Posted: 1/1/2006 12:16:15 PM EDT
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I'm after you advice here chaps. we are going to start a club comp at altcar soon and i wanted to get the best results from my rifle, i have the 14.5" 1-8 twist barrel on my AR now, but i was thinking of getting another longer heavy barrel. Is it simple enought to swap barrels over,( i want to be able to use both barrels at different times ) or would i be better getting another upper ? Does the barrel just unscrew or is there more to it ? Or am i wasting my time anyway, the comp will be over 300yds so would i be o.k. with the barrel i have now ? Cheers Steve |
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Hiya Steve, I believe that a new upper, (or a new rifle) is the best answer to your question, if you just change the barrel as you require it, you'd also have gauge the head space. I'm not well up on this, I just read it somewhere. There are other's on here who know what they are talking about, who'll correct me if I'm wrong. I love spending other peep's money  . good reason to go invest in a new rifle.Tony |
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Go for an upper. You won't have to use specialist tools and a good firm vice to change the upper but you do with a barrel. Barrel change will take a good half hour if you have all the equipment and are ready to go, an upper change will take 5 mins if you wait for your tea to cool down before you start - and you can do it on the range if needs be. The hardest part will be remembering to take the sling off first before you try and separate the two receivers - doh!  As mentioned above the barrels are all pre-headspaced with the barrel extension that is actually part of the barrel assembly. You can even use the same bolt, especially if the upper was made using your existing bolt to headspace from, but it's not necessary to do so. Matt |
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Your 14.5" carbine setup will do just fine at 300 yards, infact out to 400 should be no major problem unless of course your shooting fig 14s and only looking to hit the A zone. 16" will make it to 600 yards and should still be capable of minute of angle. You need to a 20" 1:8 twist (or tighter) if you want to make 1000 yards reliably; having said that I had a 18.5" 1:8 twist, 3 groove Lilja that would shoot reliably at 1000 yards all day long until I burnt it out ( still holds the record score for .223 at the PR Nationals, 227 ex 300 in 2000 for the 1000 yard snaps match  )Homeloads of course being the staple diet for all guns to shoot accuratly and reliably, yes of course military/factory will be accurate at most distances even out to 1000 yards but if you want to win then homeloading is the only way to go. There's too much hassle in changing a barrel to make it a regular routine, not to mention that you will need to zero everytime you do it. Where as changing an upper, well push the pins and swap. What you will end up doing though is turning the spare barrel and action (the wording you require on your FAC) into a complete rifle at some stage later on. Believe me thats how I started, now I have 8 complete AR's in various forms and calibres. Dave PS We even tried shooting the M4 carbine at 1000 yards and yes sometimes you got a round on the target frame/face but not very often, more good luck than good shooting  |
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Cheers My comp is going to be at 300yds, and i'm loading my own so i'll give my current setup a good go and maybe change it later in the year if it's not doing the job. Would it be possible to hit 10 bulls at 300yds My loads are .223 rem brass, 55gn lapua head, 26gn n140. i've just got some 69gn lapua heads as that seems to be a popular weight choice. If anyone can see any problems with this load let me know please, ( i know i'll have to change some thing when i use 69gn heads ) Steve 2006 altcar 300yd champ (NOT)
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Cheers Mate I'll load some up and take them with me next week. I'll let you know the results. Steve |
And as if by magic.............   Its a Hart barrel 1/8" twist (maybe 1/9"?) the brake obviously has a moderator thread underneath, its got left and right hand cocking levers plus the original (this might be common to all SGC guns?) Its hardly been used as I've hardly shot at all the last twelve months. There is a scratch behind the right hand cocking lever where a screw protruded but other than that its in great nick and on a very low mileage. According to my size tens its a 24" tube including the brake. The lower spec is standard but for a fancy grip and Jewell trigger...........you might need a lower to go with it? Of course the next question is who can do me a deal on a short railed upper  Richard 07966 585979 |