Varmint AR?

[Huntnful]

So I just got off the phone with Paul at Compass Lake Engineering. Seemed like a great dude. I have PILE of 50gr. 223 Vmax bullets..... and no 223 rifle haha. So I figured I do an AR style instead of a bolt action. I know literally absolutely nothing about AR's, which is why I did some research and ended up just calling compass lake. After about 20 minutes on the phone, and my main desires being an accurate, varmint style AR, I ended up with:

20" Heavy Varmint Bartein 1-7.7 twist, with a round aluminum upper and bipod pic rail at the front.
Trigger Tech Diamond single stage 1.5lbs
PRS Gen3 butt stock. (I wanted something adjustable with a bag shelf for target shooting)

I live in CA, so he also has to do some random stuff to make it CA legal.

But am I missing anything?

 

[Zen Archery]

BCG
Gas Block & Tube
Buffer & Spring
Stripped lower
Trigger guard
Pins
Lower Kit - trigger assembly.

And Move out of Cali

 

[Huntnful]

BCG
Gas Block & Tube
Buffer & Spring
Stripped lower
Trigger guard
Pins
Lower Kit - trigger assembly.

And Move out of Cali

Haha appreciate the info. I'll probably move eventually, but for now I'll just get my nice rifles and optics purchased, hunt every western state and still save for an early retirement. It ain't great, but it ain't that bad either lol.

 

[Recon$$]

You can grab a silent buffer. The plastic notch for the rear takedown pin to get rid of any play in the recievers. You can go crazy. If you got a good barrel, bcg and trigger. It's kinda what you want at that point in regards to the rifle.

 

[Huntnful]

You can grab a silent buffer. The plastic notch for the rear takedown pin to get rid of any play in the recievers. You can go crazy. If you got a good barrel, bcg and trigger. It's kinda what you want at that point in regards to the rifle.

Thank you for info!

I definitely don't want to get all crazy because I probably won't shoot it much honestly. But I still wanted a nice rifle if I was going to get one.
What is a silent buffer?

I hate play in any connections so I'll definitely look into that plastic notch for the take down pin.

 

[30378wbymag]

So I just got off the phone with Paul at Compass Lake Engineering. Seemed like a great dude. I have PILE of 50gr. 223 Vmax bullets..... and no 223 rifle haha. So I figured I do an AR style instead of a bolt action. I know literally absolutely nothing about AR's, which is why I did some research and ended up just calling compass lake. After about 20 minutes on the phone, and my main desires being an accurate, varmint style AR, I ended up with:

20" Heavy Varmint Bartein 1-7.7 twist, with a round aluminum upper and bipod pic rail at the front.
Trigger Tech Diamond single stage 1.5lbs
PRS Gen3 butt stock. (I wanted something adjustable with a bag shelf for target shooting)

I live in CA, so he also has to do some random stuff to make it CA legal.

But am I missing anything?

a brake if you choose...

 

[MSURunner]

Silent buffers move the springs away from the wall of the buffer extension tube. I would say if you hope to run it suppressed at any point, I would be sure to have the muzzle threaded and get an adjustable gas block.

EDIT: If you plan to run thermal/NV, you may wish to change up your upper handguard to one that has a continuous rail.

 

[Recon$$]

I run JP. I know there's other stuff out there. Here's what they got. Just alot nicer and smoother compared to a standard buffer spring.

JP - Buffer Springs and Silent Captured Springs

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Wylde chamber, Extended Charging handle for easier grip with a scope mounted and if you hunt in cold weather and use gloves a larger trigger guard.

 

[Huntnful]

Silent buffers move the springs away from the wall of the buffer extension tube. I would say if you hope to run it suppressed at any point, I would be sure to have the muzzle threaded and get an adjustable gas block.

EDIT: If you plan to run thermal/NV, you may wish to change up your upper handguard to one that has a continuous rail.

