AR15 for multi gun competition?

[Alistair]

Hi Guys,

I'm now getting comfortable enough with my pistol shooting that I'd be happy to do some comps, which bring me onto my question.

I wanna do the local 2 gun league, and I want to buy a dedicated competition AR.

My budget is up to 5k, preferably under 3. 16 or 18" barrel, off the shelf or custom.

Any recommendations? It's not an area I know a whole lot about.

Cheers!

 

[shootist~]

Take it with a grain of salt since I've been away from 3 Gun for a number of years, but look at Daniel Defense. Known good quality (or was when I used their parts and/or uppers). You may or may not want to change the trigger and muzzle device to the latest Thang however.

Check with the top end shooters in your area before deciding.

1x7 twist so you can shoot 55 to 77 grain.

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

As @shootist~ stated, "Check with the top end shooters in your area before deciding."

Great advice! Go and watch matches. Go to a local practice session and if anything like High Power rifle and bullseye Precision Pistol, the other shooters will let you try out their guns. There is a lot of AR-15 stuff on the market. Gosh, what should one buy...?

If the above doesn't make sense, White Oak makes very accurate rifles, uppers, and barrels.
Rock River is also a great brand. There are certainly brands that offer specialty built rifles for 2-gun. I however don't know which. I was a High Power Rifle, Long Range, and bullseye pistol competitor.

 

[shootist~]

But my favorite was and still is a slightly modified Noveske 16" upper.

 

[mdwest]

Lots of good options in your price range..

Daniel Defense, LaRue, LMT, Noveske, Wilson, etc are all very good options..

All of my guns are DIY special purpose builds (hog hunters, home defense, competition).. for the low end of your price range you could build a stellar competition AR yourself (takes very little in terms of specialized tools.. and frankly, its easy enough that you can figure out a lower built by watching about 20 minutes of YouTube videos.. and can figure out everything you need to know about building an upper in about the same amount of time)... Just start with a very good quality upper and lower receiver, and add in good quality components as you figure out what you like and what will meet your needs (different types of competition may call for different components)... ultimately no matter what you buy, whether its a DD, LMT, Wilson, etc.. if you get serious about competition, youre going to end up customizing and swapping some stuff out to better suit your requirements... its an inevitable part of the game..

If I had to buy an off the shelf rifle, I'd probably go with Noveske or LaRue... A company I worked for bought a pretty good number of Noveskes back in the mid 2000's to send to Iraq (maybe 50 of them? I cant remember precisely).. we PUNISHED those rifles (not intentionally.. it was just the nature of the work and the environment)... and they ran incredibly well no matter how much they got shot, beat up, etc.. And.. Mark LaRue is just a great dude, that makes a great rifle, that takes great care of his customers.. Ive never owned a LaRue rifle, but I've bought a good number of LaRue components over the years.. everything is very precisely made, and is priced very fairly, etc.. I would have no qualms at all deploying or competing with a LaRue gun..

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I would look for something with a longish gas system, and an appropriate size gas port. The big names will get the port size correct, but the length is more personal. The longer gas system should result in slower carrier travel, aiding in reliability and longevity, and potentially making the felt recoil softer.
I think an 18” barrel with a rifle gas system would be a good bet.
You can play around with buffer weights and improve the felt recoil as well.
The listed brands above are all good quality, I would probably add BCM, and Geissele Automatics to that list.
Take all this from a strictly recreational shooter who has received no formal training, but likes to read too much.

 

[Alistair]

Thanks guys.

The local range has Daniel Defense stuff in their shop and to hire, so I guess I'll give that a go. I hear excellent things about build quality and reliability on those, but not in terms of trigger feel. Guess I'll see how I fair, but I guess it's an easy enough swap if the rest of the package is good.

 

[Alistair]

Thanks guys.

The local range has Daniel Defense stuff in their shop and to hire, so I guess I'll give that a go. I hear excellent things about build quality and reliability on those, but not in terms of trigger feel. Guess I'll see how I fair, but I guess it's an easy enough swap if the rest of the package is good.

Oh, and it'll be a 16" 1-7 in 223 wylde, which should be pretty versatile.

 

[BourbonTrail]

Oh, and it'll be a 16" 1-7 in 223 wylde, which should be pretty versatile.

I’ve got the 223 Wylde barrel on one of mine. I like it for versatility.

 

[shootist~]

Pretty sure you will find the DD's (also Noveske) only come chambered in 5.56 Nato.

Ask my nephew about blown primers shooting Izzy 5.56 M193 in a Wyde. (Had to bite my tounge on that one.)

Edit to add: The Mk 262 (77 grain) or clones will be hotter still. We did the 3-G rifle events out to 425 yards. Before going to a 7.62x51, 77 grain 5.56 reloads were my preferred.

 

[B0MBOY]

go to some matches and see what the best are using. If there’s a longish distance portion it will completely change your build compared to a course where the longest is 50 yards

my recommendation is to get yourself an 18” 223 wylde upper. It’s the shortest barrel that supports a rifle length gas system (trust me you want rifle length gas ) and the 223 wylde will help you shoot a wider range of 223/556 projectiles with better accuracy. You really won’t go wrong with this as your base, Then let the competition demands decide your optic and accessories.

 

[Inline6]

3 gun? Look at JP Enterprise.

He is a good guy knows how to build ARs and is very involved in the 3 gun world. Take a look at his side charging handles too.

Noveske are not what they once were, not bad just not the cream.

DD AND BCM soild performing rifles.

 

[Newboomer]

3 gun? Look at JP Enterprise.

He is a good guy knows how to build ARs and is very involved in the 3 gun world. Take a look at his side charging handles too.

Noveske are not what they once were, not bad just not the cream.

DD AND BCM soild performing rifles.

I used a Colt Hbar Match 223 Wylde 20 inch 1-7 twist for 3 gun. Absolutely deadly with 223 or 5.56. Most accurate load for 5.56 was Sierra 69gr bthp with 19-21gr Reloder7. 20.5gr was the sweet spot.

 

[Inline6]

I used a Colt Hbar Match 223 Wylde 20 inch 1-7 twist for 3 gun. Absolutely deadly with 223 or 5.56. Most accurate load for 5.56 was Sierra 69gr bthp with 19-21gr Reloder7. 20.5gr was the sweet spot.

Not wrong with your setup at all. It sounded like the OP was looking for more race gun than anything. In most 3 gun matches you will not engage targets past 600 (usually not past 450) for that reason a good 16" will get the job done and when it is step on the skinny pedal time, it will fill that role a little better. It really depends on how the matches are setup.

*** If you are planning on running a brake, have it pin and welded so that the overall barrel length is not over 16.1" it will make a fast handling rifle ***

 

[perttime]

Depending on what rules you play by, you might also need optics and some accessories like a bipod or barricade stop.

I went to an indoor IPSC handgun match on Sunday. Me and my friend proved to ourselves, again, that people make mistakes under pressure

 

[mark-hunter]

I am not expert on ar15, tried few of them, and will shortly buy one.
However, some of them have very short length of pull, at least for me. (including some high end ar15s, and even including telescopic stocks)
I am not sure what is the reason for this, but keep in mind when selecting a gun for you.

 

[shootist~]

Lots of different versions of 3-Gun. From USPSA Open to more limited gear requirements. The Trijicon 1-6 Mil Dot I have on my 9.3x62 would work nicely for 3-G in most cases.

 

[USN]

F1 firearms!

 

[mdsalern]

I’ve been a 3 gun RSO. The only suggestion I have is an adjustable gas block if your competition rules allow it. There are a lot of nice rifles out there, I have a Wilson Combat.