What barrel for Mega Maten AR10 build?

[JohnC]

I have my MEGA MATEN upper and lower receiver set on order. They're on backorder, so I have at least 4 months until it ships out to D&T Arms according to Mega.

That said...

I'm now spending the time in between tying to figure out how to build this rifle to be a nice tack driving AR10 308.

I know it depends on the man behind the gun, the ammo, etc., but all that aside, who makes the absolute most accurate barrel for a 308 AR10 using the Mega Maten receiver?

[173rdABN]

what type of ammo will you be shooting? weight? ranges you plan on shooting at? do you reload? will you be using a comp/break, or can?

[trevorst]

GAP10 uses a Bartlein 5r barrel. Pretty sure that's the holy grail of AR10's.

Myself I have a dpms SASS barrel and it shoots lights out, and I didn't have to wait a year and spend a small fortune. One day I will get around to posting group pics.

[trevorst]

http://www.gaprecision.net/ga-precision-2012-custom-rifles/ga-precision-g.a.-precision-gap-10-.html


Link to the holy grail

There is a very lengthy wait, I do have an acquaintance that has one and it's truly a piece of art, and shoots better than it looks.

[JohnC]

[quote name='173rdABN' timestamp='1354982446' post='856883']
what type of ammo will you be shooting? weight? ranges you plan on shooting at? do you reload? will you be using a comp/break, or can?
[/quote]

I'll probably reload in the future once I get setup.

But in the meantime, I'll be shooting factory loads.

What kind? I have no idea. I've not done any research yet.

But I'm pretty sure I don't want to shoot anything that would need a special chambering. I'd rather be able to shoot nearly any 308 ammo out of it.

[JohnC]

[quote name='trevorst' timestamp='1354983475' post='856891']
GAP10 uses a Bartlein 5r barrel. Pretty sure that's the holy grail of AR10's.

Myself I have a dpms SASS barrel and it shoots lights out, and I didn't have to wait a year and spend a small fortune. One day I will get around to posting group pics.
[/quote]

I've been directed to all these brands so far: Kreiger, Rainier/Pac-nor, Fulton/Criterion, Bartlein 5r barrel, Brux, Hart, Obermeyer, Douglas, Noveske, Shilen, Schnieder (USMC uses them), Rock Creek, Lothar Walther, and JP Enterprise.

Which really is the best is what I'd like to know. LOL

For a rookie, this is going to take some time to research from scratch!

[trevorst]

I have a lothar walther on my ar15 also have a Wilson barrel on another. Both exceptional barrels, my 308 is dpms sass not sure who outsources it for them. My friend with the bartlein his weighs much less than mine and shoots better. Keep in mind my sass shoots sub moa very easily and would average .5 moa most days when I do my part. I think you reach a point where you don't get as much return on cost.... Have another friend with Ranier arms ultra match and it shoots very good also.

[TMF]

[quote name='trevorst' timestamp='1355083953' post='857329'] Keep in mind my sass shoots sub moa very easily and would average .5 moa most days when I do my part. [/quote]

Wow. That's good. I'm not familiar with these but if that is common I would be more than happy with that. I don't believe there are many people that can shoot to the capability of a 1/2 MOA rifle.

[JohnC]

[quote name='trevorst' timestamp='1355083953' post='857329']
I have a lothar walther on my ar15 also have a Wilson barrel on another. Both exceptional barrels, my 308 is dpms sass not sure who outsources it for them. My friend with the bartlein his weighs much less than mine and shoots better. Keep in mind my sass shoots sub moa very easily and would average .5 moa most days when I do my part. I think you reach a point where you don't get as much return on cost.... Have another friend with Ranier arms ultra match and it shoots very good also.
[/quote]

So it shoots .50 MOA at 100 yards? How does it do at 300, 400, etc., if you have took it out that far?

Is this done with hand loads or factory loaded ammo? Match grade ammo? Edited December 9, 2012 by JohnC

[TMF]

[quote name='JohnC' timestamp='1355091497' post='857402']

So it shoots .50 MOA at 100 yards? How does it do at 300, 400, etc., if you have took it out that far?

