capitan-d:
When I first started building varminters I got into the cyber show and tell trap and overlooked how I was really going to use it. I think the biggest qualifier is how you intend to use it as a varminter. If your only carrying it a few paces from your vehicle and stealth and visibility aren't a issue then big.long,heavy,shiny barrels look hot the week they are in the vogue but may not contribute as much in actual usage.
I won't get into the usual mine is best name brand debates other than sayingI own about all of them and I will no longer own a DPMS period. If you are going to use your varminter for walking things get a lot easier to choose in my mind. Although all hunting boils down to the moment of truth when you pull the trigger you will find you do a lot more walking than trigger pulling with a walking varminter. If thats not true I need to know where you are hunting. This also applies to calling where your frozen ass sets in a snow bank for hours before you pop a cap. You can get in calling positions where balance and ease of swing is the whole ball game. For this use I find a light/medium weight 18" barrel to be ideal. 16" is better but the added noise and potential short gas system issues with it makes an 18" my choice. If carry weight is an issue you don't have to buy a longer,bigger,shiner, more fluted barrel to get good accuracy. Buy the best name brand barrel and have a well known smith put it together to the exact specs you want and you will only cry once. I've spent a small fortune trying to get the entry level stuff to shoot like the high dollar boys and it all boils down to how many times you want to cry because neither avenue is inexpensive.
Put your first money in good drop in trigger like a CM or JP and buy the rest of the bling later. Here is the battery I use in my back yard. L-R 6.8SPC,6.5G,204,260