Building a Prairie dog AR.

summitsitter

New member
Okay guys I'm headed on PD hunt this year and wanting to build an AR for the hunt. Two reasons, cheap reloadable ammo, and everybody needs an AR( so good excuse to build one.)

Here's kind of what I'm planing on doing, let me know what you think. My main concern is acurracy. The only think that is a must is a adjustable LOP stock so my young son cant use it for deer and hogs also.

Barrel: WOA 18" 1-8TW meduim contour or MicroMOA 18" 1-7TW SDM countour.( should I go 20") Also on the 18" should I go rifle or mid-length gas?

Stripped upper: Whatever I can find for sale, probley Aero or PSA
Stripped Lower: Whatever I can find for sale, probley Aero or PSA
Trigger: BTE trigger group
Handguard: BTE FF handguard
BCG: A nickel Boron group of some type
Lower parts kit: Whatever I can find cheaper

I plan on shooting something in the 60-70gr range for pd's just to help buck the win alittle. But I wanna be able to shoot the 80's for deer. Like I said my main concern is accuracy but don't wanna 24" light pole hang off the end of it. So I'm thinking barrel and a good trigger is where my money needs to be spent, the rest can be cheap parts. Am I wrong in my thinking. I build all my own bolt guns, so I was thinking about maybe getting a kreiger or bartlein blank and turning it to a AR barrel. Is it worth the trouble for the money I would save? Thanks
 
Your list sounds like a pretty solid list. I would check into a BHW barrel mine is very accurate in my 6x6.8. Also could talk to Ritch and see if you could have him build you an upper. But i think your off to a good start.
 
Unless you are planning on sniping just the close Prairie Dogs, you will want at least a 20" barrel with a moderate twist...

I had one built several years ago for PDs and it had a 20" 1-14 twist barrel and was super accurate out past 300 yards, however it was limited to 55gr bullets on the upper end..



A 1-12 twist will let you go up to 60gr with consistent accuracy and a 1-10 twist will let you go up into the area you want for the heavier ones...Keep in mind that your AR magazine length will dictate the weight of your bullet since some 75gr and higher will not allow you to shoot them unless you are loading singly.. 1-9 twist is pretty much an all around twist rate and shoots the whole spectrum of normal bullet weights...This is a 1-9, 17 round, 40gr rapid fire target at 50 yards..
 
I too would want a different barrel for pdogs, though I realize you're looking at dual purpose here. Lightweight bullets shot as fast as possible are what you'll want for normal ranges, say 300, 350 yards. Heavies won't give you much splat factor I think.

Given what you want to do, I'd go 20", 1-8. Should still shoot the 40's and 50's well, and will stabilize heavier Barnes for deer.

BTW my 2 dedicated pdog uppers are 26" bull barrels, one a 204, the other a 223AI.
 
I have a pair of 18" ar's and you can go either mid or rifle, the mid tucks the gas block under a rifle FF tube and looks cleaner. One is a WOA and it shoot really well.

Mag length will be your issue with the 80's unless you want to single load.

I shoot 50gr Vmax for PDogs and have made lots of hits over 400, I personally don't feel the effective range of the 223 can take advantage of the extra BC of the heavies. The cross course guys may disagree but for under 500 yards give me fast and light.
Also I has shot a few antelope and several does with the 64 and now 62 gr Gold dot 223 load and it is basically that same as the Federal Fusion 62gr. I think this is the best load going for big game and the 223.
 
If you use a .750" gas block, you won't notice as much weight out front with a 20" tube as you would with heavier tubes. Don't add muzzle threading and you'll be set.

My most recent personal AR I built for myself as an all-purpose rifle is a 1:8" BHW 20" long with rifle gas. I've shot 77smk's and 75grn A-max's from this with good results (have to single load the A-max's). I have built, tuned, owned, or otherwise fired literally hundreds of AR's, a 20" tube, heavy under the guard, .750" gas block, rifle gas, 1:8" will do anything an AR can really do.

If you go 18", use a mid-length and an adjustable gas block. You can always throttle a mid-length, you can't always get more gas out of a rifle length. In 18", I would go 1:8" or 1:7" if you're wanting to shoot 80's for deer.

I have done pretty well with Nosler 60grn partitions on a few deer and a bunch of hogs with 1:8" and 1:9" tubes.

Since you're thinking a P-dog rifle primarily, look at a PRS or Luth-AR. Both ride bags relatively well, but still maintain the advantage of adjustable pull and cheek elevation.
 
Back
Top