Suggestions for AR plinker, short and suppressed?

wahoowad

wahoowad

Member
I like to shoot steel at 100 and 300 yards. I have various round AR500 plates I use at 100 and my club has a half-size silhouette hanging at 300. Currently using a bolt gun and would now like a 223/5.56 AR.

I am going to get a suppressor for it, haven't picked one out yet. I'd like the gun to be relatively compact and the suppressor partially inside the handguard. I don't know what length barrel this suggests I should get, and if this shorter barrel is going to limit accuracy at 300?

Undecided about sights, probably prefer the front style that folds down and perhaps I get something like a SWFA fixed 10x?

Suggestions?
 
I was initially thinking 223/5.56 as deals come along to keep the price down. But also open to 300 Blackout as I'm reading it is designed for optimal performance in shorter barrels and can be very quiet suppressed.

If I go 300 BLK I could use some recs on cheaper ammo with a reputation for good performance.
 
are you a handloader? if so the blackout is your toy

if not, get the 5.56.




supersonic blackout suppressed sounds about like supersonic 556 suppressed.

when you get into subsonic blackout, thats where you get into the giggle levels of quiet. its still relatively loud at the shooters ear from the action cycling, but downrange the ding of steel will make you grin ever time.

hard part is - getting accuracy down 200+ yds with subsonics like you can with supers. gonna be tough with factory offerings. with heavy and slow bullets even a decent ES can land you in a 3 moa situation downrange even if its still 1 moa @ 100 yds.


shooting subs downrange was a humbling expierence for someone who's used to doing it with supersonics.
 
You give up the speed but even a10" 223 will do the deed on steel at 300 with a 223. Personally the 300 BLK would not be on my list for that task as I prefer copious ammo to play with. Nothing wrong with it other than that other than a tad more drop.

Greg
 
Originally Posted By: GLShooterYou give up the speed but even a10" 223 will do the deed on steel at 300 with a 223. Personally the 300 BLK would not be on my list for that task as I prefer copious ammo to play with. Nothing wrong with it other than that other than a tad more drop.

Greg

yup, price and availability is why i recommended the blk for reloaders. its an incredibly fun caliber, especailly suppressed subsonic. but its more expensive - mostly relating to bullet cost.


when it comes to factory offerings, the 223 is going to be hard to beat on the metric of price and availability.
 
My suggestion is a 12.5" 5.56 barrel. Mine shoots about 225 FPS less than my 16". It's rings steel well at 300 yards and shoots very tight groups at 200 yards. (haven't shot any groups for accuracy at 300 yet) I am shooting non-suppressed and it's loud, Maybe some day I will jump into the suppressed game.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Mort98My suggestion is a 12.5" 5.56 barrel. Mine shoots about 225 FPS less than my 16". It's rings steel well at 300 yards and shoots very tight groups at 200 yards. (haven't shot any groups for accuracy at 300 yet) I am shooting non-suppressed and it's loud, Maybe some day I will jump into the suppressed game.

Do I need to get any special ATF stamps for a barrel shorter than 16"? My very limited understanding is you can get around it with a pistol designation, but then you can't have a stock worth a crap for shooting on it.
 
Yes u need a $200 SBR stamp for your lower then you can get as many short uppers as you want. You can apply online with a credit card, and I got both my lowers approved in 3 months.

I have both a 7.5 and 10” 5.56 upper. Both are pistons and can easily hit steel at 300. For indoor Tactical scenarios the 7.5” is a great length suppressed, otherwise for general plinking the 10” or 12” would be my choice. My favorite caliber in a sbr is the 6.8 but ammo is more expensive if that’s a concern.
 
Last edited:
Deff get it SBR and go with it. I hunt with a 12.5" 6.8 suppressed and love it. It took me over 11 months to get my SBR tax stamps back [beeep].
frown.gif

It was worth it in the end.
My next one will be a 12.5" 223 from ARP when he gets his store back up and going in November.
 
