Tweet
I bought a grendel upper for 300.00 without bcg. It's a no name barrel but it is 416r with 5r rifling. I put an odin works bcg in it and an odin works atlas compensator on it and finished it of with a odin works 17.5 ragna handguard. Then I built the lower for it. I've only put 100 rounds of wolf 100 gr. Through it. But I'm getting around 3 inch groups at a 100 yards. I'm already considering swapping out the barrel. But I'm not sure which one gives the absolute best accuracy? Faxom or odin? Or one I've never heard of before? I want to shoot the tightest groups possible at a 100 yards. I realize hornadys a better round and if I use it for hunting I'll sight in with those. But for now it's nice shooting cheaply. Any input on barrels would be appreciated.
-
-
Try some better ammo first dude.
Wolf ain't really a quality ammo for groups.
Step up your game and at least try the hornady ammo before you go dropping cash on a new barrel.
Also go back throw the rifle and make sure everything is tight, lined up and not making contact with the handguards when you bust of a shot.
Sorry if I came off rude but really don't say your barrel is junk and ask what barrel to drop money on before you try better ammo in the barrel you have first and make sure you didn't missassemble it.Comment
-
-
If your upper only cost $300 and it has 5R rifling you most likely have a Bear Creek Arsenal barrel. IF and I emphasize IF you ever get it to shoot under one inch at 100 yards with even the best of hand loads you will have one of their best barrels. Also these barrel usually don't start to show their accuracy potential until you have at least 100 rounds through them. I have a 20" that has been a "problem child" as to getting it to shoot well. After MUCH trial and era I finally found a hand load that will hover between 1" to 3/4" consistently. Do a search on this forum and read about BCA barrels and the troubles had with them. If you want consistent small groups you are going to have to shell out some coin. I have an 18" Oden Works that is pretty accurate, average 3/4" with good hand loads but if you want 1/2" or better you are talking higher quality and much more costly barrels. Then you have to take into count the other parts of the rifle especially the trigger. You can have the best quality barrel and have a terrible heavy creepy trigger and you will not shoot 1/2" or even 1" groups consistently. Then throw in shooting form, repeatable rifle placement on the proper rest and I could go on and on to what makes accurate shooting. Like others have said I would start off by getting some quality ammo, like the Hornady BLACK with the 123 gr ELDM bullet to do my accuracy test but I would try to get some of the Hornady bulk ammo and shoot at least 100 to 150 rounds through the rifle before doing accuracy test. Just my 2 cents worth.Comment
-
What 1shot said try the Hornady Black before giving up.Comment
-
-
Kenney,
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
No doubt better ammunition will shrink those groups but I'm reading your post...you want the 'absolute best accuracy'. In that case, put aside that no-name upper and start from scratch. Lilja, Krieger and Bartlein make match-grade barrels used in the Olympics. They are considered among the best barrel makers across all shooting disciplines. There are other reputable manufacturers like Archer, MADDCO, Tru-Flite, Border, Broughton and maybe Shilen but you stand the best chance of achieving your goal with the first mentioned three. Plus they are US-made barrels which are as good as any in the world so no Customs paperwork and expensive postage required. All the other manufacturers you read about on the forum are cheaper because they use lower quality (but in-spec) steel, pay less attention to lapping and in some cases push through faster. It then becomes a lottery as to whether you get a cheap barrel which is almost as accurate as these guys.
Of these manufacturers only three that I am aware profile their blanks to drop-into an AR15; Lilja, Kreiger and Shilen. The others would require you to source a gunsmith to machine your blank to fit an AR15 barrel extension. Plus chamber, crown and drill the gas port. The least painful way would be to buy a drop-in from one of those three manufacturers, as long as its the profile you want.
Best-grade barrels are around $500 each which means it's going to cost money. If you think $500 is too much then bear in mind Bench rest, Target Rifle and F-Class pay $1,000 for a chambered 30" barrel and are replacing their barrels annually. Best accuracy also means best scope and trigger. If you spend as much on the scope as the rifle (which is not unreasonable) then your gun will end up costing a few thousand dollars...Are you prepared to spend that much on an AR15?
You say this accuracy is for '100' and if you don't necessarily want to shoot as far as possible then you don't need a long barrel. Longer barrels are heavier however having said that, weight in a gun is a good thing (it mitigates jump). You could go a shorter, fatter than normal bull barrel to minimize whip, which will be .936" at the gas port (AR15 gas blocks come in three diameters; 0.625 'Pencil', 0.75" standard and 0.936" 'Bull'). That is assuming you want to stick with the semi-auto AR15 platform, otherwise you can get even better accuracy with a bolt gun. It boils down to your definition of accuracy because it gets to the point that the light-weight AR15 receiver becomes the limiting factor. You probably will never realise the accuracy potential of your best-barrel, trigger and scope because the receiver is now the weakest link and will limit all other efforts.
If you want more options than the limited number of drop-in's offered by barrel manufacturers then a reputable gunsmith like Precision Firearms is another option. They will source blanks from these guys and machine them to spec.
'Absolute best accuracy' also implies you can hand-load your ammunition. Buying the cheapest factory ammo is like pouring the cheapest grade fuel in a Formula One racer. Even good quality factory ammo limits you to not being able to fine-tune your loads for your gun.Last edited by Klem; 10-26-2018, 10:28 PM.Comment
-
Sounds like you have a pretty good barrel if you are getting those kind of groups with wolf , thats about the best you are going to get with that ammo , now try a box of hornady black and see what it will really do.Comment
-
Stay away from Hornady SST if you're trying to evaluate a barrel. Been reading too many instances of poor grouping from some barrels. Mine included. As far as commercial ammo goes Hornady Black, Federal AE or GMM would likely give you more reliable results. American Gunner is ok but I consider that more like practice ammo.- Kirk -Comment
-
-
What is the barrel twist, most are 1:8 for the 6.5 Try the 123 and 129 grain bullets should fly a lot better for you.Comment
Comment