Hey folks.

I would appreciate some opinions from you guys since I'm far from an AR-15 expert.

I'm looking for a sub-MOA stock AR from a high-quality manufacturer with the following components:

-   18 -20" match grade stainless barrel with 1:8 twist
-    .223 Wylde chamber
-   "match grade" trigger system

The rifle will be both for target shooting (maybe competition) and coyote hunting.
My budget for it is in the $2000 neighborhood.

Thanks,
Dave

Check out larue uu kits there exactly what you described , or buy a upper and lower and add a woa barrel

JP enterprises.

Larue

Compass lake engineering.

All will suit your needs.

Txl

Larue, but if you're going to get into competition, you might as well start learning to assemble custom ARs yourself... you'll eventually get there anyway. The tools to do it are cheap, and thanks to YouTube it's easy to do presuming you can follow basic directions. With those tools and that knowledge, you can make every AR you build EXACTLY what you want it to be, not what some manufacturer thinks you will buy. I actually don't own a single factory made AR. Don't really see the point in them.

You sure waited awhile to make a first post .
Rather than telling you to buy what I have, I suggest you look into what competitors are using. Krieger, Bartlein, Wilson arms, Wilson combat, Shilen, White Oak armament and Douglas are all off the shelf barrels that are known for precision. There are many more great barrels but those are the 'off the shelf' precision oriented barrels you see used in competition most regularly.
The barrel is what matters the most when looking into precision ARs, the trigger would be the second most important.
Complete uppers, complete lowers, barrels and triggers are all sold separately. Doing a bit of assembly, no matter how small, may be a better idea than buying a complete rifle.

Thanks, guys, for the advice. I'm now considering just building one myself. I've built two 10/22 type rifles, so I'm sure I could build an AR with all the help that's out there. I do have some concerns about headspace: would I have to buy the go/no go gauges? If buying a complete upper with a bolt and barrel, I assume the headspace has been taken care of, right?

Thanks again.

Not your average 13'er!

Welcome to ARFCOM and I will echo the LaRue Ultimate Upper it is great value and great kit.

build a Larue UU kit

look for a used KAC LPR

I would buy an upper from WOA and the lower of your choice with a "match grade" trigger installed then spend the savings toward an optic.
I had about $1700 total into this set up, CMP SR legal too.
WOA SR Upper w Mk7 rail
RRA lower with 2 stage trigger
Magpul UBR gen1
Nikon M-223 scope (they're better than you think)


And this is what it could do @100y, 10 shots in the X


When buying a "name brand" rifle, you're paying most of the money for the name. I like name brand parts instead.

ETA OP go to a local match and see what equipment most people on the line are using. You'll see a lot of WOA, CLE, Keystone, Douglas, etc... but you probably won't see one Larue. Just stating the facts.

Usually they will be headspaced, but very slim chance you would have an issue with a new barrel/bcg

If you order just a custom barrel fro Compass Lake, Keystone Accuracy, JP, White Oak etc you can buy a head spaced bolt right along with the barrel

Barrel, BCG, and trigger will be the mosst important parts of the build, so spend the money there

The Larue MBT-2 is a great trigger for the price.  Geiselle is more than 2x as much but the SSA-E is a tab better IMO.  I save the money and get Larue these days

Here are the steps most likely to deliver a guaranteed sub-MOA AR15 on the first try, all in 4 easy steps:

1.  Call Compass Lake Engineering ("CLE").
2.  Tell CLE your budget and goals.
3.  Do what Compass Lake tells you to do.
4.  Sit back and wait for your sub-MOA AR15 to arrive that is likely to be closer to 1/2 MOA and will be built to your specs.

Here is the SPR I just built with a little help from CLE. It shoots better than I can.  And if I can do this, you can do this.

if you don't mind telling

how much was that setup?

Not including the optics, BUIS, can, or bipod, less than the stated budget.  To be clear, this was an all-out-ultra-high-quality-parts-only build.   The biggest cost was the barrel ~$650 (with the install services described below, head-spaced bolt, and new barrel extension.)  You can go cheaper on parts and likely get similar results, i.e skip the Bartlein, HSNM Geissele trigger, Noveske lower, Mk16 rail, A5 RE, SLR AGB and MUR.   I purchased all parts other than the barrel when on holiday sales and/or from the EE.   I have about $1800 in the gun itself including the barrel.

My SPR has a Bartlein barrel.  I provided CLE with a Vltor MUR upper and the barrel nut for my Geissele Mk16 rail.  CLE spun the barrel for me, installed it into the upper receiver with the barrel nut, and then mail it back to me.   I installed the rail and flashhider and then slapped it on the lower that I built myself.   Gun shoots pretty dang good.   And CLE was beyond awesome to work with.  In fact, the smith called me while machining the barrel b/c the fit of the extension was not quite perfect.  He recommended a new extension for a nominal cost.   I was really happy to understand he was paying attention to what he was doing.  And the results speak for themselves.

What's your opinion of the CLE two-stage trigger?

CLE offers several different barrels:  Douglas, Bartlein, Krieger, Criterion.  Which of these would you recommend if expense was not the primary concern? Is the Bartlein and Krieger better than the Douglas?

For my purposes - target shooting, coyote hunting, 300 yd accuracy, what would be the best barrel length?

You can probably do it cheaper than this.  But I've been looking at Seekins for a bit.  FWIW, I have no in-hand use of it.

https://www.seekinsprecision.com/product/modern-sporting-rifles/spro3g-4.html

Welcome to AR15.com.

$2000 is plenty and that would include a good scope.

Buy anyone's lower with a match trigger (4.5> pounds is required if you ever want to shoot CMP/NRA tournaments) and a collapsible stock. I like B5 Systems, LMT, Magpul.

Purchase an upper from White Oak Armament or one of their barrels if you are going to build it.

Slap it together.

PK Firearms has excellent prices on optics. Trijicon TA11 has the best crosshairs. The horseshoe reticle would be my next pick.

Headspace is established when the barrel is chambered. It's part of the machining process required to install the barrel extension. YOU can't screw anything up.

Theirs is a modified GI type. The one I've fingered had a little creep.

If you're gonna get a baller barrel, get cut rifled such as Bartlein and Krieger. Without nitriding, they'll last a little longer.

Speed always helps, but 300yds is just the start of mid range. Even SBRs would barely struggle. I like 16 or 20". My max preference is 24"; with slow powders/heavy bullets, a +2 gas port may be recommended.

I appreciate all the advice, guys. I placed an order today with Compass Lake Engineering. I used a lot of the guidance you provided in choosing options for the rifle.

Frank is good people.  

If you ever go down to FL via Dothan, stop at his place near Compass Lake, see if he'll give you the "Nickel Tour" like he did me.

Get a barrel with a matched bolt. Problem solved. If you call CLE they might be able to add one to your order.

CLE is building the rifle, so I would assume they'd assure that headspacing was correct.