trevorst

I have owned quite a few AR's, pretty fond of the ones I have built...  If I was buying another one already together I would get a Daniel Defense M4V4 and stick the optic (Eotech/Aimpoint/etc..) of my choice.  Extremely well put together, reliable, accurate, not that costly.   Despite what some say makes a heck of a home defense weapon with the right ammo.

No good pawn shops in Johnson City, Kingsport or Elizabethton...   At least that I know of.

I still dont think really anything is wrong with this upper, it is quite possible that it isnt properly broken in.  It is also quite possible that you still havent found its sweet spot on bullet/powder/oal.  Most likely it is a combination of all of the above.  Couple all of this with frustration and 3-4" groups are easy, add in a 5.5lb trigger pull when you are going for precision and they are not only easy but expected.   Barrel break in is a real thing and is very important for a long lasting accurate rifle.   Go to this website, read it... live it... love it.   http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/Break_In__Cleaning-c1246-wp2558.htm     Good luck on achieving one hole goodness, and most of all enjoy it.  A bad day at the range fighting wind and 4" groups is better than work lol.

If the handguard is easily removed I would just remove that and insure nothing is touching, the nut unless it was way under spec should hold it for at least a few rounds before it loosened.   For the record every Wilson barrel I have ever had (and there has been a couple) has been an excellent shooter.  Not a bad barrel at all. (My rock river Wilson didnt shoot the tightest groups in the world but it was a free love barrel... It would shoot anything pretty much sub MOA lol)     Lilja and Lothar Walther are also excellent barrels that will yield great results and are usually purchased with no wait time (Bartlein, Krieger, Rock, Brux, etc also wonderful but usually have a hideous wait..)

RWF brings up a very valid point, if anything is loose then it could easily be causing a shift in POI. I had a rock river predator pursuit with a Wilson barrel that would string shots as it heated up, mine the issue was rock river had bent the gas tube and it was touching the barrel. New gas tube and the rifle went from a 1-1.5 MOA rifle to a consistent .75 MOA rifle. Another occasion was a custom .308 I purchased assembled by a "reputable" company. It had a very expensive barrel and struggled to break 1 MOA, I sent it back and got the blah blah, we done this, we done that. It still struggled to break 1 MOA, finally I realized that the hand guard had shifted when they tightened it and it was touching the bottom of the gas block effectively negating my free float. That rifle now shoots tiny little bug holes with regularity. Moral to the story, don't assume that because you purchased from a dealer that everything is perfect with your build (this is why every rifle I own in the future I will put together...)

Thank God for Harbor Freight torque wrenches LOL..

The Rock rivers are somewhere in between, lots of ar15 lower parts are interchangeable among all of the variants. The rock rivers are great rifles but share the least compatibility. Most compatible would have to be the sr25/dpms patterns thanks to magpul. To further complicate things, Rock river purchased the pattern from Bushmaster (which is owned by the same company that owns dpms and remington). So if you look hard enough you can find rock river patterned bushmasters lol. Dpms gets a bad rap (and some of it may be justifiable) on their ar15 stuff but their LR308 line is pretty solid.

Mk12 out of that group b5 stock much better than magpul. Not to mention the excellent jp trigger. With that said, I don't recommend carbine stock .308s for several reasons all manufacturers think you can just put a carbine buffer and your good.... Not so way to much recoil, and issue with wear and tear on gun. If you get a carbine get one of these: http://heavybuffers.com/ar10carbine.html In my opinion they are very heavy rifles, don't try to make it something it isn't. Full stock with rifle buffer more pleasant to shoot. Research the SASS, it's way more rifle than what it should cost.

I have a few dpms pattern rifles (2 of which are on the for sale page.... Shameless plug lol). The other pattern not mentioned is the rock river which isn't compatible with anything but fal mags. If I was buying right now brand new I would get a DPMS SASS, unreal rifle for the money and will shoot right up there with custom rifles. If I was building I would probably just get ahold of GA precision and get a GAP-10, because I can vouch for the fact building will cost a fortune. Some of the DPMS parts are interchangeable with Armalite, my Lothar-Walther barrel is made for Armalite and requires an Armalite rifle length gas tube (which is hard as heck to get and pricey for a gas tube). Both will use aftermarket triggers (as long as it will pop a .308 primer and isn't so light that the recoil has you in full auto...ask me how I know about that.)

I have some extra cash laying around, this may be a worthwhile expenditure.... Loads of .223 brass to cut down..... Check. Loads of 40gr .223 bullets...... Check. Sturdy backstop at 100 yards... Check. Curious as to what the dies for it are running (time to do some googling...)

Ky gun co has it available for $549 ish... Heck of a gun.

