I placed a small order with Denny last week, we got to talking about different configurations and he mentioned he liked the old A1 rifles and that they shot good enough. I was at a gun show this weekend and found a new Colt upper so what the heck I bought it. (thanks Denny)

Anyway, it's a 1/12 twist chrome lined barrel and my thoughts are since it's a 20" barrel yet very light would it be worth it to put a flat top on it so I could mount a scope? I know barrels all shoot different but has anyone used one of these barrels in a free float flat top build? If so how did it turn out? I had a lightweight carbean that would do about 1 1/2" groups but it was 1/9 twist. Basicly how do these guns tend to shoot.

What should I do with it? I never liked the triangle handguards so I bought a set of round ones for now. Any pics or ideas are greatly appreciated. I just can't leave nothing alone.

they will shoot very well as long as you use bullets under 60gr in weight. They give up nothing in performance until you get past 300 yards. If a free float tube is not used, you can't use a good tight loop sling on them because pressure from the sling will change point of impact (barrel does not "bend" as some have claimed.) I had a very well worn a1 barrel that after tens of thousands of rounds and several inches of vERY visible throat erosion would still holt 2-3 " at 100 yards

i have a 20" A1 barrel that was free floated (at one time) and it would shoot 2 to 3" at 100 yds with decent ammo and a 4x scope. i think my biggest problem was the type of ammo. south african battle pack is not all that great for target shooting.

i have wilson barrels with 1in7 and 1in8 twist that shoot the SA about the same so i dont think barrels matter all that much sometimes. ammo seems to be a bigger factor given that you have any one of the quality barrels out there.

here are some renditions of what my A1 barrel has gone through,,

mr_h, that top pic gave me the direction I needed. If this one shoots at all, I'm gonna try to build something very similar. Thanks!