AR Sponsor
Posted: 6/29/2008 8:43:21 PM EDT
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what would you guys say is a better choice for barrel length for an Ar-15: 20, 16, or 14.5 in? i want to know what you guys think based on your personal preferance and what you would recommand for myself. i want a ar-15 type rifle that is multi tasking from "just for fun shooting", to hunting; reliable, accurate, affordable. the type of hunting i do ranges from rabbit to deer and hog (5.56 mm is legal in texas for whitetail deer!). the hunting environment wooded with brush, but there are some open grass area for hundreds of yards. the max distance i would like this rifle to shoot to is 200 to 250 yards; beyound that i have a 300 mag for that job. i would like to have the option of an open iron sign, red dot, and scope. accuracy i would like to have between 1 to 2 MOA. the bullets that i am most likely going to use are the M193, but i do have the some of the real M855 (i got lots of marine friends...free hook up!) so 9:1 twist i am not going to doctor up my rifle with accessories besides optics i would like a bayonet lug but that isn't a priority (hog hunting) i guess suggested brands on top of barrel length would be good too. maybe flip up iron sights. suggestions on red dots would be great too. |
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Since you mention hunting with it...I would recommend the 20 inch barrel, it will give you more speed with the heavier bullets. You said 1 in 9" twist...get you some rounds loaded with Barnes 62 grain TSX bullets....or 60 grain Nosler Partition, 70 grain Barnes TSX, Speer 55 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw...any of those will be better hunting rounds than M193 or M855...and far more accurate. I've had good luck with my Smith & Wesson M&P 15 topped with a Leuplod 3-9x40 scope...several coyotes, groundhogs, crows and 1 problem deer have fallen to it. |
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For what you are looking for, I'd recommend the 20" (or maybe an 18", but preferably not a 16" and definitely not a 14.5"). Barrel length (velocity) directly relates to the distance at which 5.56 will fragment. Below this "fragmentation threshold", terminal ballistics suffer. I would recommend 69 grain rounds for hunting with a 1:9. You could probably get away with 75s. These would be far more effective than M855. M193 would be a better choice than M855. Or, you could buy a 1/7, shoot 75s/77s with no worries (and from a shorter barrel). Do you currently own any ARs? What is your price range? |
| this is a sad sad story that i am about to tell. i was wanting to buy a rifle that shoot .223/5.56 for quite some time, but just never got around to doing it. because of the huricanes in 2005, the hogs near my house have become a plauge! before 2005 i had only seen 3 hogs in a 5 year peroid of about 80 to 100 lbs max apiece. after 2005 all you have to do is walk outside around 11 pm to 4 am to see 3 a night of about 300 to 500 lbs range, not to mention several you don't see but hear rooting near by in the brush. i have never owned owned a gun (i am not counting my 22), because my father would just give me one and then he would pawn it when i would back to college. so in 2006 i was determined to by one and because of what i just told you about the hogs it had to be a semi automatic. so a mini 14 or ar 15 were the two guns that i figured would do the job. i would have prefered an AR-15 because they have a good long history 40 some old years of military service, and the mini 14 for me was a close second. the day i got to my favorite gun dealer, all AR-15s were marked up 200 in price while the mini 14s weren't and in my price range still. so i bought one with a scope. the mini 14 hasn't done me wrong. with M193 ammo, some tweaking of the stock support, and thread lock, i have gotten 1.75 to 2 MOA out of it. can't argue with that everything done to the gun was simple to do taking only 5 minutes to do. the mini 14 has become my favorite rifle of the ones i have because its so useful like a s10 truck good on gas, can pull and hull stuff, can camp or what not in it. but the AR-15 was my first gun of choice and has many advantages that the min 14 doesn't have. i have plenty of military friends that are willing to teach about whatever comes up and from their word i know its track record with them. |
+1.. I had a mini 14 a few years back...I hear they have improved them some so they may be better now. But due to its accuracy alone...the AR 15 is a better weapon for any type of hunting...I'm not knocking your mini 14...I'm just that kind of guy...accuracy is very important to me , especially in a hunting gun....and so is reliability. The AR has both. Here is the first 10 round group I fired through my M&P 15 at 100 yards with reloads. http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc137/Ridgerunner665/121_2174.jpg |
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the mini 14 i have from what i have read about them....was a lucky lucky find. but it wasn't the rifle i wanted, more it was the rifle that was my only option (price). the advantages of the ar-15 are something i wished my mini 14 had. like flip up sights, optic accessies: red dot and scope because of the built in rail system. if my rifle breaks for whatever reason...repairs like the bolt have to be done by factor...parts aren't a dime a dozens and are more expensive like mags. i imagine if it was the standard small arm of the US parts wouldn't be an issue and better improvements would have been done. just info on the AR-15 is better like ease of finding it on the internet and the volume of it is just better for the ar-15. i have had my mini 14 for about a year and just now found out its rifle twist. if i wanted to get a better mini 14 like the target model it is heavy and costs the same as many AR-15s, but i can't use red dot or have a bayonet lug. even the newer post 2005 mini 14 which are basically on par with most ar-15 (accuracy wise) will not give me the options that i want. plus if i wanted military grade parts like the bolt or what not...bam easily gotten...easily installed for the ar-15. |
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I use my CMP A2 for deer hunting, using Swift Sirocco 75 grain bullets pushed with a stout charge of Varget for ~2900 FPS out of the 20" tube. The performance is identical to a .257 Roberts with 117 grain bullets...and I mean IDENTICAL. Accuracy is superb, I ditch the weights and it is ~9 pounds due to the under-guards free float tube and heavy barrel. With a lightweight 4x scope on top of the handle, I use a length of poly foam insulation to get the cheek contact right without adding much weight. Ugly yet effective. It is sub MOA to 300 yards, any further and I won't take a shot. Zeroed at 250, it is about 6" low at 300. The bullet is moving about 1800 FPS at that range and should expand enough to maintain penetration without tumbling. |
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20 inch barrel from the post is the unanimous answer! i like that as it would provide higer velocities over the shorter barrels. question too, i know that on the shorter barrels they are counting the flash subpressor as part of the barrel length; so would that be the same on some of these 20 in barrels too? like the guy that posted about accuracy being what he is about...me too! that 10 shot grouping is what i am talking about. you guys with a 20 in barrel ar-15, how long is your rifle over all, butt to tip of barrel. the reason for the M855 for me .....free! 250 to 500 rounds free! although they don't do as well as the M193 in my rifle, since its 10:1 twist....very strange twist rate. |
Not really...considering what the rifle was designed for...varmints and such. Its good for bullets up to 64 grains...with 55 and 62 grains being the best for that twist. |
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