AR .223 Wylde for coyotes

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

As some of you know I been looking for a left hand 204 Ruger bolt gun for about 6 months with not much luck. I decided to build a left hand AR15. My first thought was a 24" 204 Ruger But weight and not as wide range of use has got me looking at 223. very few 223 barrels out there most are 223 wylde . In the 223 Wylde what would be more accurate a 223 round or 5.56 ?? what kind of accuracy could i aspect from a 18" barrel. would it be worth the weight to go up to a 22" bull barrel? most my shooting would be 250 yard and closer back east. being my first AR build, this might be a good chamber and i could shoot both cheap plinker ammo and better stuff for hunting. what do you think?

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

As some of you know I been looking for a left hand 204 Ruger bolt gun for about 6 months with not much luck. I decided to build a left hand AR15. My first thought was a 24" 204 Ruger But weight and not as wide range of use has got me looking at 223. very few 223 barrels out there most are 223 wylde . In the 223 Wylde what would be more accurate a 223 round or 5.56 ?? what kind of accuracy could i aspect from a 18" barrel. would it be worth the weight to go up to a 22" bull barrel? most my shooting would be 250 yard and closer back east. being my first AR build, this might be a good chamber and i could shoot both cheap plinker ammo and better stuff for hunting. what do you think?

We have a AR in .223 Wylde chamber 20" Barrel 1:8 and with Lapua Brass 65gr SGK & H-4895 we get <1/3 MOA.

 

[Frog4aday]

I vote 20" barrel for a .223 Rem/5.56 (Wylde) in an AR platform.

As for accuracy, it is less a .223 vs. 5.56 issue as it is "what is the twist rate of the barrel you got"?

Once you know the twist rate, just use bullet weights favorable to that twist & accuracy will be good with .223 or 5.56 ammo as long as it has the right bullets loaded in the case.

Since you are doing coyotes at 250 yds, I'd go with a 1in9 or 1in8 twist barrel and shoot stuff in the 50 to 69gr range. Lighter and heavier bullets could still be used but you would have to test & see how they did out of your gun to know if they'll work well or not.

 

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

We have a AR in .223 Wylde chamber 20" Barrel 1:8 and with Lapua Brass 65gr SGK & H-4895 we get <1/3 MOA.

who makes that barrel?

I vote 20" barrel for a .223 Rem/5.56 (Wylde) in an AR platform.

As for accuracy, it is less a .223 vs. 5.56 issue as it is "what is the twist rate of the barrel you got"?

Once you know the twist rate, just use bullet weights favorable to that twist & accuracy will be good with .223 or 5.56 ammo as long as it has the right bullets loaded in the case.

Since you are doing coyotes at 250 yds, I'd go with a 1in9 or 1in8 twist barrel and shoot stuff in the 50 to 69gr range. Lighter and heavier bullets could still be used but you would have to test & see how they did out of your gun to know if they'll work well or not.

yes slower twist might be better like the 1 in 9 I mostly be shooting 69 or under for sure.

anyone know of any deals on 20" with a target crown. living communist I can't have treads on the end, I either have to cut it and recrown it or just buy a target crown.
I did find this barrel for 200 22" thinking it might be a little heavy and is 1 in 7

Tactical Kinetics 22 inch 223 WYLDE AR-15 Melonite 1/7 Twist Heavy Fluted Bull Premium Barrel

Tactical Kinetics 22 inch 223 WYLDE Heavy Fluted Bull Barrel

pro2a-tactical.com

never building a AR before i not sure what brands to stay away from . bear creek arsenal has some barrels at real good prices. In fact, there so reasonable I kind of afraid to try one.
I been trying to buy mid range stuff at sale prices, But i reading the barrel and bolt are not the thing to try to save money on.

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

who makes that barrel?

yes slower twist might be better like the 1 in 9 I mostly be shooting 69 or under for sure.

anyone know of any deals on 20" with a target crown. living communist I can't have treads on the end, I either have to cut it and recrown it or just buy a target crown.
I did find this barrel for 200 22" thinking it might be a little heavy and is 1 in 7

Tactical Kinetics 22 inch 223 WYLDE AR-15 Melonite 1/7 Twist Heavy Fluted Bull Premium Barrel

Tactical Kinetics 22 inch 223 WYLDE Heavy Fluted Bull Barrel

pro2a-tactical.com

never building a AR before i not sure what brands to stay away from . bear creek arsenal has some barrels at real good prices. In fact, there so reasonable I kind of afraid to try one.
I been trying to buy mid range stuff at sale prices, But i reading the barrel and bolt are not the thing to try to save money on.

Barrel was a SS Cryogenic treated from Rock River Arms.

 

[laker]

18"-20" barrel shooting 53 grain vmax.

 

[Frog4aday]

Okay, CALIFORNIA build (NewYork build?) Good to know. In California, It looks like you CAN have a threaded barrel, but no flash hider so just use a thread protector & you are covered. More details here:

https://www.pewpewtactical.com/featureless-ar-15-rifle/#h-best-featureless-muzzle-devices

If NY says no threads PERIOD, then a gunsmith (or you) could cut them off and recrown it. Tedious but not a lot of options unless you can find one unthreaded from the get-go.

Quality barrels vs. affordable barrels. This is always the juggling act. Bear Creek Arsenal (BCA) is affordable but the level of quality is mixed. Some guys swear they got a 0.75MOA barrel from them & others complain of poor accuracy. What to believe...don't know. You pay your money & take your chances.

