R15 Barrel

Rost-SD

Rost-SD

New member
I currently have an R15 (.223 with 22 inch barrel) on layaway at my local cabelas, but I just need to get a few questions answered before I go and complete the final purchase. My brother and dad have DPMS panther bull 20's and swear by them. Obviously, they are pressurring me to go with DPMS. I do want a lighter barrel since this will strictly a hunting gun.

The barrel- One argument my brother makes is that the barrel is so thin and will heat up very quickly and the muzzle jump with a barrel that small won't allow me to keep the cross hairs on a running coyote. I am not a prairie dog hunter, and I really could never see myself dropping a 20 round clip on a coyote (7-10 shots at a coyote is more realistic for the terreign I hunt).

So, my questions.

1. Do you get worried about the barrel heating up so fast on your R15?
2. Can you keep a coyote in the crosshairs easily on a running coyote?

This is my first AR and I don't want to make a mistake.
 
Last edited:
Just bought a R-15 this year,very happy with it. Heat up quicker, yes. But it will also cool down quicker. I'm sure not going to worry about dropping a 30 rounder if needed. If those guys want to lug that DPMS around let them. I bought this gun to carry and wanted it light. It still weights in at 9lbs 4ozs with sling and scope and a full 30 rounder. My colt H bar weighs 10lbs 9 oz and with a white oak upper, heavy 24" 12lbs even. The remington I have only has a 18" barrel. Wouldn't have it any other way. Those weights were taken today with a rapala electronic fish scale.
 
You'll love how light the gun is. It makes it a great carry gun. I shoot alot of rounds thur it at the range heating the barrel up pretty good and the groups stay really tight.You also won't having any trouble staying on target. The R-15 being light, accurate and it being camouflaged makes it a great coyote gun.
 
So, just how many shots do you plan to take at a time? Most states have a 5 round limit. Even my old Vietnam era SP1 will not heat the tiny pencil barrel enough to string shots in 5 rounds
smile.gif
Unless you plan to spend the day blasting prairie dogs 1k rounds at a sitting, I seriously doubt you can burn enough powder to heat the barrel to the point it starts to develop accuracy issues. You WILL appreciate the weight savings during your hunts, trust me
thumbup.gif


Tom
 
I will tell you from experience that it doesnt take much to heat that thin barrel up to the point were the groups I shoot start to open up! But I dont plan on shooting 20 rounds at any single coyote either, one shot, one kill! And yes, I am talking about the Remington R-15! Other than that its a nice gun if you like auto loaders!
 
Hi Rost
My first AR was a Rockriver varmint with the 20" Wilson stainless heavey barrel,I love it !!( weighs about 11.5 lbs. with scope)But not as my calling gun I use it for sniping only.My calling gun is a R-15 18" barrel with 3.5-10 Nikon scope,it is light and accurate I have shot maybe 20 to 30 rounds in a row and not noticed any shot stringing.
smile.gif
 
I have a Rock River 18" varmint and a friend of mine has the 18" R-15 carbine. If I had it to do over I would probably go with the R-15. It shoots very well and is much nicer to carry, not to mention the cool camo pattern.
 
Keep the light barrel they can lug the heavy barrels around and yours will shoot just as well. I doubt they can keep a running dog in the scope any better that you will be able to. I used an AR but found that rather than spray bullets at them as they run it was better to change the sound and wait for them to stop and take a look back as they almost always do. I would be interested in knowing how many they get while they are taking running shots, I bet the success is not that high. Not alot of people can make those running shots, there are to many variables, elevation, lead,wind free hand shot equals a miss more times than not.
 
Let me tell you something. I have a GI pencil profile barrel that I swap around on different uppers. Its thinner than even the remington/bushmaster. It is all I need for hunting, but my cocky side keeps lugging a DPMS 20 inch bull. Yes the bull is more accurate, by a bit. In the field it would matter a whip.
As far as follow up shots go??? I really dont think that this is really a valid real world consideration. Think of all the guys that have managed follow up shots on guns that recoil tons more than either configuation could hope to.

Get what you want and not what others think you should have. In reality, if you end up not liking it, its easy to swap barrels, so Worse case If you get a heavy and want a lite, its just a couple bucks away.
 
I believe they are jealous cause you are getting a nice lighter rifle made for the task. Put a neat scope like a Trijicon on it and they will be as green as the triangle reticle.
 
Get the one YOU want, NOT what others tell you to get.
You will be very happy with the R15, lighter & just as good as any other AR out there.....cept the trigger which is a standard kit, nothing fancy.
I have one that I use for my calling & I have used it on p-dog shoots with no problems with it opening up that I miss.
 
TenRoger on the R15. The DPMS 20" Bull in my Avatar was a club in comparison. Get an 18" CS. They will probably follow soon.

TrickedR-15.jpg


 
I have the R-15 and LOVE IT! As others have said, the barrel will heat up quicker, but for hunting it seems perfect to me. In my state you can only have 6 rounds (5+1), and it will shoot all of them without heating up noticeably. I do have a bolt gun with a heavy barrel because I was concerned about hot barrels at the time I bought it, but I don't carry it too ofter because it is too heavy. Never had that problem with the R-15. If you want to target shoot all day long, get the heavy barrel. If you want a field gun why carry the extra weight?
 
Back
Top