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  • joekocon

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    Well now, I got some loose money and am ready to buy a replacement barrel for my S&W M&P AR 15.

    I've been shooting M855 62 grain ammo and also have 55grain rounds to use.

    I'm going to buy a .223 wlyde chambered barrel but still undecided on barrel length and twist. I'm an old bench rest shooter so I'm looking for the best accuracy for those (2) rounds:
    55 grain and 62 grain.

    A 16 inch barrel loses velocity after 100 yards so I'm inclined to go to an 18 inch barrel.
    And it's a toss-up between 1:8 or 1:9, I think...

    Would appreciate your comments as I'm not wanting to mess this up. My AR shoots 2 in. groups at 100yds. but I'd like to do better!
     

    Little Jack

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    2 MOA with what kind of ammo(besides the 855)? Scope setup? How many rounds per string? How quick? Free float barrel? Unless you're running some "nicer" ammo you may not get much better.

    Longer barrels aren't more accurate but, as you mentioned, they'll give you more velocity. It's up to you to figure out if you need it and what you want to do with the extra FPS. Unless you're humping it, I'd say got to 20".

    WRT twist.... you can find lots of "answers" out there. I'd say go with the barrel setup (profile, gas length, flutes, cost etc) with the twist being less of an issue based on the rates you're interested in and the rounds you're looking to shoot. I've had barrels with the same twist/chamber shoot the same ammo with significantly different groups. For whatever reason, certain barrels are going to like certain loads better.

    Trigger and glass may be other places to look into. I don't know you're experience besides what you posted but shooting with some other guys may offer some insight into technique as well.
     

    Jester896

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    I don't think you would need a 1:7 to shoot 55 and 62 gr rounds.
    if velocity is your main goal you may get more velocity with the slower rate of 1:9 and a longer length, I think.
    M855 and M193 isn't the most accurate stuff out there either I don't think.
    If you bumped that up to say a 69 gr load...just about anything might shoot it well.

    I recently did a combo of an SPR/DMR rifle. I chose a Recon Profile Mid-Length in 1:8 in 18" with a CLE (Compass Lake Engineering) match chamber from Compass Lake..turned out to be a pretty sporty rifle. Can't shoot surplus ammo in it though.
     

    purple

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    I wouldn't swap that m&p barrel out for a crap AR stoner barrel. As I've posted before at times on this forum, my original M&P sport 1/9 non-5R barrel went more then 11k rounds, no keyholing and rifling was still decent, just tore it down for another project. IMO leave it alone, nothing wrong with that barrel. but if you MUST swap the barrel, buy something quality, not a cheap AR stoner barrel when you can pick up a ballistic advantage barrel or a faxon for less than $200. If you want a FSB, wait for a sale; Aero Precision owns Ballistic Advantage, so check both sites, same barrels literally. Last sale Aero had on their site I picked up a 16" mid length 4150 cmv nitride FSB barrel for $143 shipped. Also deals can be had on the EE here
     

    SAWMAN

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    Seems like most of the bbl's produced with the Wylde chamber have a 1:8 twist rate.
    To a certain point,the slower the twist rate the hotter the potential load. Howerer,I really do not know why this would matter to someone looking for a Wylde chamber. You can shoot the hottest of loads thru a 5.56X45 chamber with a 1:7 twist bbl.
    Accuracy - - -> If you are concerned about accuracy a AR is not the way to go anyway. But if you are/I was concerned about the most accuracy possible out of a AR,a 223Rem chamber,1:9twist,and shoot 50-55gr bullets at med velocities.
    I still cannot figure out the draw of a Wylde chamber. If they were PROVEN to simply be more accurate,I could understand that. But they have been marketed simply on the notion that with this "magic" chambering a person can shoot both 223Rem and 5.56X45 ammo.
    OK . . . so ?? ---- SAWMAN
     
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