What AR to buy? I'm obsessed with accuracy. Thanks F-Class!

Mac MacDonald · Nov 24, 2011

I'm about to make the switch to 3 Gun. I'm in the buying phase for a quality AR and Shotgun. I've been shooting USPSA, IDPA, and F-Class for the past year and a half and I'll admit, I think F-Class has ruined me. Let me tell you why.

In my search for an accurate AR I'm finding myself expecting to find a rifle that shoots 1/4 to 1/2 MOA. It's the F-class in me. I know there are 1/2 MOA ARs but weight comes into consideration in 3 Gun. I mean, my F-Class rifle is like 14lbs but I shoot prone and I don't have to run around with it.

What level of accuracy should I settle for? I see range reports on a lot of guns and guys seems happy with 1.25 - 1.5 MOA. Is this acceptable? What weight is acceptable/common?

I really want an 18" Larue OBR 5.56 (heard it is sick accurate) but the weight on it is a concern. So I've started to consider a Larue Predatar 18" 5.56 but the thin barrel is a big concern for me.

Do light weight 1/2-3/4 MOA ARs exists? Am I obsessing over the wrong things?

Thanks for any insight you can provide and please, be gentle...I'm new! LOL

Deathtrap · Nov 24, 2011

JP makes rifles that will shoot .5 moa and are very light. Colt, stag and a few others are making 3gun rifles now( although I don't know about the weight or accuracy)

Mitch Rapp · Nov 24, 2011

Mac MacDonald said:
Do light weight 1/2-3/4 MOA ARs exists? Am I obsessing over the wrong things?

Thanks for any insight you can provide and please, be gentle...I'm new! LOL

My Rock River AR-15 A4 mid-length (16 inch barrel) came from the factory shooting 3/4 MOA. And it comes with a National Match trigger. I know this is probably not the best you could do for the money, and if I were to buy it all over again knowing what I know now I would probably build one. That should give you an idea of what a quality AR is capable of, right out of the box. I know Rock River guarantees 1 MOA on their guns.

drmitchgibson · Nov 24, 2011

Matches have been won with 2 MOA rifles. There won't be near as many long-range shots as there are shots under 25 yards, and the speed of handling comes into play in transitioning across a large number of short-range targets. The long-range shots will be from a variety of positions on a variety of terrain, and may be timed, so it won't be like getting to spend 30 seconds or a few minutes lining up a shot.

McGuire · Nov 24, 2011

Any AR is a 700 yard rifle max anyway, on a good day. Thats a MAX, I think that an assault rifle is built for 500m or less anyway, and if you are shooting mostly under 300, even a 16 inch barrel will do all day. Ive shot a 16 inch barrel on a standard kit a good bit at 300+ meters and its battle ready all day. I think that the modern shooting obsession with miniscule moa rifles has forgotten that shooting skill belongs in the hands of the shooter. The tool is secondary.

Matt1911 · Nov 24, 2011

Loki 18 or 20 inch barrels will do the trick. Or better yet, send JP a lower and have them build you a rifle from it. There's another thread floating around here somewhere talking about it.

jtischauser · Nov 25, 2011

My Stag Model 3G shoots sub MOA and it weighs 8.0 lbs. It uses an 18" fluted HBAR made by E.R. Shaw.

MyJP CTR-02 shoots sub MOA and it weighs 7.4 lbs. It wears an 18" light contour barrel made by Wilson.

Both rifles were weighed with no optics.

You only need about a 2 moa gun in 3 gun so just about any 16" chrome lined pencil barrel will work just fine. I too like to be able to know that if I do my part there will be a hit.

Browtine · Nov 25, 2011

In my limited experience, a 1.5-2" gun is perfectly fine for 3 gunning. A 2 moa gun at 400 is capable of consistantly hitting a MGM flasher (10" round with 5x5" square on top).

This is a little off topic, but when you guys are doing load development with your rifles, do you use your low powered 3 gun optics or switch out to something with a little more magnification? My groups are right around 1.5" with 4x, but I think the groups would tighten up if I had a little higher magnification.

jtischauser · Nov 25, 2011

Browtine said:
This is a little off topic, but when you guys are doing load development with your rifles, do you use your low powered 3 gun optics or switch out to something with a little more magnification? My groups are right around 1.5" with 4x, but I think the groups would tighten up if I had a little higher magnification.

Please start a new topic as I would hate for this one to get lost in another thread. Good conversation here.

Mac MacDonald · Nov 26, 2011

Well...I pulled the trigger on a Noveske 18" Rogue Hunter. http://noveskerifleworks.com/cgi-bin/imcart/display.cgi?item_id=18rh-556&cat=124&page=1&search=&since=&status=&title=

In the end it came down to the Larue Predatar and the Noveske Rogue Hunter. I just liked the base offering on the Noveske better so went with that one.

I looked into the JP option but just don't have enough experience on the AR platform to make an informed decision about all their options. The Noveske will be my "welcome to running the crap out of an AR" gun and, once I become proficient, I'll make the Noveske my non comp gun and build out a comp only AR with the guys at JP.

Up next I'm gonna need to buy all my reloading gear and then a mount, optic, trigger, and brake.

Exciting times!!!