Aero Precision M4E1 Enhanced Upper + 24" bull barrel

[BobbyJ]

Rather than buy a new bolt in 223 was thinking of just buying a Varmint 24" barrel. I have a Aero Precision M4E1 Enhanced Upper sitting in a box doing nothing. That upper has a stronger free floated upper set up vs standard AR uppers. In theory might be better for a heavy bull barrel.

Wondering if anyone has bought a 24" varmint barrel for their AR. If it does not do 1" or better I don't want to bother.
Twist rate 1/9 or 1/12 I don't see any 1/10 1/11s, 1/8th seems to be the twist most available which I don't want for light bullets.

Anyone here build a AR varmint shooter?

 

[Ray123]

Complete Areo uppers are a mixed bag, I've bought a few, some shoot some don't. But ther enhanced uppers are good for building accurate ARs. I have a 224 Valkyrie with a 24" bull barrel 6.5 twist for heavy bullets capable of 5 shots in less than 1/2" accuracy.
But we're talking 223. I go with Proof Research Stainless 20" or Schilen SS match 20" My rifle carrys 20" H Bar 8 twist Shilen with ratchet rifling no muzzle break. But this 8 twist loves Nosler 40 gr BT gr bullets it shot 12 rds of 40 gr Nosler BT into less than an inch. I generally run 18" to 20" on heavy profile barrels in ARs like 223, 6 ARC, 308 but also have quite a few 24" barrels on ARs in 224 Valkyrie, 308 and 6.5 Creedmoor. Plus bolt guns to 30" so that's your preference go for it but they tend to be heavy carring in the field. A bolt gun will be easier to get accuracy, but ARs are capable of 1/2" 5 shot groups with ammo it likes and a premium barrel like Proof stainless not a carbon fiber barrel fan, unless you're hunting big game in hard to reach areas.

 

[jelenko]

There's no difference in basic accuracy potential between a good 20" and 24" barrel.
For AR's the main factor in accuracy is the barrel. You might look at White Oak Armament for the 24" varmint barrel.
I'm not a pdog shooter, but getting consistency from an ar shooting from a bench requires getting the buttstock set up so the recoil is consistent. It takes a bit of learning. Without getting the buttstock right, groups will be over 1".

 

[David Milisock]

Complete Areo uppers are a mixed bag, I've bought a few, some shoot some don't. But ther enhanced uppers are good for building accurate ARs. I have a 224 Valkyrie with a 24" bull barrel 6.5 twist for heavy bullets capable of 5 shots in less than 1/2" accuracy.
But we're talking 223. I go with Proof Research Stainless 20" or Schilen SS match 20" My rifle carrys 20" H Bar 8 twist Shilen with ratchet rifling no muzzle break. But this 8 twist loves Nosler 40 gr BT gr bullets it shot 12 rds of 40 gr Nosler BT into less than an inch. I generally run 18" to 20" on heavy profile barrels in ARs like 223, 6 ARC, 308 but also have quite a few 24" barrels on ARs in 224 Valkyrie, 308 and 6.5 Creedmoor. Plus bolt guns to 30" so that's your preference go for it but they tend to be heavy carring in the field. A bolt gun will be easier to get accuracy, but ARs are capable of 1/2" 5 shot groups with ammo it likes and a premium barrel like Proof stainless not a carbon fiber barrel fan, unless you're hunting big game in hard to reach areas.

When you bought your complete Aero Precision upper what barrel was in it. I bought one in 6MM ARC and it came with a Ballistic Advantage stainless barrel and it's a 1/2" shooter. By complete upper I mean it was everything except the sights.

I was getting a general purpose rifle and got the 16", I didn't expect that it would shoot as well as it does.

 

[lp6]

What you are talking about doing is what I did for my PD hunt. Aero uppers, one new, one off another set up neither M4E1 enhanced, just standard receiver. Shilen HV match 24”, which they had in stock and it came with a headspaced bolt. These were shot with factory 55gr rounds during the break in. Somewhere between 40-50 rounds down the pipe.

 

[David Milisock]

What you are talking about doing is what I did for my PD hunt. Aero uppers, one new, one off another set up neither M4E1 enhanced, just standard receiver. Shilen HV match 24”, which they had in stock and it came with a headspaced bolt. These were shot with factory 55gr rounds during the break in. Somewhere between 40-50 rounds down the pipe.

Looks like whack a dog or chuck to me!

