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Posted: 9/28/2009 7:47:14 PM EDT
| I am on the hunt to learn as much as I can about AR accuracy and what components would make the 5.56 shine the best in an AR platform. If I were to take a standard Colt 6721 HBAR and just replace the 16" barrel with a Noveske barrel would I see an accuracy advantage in the new barrel? Is it also as simple as just putting on the new barrel to increase accuracy without touching any other parts in the Colt? |
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Trust me it is not that easy. If you slap a new barrel and your head space is off accuracy can actually go down. Trigger pull, shooter, sight/optics, and many other factors come into accuracy. If you are trying to get accuracy out of an already very accurate rifle first work on the shooter.
Once you get as accurate as possible then move on to new barrel, new 2 stage NM trigger, NM sights, FF tube, tighten up the upper to the lower. I can go on but tune the shooter first. The reason I say this is you can have the best rifle in the world that is sub MOA and a crappy shooter that rifle will not shoot sub MOA then. Plus barrel would not be the first thing I would change find out what kind of loads you will shoot then choose your barrel and twist to match your loads. Good luck and hope you enjoy your Colt. |
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First, I'd want to rigorously test the existing barrel with the loads you want to use. Some barrels are very accurate, some are not. You may not need to make change and the money might be better spent on a trigger job/new trigger or free floated handguard.
That said, my personal view is that it is likely you could improve your accuracy. I believe your barrel is 1/9 and chrome lined. For accuracy, I'd rather shoot 75-77 gr. and you might have problems stabilizing the bullet with 1/9 barrel. Also, chrome lined barrels are usually, not always, a bit less accurate since the barrel is bored to a larger diameter and before the chrome is applied and the chrome is not always deposited perfectly uniformly. If you can live without the chrome, a good CM or SS barrel will be more accurate, USUALLY. If you're lucky and depending on how much hair-splitting accuracy you need, your existing barrel may be a good one. Odds are, however, that you'd see some improvement with a new tube, but I'd really want to know the limitations of the existing barrel before I spent the $$$. I wouldn't sweat the headspace issue. Headspacing is a function of the bolt/barrel combination. If your existing bolt/barrel has a lot rounds, they have worn together and I'd swap out both and keep them as a set. Any good new bolt should work fine and headspace properly to the new barrel. Or consider a WOA barrel. For an extra $40, they'll send you a bolt headspaced to that barrel. |
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