Is this done with hand loads or factory loaded ammo? Match grade ammo?[/quote]

Not being a smartass, but it would be 1/2 MOA no matter the distance. So at 400 meters it would be 2 inches... in a vacuum anyhow.

[JohnC]

[quote name='TMF' timestamp='1355092045' post='857409']


Not being a smartass, but it would be 1/2 MOA no matter the distance. So at 400 meters it would be 2 inches... in a vacuum anyhow.
[/quote]



Sorry. Forgot about MOA multiplying over distance!

[trevorst]

I have shot my .308 out to 600 yards, 18" barrel makes it hard going much farther, and i have my 260 rem if i want to go farther. I reload everything IMO your wasting money on a expensive barrel and shooting factory loads.

I shoot 168gr smk 168 gr amax and 175gr smk, mine likes the heavier 175s a little better but my rem 700 (also a 1-10 twist shoots them all over the place so I stick with 168s). I use 45.5gr of varget and cci magnum primers with the 168s. To get the most out of mine I have to load oal longer than the mag will allow so it's single shot only. When I load mine to mag length I can still keep it sub moa easily, just not the ragged one hole groups.

The only factory ammo I would consider would be the federal gold medal match.


Fwiw it's easier shooting my 260rem out to 1000 yards than it is the 308 out to 500 lol.

[trevorst]

[quote name='TMF' timestamp='1355084574' post='857335']


Wow. That's good. I'm not familiar with these but if that is common I would be more than happy with that. I don't believe there are many people that can shoot to the capability of a 1/2 MOA rifle.
[/quote]

Honestly I have a heck of a time anymore keeping up with my rifle lol, to really keep the groups down requires a lot of trigger time and sadly more than I have these days...

I still recommend the geissele national match trigger to anyone wanting a precision ar I swear it seems magical. I would take it and a stock barrel over a high end match barrel and just about any other trigger.

[173rdABN]

It's nice having a Kreiger barrel, ect ect name brand stuff thats super high end, but honestly, my DPMS SASS barrel does everything I want it to. And I got it for $209 NIB shipped. Why spend $400+ on a barrel thats going to do the same thing as a $200 barrel? Unless you want a longer barrel (20"+) I would get the SASS barrel. If I was going to get a 20" I would have gotten a Kreiger with 5R and 11.25 twist. The SASS barrel lovessssss 175gr ammo. I run 41.7gr of RL15 in mine with an OAL of 2.975 (so it fits in the mag) and a 2.005 COAL and Win LR primers with 175gr SMK's.... pretty close to a duplication of M118LR and my gun loves them. 

 

Trevorst is right, they can shoot .5 MOA. I've shoot mine to 550 yards with no problems with factory ammo. 

 

I'm all for the SASS barrel. 

 

Because you don't know what ammo your going to shoot, its slightly hard to say what twist to get. It really all depends what you shoot the most of, thats at least how I go about picking the right twist, based off what bullets I'll primarily shoot. Which is honestly only 1... haha so I have an easy choice. 

[TMF]

It's nice having a Kreiger barrel, ect ect name brand stuff thats super high end, but honestly, my DPMS SASS barrel does everything I want it to. And I got it for $209 NIB shipped. Why spend $400+ on a barrel thats going to do the same thing as a $200 barrel? Unless you want a longer barrel (20"+) I would get the SASS barrel. If I was going to get a 20" I would have gotten a Kreiger with 5R and 11.25 twist. The SASS barrel lovessssss 175gr ammo. I run 41.7gr of RL15 in mine with an OAL of 2.975 (so it fits in the mag) and a 2.005 COAL and Win LR primers with 175gr SMK's.... pretty close to a duplication of M118LR and my gun loves them.

Trevorst is right, they can shoot .5 MOA. I've shoot mine to 550 yards with no problems with factory ammo.

I'm all for the SASS barrel.

Is your AR-10 platform also a DPMS? I have a relative that was looking for advice on an economical long range AR-10 and I had suggested getting a Wally World DPMS AR-10. I'm wondering if these would perform well with a SASS barrel.

