Recommendations for varmit barrel for Colt LE 6920 and BCG

[tkdguy]

back up bolt. Any suggestions would be of help. What barrel length for a varmit barrel? Back up bolt carrier group recommendations. Just for back up; nothing fancy will do. Just MilSpec., and by what manufacturer? Thanks.

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[Kruel J]

There are a TON of decent quality BCG's out there, the market almost seems flooded with them. PSA, BCA, Radical Firearms and Anderson to name a few. I've used them all with reliable results and all can be had for less than $100. Just make sure they are MPI rated and you'll be fine. Heck, when I first got into AR's NOBODY did MPI and they always functioned just fine.

As far as your barrel question, I would recommend 20-24" and a 1:7 twist to stabilize heavier bullet weights. I'm sure plenty of others here will chime in with their opinions.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Agreed with the 1/7 twist, and I would also go with the Wylde chamber to allow all possible loads available for .223/5.56 ammo! Much of the newer ammo out there takes advantage of heavier bullets and the twist rates reflect this! Makes a versatile platform even more so!!!

 

[Kruel J]

100% agree with the Wylde chambering as well. Will keep your .223 rounds a bit closer on target.

 

[tkdguy]

I am not familiar with Wylde. This sounds like a .223 chamber that accepts .223, 5.56 and some .223 wildcat loads? So I am looking for .223 Wylde chambered barrel 1:7 at 20-24 inches?

 

[Kruel J]

.223 Wylde was created by Bill Wylde and the back story is that all 5.56 chambered rifles could shoot .223 safely at the expense of SOME accuracy. The Wylde chamber narrowed the gap between the two and can accurately shoot .223 and yet handle the case pressure of 5.56 safely. 1:7 I would definitely recommend but the length is arguable. Just saying what I would personally do (and have ordered).

 

[tkdguy]

.223 Wylde was created by Bill Wylde and the back story is that all 5.56 chambered rifles could shoot .223 safely at the expense of SOME accuracy. The Wylde chamber narrowed the gap between the two and can accurately shoot .223 and yet handle the case pressure of 5.56 safely. 1:7 I would definitely recommend but the length is arguable. Just saying what I would personally do (and have ordered).

A quick review of 223 Wylde is 1:8. I'll look further. Any specific manufactures that do Wylde 1:7. I can check Brownells. Thanks.

 

[Kruel J]

There are offerings in 1:7 for sure:

PSA AR15 18" Rifle Length .223 Wylde 1:7 Stainless 15" Keymod Upper - No BCG or CH - 7779760

I'm not recommending this or recommending it, just an example I found fast.

 

[Kruel J]

And to be quite honest, I think the Wylde chambering takes a heck of a shooter/setup/ammo to show the accuracy difference between it and 5.56 NATO.

 

[erslll]

What is it you plan to shoot with your Varmint barrel? I ask because everyone is suggesting a 1:7 twist to shoot heavy bullets yet varmint bullets are generally lighter bullets. Since I don't know what you plan to shoot, I would suggest 1:8 or 1:9 so you could shoot a wider variety of bullets.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Just spitballing but for me, "varmint" bullets are right around 40-60gr.. meaning a barrel that stabilizes 55 grainers is probably optimal.

 

[Kruel J]

I realize you weren't asking me, but I would like to answer with....coyotes, feral hogs, zombies or anything else that needs a fast dispatch at 600 or less.

And for match grade ammo, 77 grain and 1:7 will print the smallest groups. Yes 1:8 should stabilize it but if you can get 1:7 why not? It still stabilizes 55 grain just fine.

 

[Kruel J]

And I will say also that there are plenty of FINE match grade rounds in the 62-68 grain weight. Distance to target makes your choices vary.

 

[tkdguy]

What is it you plan to shoot with your Varmint barrel? I ask because everyone is suggesting a 1:7 twist to shoot heavy bullets yet varmint bullets are generally lighter bullets. Since I don't know what you plan to shoot, I would suggest 1:8 or 1:9 so you could shoot a wider variety of bullets.

Coyotes. Crow.

 

[Kruel J]

A 1:7 twist will effectively stabilize most commercially available ammo down to even below 50 grains (be careful of jacket separation below 50). And anything above it, up to 77 grains. It's kind of the "catch-all" twist rate.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I have built two AR type rifles with the "New" Wylde Spec 1/7 twist barrel and One Bolt action was re barreled to this as well! All three are very accurate with ALL ammo, and prefer 62 gr all the way to 89gr ammo, but will shoot 40gr just fine! Of the three, the bolt gun is the most accurate, but it was intended to be that way with a 24 in heavy barrel. The second has a 16 in barrel and is consistently good to about 600 meters or so Min of Bad guy! The C.A.R. 15 Commando has a 11.5 in barrel and still holds accuracy to about 500 meters with 62 gr "GreenTip" and about 70 meters more with M262 ammo! I have found that Re loadable brass doesn't get beat up any more then 5.56 specs and .223 brass runs through the sizing die easy enough to not worry about brass life! The bolt gun is the one that is finicky about ammo as It is nice and tight, but reloads work through it just fine!

 

[11Charlie]

So are the Wylde set ups more expensive than some of the others? Just asking cuz I might need to build another AR now that I've accomplished my first one.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Prices seem to be really close to standard as far as Wylde vs .223 or 5.56! ts when you start getting into things like stainless, heavy contour, or melonite/chrome lined that the prices go up! It also depends on "Name" brand a lot, and really not that big a difference, but I will recommend doing some home work to make sure your getting a good quality tube!

 

[Ura-Ki]

On the High end of the scale, I had a Danny Petterson barrel custom made and Cut Rifled to specs and beside the 6 month back log, the cost was $480 not including other work to the rifle or fitting the barrel which my gun smith was all to happy to do for me for an additional $220!!! All told, this rifle was still cheaper then an off the shelf Tikka or other mid high end Varmint rifle, AND I have all the advantages this new Barrel gives! I still don't know why rifle makers have not figured this out! Ruger is the closest with it's new American series, but it's a 1/8 twist .223!

 

[Medic!]

It's not just twist rate. It's the correct RPM to best stabilize a certain weight[Realy length] bullet.
And barrel length will change velocity. And RPM.

The 1/7 at 3000 FPS from a 16'' barrel. Is doing over 299,000 RPM's
Is not the same as 1/7 at 3400 FPS from a 24'' barrel. That's doing over 339,000 RPM's.

Or my 6.6'' 1/7 OA-93 at 2225 FPS making 221,610 Rpm's.