accuracy help

[tmckay2]

what is the biggest factor in accuracy (besides the operator)? barrel? bolt/carrier? i would like to slowly upgrade my stock del-ton and wondered what i should look for first. thanks!

[Colorado Osprey]

Start by putting your bare upper reciever on a lathe and square the barrel end to the reciever so the barrel sits perfectly square to the reciever.

Next a high quality free float barrel would be the next step.

Select Shilen Match blanks after being machined for an AR can usually hold 1/4-1/2 MOA.

Need a source?
www.dtechsuperstore.com

The bolt and carrier apart from being headspaced correctly have little to do with accuracy.

Next to let you take advantage of the barrel accuracy you probably want to upgrade the trigger to something more target oriented instead of defense oriented... Lighter, crisper break... maybe a 2 stage depending on the shooter.

[BadShot]

Verifying the barrel is in spec is a great first move, but if that isn't do-able (should be done by a smith unless you know what you're doing) the trigger is a good starting point. Second, make sure you have good sights, iron and optics, then free float the barrel by going to railed hand guards, LaRue, Daniel Defense or Troy or a tube like like the VTAC.

Honestly the trigger will be the most obvious improvement. Also chose your bullet weights correctly for your twist rate and use quality ammunition.

With a super customized AR and the right ammunition and optic you can punch sub-MOA holes in paper at decent ranges. Then again, a del-ton isn't really the type of rifle that has a reputation for being a "match" grade weapon. For what you're about to drop into this thing if you take our advise, you might just do better to buy a purpose built rifle for accuracy shooting.

If you're looking for sub-200m accuracy, well most of the above still applies, just stay away from finicky "competition" type triggers.

All of these suggestions are based on generalities. If you have more detail you can give on your goal that would help us in guiding you in the right direction.

[tmckay2]

thanks for the help. basically i was looking to improve my rifle without dropping a lot of dough. for example, my rifle cost like $600 total, i can free float it for around 130, get good flip up sights for around 100 (do some serious searching) a good secure bipod for 80. now i just need a good scope. but without the scope that brings the rifle total to around 900 which stil lisn't bad. and i don't need competitive level accuracy just hoping to get a bit MORE accurate, as im sure we all are. more than anything i think this operator just needs more practice. usually at 100 yards i can get all rounds on paper the size of a head with an ncstar scope, which isn't awful. just doesn't hold zero for longer than one day

[BadShot]

Then I'd say the first 2 things you should do are 1. Get a quality optic 2. Get a 2 stage trigger. The real important aspect here to keep in mind is that you get what you pay for. So save your pennies and buy once, cry once. That's a mistake many of us have made. So yeah, you don't have all the wizbang stuff out of the gate, but at least when you have it, you can rely on it.

Learn to run your iron sights and you can put at a minimum fist sized groups COM at 100 yards, pretty easy to do actually. A quality rear sight will go a long way towards that goal as well.

[Hoser]

Ammo, Barrel, Sights/Optics, Trigger.

Ammo. Garbage in, garbage out.
Barrel. Crap barrels wont shoot no matter what you put in them.
Sights/Optics. You have to be able to see it to hit it.
Trigger. Get a Geiselle, JP, or an AR Gold. They aint cheap. Cry once.

Dont forget about the loose nut behind the scope. They need instruction as well. Remember even Gold Medal winners have coaches.