Cnkhunting
Well-Known Member
I am new to the AR 15 guns, I just ordered a complete lower and am looking for a complete upper in 223 wylde. I'm building it for calling coyotes. What length barrel should I do? 18" or 20"
How long of a barrel?
- Thread starter Cnkhunting
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I vote 20", too.
My coyote AR's have a minimum barrel length of 20"/9TW. 55-70gr bullets to 500 yards.
DoneNOut
Well-Known Member
16" suppressed, 20" muzzle brake.
Cnkhunting
Well-Known Member
What's the cost of a complete upper
Zen Archery
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20"
Cemetery21
Well-Known Member
$690 for a White Oak: https://www.whiteoakarmament.com/white-oak-20-spr-upper-1-7-or-1-8-twist.html
Cnkhunting
Well-Known Member
Is there any other complete uppers that are accurate in the 400 dollar range
With today's prices and limited resources, possible not for quality!
A couple of my rifles came with 20"(ie HBar Colt, Bushmaster) barrels and were more then sufficient to hunt coyotes at the longer distances. It's been several years, but my most accurate LR AR is a DPMS complete upper with a 22" heavy varmint barrel, 1:9TW that cost approx. $600, bought from Midway USA. It's very accurate. So much so that I have used it with good success in 200-300 yard Egg Shoot competition….25MOA.
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16" inches should do everything you want, with that said, if you want more velocity especially if you're talking about a 5.56x45mm pressure and hand loads you might think about a full 22" inches or even 24" inches. 16" inches and 20" inches in most rifles are going to run near the same velocity through most bullet weights out of the box store brands. If you're going to run a can go with the 16' inch. Just my 0.2 Cheers
Baylor243
Well-Known Member
I have shot plenty of 24", 20", 18" 16" and shorty's....they all kill coyotes. I honestly believe that a mid-weight barrel (not a carbine but nothing more than the Army HBAR contour) in 16-18" is the sweet spot for calling. I don't see the benefit of extra length nor the need for super heavy bull barrels (but yet I own a pair of RRA 18" varmint). I'd say that 18" is more than plenty, especially for 90%+ of calling situations. MAYBE with some of the heavy bullets, like north of 70 grains, the 20" or 24" barrels would help you when experimenting with powder burn rates. But I believe the difference is not much more than marginal at 400 yards, maybe a little more obvious at 500. Most of that difference can be overcome in bullet selection anyways. And anything over 3400fps is not really necessary.
A coyote in the wild at 500yards with a 223 is truly a marksman's challenge, even more so with a gas gun. When that same coyote in the wild suprises you inside 50 yards it's a hunter's challenge, where cunning and experience prevail and where the benefits of the gas gun setup could tip the scales a bit. The better you get, the closer they get. Thats the fun part. I find significantly less joy in blasting at them at 400-500 yards than I do when all i can see in the scope is hair. My heart rate confirms this every time.
A coyote in the wild at 500yards with a 223 is truly a marksman's challenge, even more so with a gas gun. When that same coyote in the wild suprises you inside 50 yards it's a hunter's challenge, where cunning and experience prevail and where the benefits of the gas gun setup could tip the scales a bit. The better you get, the closer they get. Thats the fun part. I find significantly less joy in blasting at them at 400-500 yards than I do when all i can see in the scope is hair. My heart rate confirms this every time.
