Good reading for an AR?

[WMSproject]

decide what you want one for. Do you want to bench shoot it or varmint hunt? Do you want to carry it around the woods? Shoot in your friend's back yard? Weight and length is a consideration. Longer and heavier if you want accuracy. Lighter and shorter if you want to carry it around a lot and can sacrifice accuracy. You can also add a lot of weight to a rifle by pimping it out.

 

[Bioshock]

. Longer and heavier if you want accuracy. Lighter and shorter if you want to carry it around a lot and can sacrifice accuracy.

Im not sure that is true.I have seen many of videos of 500+ yards with a SBR.

Barrel length will on have results on velocity.

 

[Axios!]

Im not sure that is true.I have seen many of videos of 500+ yards with a SBR.

Barrel length will on have results on velocity.

And loss of velocity at that kind of range with an SBR can be the difference in stopping a fight.

 

[Bioshock]

And loss of velocity at that kind of range with an SBR can be the difference in stopping a fight.

Not sure he was talking about stopping power.
But at 500+ yards with a 5.56 or .223 round,I dont think the diffrence in velocity would matter much as to "stoping a fight"
At that yardage wouldnt a larger caliber be more sufficent and effective?

 

[WMSproject]

OK, let me rephrase what I said... If you want to shoot a man at 400 to 500 yards, get a long barrel so you have increased velocity so the bullet still has some decent stopping power when it gets to the target. Get a heavy barrel if you want to maintain a tight group after firing a lot and the barrel heats up.

A 69 grain HPBT bullet fired from a 20 inch 1:9 twist barrel at a 500 yard target still has a muzzle velocity of 1644 fps and energy of 414 fpe remaining after the .680 bullet flight time. The bullet will drop 53.8 inches over that distance.

Compared to:

A 55 grain FMJ bullet fired from a 18 inch 1:9 twist barrel at 500 yard target only has 1391 fps and an energy of 267 fpe remaining after a .766 bullet flight time. The bullet will drop 70 inches over that distance. The numbers are theoretical of course assuming the bullet hasn't stopped spinning and isn't flipping end over end by this time. The increased muzzle velocity of the long barrel makes a 250 to 300 fps difference at the 500 yard distance.

But in general terms... If you want to do long distance shooting, get a long heavy barrel and a flat top receiver for a scope and you will be more satisfied. If you want to play soldier in the thick woods get a light carbine length barrel and plan for iron sights and you will be more happy.

Pay close attention to Twist Rates on barrels regardless of length or thickness. Some barrel twist rates are limited to certain weight bullets for shots at distance. A 1:9 twist rate barrel is designed to shoot the largest variation of different grain bullets. Keep in mind that a long barrel will be shooting higher velocity shots to the bullet will be spinning faster. A 1:6.5 or 1.7 twist rate in a 24 inch barrel has the potential to make a light varmint bullet spin apart in mid-air on it's way to the target. Use a heavy bullet above 62 grains on tight twist barrels. Inversely, a 16 inch barrel with a 1:12 or 1:14 twist rate will not give adequate spin to a 55 grain bullet. The 1:14 twist rate and the 55 grain bullets caused a key-holing problem in Vietnam if you remember. That's one of the reasons why they went to a 1:12 twist rate on the NATO 5.56 55 grain FMJ.

A 1:9 twist rate on a 20 inch barrel is probably ideal for most situations from shooting 45 grain all the way up to 70 grain bullets. It isn't necessarily the most accurate with heavy bullets at distance but it gives the best overall performance shooting a wide variety of ammo.

Yes, a larger caliber bullet would be more effective at long distances but a smaller caliber bullet is normally used for long distance varmint hunting. I rarely shoot my long distance AR over 300 yards. If I want to reach out and touch something at long distances, I pull out my Remington 700 shown in my Avatar picture.

 

[furious]

And loss of velocity at that kind of range with an SBR can be the difference in stopping a fight.

500 yard self defense plea? Have fun in prison.

 

[WMSproject]

It ain't about self defense at long distances...

 

[WMSproject]

Why do some people assume that guns are only for TWO purposes... Hunting and self defense.

There is a greater purpose to own weapons that is given to us by God, not given by the government but guaranteed by our Constitution.

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

... At long distances ...