[Paul Workman]

Finally got around to shooting my new (homemade) AR upper yesterday.

It has a RRA receiver, a Krieger 26" x .920 button rifled 9 twist Wylde chambered in 223 (5.56), stainless steel carrier and match bolt/barrel receiver, adjustable gas block, and Nikon Monarch 7 5-25 x 50mm scope w/ 30mm tube.

Just loaded some break-in/sighter loads using Hornandy 68 hpbt match blts over some N133, lapua brass, and a Rem 7-1/2 primers and went to the bench to see how it shot.

After bore sighting and zeroing shots, it proceeded to put 5 in one hole that was 5/8 edge to edge on a switch-breezy day.

DING-DING-DING!! I think we might have a winner! More testing/refining will tell, but I'm purdy happy w/ my first UPPER experiment as it stands right now!

 

[Trapper6L]

Kinda neat to shoot something you built and then watch it stack bullets. Only one problem here, you're about to catch the Upper Disease. Home built uppers are a lot like potato chips, can't have just one. Next will probably be a wildcat like the 6x45 which is an accurate power jump over the 223. Then the ,25x 45. Then it'll be a 7.62x 39. Yeah, building uppers is worse than cocaine- very addicting. Congratulations on joining the rest of us nutz. Great to see your build come together so good.

FWIW, my Wylde chambered 1;9" upper shoots the 68gr bullets like yours. Easily covered with a dime and just a raggedy hole. The 62gr goes to one clean hole. Might give those a try too.

 

[TinMan]

Congratulations, looks like you done good. Like Trapper6L said, other uppers do grow on you, so think before you leap. I like the 68gr Hornady's, but also try some 69gr SMK and the 52gr SMK also, not to mention to the various tipped varmint bullets. I put a Jewell trigger in my Varmint AR, and it does make a definite difference. Also have a LaRue trigger waiting for my flattop carbine, but haven't had the time to put it in yet.

 

[Doug Roberts]

AR

Pretty cool Paul. Shoots good and looks good, too. If you want to mess around with the tuning, adjust that gas block. I had a 24", .204 varmint upper with an adjustable gas block. In an attempt to reduce the launching of fired brass into the next county, I discovered something else I hadn't considered. Adjusting the gas block valve also changed the point of impact.

 

[george in KY]

good on ya bud !

every one should build an AR ..AND START WITH A 80% LOWER !

 

[17VLD]

Great looking rifle....

And it shoots even better than it looks,great job.That 26” barrel looks good too,I would have thought it would be a little much for an AR,but it really looks good,probably nice and fast too
Matt

 

[Paul Workman]

Ah, thanks for the comments, guys. And, YES it is soooo true about the UPPER DISEASE...I got it BAD! (Already thinking about a 6.5 Creedmore for my RRA (AR 10) LAR8.

And, thanks 4 the tips. I built it with the "68s" in mind, but will try a range of pills to see what it prefers.

I have always had excellent results with N133 in just about any 223 rifle shooting bullets in the 50-55gn weights. But, I'm curious if the N135 (or N540 even) under the heavier blts might work better than N133. Any thoughts?

.

 

[TinMan]

Paul, regarding the heavier bullets, you will probably max out around 75gr, it all depends on length. Sierra used to make a match bullet 75gr SMK that would stabilize, but the 77gr SMK would not. At least that was my experience at the time. Haven't looked lately.

Also, ARs are tall, and with the pistol grip, it is easy to cant the rifle inadvertently, especially at long range. There are several neat levels available (some attach straight onto the rail) that will help until you develop the proper muscle memory.

How heavy is your AR, with that 26" heavy barrel? My 24" varmint AR is fluted SS, but it still weighs a ton.

 

[was skruske]

Good news is a Krieger barrel in .223 will shoot accurately with 1000s & 1000s of rounds down the bore.

Work up a 55gr Ballistic tip load and you will have a tool that is perfect for most prairie dog towns

 

[Paul Workman]

Paul, regarding the heavier bullets, you will probably max out around 75gr, it all depends on length. Sierra used to make a match bullet 75gr SMK that would stabilize, but the 77gr SMK would not. At least that was my experience at the time. Haven't looked lately.

Also, ARs are tall, and with the pistol grip, it is easy to cant the rifle inadvertently, especially at long range. There are several neat levels available (some attach straight onto the rail) that will help until you develop the proper muscle memory.

How heavy is your AR, with that 26" heavy barrel? My 24" varmint AR is fluted SS, but it still weighs a ton.

The (Wylde) 223 AR weighs 14.4#, as does the RRA 308 I shot at the BBB over a year ago. (Both including scopes, have 26" x .920"± @ the muzzle stainless bbls [w/ unloaded magazines included]. Neither bbl is fluted. Neither gun do I consider "walk-about" guns (DUH!). I have a Bushmaster 223 "Varminter" UPPER that has a smaller diameter, fluted bbl in 223 I have used for "walk-about".

I have 200 Berger 77s to try, but also some Berger 73s as well. (Heavy for twist has usually worked well for me for competition and longest ranges. Lighter pills (some) shoot very well at close ranges too. And, they have the advantage of higher velocity too.

"Shoot what it likes!" Truth is where one finds it - whatever works...WORKS! .

More as things develop...

 

[Markbo]

Just a FWIW when I was tweaking loads in my ARs the final tweak was OAK. It really seemed to dial their favorite loads in. You obviously have a ringer already.

 

[Paul Workman]

Just a FWIW when I was tweaking loads in my ARs the final tweak was OAK. It really seemed to dial their favorite loads in. You obviously have a ringer already.

"OAK" = ?? I'm not familiar w/ that one. (Over All ____? or maybe a typo and U meant OAL??)

I single load my RRA LAR8 ("AR10" 308) because the match COL for the long match blts is too long for the magazine. But, it is a SIN to assume. So, I'm going to have to check and see if my Wilson seating stem is indexing on the bullet tip instead of on the body... that might be the ticket to the last measure of accuracy if it's indexing on the tip.

Hmmmm..... thanks to "City Boy", he has me thinking maybe I better "smoke" some bullets and see just where the seating stem is actually making contact!

.

 

[Kentucky Fisherman]

Congrats, Paul. With that 26" straight Krieger barrel, that rifle is a beast. Glad your first test went so well.

Carpman

 

[Markbo]

Sorry Paul OAL or COL.