I second the primary arms, great scope for the money. Would suggest a burris 1-4x also as they can be found on the cheaper side if you look hard enough usually they come with a pepr mount also (sometimes a fastfire also..).

I own both leupold varix-III 6.5x20 and the vortex 6.5x20. The vortex is mil dot and has more adjustment to it. Both are about equal in low light and mirage. The last leupold I bought and really felt I got my money's worth was a varix-III 4.5-14x50 very good low light scope for coyote. I am a pretty big vortex fan these days.

I am telling you 260 rem or 6.5creedmore is the perfect distance rifle, very low recoil, good barrel life, bullets cheaper than .30. At distance the 260 rem is ballistically comparable to 300 win mag without the recoil. http://www.snipercentral.com/260.htm Easy to make brass from .243 7mm-08, or .308. Lapua makes brass now for it.... 6.5mm bullets have a great selection and in tough times are much easier to find than the .308, inherently accurate. Creed more is easier to shoot the longer vld bullets but brass is my issue. My 14 year old shoots my 260 with ease, my 8year old has shot it.....i can see impacts from my semi auto 260 and my bolt. 800 yd shots with it are pie compared to .308 and trying to shoot a .223 those long ranges unless you live in a vacuum is an exercise in futility. The 260 shooting a 140gr bullet at 2700fps is still supersonic at 1400 yards.... The round will do everything you want to do and then some. Go find a savage .260 and reap the rewards. ******if you don't reload then the 243 isn't a bad choice*******

I stated that 1500 rounds was a good average but I personally know someone that had a rem700 open up from sub MOA to about 6 MOA over the span of 700 rounds. That's not a lot of shooting really and those were done with moly coated bullets... To this day he still jokes that the 700 in the rem 700 stands for good for that many rounds. Personally I would just re barrel when the group starts to open (and a savage makes this ohhhh so much easier). For a reloaders though there are better cartridges available than .243 with little to no recoil and better ballistics.

Those are excellent groups. I may be able to print some 50yd groups that would look like your 100 lol(for a $250 rifle with a 2.5lb trigger it would surprise you). I use my savage to train quietly,cheaply, and conveniently my 308 and 260, which i shoot at much longer distances. Make no mistake its not an Anschutz, but for the price it's a difficult rifle to beat.

I would set my Savage FV-SR against any .22 under $1k and wouldn't walk away embarrassed. And that's coming from someone who has owned a Kimber, Savage-Anschutz, Ruger 77/22, BRNO, remington 581T, and shot many other models including the CZ's. The Savage stock is stinky and will need to be replaced along with the bottom hardware if you are going to get really serious, but for the low entry price that's doable. For the record the savage as far feeding from the mag is what you would expect from a cheap .22, accuracy though is superb.

I have that same rifle except mine is cerakoted OD. Great rifle, the 53gr Sierra match king is amazing in that rifle. Nice shot btw.

1500 rounds would be a good average of a .243 barrel life. 260 rem is a better distance cartridge and a little easier on barrel life (can neck up all of your .243 brass also). I like the idea of heavy .223 bullets in a 1/7 twist barrel (I have one, its fun). Distance wise or from an energy standpoint on game it's not in the same ball park as a .243/260/257, one plus though is 25ish grains of powder vs 45ish. (Love the idea of the .25 calibers, although the 25-06 is a beast (and I truly have a soft spot in my heart for it) it's a barrel eater also... 257 Roberts is nice but never cared for the .25 bullet choices.) Look into the 6.5 offerings you may be surprised at some of the articles and reviews.

The challenger I and II still pops up occasionally (they are great also.... Last steel frame .22s for Browning...). The III is a tougher one to find it was only made a few years and transitioned into the buckmark. If you found one with the round 6 7/8" sporter barrel in a III that would have been a rare find as most had the slab sided barrel, I believe. The II and III can use the older buckmark mags and the new ones with a little modification, the original is much harder. All super nice little .22s though.

Found one of my unicorns this past week, 20 years ago I sold a Browning Challenger III 22 pistol, to help pay for my last semester of college. I have regretted it ever since...(not college... The pistol lol). This week I repurchased a like new one that very well may be my old one. Long story short after the 14 year old and 6 year old ran 350 flawless rounds through her, it's now a family heirloom. And yes I need to post pics lol.

I own a 77/22, not a bad rifle. Looks a million times better than this.... Looking for a excellent shooting plastic stock .22 and a great price? The rifle makers name starts with an S and ends with avage....

Yep only a Gen4 beats it  :pleased:

Glock 19. (Love me some Glock 20 though).

Got mine back in the 90s for $400ish, one of very few I have deep regrets over selling. Outshot every python I have owned (and I have owned quite a few...)