I have everything I need to put together an AR15 upper except a barrel.
The main use for this upper will be for varmints up to coyote size with coyotes being the main quarry with yardages up to 350-400yds.
I know I want an 18" length but I'm on the fence as to what to have it chambered in and haven't decided on .223, .223/5.56 or .223 Wylde.
My question for the fire members is, what barrel manufactures have you had good luck with when it comes to accuracy?
I've looked at several different makes and the prices on some can be rather intimidating and I'm looking to get the most bang for my buck.
One local fella has a new Wilson Combat one that he's thinking of selling that would suit me but I haven't heard anything about their barrels.
Any members here have any experience with the Wilson's?
Would like to hear some recommendations from those who have had experiences with the various AR barrels out there.
Thanks in advance!
rookie

chamber , whatever that Wilson combat is.

Out of those, your real choices are 5.56 or 223 Wylde. Not 223 Remington.
Don't overthink it; the differences are more about who made the barrel than what the chamber is called; dimensions vary between different makers. Just get a decent quality barrel in a 1:8 or 1:7 twist, and go shoot.

With that said, there are plenty of other good AR15 cartridges out there, especially if you load your own. Hard to go wrong with a good 5.56 though.

deerstalker,
It's chambered in .223 Wylde, which I am kinda leaning towards, but it's a 20" and I don't think I want the xtra length or weight that adds.
He isn't sure if he wants to sell it right now so I have some time to look at other options.
rookie

if he decides to sell and you don't want it let me know. I could always use a good 20" barrel

I prefer a good 20" barrel over all else.

Yeah screw deerstalker, send me the guys address i"lll buy that 20 ' wilson.You are being weak and indecisive if it's any kind of deal I'll bet it's all ready gone. MB

I'm going to assume you are looking for lower priced, button barrels, not Krieger's and such.
You can't go wrong with White Oak's Wilson, Compass Lake Douglas or Keystone Arms Green Mountain. Rock River and Armalite makes Wilson barrels too, but they aren't chambered quite as tight as the White Oaks.

I been married 50 years last January, I could use a good screw!

I've had pretty good luck with Faxon and BHW. Faxon also has a mil discount program.

The best bang for the buck is a WOA stainless SPR barrel, especially when you get one during a sale for $250'ish or less.

They almost always will be under MOA & are hand lapped.

Another decent mid-cost barrel that usually performs above its pay grade is AR Performance; & I've had decent luck with Rise Armament mid-priced stainless barrels as well, not always sub-MOA but always right at it, sometime you can find those for under $200 if you look hard.

For your uses, there's just really nothing wrong with a 16'' barrel either.

I don't know who is making Wilson Combat's barrels today, but I really don't consider them to be better than either the Rise or ARP barrels, & not as good as the WOA barrels.

JMHO, YMMV

MM

$250 for a WOA barrel is pretty damn good. Probably hard to beat at that price. Ive had pretty good luck with the windham weaponry varmint exterminator barrels lately. They easily shoot sub moa, but they are $340.00 with a bolt and gas block. They have compass lake chambers as well...

$340 with the bolt & gas block is not bad at all for a good barrel, especially since you have some positive history with them.

MM

No, he still has it, he just hasn't decided if he wants to sell it or not.
rookie

Appreciate all the info.
I've decided to go with an 18" in .223 Wylde so I'll be calling around to see who has what using the suggestions made.
Thanks again.
rookie

Check out psa couple days ago the were running 1/7 wylde 18"ss complete with bcg and charge handle for$349.00 mb

I’ve had truly varmint accurate, LW barrels from ARP, Wilson, and one more that I can’t recall from years back. I’ve had many others that were close enough for coyote work past 300. JPs are pricey, but they’re maybe the most accurate and least picky on AMMO I’ve tried...though that’s the heavier ones.

I'm wondering how accurate some of these tubes are? I don't believe we have anyone with A PSA barrel in the black rifle challenge here that shot sub moa... Some RRA's, WOA, Noveske, Daniel Defense, Stags and of course my WW's... I don't recall PSA even being in the running..

I have a PSA 8-twist 18" upper that was shooting ~1" for 5-shots with steel cased Horny SteelMatch. Never tried 10-shot groups though. I just used it as a medium range plinker, with low cost ammo.



I just recently tried some Horny Superformance and Horny Black, now that I am low on SteelMatch. I think I could shoot better groups if I replaced the 6x, or worked on a more appropriate target size to match the magnification. Still ~1" for 5-shots. If I had to wager, I'd bet it would be 1.25" for 10-shots, or better, which is plenty good for what I am doing with it. Just shooting steel out to 600.

