I remember being at a shooting match 20 years ago and seeing a guy with an AR15 shoot a tiny little hole in his target.   I was very impressed.  He told me a little bit about how he accomplished it, but all these years later I do not remember what he had to say, and much of it was over my head, anyway.

Since then, I have never seen it again.  Indeed, 1" at 100 yards seems to be very accurate for this platform.  What if you want more, like my bolt gun that shoots into a 1/3 of an inch at 100 yards?

Are there AR15s focused on precision?  If so, are there discussions here on AR15 about precision shooting and the AR15?  I looked for a category that might fit but did not find anything (please excuse me if I overlooked it).

The Essentials of a Precision AR-15





Without making this overly complicated, you need three basic components for a semi-automatic AR-15 to produce its best mechanical accuracy (technically, precision):  a match-grade barrel, a quality free-float handguard and match-grade ammunition, preferably hand-loads tuned for your barrel.  (The free-float handguard doesn’t add to the accuracy of the barrel per se, it simply prevents any outside influence from detracting from the accuracy of the barrel.)  Anything after that will not immensely improve the mechanical accuracy of the semi-automatic AR-15, but several things can help you, the shooter, shoot to the level of the intrinsic accuracy of your semi-automatic AR-15.







While there are certainly gifted individuals among us that can do amazing things with iron sights, most of us will benefit from using a quality, high-power scope to achieve the highest level of accuracy from a precision AR-15.  In order to hit the exact same spot on the target every time, you have to be able to see that you are holding on the exact same spot every time.  It’s also important for the scope to be mounted at the proper height and at the correct eye-relief for the particular scope.  One of the most common errors I see with scopes mounted on AR-15s is the scope not being mounted far enough forward for its eye-relief.   Also, in order to maintain that exact hold throughout the trigger pull, it helps not to be fighting with a heavy, gritty, stock trigger.  There are a variety of aftermarket triggers now on the market for both standard size trigger pins and the larger Colt trigger pins.  Personal preference will definitely play a role in trigger selection.  Among the two-stage triggers, I’ve found the Geissele triggers to be the smoothest, lightest, most consistent and most reliable.  For single-stage triggers, it’s hard to beat the JP Enterprise Fire Control System.  Keep in mind that the JP trigger does require fitting.

Following the scope and trigger selection, some shooters will find that items like aftermarket grips and stocks will help them achieve a better “fit” with their AR-15.  (Shooters don’t all come in the exact same size and shape.)  Once you’ve put your precision rig together, you have to find a match-grade factory load that your barrel “likes” or better yet, develop a match-grade handload for it.  

A semi-automatic AR-15 is not going to shoot as accurately as a precision bolt-gun, but today’s precision AR-15s are capable of a level of accuracy that is truly outstanding for a semi-automatic rifle.  The 10-shot group pictured below was fired from one of my Krieger barreled semi-automatic AR-15s from a distance of 100 yards.  The barrel has a 1:7.7” twist.  I used Sierra 55 grain BlitzKings that were hand-loaded on a Dillon XL-650 progressive press.  The load was developed using my Accuracy Node Detection Technique.  The group has an extreme spread of 0.474”.





….

Molon's Accuracy Node Detection Technique

https://www.ar15.com/forums/Precision-Rifles/Precision-Rifle-General/17/

Wow, thanks, Molon!  

^ This and also this

https://www.ar15.com/forums/Precision-Rifles/Semi-Auto-Rifles/4/

You will also find precision AR related threads pop up in here

https://www.ar15.com/forums/AR-15/Build-It-Yourself/4/

and here

https://www.ar15.com/forums/AR-15/Rifles-Uppers-Lowers-Barrels-and-more/12/