Barrel for hunting upper?

[kamikaze]

Looking for suggestions. Want to build an upper for stalk or still hunting. Inviting suggestions for barrel length and brand. I guess light contour/weight would be best...

[LRRPF52]

One of the Lilja lightweight profiles would suit your needs greatly. The 318 profile has a .650" diameter under the handguards. Get the fore end fluted and it's even lighter.

My Lilja-barreled Grendel weighs 7lbs 12oz with a Vortex 2.5-10x32 Viper PST FFP MRAD in NightForce Unimount, and is very accurate for such a lightweight rifle.

The factory AA 18" Hunter upper is a drop-in option to consider also for those looking for all the legwork done for you.

[Michael]

Kamikaze - will echo LRRPF52 a bit. I have an AA 19.5 button barrel upper bought about 4.5 years ago. Couldnt' be happier with it...but it is a bit heavy. If was buying now, would opt for the 18" Hunter.

[65Whelen]

Stalking and still hunting I'd go with a 16" barrel. My current build is a 14.5" barrel pinned and welded. I have high hopes for it but I'm learning that once it's pinned and welded the list of options as far as gas blocks and handguards get limited. So, to keep the option open a 16" without any muzzle treatment would be sweet for still hunting.

[Drift]

I'll go with 65Whelen. My 16 inch upper is much better for stalking than my 20 inch upper. Shoots < 1 inch groups. Plenty of power out past 300 yards.

[81police]

I'm a JP hound, so I always plug them. They're about as top quality as money can buy. Here's my 18" reverse contoured barrel, wrapped in their red thermal dissipator. I use this exclusively for deer and hogs. It's a rock solid hunting platform, killed 22 hogs and 2 whitetail in 18 months w/out ever letting me down.

Shooting their low-mass bolt carrier, silent captured spring, and Bennie Cooley comp the gun recoils about as close to a 223 as you can get.