[173rdABN]

I use a Monolithic Mega receiver set. Custom AR308 I put together a couple months ago. 

 

 

My good buddy uses a DPMS AR308 and swapped the barrel out to a SASS barrel from a 24" stainless or some long barrel that was ridiculously heavy and he loves it as well. I don't think he's shot with it much sense its been on his gun, but the weight saved now alone really makes him happy.

[mikegideon]

Wow. That's good. I'm not familiar with these but if that is common I would be more than happy with that. I don't believe there are many people that can shoot to the capability of a 1/2 MOA rifle.

1/2 MOA is about as loose as you wanna be for long range shooting. You can hold that with a good rest and good trigger. I polished some 1" dots off a 400 yard plate with my 223 AR, and I'm not a good shot.

[TMF]

1/2 MOA is about as loose as you wanna be for long range shooting. You can hold that with a good rest and good trigger. I polished some 1" dots off a 400 yard plate with my 223 AR, and I'm not a good shot.

My experience with long range shooting is almost entirely surrounding a rifle with a factory guarantee of 1 MOA. Of course, sub MOA with 118LR out of that rifle was normal, I hardly experienced 1/2 MOA accuracy with the exception of special loads within 400m in low/non-existent wind. I know there are few rifles out there which guarantee 1/2 MOA out of the box, and even the ones that do can't achieve that easily with environmental conditions at distance. Hearing of a rifle that shoots consistent 1/2 MOA is still impressive in my world.

So, could one expect to achieve such accuracy with a Wally World .308 DPMS with a SASS barrel? If so I'm going to tell my cousin to make it happen so I can get behind it in the spring at distance.

[mikegideon]

AR style rifles with free floated heavy barrels and the right ammo just want to be real accurate. Not sure about any specific brands. It's something that's pretty hard to screw up, though. If I was building from scratch, I would have to be convinced to go with a DPMS barrel. I would be inclined to go with a better brand. With that said, I have a 24" stainless bull made by ER Shaw on my AR-15. That ain't exactly high end.

[JohnC]

It's nice having a Kreiger barrel, ect ect name brand stuff thats super high end, but honestly, my DPMS SASS barrel does everything I want it to. And I got it for $209 NIB shipped. Why spend $400+ on a barrel thats going to do the same thing as a $200 barrel? Unless you want a longer barrel (20"+) I would get the SASS barrel. If I was going to get a 20" I would have gotten a Kreiger with 5R and 11.25 twist. The SASS barrel lovessssss 175gr ammo. I run 41.7gr of RL15 in mine with an OAL of 2.975 (so it fits in the mag) and a 2.005 COAL and Win LR primers with 175gr SMK's.... pretty close to a duplication of M118LR and my gun loves them. 
 
Trevorst is right, they can shoot .5 MOA. I've shoot mine to 550 yards with no problems with factory ammo. 
 
I'm all for the SASS barrel. 
 
Because you don't know what ammo your going to shoot, its slightly hard to say what twist to get. It really all depends what you shoot the most of, thats at least how I go about picking the right twist, based off what bullets I'll primarily shoot. Which is honestly only 1... haha so I have an easy choice. 

All great points! Thanks! :up:

So I guess I need to decide if I want to stay cheap and go 18in SASS or more range with a more expensive 20in barrel.

What I wanted this rifle to be from the start is maximum accuracy long range capable rifle; not just a 100-300 yard rifle. That kind of pushes me toward the 20in barrels. I've still not made my mind up yet as I need to educate myself on all this better to see if it's really worth going 20in to get what I want out of the rifle.

[mikegideon]

I'm getting ready to build a long range bolt gun. It will most likely be a 24" or 26" barrel. It really depends on what you want to do with the gun. The one I'm building won't be good for a stroll in the woods.

[alwaysonjohn]

For my precision 308 build I went with Lilja.  They also make ar-10 barrels in 308 winchester and 260 remington in 18", 20", and 24".  Price for drop-in barrels is around $460 or $570 fluted.

http://www.riflebarrels.com/products/ar_10.htm

 

It takes them four months to make barrels so it looks like that would work out perfectly.  Normally you pay before it ships.