 

[PigButtons]

I have a "Unit 1" bull barrel upper 24" 1:7 that is capable of 1/4 moa out to 200 yards with bullets anywhere between 40gr and 75gr, which are the boundaries of what I've tried. That's from a bi-pod and rear bag.

 

[Ray123]

When you bought your complete Aero Precision upper what barrel was in it. I bought one in 6MM ARC and it came with a Ballistic Advantage stainless barrel and it's a 1/2" shooter. By complete upper I mean it was everything except the sights.

I was getting a general purpose rifle and got the 16", I didn't expect that it would shoot as well as it does.

My complete upper was also 6MM ARC with a Ballistics Advantage barrel from Brownells. It was a 2" to 2.5" gun with 108 ELDM for 5 shots. Built another 6MM ARC with a Proof Research barrel took them both to the range the same day side by side the Blastics Advantage barrel shot 2.5" and the Proof Research barrel shot .5" same 108 ELDM ammo. Went home and ordered another Proof barrel and took off the Ballistics Advantage barrel and discarded it. The new Proof barrel is also a .5" shooter with 5 shots. Have a 300 Blackout with a decent BA Areo barrel and a 308 BA that was acceptable but not great. Replaced it with a Proof Research that's capable of .3" so I find the already assembled uppers to be a mixed bag, and I tend to replace the barrels. Now I no longer buy a complete upper, start with what I consider a quality barrel and mostly Areo upper recievers.

 

[BobbyJ]

What you are talking about doing is what I did for my PD hunt. Aero uppers, one new, one off another set up neither M4E1 enhanced, just standard receiver. Shilen HV match 24”, which they had in stock and it came with a headspaced bolt. These were shot with factory 55gr rounds during the break in. Somewhere between 40-50 rounds down the pipe.

Just finished the gas block tonight. That was a struggle, had use to 4 hands, the roll pin was a bit tight. Other than the roll pin gas tube the upper was EZ.

Yes that m4e1 enhanced looked to be the strongest upper due to the way its engineered with the monolithic type extension and stout barrel nut with threads on the outside.

I had read some of the bull barrels would not fit with a standard AR barrel nut handgaurd. People had issues with the barrel I bought but E. Aurthor fixed it so it works with any AR barrel nut handgaurd.

The barrel fit perfectly and M4 feed ramps alinged no slop at all. The Gas block aligned perfectly with the hole and barrel divot. The tube and gas key on the bcg perfect. I'm pinching myself because usually you run into some kind of issue.

I thought about getting an adjustable gas block (I can add one easy) But I went cheap with standard aero low profile for like 28.00 vs 105.




Next step is to shoot it. Maybe this weekend.

I ordered some factory Hornady 53gr ammo. Just wanted to use it as a baseline to see if it really shoots at 3450 fps. I looked at most the powders and none had velocities that high on the 53gr. Wonder if anyone has been able to match Hornady factory 53gr 223 Vmax ammo.

53gr bulletsjust came in but all I have is CFE 223. I use 27gr for 55s but they do not shoot nearly as fast as 5.56 NATO 55s. I think 2750 fps from 16" and the Nato was like 3000 fps out of same gun.

 

[BobbyJ]

I have a "Unit 1" bull barrel upper 24" 1:7 that is capable of 1/4 moa out to 200 yards with bullets anywhere between 40gr and 75gr, which are the boundaries of what I've tried. That's from a bi-pod and rear bag.

What bipod did you use? If you can get 1/4 MOA out of it sounds like a good one.

 

[PigButtons]

What bipod did you use? If you can get 1/4 MOA out of it sounds like a good one.

It looks like a Unit 1 product as well. Instead of the typical picatinny rail connection there is a heavy bracket attached to the handguard with a pin that's inline with the barrel that the bipod swivels on. Rather unique setup.

 

[RegionRat]

Just FYI. I will vouch for WOA as well.

I have burned through many of these on p-dogs and every one of them has been excellent.

https://www.whiteoakarmament.com/varmint-upper-223-5-56-24-barrel-1-8-twist-1202.html

 

[mac86951]

What bipod did you use? If you can get 1/4 MOA out of it sounds like a good one.

Harris or versapod are my recommendations.

I like the versapod, but i seem to be the only one.

-Mac

 

[BobbyJ]

Harris or versapod are my recommendations.

I like the versapod, but i seem to be the only one.

-Mac

I think I just saw the best bipod from a stability standpoint.
UTG Overbore