Suppressed?

For odd competitions, probably an 18” gun, and no suppression most shots should be inside 500 but I’ve heard out to 700. It’s a team event with one bolt gun and one gas gun.

I'm looking at Kreiger Barrels and they have a DCM Pre-ban heavy 20" AR barrel, but it's in 6.5" twist. Any reason I should not get this barrel?

Any other twist I should look for? I'll be running 69 and 77 grain bullets.

Tony.

I have a White Oak Armament 18" SPR barrel on a Mk 12 clone and it easily will shoot 1 MOA. 0.5 MOA might be possible but my eyes are weary these days.

As far as big bore AR's I have a 20" Criterion M110 profile and can shoot 1 MOA with but am hoping to see what it will really do in the upcoming weeks since I installed a LaRue MBT 2 stage and a Vortex Razor 4.5-27. Pretty exciting about it.

If I ever went to replace either, and had the coin to do it, I would probably go with a Krieger 20" on my AR-10. I have a close friend with one and it is possible the most accurate gas gun I have ever shot.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I'm looking at Kreiger Barrels and they have a DCM Pre-ban heavy 20" AR barrel, but it's in 6.5" twist. Any reason I should not get this barrel?

Any other twist I should look for? I'll be running 69 and 77 grain bullets.

Tony.

When I was shooting Highpower, Krieger seemed to be the barrel of choice for both ARs and M1As. I have a 20" Krieger 1:7 in an AR. It's easily a 1 MOA gun with my 77gr handload, probably better than that in the hands of a better/younger shooter.

For 69-77gr bullets the conventional wisdom is 1:7, maybe 1:8 for the 69gr. I'd assume 1:6.5 would be meant for longer bullets, in the 85-95gr range, but I'd think it would work for 69s and 77s as well. Some claim that a 1:7 barrel will overspin a 55gr bullet and make it unstable or even come apart in flight, but I've never seen it happen. Someone may make the same claim for a 69gr bullet in a 1:6.5, maybe.

As noted by Expert308, a 6.5 twist seems a little fast for 69-77 grain bullets. That twist rate is likely optimal for bullets somewhere in the 80-90 grain ballpark. I may have mentioned that my 20" Krieger is 7.7 twist. I primarily shoot 75, 73, and 69 grain bullets in it.

Folks who are good with the twist rate formulas might offer guidance on the 6.5 twist. It's my understanding that the 6.5 twist is recommended for the 88 ELD and 90 SMK in 224 Valkyrie loads.

Thanks! I only ask because it's the only heavy barrel I can find in stock right now by Kreiger, WOA or Criterion. Nobody is answering e-mails. Probably because of SHOT. I'll hold out for a 7.7 or 8 inch twist.

Tony.

Yeah, a quick search doesn't come up with any Kriegers. Have you called Craddock Precision to see if they have a Bartlein blank in inventory? If Craddock has a blank, they turn barrels in short order.