.223 18" barrel?

W

wisconsinteacher

New member
I would like to build an upper that shoots .223. The purpose of the rifle is for target shooting and using at the range while other rifles cool down. I have a nice lower for my 6.5 Grendel so I want to build an upper to swap out.

I don't know what twist, but I would like to shoot 70 grain bullets and it to be around 18-20" in length.

What do you recommend?
 
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Agree, 1-8 will get it done but I'd go with 1-7 twist if possible. Either should work great with the heavier bullets or MK 262 clone type ammo with the 77gr. OTM bullet.

For a good barrel, I'd look at White Oak Armament (WOA), LaRue, and Black Hole Weaponry/Columbia River Arms.
 
i built a 20" upper around a 1:7 woa varmit barrel that handles the heavies great. i have no doubt their 18" version would be just as stellar.

dusting charcoal briquete's at 200 yds is gravy with hornady 75gr hpbt's and mine shoots 68 gr hpbt and 55gr vmax quite well too.


we switched to those after it got boring shooting the water balloons down there. although my cousins daughter (5 y/o) was having a blast telling us which ones to pop. she thought it was just the neatest thing to tell me or her dad which balloon to shoot next!

i ordered mine when they were having their $30 fluting sale around the holidays.

https://www.whiteoakarmament.com/18-varmint-barrels.html
 
Most people are very suprised when they find that 1/7" twist barrel will shoot 50-55 gr bullets really well. Some say they will not but I've seen too many shoot them. You can have the best of both worlds. Heavy and light bullets. The guys above gave some great advice. Build another lower so you don't have to swap out uppers also.. I'm wanting to get a WOA barrel next. I got a BHW 20" .264 LBC and really like it. Good barrel,good trigger,good ammo and they shoot great.
 
Originally Posted By: yotekiller47Most people are very suprised when they find that 1/7" twist barrel will shoot 50-55 gr bullets really well. Some say they will not but I've seen too many shoot them. You can have the best of both worlds. Heavy and light bullets. The guys above gave some great advice. Build another lower so you don't have to swap out uppers also.. I'm wanting to get a WOA barrel next. I got a BHW 20" .264 LBC and really like it. Good barrel,good trigger,good ammo and they shoot great.

That's exactly right... a little faster then you need won't hurt a thing. I had an 8 twist 308 I ran 155s out of. Not a problem...
 
My 16" 1:8 stabilizes the 77gr pills just fine, even out to 620 yards I've seen no issue with stabilizing.

Most SPR barrels loom around 18" and have a 1:8 twist. I was always under the assumption that the military only uses 1:7 in their m4 setup in order to maximize terminal performance of the M855 round.
 
For shooting 70 grain Barnes all copper bullets you will need 1:7

70 grain Speer bullets will be fine in a 1:9

1:8 will stabilize 77 grain match type bullets fine.

I recommend buying a full complete Colt A4 rifle right now as rifles seem to be a bargain again. Seems you can get one for under a $1000 shipped in several places.

55gr FMJ cheap ammo is a "blast" to shoot with the open sights at 50 and 100 yards at the rifle range. The old 20 incher of days gone past is just to much fun to shoot.... Just to much fun. As is... Nothing fancy. Those 55 grain bullet jackets are much to strong to disintegrate in mid flight.

If you hand-load, and use Sierra bullets like the majority of enthusiasts, you will find that the 20 inch barrel and 5.56 chamber closely matches the published test information. It is nice to use a chrono coupled with powder weights to make a decision about pressure.

Buying the rifle and keeping it as will be much cheaper than a fancy bench rest upper that now needs a fancy scope to accommodate it.

It seems you will have plenty of time laying on your belly shooting prone or, at the bench with your 6.5?
 
whats so bad about building a fancy 223 upper that he can shoot at 300-500 yds if he wants to while letting the 6.5 cool. you dont need a thousand dollar optic to shoot at those ranges.

if you already have a built lower, a $300 barrel, a $250-$300 optic, $100 bcg, $150 handguard and a mil spec uppper and youve not got an ar that can play in close with blaster ammo or run heavy bullets out across the field
smile.gif


plus my eyes wont let me do with irons the things im used to doing with a variable power optic.
 
1:8 18in stainless is a great barrel. We have been able to go WAAAAYYYYYYY out with 68, 75 and 77gr bullets out of this platform. You will be happy.
 
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