Originally Posted By: WhoCaresYes u need a $200 SBR stamp for your lower then you can get as many short uppers as you want. You can apply online with a credit card, and I got both my lowers approved in 3 months.

I have both a 7.5 and 10” 5.56 upper. Both are pistons and can easily hit steel at 300. For indoor Tactical scenarios the 7.5” is a great length suppressed, otherwise for general plinking the 10” or 12” would be my choice. My favorite caliber in a sbr is the 6.8 but ammo is more expensive if that’s a concern.

Thanks, did not know about the SBR aspect. Like I said, don't know much about it so that is why I posted.

Someone told me I don't need to file SBR if I will have a silencer attached that makes the overall barrel length longer than 16". That doesn't sound correct, unless maybe the silencer was permanently attached. Permanent attachment would not be something I was interested in. it would be great if this was true.
 
Ok, thanks for all the input and getting me up to speed on some of these issues. I think my plan is to buy a new rifle in 5.56/223 so I can submit the receiver for SBR and make decisions about different caliber short barrels and suppressors later.

Getting overwhelmed by all the AR manufacturers and range in prices. So many manufacturers I don't recognize along with some very common ones I do recognize like Ruger, S&W, Windham, Palmetto. I watch gun.deals and see lots of 'deals' but really can't discern if something is a deal yet.

Any suggestions? A few things I think I want:

[*]16" to 18" barrel to throw ~55 grain surplus ammo[*]low pro gas block to eliminate front sight[*]A way to mount Harris bipod to front (?) [*]direct imping[*]long handguard
[/list]

This Ruger MPR has caught my eye...
 
Dont forget you can still just buy a Stripped lower. Use that serial number and submit it.
I did that with my 2 SBR's. Bought some Aero Lowers from Primary arms i think it was. It took 11 months to get my stamps back so i slowly bought all my parts over a 6 month period. When the stamps come in i took the lowers and paperwork to my local guy with a Laser Engraver that manufactures ARs so he just dropped them in a Jig and 15 min later i was headed home.
 
if you're gonna go the stripped lower route - one things i've seen quite a few folks doing is building them into pistols FIRST.

if a stripped lower starts its life out as a pistol, its easy (and legal!) to convert it into a rifle later once you have your stamp. just get it engraved, swap the buffer tube and install your stock and you're ready to go. you should be able to do that in about 10 mins, tops.

the perk of going this route is not only then are you 100% legal to be in posession of the short barreled upper (or the ability to make one, even with as little as just a barrel and a complete upper) without getting anywhere near that grey area of the NFA laws referred to as constructive intent while you wait for your stamp - you can also fully test your firearm for function and reliability BEFORE you apply for your stamp, serialize that lower as a registered SBR and lock its status in forever.

once you engrave a lower and put its serial into the NFA registry theres no do-over with your stamp if you have a faulty (out of spec) lower. stamps are good for one item/serial number only.

a pistol buffer tube is only like $20 on fleabay, thats cheap insurance policy for doing a NFA build if you ask me.


so the steps i would take to do a SBR build from scratch

1) get a stripped lower
2) get a pistol lower build kit
3) get your barrel and upper parts or complete upper you want
4) build and function test your pistol - work out any bugs and make 100% sure its a reliable build
5) pay your $200 & submit your form 1 for the SBR
6) shoot your pistol as much as you want while you wait for your stamp to arrive sometime in the distant future
7) when your form 1 gets approved, disassemble your lower and go visit your engraver (or mail your lower off) and get the proper engraving completed
8) reassemble your lower with the rifle stock and buffer to complete your SBR build
9) enjoy your new SBR
smile.gif



hth
 
Originally Posted By: wahoowadJust bought one of the new Ruger AR-556 "MPR" guns. If that was a dumb move I don't want to hear about it
tt2.gif



figures you'd do that while i was typing up the post for you re the pistol-> sbr route
tt2.gif
tt2.gif


i got distracted by coffee and when i hit submit after proof reading and editing a few typo's i see you already have a rifle
thumbup1.gif


congratz on your MPR, let us know how you like it and show us some targets!
 