May dust the old press off and load up some 75 BTHP with RL15.

Jason

I'm a White Oak fan for a number of reasons.
1) No matter who the barrel maker, the barrels are chambered in house. John prefers the Wylde reamer because it give less slop in the lead for better bullet alignment...but he'll also do a CLE (same benefits, slightly different dimensions) with his usual picky, high standards.
2) John is a very high level competitive shooter and knows what it takes to make a barrel shoot.
3) If the barrel don't shoot, John is accountable to making your happy.

I've had AR barrels done by Bill Wylde, CLE and a few others, but I have gone through more barrels from WOA than all others combined FWIW.

https://www.brownells.com/rifle-par...pr-barrel-sku100009962-54526-104737.aspx

Currently $255.00 with code L6V

May be hard to beat for the money

I had a compass lake do a criterion barrel for my AR a couple of months ago. I have it mounted on the upper but haven’t shot it yet so I can’t comment on the accuracy. I went with their CLE chamber which is a little tighter than the Wylde and an 8 twist.

I’ve had fantastic luck with criterion Savage prefits so I didn’t have any qualms about using them, I’d take a criterion 10 times out of 10 over a Douglas and the Douglas is more expensive. Some of my best shooting varmint rifles have criterions and I’ve found they don’t give up anything to my Bartleins or Kreigers.

I had a chrome-lined Criterion put 3 shots in .27" when I test fired it.

Problem with some is that they don’t readily offer anything but target/bench weight tubes....which often suck (heavy) for general hunting use. My JP is fairly heavy, compared to light profiles. As long as it’s good for 3-5, it’s more than good for any coyote hunting I’ve done. If you’re shooting up a prairie dog town or gonna have firefights....different animal.

Going lightweight on the handguard, gas block, muzzle device etc can help offset a heavier barrel weight.

A little bit, but to keep it in perspective - you're talking ounces vs pounds. It's easy to add 1-1.5+ lb with a heavier barrel profile, but pretty difficult to lose more than 4-8 oz in the handguard, gas block, and muzzle device.

If we disregard optics, the barrel and the stock choices have the biggest effect on the weight of an AR; just those two things can make the difference between a 7 lb rifle and a 10+ lb rifle. The receivers & handguard are next down the list, and the rest of the small parts are at the bottom, making a much smaller impact.

But, ounces do add up, and can add up to more than 4-8 ounces. Carbon fiber handguard plus titanium gas block and muzzle device, plus a lightweight stock, internals and upper equals some offset for a heavier barrel.

If I remember correctly, my 18" WOA SPR barrel build with a 15" handguard weighed 6.6 pounds, pre-optic. That's not bad at all for that barrel.

That’s an awful lot of money on titanium and carbon fiber just to have a heavy barrel on a gun that still won’t be light.

Eh, it was a fun build and if I want to go truly light in the future, pencil barrels are easy to find.

How did it turn out?

It is a nice rifle, if you are asking me about mine. Haven't settled on a load for it yet but it shows promise of being pretty accurate, and even with an utterly ridiculous Hubble scope stuck on it, it is fun and still fairly packable. I haven't hunted with it, so far it has been a range toy, but I could easily see slapping a lightweight scope and mount on it and doing some coyote or groundhog hunting with it.

A light-ish AR with a heavy 18" barrel may not be for everyone, but that's why they make so many different parts. A fella can build whatever he wants.

The other good thing, if I get tired of that SPR barrel, those lightweight components aren't going anywhere. A simple matter to stick a lighter barrel in it.

+1 taken on the whole...................

MM

Yes I was inquiring about yours. The SPR profile is not really that heavy compared to others. I had a Noveske SPR for awhile and if I had used a lighter tube and scope, it would've been okay. As it was it weighed 9 pounds and change. I had a 17" SPR from CLE on a Krieger tube that SHOT unbelievably well but the chamber was so tight, I had to segregate ammo and that became a pain. Both got sold off when I figured out I couldn't shoot as good as they could from sticks. Meaning from a bench they were great but calling coyotes and shooting on sticks, my pencil barreled carbine did just as well.

I have a LaRue PredatAR barrel complete with a BCM light weight hand guard and I stuck a 2 pound super chicken on it so I kinda know where you're coming from.

Yeah, I have two pounds of optic and mount hanging on mine too, at present. If I get serious about hunting with it, I will drop an aero mount and some sort of light hunting scope on it and go forth. Could probably get fairly close to 7.5 pounds without a whole lot of trouble.