- Messages
- 3,521
- Reactions
- 7,482
This whole thing started about three years ago. I had probably a dozen or more AR builds under my belt and I decided I wanted to try and build a tack driving varmint AR. I had been having decent luck with some cheaper barrels from a guy on gunbroker, so I bought one of his 20" 223 Wylde chambered Bull barrels. Long story short it showed great potential with regular factory fodder. Several 5 and 10 shot groups were around 1/2-5/8". I never hanloaded for it and like a fool sold it. My reasoning was if I could get a $120 barrel to shoot that good with factory ammo, imagine what I could do with a more expensive barrel and handloads.
So, my foray into the barrels named Wilson began. The first was a Wilson arms 223 wylde 1-8 twist 20" bull barrel. After putting it together, I took it out with various factory ammo and it was not as accurate as the previous cheap barrel. I tried loading various varmint type rounds in the 50-55 range and it did ok, but not the one ragged hole type groups I envisioned. I then came across a deal for a Wilson Combat Super Sniper barrel in the same 223 wylde 1-8 configuration. Same program, it was ok but not the tackdriver I was after, at least with the ammo I tried. Life got in the way and I put the uppers away and never got back to them until recently.
Wilson combat build
Wilson Arms build
Last month I decided I would just have to do some fairly extensive load testing for them to find out what they really liked. I first tried 50-55 gr varmint type bullets and achieved decent accuracy, but not as good as I wanted. Next I ordered various 60-64gr varmint projectiles and loaded them up with a couple different powders and charge weights. What became clear is a definite preference for AR comp powder and two bullets. Both barrels shoot the 60gr Nosler ballistic tips great with a slight nod to the Wilson Combat barrel. They also shoot the 64gr Berger varmint bullet very well with a slight nod to the Wilson Arms barrel. Not the most economical choices but the results are encouraging. The Bergers are a bit hard to find and I was beginning to think the were not made anymore, but they are still catalogued on the Berger webpage. When you do find them, they are 33-36 cents a piece
. The 60gr Nosler ball tips can be found as blems for about 16 cents a piece, so not too bad. The BT blems are coated like they were destined for a combined technology loading. Note the low sd readings on the two loads. All loads were collet crimped, I might have to try no crimping to see if there will be any difference as my neck tension seems quite uniform when full length sizing with a Rcbs x die. Pmc brass was sorted for flash hole concentricity (another story) and weight within .5gr of each other. Lake city brass was also sorted to be within .5gr of each other.
Now mind you I am a hunter at heart and not an accomplished benchrest/target shooter. These groups were shot off low bipods and rear sandbags, utilizing my somewhat limited bench skillset. They were fired fed from the magazine as fast as I could get steady again, with no cooling between the 5 shots. Also, the scopes are sub $300 glass with regular big game type reticles. One is a Vortex crossfire 4-12x and the other a Burris ff2 4.5-14x. I can only imagine what a better shooter with some better glass might do. I now want to get better glass with finer reticles, as well as different stocks to help wring the potential out of these barrels. I also aspire to become a better bench shooter.The 1-8 twist barrels definitely show a preference for 60gr + bullets. However, I still have not given up on a lighter varmint bullet for these, as I ultimately would like to utilize them in a prarie dog town. We shall see. I could probably abide by the 60gr BT if I had to. The 64gr Bergers would be a great open ground coyote round, but they are just are not economical enough for pdogs. i did find a lower accuracy node with the 60gr ballistic tips at 22.6 gr of Ar Comp powder with all other parameters the same. It shot several groups in the .375-1/2" range clocking in at 2770 fps avg. In the end my conclusion is both barrels have very good accuracy but if you want to shoot lighter bullets, you may want to go for a slower twist rate. Also, barrels are kind of like optics. You do get what you pay for but it is not a linear relationship. In other words spending twice as much on a barrel won't shrink groups by half.