Originally Posted By: Plant.Oneif you're gonna go the stripped lower route - one things i've seen quite a few folks doing is building them into pistols FIRST.

if a stripped lower starts its life out as a pistol, its easy (and legal!) to convert it into a rifle later once you have your stamp. just get it engraved, swap the buffer tube and install your stock and you're ready to go. you should be able to do that in about 10 mins, tops.

the perk of going this route is not only then are you 100% legal to be in posession of the short barreled upper (or the ability to make one, even with as little as just a barrel and a complete upper) without getting anywhere near that grey area of the NFA laws referred to as constructive intent while you wait for your stamp - you can also fully test your firearm for function and reliability BEFORE you apply for your stamp, serialize that lower as a registered SBR and lock its status in forever.

once you engrave a lower and put its serial into the NFA registry theres no do-over with your stamp if you have a faulty (out of spec) lower. stamps are good for one item/serial number only.

a pistol buffer tube is only like $20 on fleabay, thats cheap insurance policy for doing a NFA build if you ask me.


so the steps i would take to do a SBR build from scratch

1) get a stripped lower
2) get a pistol lower build kit
3) get your barrel and upper parts or complete upper you want
4) build and function test your pistol - work out any bugs and make 100% sure its a reliable build
5) pay your $200 & submit your form 1 for the SBR
6) shoot your pistol as much as you want while you wait for your stamp to arrive sometime in the distant future
7) when your form 1 gets approved, disassemble your lower and go visit your engraver (or mail your lower off) and get the proper engraving completed
8) reassemble your lower with the rifle stock and buffer to complete your SBR build
9) enjoy your new SBR
smile.gif



hth

Thank you. Just the kind of smart approach to take that I was lookign for. May still go this route...
 
Another option is to get a 16" middy and use an AMTAC over the barrel suppressor. An over the barrel suppressor is the length of a normal suppressor, but keeps everything short by fitting over the barrel. You get an suppressed AR that has an overall length similar to a suppressed AR with a 10.5 inch barrel and a short suppressor, more velocity and it requires only one tax stamp.

Check out amtacsuppressors.com
 
Originally Posted By: Plant.Oneif you're gonna go the stripped lower route - one things i've seen quite a few folks doing is building them into pistols FIRST.

if a stripped lower starts its life out as a pistol, its easy (and legal!) to convert it into a rifle later once you have your stamp. just get it engraved, swap the buffer tube and install your stock and you're ready to go. you should be able to do that in about 10 mins, tops.

the perk of going this route is not only then are you 100% legal to be in posession of the short barreled upper (or the ability to make one, even with as little as just a barrel and a complete upper) without getting anywhere near that grey area of the NFA laws referred to as constructive intent while you wait for your stamp - you can also fully test your firearm for function and reliability BEFORE you apply for your stamp, serialize that lower as a registered SBR and lock its status in forever.

once you engrave a lower and put its serial into the NFA registry theres no do-over with your stamp if you have a faulty (out of spec) lower. stamps are good for one item/serial number only.

a pistol buffer tube is only like $20 on fleabay, thats cheap insurance policy for doing a NFA build if you ask me.


so the steps i would take to do a SBR build from scratch

1) get a stripped lower
2) get a pistol lower build kit
3) get your barrel and upper parts or complete upper you want
4) build and function test your pistol - work out any bugs and make 100% sure its a reliable build
5) pay your $200 & submit your form 1 for the SBR
6) shoot your pistol as much as you want while you wait for your stamp to arrive sometime in the distant future
7) when your form 1 gets approved, disassemble your lower and go visit your engraver (or mail your lower off) and get the proper engraving completed
8) reassemble your lower with the rifle stock and buffer to complete your SBR build
9) enjoy your new SBR
smile.gif



hth

Solid advice. I did this twice on my own SBR's.
 
The 300 BLK really does well suppressed in a 16" barrel. Shooting the 200 and larger grain bullets subsonic is a blast. The factory loads by Hornady are accurate in my AR.
 
Back
Top