16" Upper - Using Mid-Range Components - What to expect?

[bob4432]

Being realistic, and for this hypothetical setup, what should one expect repeatability accuracy wise?

Barrel - AA 16“ Lite

Quality FF (Geissele, SLR Rifleworks, etc)

Upper - Either Billet or Forged

Trigger - Assume Geissele SSA or SSA-E

Optic - Either Leupold or Vortex, something in the $300-$500 range

Rest of build will be using quality parts. Bipod will be used. Ammo will be a quality match type - 100-130grn store bought - AA, Hornady, something in that range until I can get into reloading. Range will be 200yds often with occasional access to 600yds as the longer ranges are quite the drive. Wind will be calm.

Thanks in advance for your time,
Bob

PS - If I missed something in this hypothetical build, please recommend .

[bob4432]

Anybody?

[dammitman]

that sounds like a good rifle. it has occured to me that its all about the barrel. i will not assemble anymore 6.5 rifles using lesser barrels if possible. i like the 16" AA barrel i have but i also dont expect any more out of it than what you just asked. i dont see myself shooting that rifle much over 400 yards as i only put a 1-4 power scope on it anyways so the 400 yard shot is a stretch anyways. (older eyes uno) yep, barrel and decent trigger.

[bob4432]

Thanks, my optic will be rather high power as I will be my own spotter, and not so young eyes too.

Unfortunately going with one of the high $$ barrels is just not in the cards, but I keep an eye on the EE so maybe I will get lucky, currently have enough forged uppers, so I can get those faced and square.

Looking forward to what the Faxon barrels will do.

[Fredman]

I have read the AA barrels are pretty accurate. For receivers, I have been leaning towards Mega. Before buying their Megelithic upper I called them and asked if I would need to true/square the barrel mating area. I was told all there uppers are machined to very tight tolerances and do not require any more machining.
I'm sure this is true if you lean toward a LB, PF, JP, ect., upper.

Good luck.

[bob4432]

I have read the AA barrels are pretty accurate. For receivers, I have been leaning towards Mega. Before buying their Megelithic upper I called them and asked if I would need to true/square the barrel mating area. I was told all there uppers are machined to very tight tolerances and do not require any more machining.
I'm sure this is true if you lean toward a LB, PF, JP, ect., upper.

Good luck.

Thanks

[Vasux86]

Here's a good thread for more information about building your rifle in a way that can improve accuracy- http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showt...light=Accuracy

Having good components is a start. So far it looks as though you will be starting with a good quality barrel, trigger, potentially a free float handguard, and optics. There are many more parts and steps in the build process that could influence how accurate the rifle will be. The link above will help you eliminate potential problem with the components and build process that you might overlook otherwise.

Best of luck on this build. I look forward to seeing some results!

[Vasux86]

Also, you could easily go with a forged upper for that barrel. Most people don't recommend billet uppers unless the barrel is 20"+, heavy contour, or you just like to spend money. Having a billet receiver for that barrel won't benefit you other than lightening your wallet.

[bob4432]

Thanks, will take a look. FWIW, I will have a Free Float setup. I wrote that on ny phone and got autoformatted, meh..

If a billet upper will not help accuracy/consistency on a 16" brl, I would much rather put the money to items that will and there is nothing wrong with a heavy wallet, Thanks

[bob4432]

Great read, Thanks again. Where does one get a "heavy" upper as opposed to a Mil-Spec? Guess when I order my barrel & bolt, I can ask AA to go on the tighter side? Last, what FF setups are known to be more rigid then others- what I listed are lightweight M-LOK setups. Need to look at the guys who are winning and see their FF setup if all else fails. My goal was to get a FF setup that by design did not need to be timed, which these do not but they are lightweight. Since it is for just me, I could always reverse engineer one of the ones I was looking at since there are known dimensions and then make it a bit thicker and have a friend machine it from a 7075 extrusion instead if it being 6061?

Thanks again,
Bob

[A5BLASTER]

Sounds like a nice shooting rifle to me.

I just built me a new upper upswing some of Mark's parts from PF and the fit and finish of those parts were beautiful to say the least, so if you looking for quality parts for a dang good price it's hard to beat PF.

As for as a handgaurd goes, The upper I built has a spv3 rail on it and it's the 15in version keymod but I was very surprised how light it is and thetask of timing it for the gas tube was very easy.

I also just put a ssa-e trigger in my lower and wow that thing is like awesome, super smooth and the break is just like they say candy cane.

Hope this info helps you in your build sir and welcome to the horde.

[just_john]

"My goal was to get a FF setup that by design did not need to be timed, "
All of 'em require some kind of timing, whether lining up the gas tube passageway or aligning to the mounting holes for the tube. Most of the better ff 'ers use steel mounting nuts which keeps the weight close to the center and substantially helps with heat dissapation if there is a lot of brass moving thru the system. Unless you are using this as a crowbar, 6061 is more than strong enough. If you are gonna use it for a crowbar, then go on and get a cheap barrel as you're gonna bend the one you have.
Would recommend checking any forged upper to be sure it is square at the barrel mount. I only use forged and most all of 'em are a "little" off. It only takes a few minutes to fix and gives a better result. Also, if you plan to cerrokote, be sure that the inside of the upper is masked beforehand.
All-in-all, your choices are good, should be a good setup.

[LRRPF52]

All the 16" uppers I have built for people with that barrel have been shooting anywhere from .5" to 1.5" for 5rd groups, shooter-dependent, so average 1 MOA.

They are very light guns, so they can be moved around more easily when breaking the shot, which is the biggest factor in practical accuracy with them.

They're very pleasant to shoot, and are easy to hit things with at those distances, even for children.

[bob4432]

Thanks for the continued info. I have the Brownells "facing" tool and the 600grit lapping compound. Anybody have a reasonably price clamp on low pro gas block they like? I was thinking of the YHM one in .750 size? Thanks for you guys for pointing out to use a clamp on style, now that I think of it it makes perfect sense now.

[6.5 mm Shoot]

I had planed to build a 20" barrelled upper and couldn't find a barrel for under $300 so I went back to Alexander Arms and ordered a second 16" barrel. The one I have will do what I need it to do and the longest I will ever shoot is 500 yards at my sons place. I only have 200 yards at my place. The reason I wanted the 20" was for better accuracy for longer shots and the added FPS that the longer barrel gives.

The first one I built, I built for hunting. The second one will be for punching paper. I will be using a side charger with it and a heaver hand guard than what is on the hunting one. I will also be adding a tripod. The extra weight should help with smaller groups.

As far as groups go I can't complain. I am getting just over a .5" at 100 yards and a little over 3" at 200. I am going to have to work on the 200 yard groups. I would like to say it was the hand loads, but I know it's me. Nothing wrong with a A.A. barrel and the price is great. The barrel and the bolt for under $300. Not bad at all.