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AR 15 barrels

SteveOak said:
I am interested to know how you come by that information.

It is unfortunate Compass Lake is not doing consumer sales any more.

I just had an AR-15 built purely so I could have another match to shoot. It is Varmint Benchrest but limited to AR10/15 gas operated rifles. I am still working on figuring out how best to handle it and the Geissele High Speed - National Match trigger:

First Stage 1.5 - 2.5 lbs.

Second Stage 6.0 - 14 oz.

Total 1.9 - 3.4 lbs pull trigger.

My trigger preferance is in the < 2 oz range. LOL
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I have used about 50 Wilson barrels, a bunch of AR and quite a few rifle blanks. I have never had a Wilson barrel that didn't shoot extremely well. I have used a bunch of barrels and have great barrels from several shops, while they cost twice as much as a Wilson, they don't offer that increase in accuracy. I think you will find White Oak uses Wilson barrels as do a lot of manufacturers.
 
Sometimes you get lucky with a cheap barrel on a budget build…1-1.5 MOA. My first step is to upgrade the trigger and then look at barrel.

You may want to hone/true the face of the receiver threads to make sure that it is square before adding a new barrel. Depending on barrel fit, you might want to add Loctite when installing new barrel.
 
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From what I have read, Wilson barrels and Wilson Combat are two different companies. I know a lot of companies use Wilson barrels but Wilson uses their own. Are you all saying a Wilson barrel is better than Wilson Combat barrel?
 
I believe the chambering job is every bit as important as the quality of the blank. A lot of AR barrels out there in the market place have high production rate, less than “good” chambering jobs. These are the relatively inexpensive, luck-of-the-draw barrels. You might get a good one but probably not!

I agree that at this time White Oak is probably the best bet short of a custom barrel.

Having said that, I'm building myself an LR308 in 6.5CM. I plan to order a Douglas blank, a reamer and barrel extension and I know there's gonna be a wait. While looking around a found a great price on a Ballistic Advantage so I bought it. First one for me. I'll let you all know how it goes.
 
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I see Giessele has barrels on the website. I think this is new for them. I did see a video where Bill Giessele talked about barrels and it sounded like they're doing it all in-house. Given their reputation I would not hesitate to buy one of their barrels.
 
Pyscodog said:
From what I have read, Wilson barrels and Wilson Combat are two different companies. I know a lot of companies use Wilson barrels but Wilson uses their own. Are you all saying a Wilson barrel is better than Wilson Combat barrel?
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Right. There's Wilson Arms and Wilson Combat.
I've used many Wilson Arms barrels via WOA - they will hold 1 MOA or less - with many groups 1/2 MOA or less.
But, I have no experience with Wilson Combat barrels
 
I was in the Wilson Combat barrel plant. Lots of very nice modern equipment. I chambered a couple of dozen and thought they were very nice. I didnt shoot any but got good feedback from my customer.
 
expecting real MOA performance from a $200 barrel is a lot to ask.
Short of some of the Rock river barrels you generally have to spend some money.
White oak, rainier ultramatch and keystone accuracy barrels have shown to be consistent performers in my experience.


In a cheaper barrel I’d consider trying 69SMK or nosler 55 ballistic tip as they seem to shoot well in a lot of Barrels.
 
Here again I'll say I'm probably expecting to much from a $500 rifle. I admit, I'm not a big fan of the AR platform but felt like I needed one after going years without having one. My bolt action rifles have spoiled me for sure. Even my Frankenstein hunting rifle will stack 3 in the same hole and it was made from used parts I picked up here and there. Expecting a cheap AR to do that is probably kinda dumb on my part. I guess I just hate to drop a lot of money on a rifle that I don't really like that much to begin with. LOL, I guess I'm between a rock and a hard spot. Maybe getting the right load is a challenge and gives me something to do.
 
My preference is always to grab a bolt rifle. It wasn’t until I shot some action sports, 3-Gun, that I gained appreciation for AR. The first thing I do is toss the factory trigger and immediately upgrade the trigger ($90 LaRue - $150 Geisele…pick your poison). Now you can start to evaluate the rifle’s potential.

If you’re hesitant to drop +$200 on a barrel then first check a couple of things on rifle.
> flashhider secured tight to barrel?
> barrel crown clean without any burs?
> inspect the fit of the barrel extension, upper receiver, and barrel nut. It helps to remove hand guard to get clear view of this junction point that’s otherwise covered. Wiggle it around and see if there any play or independent movement of any of these components.

I’ve bought budget rifle’s as throw away / truck guns and have had friends drop off their hot mess for me to sort out. I’ve found improperly tightened barrel nuts, out of spec upper receiver barrel channel/port, bad barrels (barrel extension and not properly mated up to barrel), bad crowns, loose muzzle devices, improperly installed gas blocks (loose or not aligned with port), etc. These are all issues aside from a poor quality barrel (cheap blank, poor machining).

While you’re mulling over your next step spend some time doing a Sherlock Holmes to see if there is an obvious reason. Any of the above could impact your rifle’s performance. Go shoot it again and track each shot to see if there is a pattern or if random from shot to shot. If it is sporadic like what happens when scope mount gets loose then it indicates something is shifting or causing irregular deflection… something is loose related to your barrel. Good Luck.
 
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Sniperhandle said:
Psyco,

Are you using iron sights or optics?
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Using a 1-8 Cabelas Covenant, suppose to be the same as a Bushnell. Not the greatest but I wanted low power and it seems to be working. I did add a Magpul rear stock so it rides a bag better. Seems from what I'm reading here 1-1 1/2" groups at 100yds is pretty normal for an AR. I guess mine is normal. I guess it MOC, minute of coyote.
 
Take out some 55gr VMax ammo and see if it doesn’t improve. If you are shooting off a bench using a bipod then another challenge :)
 
Since it's just a dog blaster and you're not looking for match-grade accuracy, suggest you start with a decent trigger. I don't care whether it's a bolt gun, handgun or semi-auto, a crappy trigger prints crappy targets.

It won't make the rifle any more accurate, but most likely will allow you to shoot it more accurately.

If that doesn't get you where you want to be (I'm guessing MOA or a bit better is what you're looking for), then I'd opt for a new barrel.
 
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