Despite new long-range cartridges coming out yearly, .308 Winchester — and its military equivalent, 7.62×51 NATO — remains one of the most popular long-distance calibers today. That’s largely thanks to the AR-10 and LR-308 platform. This begs the question: What’s the best barrel length for .308? When chambering this cartridge in a tactical rifle like…
Gun barrels are all made from two types of steel: Stainless, and carbon (we cover the differences here). Most tactical rifle owners prefer carbon steel barrels for their hardness, heat resistance, and longevity. There are a few types of carbon steels used to make barrels, but one type of steel — advertised as 4150 CMV…
Whether you’re building your first AR-15 from scratch, upgrading to a new upper receiver, or swapping barrels on your rifle, you’ve gotta pick between two types of steel: Carbon, or stainless. While there are different grades of each type of steel, more than 90% of all barrels made today use either 4150 carbon steel, or…
Maybe you’re buying your first AR-15, or upgrading your upper. Or maybe you’re building one from scratch. Either way, you’ve figured out what specifications you want in your barrel — length, gas system, twist rate, caliber — except for one: What barrel finish will you choose? QPQ nitride or chrome lining? Which one’s better, and…
“Holdovers? What holdovers?!” You ask, as you ring steel anywhere between the bench and a few hundred yards with no effort. What if you could just aim and fire at any target, and always hit near the center? That’s what a Maximum Point Blank Range (“MPBR”) zero does. Here’s how it works, and how to…
You see it every time you buy ammo: “55-grain 5.56 NATO,” or, “147-grain 9mm.” What does “grain” even mean? How does it affect accuracy, takedown power, and overall performance? When should you opt for heavier or lighter grain weights? Here are all the answers. What is Bullet Grain Weight? If you thought of agriculture when…
6.5 Creedmoor is perhaps the most popular 6.5mm cartridge on the market today. It’s also the most popular AR-10 caliber, replacing .308 Winchester and 7.62×51 NATO as the favorite for long-range bench shooting in the semiautomatic platform. But to achieve optimal performance with any long-range caliber, you need to select the right barrel length. And,…
When it comes to building a pistol-caliber carbine using the AR platform, 9mm is the best cartridge. It’s a high-capacity round that needs no gas system and produces almost no felt recoil. It can be suppressed with subsonics, or it can maximize 9mm’s velocity to push the limits of what your AR9 pistol (or rifle)…
The best overall barrel length for .300 Blackout is 10.5″. There you go! You can leave now. But you probably want to know why this is the optimal barrel length, especially if you’re building your next AR-15. We’ve got the ballistic data comparing 300 Blackout barrel lengths and velocities to illustrate why 10.5″ is optimal….
Yes, you can hunt with an AR-15 in most U.S. states. The AR platform is excellent for building a lightweight, accurate hunting rifle that can easily be configured to adhere to some states’ hunting restrictions on magazine capacity and calibers. Unlike most bolt guns and deer rifles — which need to be bought off the…
