20inch or 24inch for long range AR

Hey brothers and sisters im in need of some info.
For a long range AR should i go with 20in or 24in barrel?

What caliber?

How long is long?

Assuming either .223 or .308, 18inch 1/7 works very well for .223 and helps you keep the weapon a little smaller and lighter and should be able to engage out to 800yds without getting overly fancy, as for .308 20 inch barrel is more than enough just be sure you get a 1/11.25 or even a 1/10 and that would get you past 1000yds. I prefer the heavier bullets though 77gr in .223 and 168gr or 175gr in .308, thus I am a fan of the faster twist.

My 20" RRA Varmint with a 1/8 twist easily gets me to 600 yards shooting the 77SMK. Someday you may want to suppress it. A 24" barrel with a can on it starts to get pretty long if you are moving around a lot.

Trust me, my long range bolt gun has a 26" barrel plus a can. It's A LOT of gun to carry around.

I say go 20"

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Originally Posted by kraven251

Assuming either .223 or .308, 18inch 1/7 works very well for .223 and helps you keep the weapon a little smaller and lighter and should be able to engage out to 800yds without getting overly fancy, as for .308 20 inch barrel is more than enough just be sure you get a 1/11.25 or even a 1/10 and that would get you past 1000yds. I prefer the heavier bullets though 77gr in .223 and 168gr or 175gr in .308, thus I am a fan of the faster twist.

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I agree, and this is what I have done for my self

20 or 24, doesn't matter IMO. Either will work. Twist and quality manufacturer are more important.

Go for a 20". The diff is probable 30fps and longer barrels whip more (if you compare equal dia. barrels of the same material). I cut a 24" bull down to 18", lost 75fps for 6". Accuracy is the same.

AR-10 or AR-15?

My AR-10 in 260 has a 25 inch barrel and the AR-15 in 223 that I shoot the furthest has a 20 inch barrel.