Thank you for the info! I decided not to thread the muzzle for a brake since it'll already be about 10lbs and recoil should be negligible. Then I can shoot it without ear plugs if a spur of the moment opportunity arises. Also no suppression in CA . Also don't anticipate any night hunting since I'm not a night person at all hahaha. Strict bedtime for me

 

[MSURunner]

Thank you for the info! I decided not to thread the muzzle for a brake since it'll already be about 10lbs and recoil should be negligible. Then I can shoot it without ear plugs if a spur of the moment opportunity arises. Also no suppression in CA . Also don't anticipate any night hunting since I'm not a night person at all hahaha. Strict bedtime for me

I wouldn't discount threading the muzzle, even if you aren't going to run a can. My precision AR is over 10 pounds and trying to spot splash with the little 55g pills it likes is difficult (it doesn't have a threaded muzzle). There's a different recoil impulse with an AR than a bolt gun because of the action cycle. The WORST case scenario, you have a thread protector on it now and options down the road. If I was to have a smith chuck up a barrel for me, I would be certain to get it all done in one swoop then to wish I would have had something done to it later.

 

[Huntnful]

I wouldn't discount threading the muzzle, even if you aren't going to run a can. My precision AR is over 10 pounds and trying to spot splash with the little 55g pills it likes is difficult (it doesn't have a threaded muzzle). There's a different recoil impulse with an AR than a bolt gun because of the action cycle. The WORST case scenario, you have a thread protector on it now and options down the road. If I was to have a smith chuck up a barrel for me, I would be certain to get it all done in one swoop then to wish I would have had something done to it later.

That's a great point! I don't have an understanding of the recoil from the bolt cycle. I was just comparing it to a bolt gun

 

[DSheetz]

A R rifles are quite similar to race cars; you mostly get out of them what you put into them. For now, it sounds like you have gotten off to a good start. One of the best things about the AR platform is they can be modified after the initial build as you figure out the changes that fit you. When you start with a good build to begin with you are already ahead of the game. There again what works for me might not work as well for you. Just keep studying them as you go, and you will get one that fits your needs. For my needs I went with a 20" 1:9 twist barrel, lapped the upper receiver to make sure that the barrel extension and the bolt raceway were true, used green loc-tite to bed the barrel to the receiver and adjusted the torque on the barrel nut to tune it for accuracy. I don't use an accuwedge to take the play out of the upper and lower receivers I have a hole drilled and tapped in my lower receiver that I have a set screw threaded into that touches the back takedown pin housing of the upper receiver. The set screw has a rubber cushion on in the end of it. My self I prefer a smooth side upper that is a side charging one so that I can use a cheek riser on my adjustable stock and it's just nicer for me as I have gotten used to it over the rear charging handle. As has been stated a good trigger is very helpful and there are several manufactures of then, I like a 2.5-3.5 lb trigger pull but again it's personal preference. Any one of good free float hand guards will work for you, I like one that covers the low-profile gas block. Myself I think that a good clamp on gas block is the way to go because it doesn't induce pressure points to the barrel as do the ones that are set screwed or pined to the barrel. Ensure that the gas tube is a good stainless steel and correctly aligned so it doesn't interfere with the function of the bolt carrier group. You want a good bolt fitted in your bolt carrier group as well, so it travels well in your upper receiver freely. A nice silent capture buffer spring and buffer are nice to have but not a must have, just a good, matched buffer and spring set up, so you don't have too much forward assist and slamming of your bolt carrier group or too much dewel time before closing. Like bolt action rifles A R 's seldom come out of the box just the way they will end up after we use them for a while. Best of luck and enjoy your learning experiences with them. Match your twist rate with your bullet weight, your powder burn rate with your barrel length you will just have a ton of fun doing it.

 

[DSheetz]

The silent buffer systems that I have seen had a rod that the spring and buffer were on, and the bolt carrier group would slid over it when the powder burned upon firing the round causing the bolt carrier group to move backward against the buffer collapsing the spring, the spring then pushes the group forward picking up another round and causing the weapon to be cocked. Also sometimes called a captured buffer system. They still use the buffer retainer spring and detent plunger to keep them in the buffer extension tube. A good thing about the A R system is that with some study and tooling you can learn how to do a lot of the work yourself, thus gaining some more satisfaction from them. There are some fine armors on this site that know far more than I