Best barrel?

[Rcurry2069]

Kenney,

You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

No doubt better ammunition will shrink those groups but I'm reading your post...you want the 'absolute best accuracy'. In that case, put aside that no-name upper and start from scratch. Lilja, Krieger and Bartlein make match-grade barrels used in the Olympics. They are considered among the best barrel makers across all shooting disciplines. There are other reputable manufacturers like Archer, MADDCO, Tru-Flite, Border, Broughton and maybe Shilen but you stand the best chance of achieving your goal with the first mentioned three. Plus they are US-made barrels which are as good as any in the world so no Customs paperwork and expensive postage required. All the other manufacturers you read about on the forum are cheaper because they use lower quality (but in-spec) steel, pay less attention to lapping and in some cases push through faster. It then becomes a lottery as to whether you get a cheap barrel which is almost as accurate as these guys.

Of these manufacturers only three that I am aware profile their blanks to drop-into an AR15; Lilja, Kreiger and Shilen. The others would require you to source a gunsmith to machine your blank to fit an AR15 barrel extension. Plus chamber, crown and drill the gas port. The least painful way would be to buy a drop-in from one of those three manufacturers, as long as its the profile you want.

Best-grade barrels are around $500 each which means it's going to cost money. If you think $500 is too much then bear in mind Bench rest, Target Rifle and F-Class pay $1,000 for a chambered 30" barrel and are replacing their barrels annually. Best accuracy also means best scope and trigger. If you spend as much on the scope as the rifle (which is not unreasonable) then your gun will end up costing a few thousand dollars...Are you prepared to spend that much on an AR15?

You say this accuracy is for '100' and if you don't necessarily want to shoot as far as possible then you don't need a long barrel. Longer barrels are heavier however having said that, weight in a gun is a good thing (it mitigates jump). You could go a shorter, fatter than normal bull barrel to minimize whip, which will be .936" at the gas port (AR15 gas blocks come in three diameters; 0.625 'Pencil', 0.75" standard and 0.936" 'Bull'). That is assuming you want to stick with the semi-auto AR15 platform, otherwise you can get even better accuracy with a bolt gun. It boils down to your definition of accuracy because it gets to the point that the light-weight AR15 receiver becomes the limiting factor. You probably will never realise the accuracy potential of your best-barrel, trigger and scope because the receiver is now the weakest link and will limit all other efforts.

If you want more options than the limited number of drop-in's offered by barrel manufacturers then a reputable gunsmith like Precision Firearms is another option. They will source blanks from these guys and machine them to spec.

'Absolute best accuracy' also implies you can hand-load your ammunition. Buying the cheapest factory ammo is like pouring the cheapest grade fuel in a Formula One racer. Even good quality factory ammo limits you to not being able to fine-tune your loads for your gun.

Ar15 barrels also come in .875 @ gas port