HB AR build

ohihunter2014

New member
Im interested in building a heavy or varmint barrel AR but want to do it as cheap as possible. I want to use this for woodchucks out to 300yards and coyotes and maybe some long range target shooting.

so tell me what to get but keep it cheap
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Maybe not as cheap as some barrels but I just ordered a Wilson Combat SS 20" heavy barrel. I believe that is where most of your accuracy comes from is the barrel. They have them on sale right now for $219 + shipping. Cost me $230 tyd. Most people say they are very accurate barrels. Just getting into ARs so there are other people that know a lot more than I do. I like bolt guns better but for coyotes and fox I like that fast follow up shot. Good Luck on your search. There are a lot of places that have barrels on sale right now.
 
O H, I just received my barrel from Wilson Combat. If it shoots as good as it looks then it will be a great shooter. Now to take the other barrel off and put this one one.
 
Don't forget to get a good trigger too. That is the two biggest things in an ar for accuracy. Building accurate ar can be down without spending a ton of money so what is your budget?
 
I have put three ar's together all have had rainier arms barrels and two had geissele triggers and one has a rock river I prefer the geissele. I am now building another ar for work so this one will be milspec with a 12.5 bcm barrel. My first three all shoot sub moa. Spend money on barrels and trigger and save on the rest. For receivers buy Anderson I have used these on two builds and have had good luck with them. Also you do need t need a 200 hand guard so look around for a good priced Handguard. Stock go with fixed it makes for a steady new slop gun unless you want it to collapse smaller. Lpk I have used Joe bobs with no complaints.
 
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Originally Posted By: Plant.Onedefine "cheap" and then maybe we can help you out.

my barrel on my heavy barrel upper alone was $330.

Well said.
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Greg
 
Doing it on the cheap...

Build an entire carbine, minus the barrel and trigger group for $350, pretty easily done. Buy a proper barrel for $250-300 and a proper trigger for $100-250. Strap it together with $100 worth of tools, which you can buy used and resell for a net zero cost. All in for a sub-MOA rifle for less than $800.
 
I've had heavy barrel ARs, 24" Varmint to be exact, in .204 and .223. For coyote hunting - never again. For bench shooting at paper or bottles or gelatin, etc. - sure. Even pdog or rock chuck as long as you're not moving more than 100yds all day.

All my ARs are either Rock River factory uppers or Black Hole Weaponry barrels. 1 in 7" or 1 in 8" twist. None are heavy or varmint contour. Just not something you want to drag around hunting. Gets old fast.
 
Originally Posted By: HereticI've had heavy barrel ARs, 24" Varmint to be exact, in .204 and .223. For coyote hunting - never again. For bench shooting at paper or bottles or gelatin, etc. - sure. Even pdog or rock chuck as long as you're not moving more than 100yds all day.

All my ARs are either Rock River factory uppers or Black Hole Weaponry barrels. 1 in 7" or 1 in 8" twist. None are heavy or varmint contour. Just not something you want to drag around hunting. Gets old fast.

i have a 24" 204 bull barrel upper. its way awkward to carry around, too nose heavy for comfort. and with my 8" can on the front, its just not a great carry to hunt gun at all. I cant deny its effectivness of course, but i'd love to shave a pound or two offa it.

my 20" 223 woa "varmint" upper is a nice compromise on weight and such. that few inches less of barrel seems to be, IMHO anyway, just enough to make it work.
 
I have to echo the statements about HB ARs being nose heavy pigs, that don't get hauled around very long. I had a very accurate RRA A4 Varmint 20" upper, that I got talked into by a so called AR expert. It was my first AR, other than hauling M-16 variants around for a few years, so I didn't know better. When I put the upper and lower(got talked into an Armalite NM lower, too), it felt like a log lashed to a broomstick. It shot tiny groups, but I finally found a P-dog hunter, that was in the market for a HB AR upper, and it found a better home. If you want something that gets carried anything past the truck next to the shooting bench, get an "HBAR" profile, or a "SPR" profile, which are more in the midweight range. Still plenty heavy to be accurate, and light enough to hike to the next stand with. Even whistle pig hunting, the HBs got old for me. Poor picture of said rifle, with the last pig it killed before finding a new home.



The rifle in the foreground(without a scope) is an HBAR profile, and is an extremely accurate 6mm WOA. This would be my recommendation for a barrel profile. It balances better, and isn't too much of a load to haul.



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I have a Wilson 20" Stainless HBAR 223 Wylde chamber. It is accurate and fairly balanced. It will serve you fine for 300-400 yard work where and still be fairly mobile. I just did a 24" heavy and I wont be packing it far.
 
Originally Posted By: NonnieselmanIve been thoroughly pleased with this one.
Did some load workup and my very first load was it some how. Never get that lucky.
Shooting my first 600 Yard F-class match with it this month so cant wait.

Shooting 73 grain Hornady ELDM's with H4895 in Lapua brass with CCI BR4 primers.

http://ar15performance.com/inc/sdetail/38007/12239


I have an 18" version of this barrel(actually second AR with the Linear Comp, in the previous picture), that I worked a 55 gr. Nosler BT load for, for P-Dogs. That load is currently holding around a .7 MOA group, by average. I will tweak it, when warmer weather arrives. I like something around .5 MOA, for a P-dog rifle/load, but I feel pretty confident I can get there with this barrel. I really like the 5/8-24 threaded muzzle, so I can twist on a 7.62 suppressor. I have been happy with all of my AR-Performance barrels, and so far all have found loads that shoot sub-MOA.

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