I'm going to build a varmint rifle for my brother.  He wants a 20" NON-stainless heavy barrel and a raised flattop upper.  I'd like to just get a kit to add to a stripped lower.  So what do you think?  Where can I get a kit like that for around $530?  I know about J&T and Model 1, but neither of them show a black barrel, only stainless.  Ideas?

Thanks in advance...

1. You don't want a stainless barrel.
2. You don't want a heavy barrel.

If you want a nice $530 varmint rifle, you MIGHT have shoot those varmints at less than 100 yards.

The keys to a decent varmint AR:

1. Quality heavy barrel, 20" or 24".
2. Stainless or Moly...NOT chromed inside.
3. A nice, crisp and reliably light trigger.
4. A free-floated barrel.
5. Optional grip if neccesary.
6. Decent optics on an A3 flattop.

Of course, this is just my internet opinion.

Maybe I wasn't entirely clear...  I wanted to spend around 530 on the KIT.  I would be adding a stripped lower to that for an overall price around 650.  I DO want a heavy barrel, just not one that is a shiny stainless finish.  I do know that I don't necessarily want a chrome lined barrel.  What I'm looking for is reccommendations on what kit to buy.

Sorry...I misunderstood!

Buy a DPMS upper with either a blackened SST barrel, or get the shiny one and have it blasted to dull-out the finish.

The one, VERY nice thing about SST barrels is that they can be "broken in". I think most of the DPMS SST bull barrels are lapped to begin with.

Call DPMS and see if they do any gun shows in your area. You can get some AWESOME deals on stuff that they have at the shows.

I second that.  I have a DPMS 24" fluted black bull barrel.  I'm still breaking it in.  But so far, it's awesome and accurate.

Okay, now I think we're on the same page.  So where can I get a good deal on a kit with a DPMS blackened heavy barrel?  Can you explain why it needs to be "broken in" more than any other new gun?

Thanks for the help.

For target/varminting, I shoot a 20" Bushy V Match and a 16" V Match, using a 4X-12X 40mm AO Bushnell on the 20" and a 3X-9X Simmons on the 16".

These are very accurate rifles, esp. w/tuned loads they like, and are as durable as MilSpec...because they ARE MilSpec.

I have out-shot a SS BM Varminter at the range, and when that fellow and I tried shooting each other's rigs, Mine outshot His even when he was firing MINE!

And my trigger mods worked a whole lot better than his added-cost 2-stage Bushy trigger did....which seemed much more inconsistent shot-to-shot than mine.

My rifles cost a bit over $750 each, and after 2 hours of action tuning will outshoot even my old M700 VLS in .223.

Unless you feel that there is a good chance that you will get .5 MOA accuracy from a kit that saves you (at most) $100, by all means get a V Match. I shot a 5-round string just last night that measured .26" CTC...from the 16".

Or perhaps you'd like to finish assembling the lower yourself and just use a V Match upper.

Some say a chromed Bushy barrel won't shoot as accurately as a chromemoly one, but that has yet to be proven before me. In fact, as the preceding shows, the opposite is true just as often.

Regards,

FastVFR800