Hello all, have been reading you all for a while now with great envy and am ready to begin on my first AR. So far I have the workings for the RRA lower half and am looking at uppers. I intend to stay with RRA throughout the build up as they appear to be of good reputation and quality. In terms of uppers, I have two trains of thought;
A. Accuracy, thinking of possible prairie dog but most likely tartget and or egg shoots @ 200-300 yds. This has me strongly considering a varmint upper in the 18" to 20" range. It has a heavy bull barrel and is a free float design.
B. Defense. As with any weapon, I intend this to be another form of defense in the safety and security of my home and family. I have a Benelli 12 guage and a Glock .40 cal. as well but I am a firm believer in being prepared for the worst and hoping it never happens. That said, while hoping I never need to wield a rifle through my house, I want to be able to if necessary. That is my reasoning for not going for the 24" varmint barrel. (less is more)
I guess my question is how much would I lose in accuracy by choosing the 18" over the 20" barrel length?
Ultimately I need a good all around gun and would like it to be quite accurate on the range.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions and thoughts.

Welcome, D1

Many have found the 16" AR15 to be the consummate configuration.

It is quite capable of tight groups to 300+, provide the foundation for countless variations - all of which offer accuracy, ease of use, and verstility.

Ballistically or functionally............ the 16" has it all.

Welcome Mi member.
I have a 16" DPMS bull barrel that works great. I use it for wood chucking and have also used it on 2 p-dog trips.
I'm working on a 24" barrel model for P-dogs but your right it is a horse. I wouldn't want to carry it long.
I started out with a Hbar flat top model with flip up sites and a removable scope. I was a good all around gun.
I would start here and if you end up like everyone else in here, You will have a gun for every use.