I am trying to get together my first AR and I thought I'd come here and ask the experts for some advice as I've been reading the forum for a while and know people here know their stuff.

I would like to get a "walking around" varmit gun.  Its use will be what it sounds like and most shots will be at prairie dogs and such at 350 yards or less.  

My desire is to have a relatively lightweight rifle capable of 1MOA accuracy consistantly and while under the "heavy" volume of fire varmit hunting sometimes entails.    I have shot varmits with bolt actions for a few years and I have been able to consistantly shoot 1moa on rifles capable of such accuracy--current love is a remington 700 Light Tactical Rifle in 308.  ANyway, the 223 varminter must be had on a budget as well so...

I have looked at the DPMS Sweet 16 rifle and that about fits the bill.  I was wondering if that is as good a combo of price, weight and accuracy as I am going to find or if there is soemthing better out there.  I do not have the skills or tools to work up an 80% reciever or anything but I am handy enough to buy and put together some parts (like uppers/lowers, trigger groups ect).

ANyone have any suggestions??  Thank you

Last weekend I shot a 1" 3 shot group at 100 yards with an 11 1/2" barreled AR with open sights!
I think a short bull barrel is potentialy more accurate than a long barrel because a long barrel "whips" and vibrates as the bullet travels through it. So I would go with a 16" bull barrel, the velocity should be good enough for prarie dogs.

Probably a 20" government profile barrel, vented free floating aluminum tube, A3 upper, and a Cav Arms lower. Easiest way to achieve this probably is to get a Cav Arms Rifleman for $750 MSRP and swap out the handguards for a good FF tube (should be around $100). You can also have the front sight replaced with a gas block, but that's up to you.

I've got a Bushmaster 20" V-match rifle with a Weaver 4.75X scope and Harris bi-pod, although a higher power scope would be nice. It will shoot under MOA all day long.
The bushmaster Varminter would be a nice rifle for poppin' p-dogs.  I don't have any personal experience with DPMS rifles, but I'm sure someone here will tell you about theirs.
If it was me I would save some money by assembling the rifle myself, You can get all the components you need on the Equipment Exchange. You will have to buy a few special tools to build your own.
Oh yeah, a National Match style 2-stage trigger is a nice upgrade for your purpose.

Quoted: Last weekend I shot a 1" 3 shot group at 100 yards with an 11 1/2" barreled AR with open sights! I think a short bull barrel is potentialy more accurate than a long barrel because a long barrel "whips" and vibrates as the bullet travels through it. So I would go with a 16" bull barrel, the velocity should be good enough for prarie dogs.

Probably not. Bull barrels are very heavy, even in 16" (I have a 16" RRA SS and that thing is a beast). The longer the barrel, the greater velocity you have, which means the less drop you have. 16" to 20" is a pretty significant jump. Remember, barrel length has nearly zero effect on accuracy, just effective range. 16" is effective up to about 300 meters.

The first thing you need to do is shit-can the stock trigger, and install a good two-stage, if accuracy is what you're after.

I think something along these lines would be what your looking for...

look on page 2 of that link for the groups of what that thing is shooting...

get a short barrel thats heavy-ish... medium contour maybe... but i'd just stick with a stock RRA varmit SS...

get a magpul stock for more consistant collpasible cheek weld...  get a good trigger... i recomend JP or KAC...

that gun can fit in a backpack broke into the upper and lower and allow you have a easy sub MOA shooter...

the vortex is nice for zero flash signature...

but i can't say enough... get a short rifle... and use a good fast fragmenting round...

Quoted: the vortex is nice for zero flash signature...

The Vortex can also enhance accuracy (has to due with stabilizing the gas behind the bullet)