I am also soliciting advice for different stocks and scopes for these builds. They will be mostly shot prone and benched in the field with bipods, once I get the loads all worked out. I am thinking maybe this scope Leupold VX-3i Target Rifle Scope 30mm Tube 6.5-20x 50mm - MPN: 170715
and this stock
PRS® GEN3 Precision-Adjustable Stock
I would probably get one outfitted first and maybe go with a bit cheaper glass on the second one as my bank account recovered.
So, my foray into the barrels named Wilson began. The first was a Wilson arms 223 wylde 1-8 twist 20" bull barrel. After putting it together, I took it out with various factory ammo and it was not as accurate as the previous cheap barrel. I tried loading various varmint type rounds in the 50-55 range and it did ok, but not the one ragged hole type groups I envisioned. I then came across a deal for a Wilson Combat Super Sniper barrel in the same 223 wylde 1-8 configuration. Same program, it was ok but not the tackdriver I was after, at least with the ammo I tried. Life got in the way and I put the uppers away and never got back to them until recently.
Wilson combat build
Wilson Arms build
Last month I decided I would just have to do some fairly extensive load testing for them to find out what they really liked. I first tried 50-55 gr varmint type bullets and achieved decent accuracy, but not as good as I wanted. Next I ordered various 60-64gr varmint projectiles and loaded them up with a couple different powders and charge weights. What became clear is a definite preference for AR comp powder and two bullets. Both barrels shoot the 60gr Nosler ballistic tips great with a slight nod to the Wilson Combat barrel. They also shoot the 64gr Berger varmint bullet very well with a slight nod to the Wilson Arms barrel. Not the most economical choices but the results are encouraging. The Bergers are a bit hard to find and I was beginning to think the were not made anymore, but they are still catalogued on the Berger webpage. When you do find them, they are 33-36 cents a piece
. The 60gr Nosler ball tips can be found as blems for about 16 cents a piece, so not too bad. The BT blems are coated like they were destined for a combined technology loading. Note the low sd readings on the two loads. All loads were collet crimped, I might have to try no crimping to see if there will be any difference as my neck tension seems quite uniform when full length sizing with a Rcbs x die. Pmc brass was sorted for flash hole concentricity (another story) and weight within .5gr of each other. Lake city brass was also sorted to be within .5gr of each other.
Now mind you I am a hunter at heart and not an accomplished benchrest/target shooter. These groups were shot off low bipods and rear sandbags, utilizing my somewhat limited bench skillset. They were fired fed from the magazine as fast as I could get steady again, with no cooling between the 5 shots. Also, the scopes are sub $300 glass with regular big game type reticles. One is a Vortex crossfire 4-12x and the other a Burris ff2 4.5-14x. I can only imagine what a better shooter with some better glass might do. I now want to get better glass with finer reticles, as well as different stocks to help wring the potential out of these barrels. I also aspire to become a better bench shooter
.The 1-8 twist barrels definitely show a preference for 60gr + bullets. However, I still have not given up on a lighter varmint bullet for these, as I ultimately would like to utilize them in a prarie dog town. We shall see. I could probably abide by the 60gr BT if I had to. The 64gr Bergers would be a great open ground coyote round, but they are just are not economical enough for pdogs. i did find a lower accuracy node with the 60gr ballistic tips at 22.6 gr of Ar Comp powder with all other parameters the same. It shot several groups in the .375-1/2" range clocking in at 2770 fps avg. In the end my conclusion is both barrels have very good accuracy but if you want to shoot lighter bullets, you may want to go for a slower twist rate. Also, barrels are kind of like optics. You do get what you pay for but it is not a linear relationship. In other words spending twice as much on a barrel won't shrink groups by half. I am also soliciting advice for different stocks and scopes for these builds. They will be mostly shot prone and benched in the field with bipods, once I get the loads all worked out. I am thinking maybe this scope Leupold VX-3i Target Rifle Scope 30mm Tube 6.5-20x 50mm - MPN: 170715
and this stock
PRS® GEN3 Precision-Adjustable Stock
I would probably get one outfitted first and maybe go with a bit cheaper glass on the second one as my bank account recovered.
