What kind of barrel do I need for my first build?  Is chrome moly the best or I also found some stainless steel.  I am wanting 16" varmint barrel.  Would like some help on where to go and would like to save some money over buying Wilson barrel from RRA.  Getting RRA Lower and stripped upper.

If you want to shoot a lot of targets for accuracy, get the chrome moly or stainless steel, but if not I suggest the chrome lined.  Honestly, the difference between the three probably isn't going to matter a whole lot.  I bet a 16" chrome lined barrel will do everything you want it to.

It would depend on what you are wanting to do with it once you're completed.  If you are dispatching varmits many will say go with stainless.  You'd be hard pressed to find a more affordable stainless barrel than RRA while still maintaining some quality.  I'd suggest checking out some of RRA's dealers.  Eaglefirearms and ADCO.  ADCO also has a good selection of barrels from White Oak, Wilson and others.

Stainless= most accurate, shortest life span though.

Chome Moly= decent accuracy, decent life span.

Chrome lined, chrome moly=longest life span, least accuracy.


So figure out what is important to you. As stated above, by Bushwacker85, most of us couldn't tell the differance in accuracy. How many of us really put 8,000 rounds through our AR anyways? I doubt I'll ever wear out a barrel.

How about DPMS stainless 1 in 9 twist bull.  As good as RRA?   Can you also tell me if you can get a barrel that will have as good as accuracy out to 300-400 yards that a heavel barrel will have without getting the heavy barrel.  I am using the build for home defense and also want to be able to hit coyotes and bobcats out to 400 yards or so.  

Check out globaltactical
Here for chrome-lined chrome moly
globaltactical.com/axami/shop.php?grd=242

and

Here for stainless
globaltactical.com/axami/shop.php?grd=199

Both of these are midlength and mid weight profile.

What about barrel twist?  Where can I find a 1 in 7" barrel, 16" in length?

how come a 1 in 7 instead of a 1 in 9?

I've got a 1 in 9" on my Bushmaster.  I'd like to go a bit quicker, 1 in 8" (which is a bit of an oddball) or 1 in 7" to properly stabilize Black Hills 77 gr. Sierras.  

Honestly, at the moment I'm not certain that the 1 in 9" won't work well for that ammo, but according to the Greenhill formula and a friend of mine that's a tech for Sierra Bullets I really need a 1 in 7".  I'm going to fire a few through the 1 in 9" that I've got right now before I buy a new barrel, but I'm searching and taking notes in case it won't work.

that makes sense.  Can anyone tell me what is involved putting the upper together from scratch.  Will I be able to do this myself or will I have to involve a gunsmith.

Quoted: that makes sense.  Can anyone tell me what is involved putting the upper together from scratch.  Will I be able to do this myself or will I have to involve a gunsmith.

I assume that you mean getting a barrel, an upper, a gas tube, gas block, etc as seperate pieces and putting them together.  It's really not that hard to do.  I've heard a lot of different specs about the torque on the barrel nut (everything from 30 pd/ft to 160 pd/ft), but honestly, that's not as important as some people believe, just make sure that it's tight and then tighten it to line everything up so that the gas tube will go in place.  

What you will need is a barrel wrench, a rollpin punch (a regular punch will usually work as well), and a small hammer.  The pin punch and hammer are to tap the pin in place that holds the gas tube to the gas block.  Depending upon what gas block you use you'll either have to tap it into place on the barrel or slide it in place and tighten it down, most likely with a hex head wrench.  One thing to make sure of is that the gas port on the barrel is lined up with the port on the gas block.  If you test fire it and the bolt doesn't move to the rear to chamber another round then that's most likely the cause.  

If you'd like feel free to e-mail and I'll write you back with an answer as soon as possible.  I'm not an expert, but I've built a few and I've got a diploma showing that I've taken a gunsmithing course on building and accurizing the AR-15.

Robert

There are some excellent listings in other treads of the tools you would need.  I have just completed
putting together a set myself.   ADCO,  Bravo Company and Bushmaster have tools on their web sites.  

Sears is a good place to get things like a bench vises, steel punches, split ring pliers and a torque wrench.    If you have more money then you can think of what to spend it on Brownell sells an AR15
tool kit they said Colt helped them put together.  You will not find it at Walmart and its only 999.00