But what if you want quality & dang the costs? Who then?
*Faxon (Match series "gunner")
*Ballistic Advantage (Hanson series)
*Criterion
*RAINIER Arms
*Daniel Defense
*White Oak Armament
This article runs it down pretty good I thought:

Best AR-15 Barrels: 2022 Complete Buyer's Guide - Sniper Country

Improve the shooting performance of your AR-15 by adding a new barrel. We picked the Best AR-15 Barrels on the market for you.

www.snipercountry.com

 

[sable tireur]

First of all, read and learn what the differences are between the .223 Rem. chambers and the 5.56 chambers are. Then study the SAAMI chambers and those similar to the Wylde chambers. Know the differences first.

Apply your shooting desires to the limitations and choose the chamber you need.

You can buy the most expensive AR15 barrel in the world but unless it is prepared and assemble properly, your 'accuracy' may not be what you think you should have. AR building is notorious for being like an Erector set, screw it together and go shoot. There are those who accept nearly any level of accuracy and call it good to go.

The portion about accuracy though relies on the folks who actually know HOW to assemble the right parts using the proper techniques to enhance accuracy. Yes a few folks actually get lucky once in a great while and achieve some level of accuracy without the expertise and knowledge but consistency is imperative. But for the most part some factory and most self-assembled ARs the accuracy is mediocre. It's necessary to learn the minutia of techniques and dimensions before attempting to make an accurate AR rifle.

Of principle importance is that the coyote is a very skinny, thin skinned varmint. Nearly any decent hit results in a kill. It just doesn't take much to puncture them and put them down. Choose a bullet designed to work under the circumstance where you shoot, run some tests, load some ammo then go shoot some coyotes!

Enjoy!

 

[lancetkenyon]

I have a 24" 1:8" Rock River Varminter in .223 Wylde. 69 SMKs @ 3033fps and 50 VMax @ 3300fps. 69 SMKs are every bit of sub-1/2 MOA. 50 Vmax load is in the .7s, but I take a lot less effort for extremely consistent loads in this round. Plenty for coyotes.

 

[xsn10s]

A .223 Wylde or 5.56 wth appropriate twist is fine. You have a higher probability of getting sub moa accuracy with a bolt gun, but it's possible with an AR. My handloads in my 20" 5.56 1-7" Colt chrome lined barrel shoots about .75" at 100 yards. I dumped a badger this weekend with it while scouting for yotes.

 

[xsn10s]

Rock river had a rep of being pretty accurate. Criterion barrels would be good also. I've read White Oak barrels are good. Barrel fitment, barrel quality, a good trigger, and handloads really help with AR's.

 

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

I am looking pretty hard at the WOA barrels they will also build one with AMBIDEXTROUS BARREL EXTENSION and target crown. RRA doesn't have ambidextrous barrels. some say you can run a left hand bolt in any barrel ,but stag ,WOA and a few others say not to do it. Honestly if I could find a nice left hand bolt gun I would just go that way, but building a AR might be a fun experience. But living in NY makes things complicated.
1.Thorsen stock
2. No threads on barrel if I have semi auto with a detachable magazine
3.10 round mag max target shooting and 5 round mag when hunting.
4. no other so called evil features
on a bolt gun i can have all the evil features I want LOL .

my first thought building AR I could be done for under $800 But learning if i want something accurate with fair parts I will be double that.

 

[Darryle]

I run 7 twist 16" 223 Wylde barrels, but I also run 64gr Nosler Bonded Solid Base or 77gr TMKs.

I don't know anyone turning out a ready to go 223 Wylde in 7 twist, plenty of 7 twist 5.56s and 8 twist 223 Wyldes.

I can run cheap bulk 55gr depending on who manufactured it and which bullet they loaded, for some reason I get keyholes with some SP, so I suspect that it's twist related caused by velocity loss with the short barrels. It doesn't happen with the bolt gun with the same twist. I haven't cared enough to chase down the reason, I just run the cheap stuff in slower twist barrels.

 

[lancetkenyon]

I am looking pretty hard at the WOA barrels they will also build one with AMBIDEXTROUS BARREL EXTENSION and target crown. RRA doesn't have ambidextrous barrels. some say you can run a left hand bolt in any barrel ,but stag ,WOA and a few others say not to do it. Honestly if I could find a nice left hand bolt gun I would just go that way, but building a AR might be a fun experience. But living in NY makes things complicated.
1.Thorsen stock
2. No threads on barrel if I have semi auto with a detachable magazine
3.10 round mag max target shooting and 5 round mag when hunting.
4. no other so called evil features
on a bolt gun i can have all the evil features I want LOL .

my first thought building AR I could be done for under $800 But learning if i want something accurate with fair parts I will be double that.

I am not real educated on AR platforms. I only have one, and it is a production rifle.

But what is a left hand barrel??? I have never heard of anything like that. Any barrel can be spun up for a right or left hand bolt action. Or even a left ejection/right bolt action. Doesn't that make them "ambidextrous"?

Does a blank that gets cut and chambered for an AR start out the same as any other barrel blank? I know there is additional work for the gas block, chamber, and stuff.

Do they mean a left twist is needed on a left handed rifle?
Educate me, I love learning new stuff.