Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles AR15 Barrel Question

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.