Quote:
Originally Posted by jsha22lr
Ragingyeti an aluminum upper would greatly increase accuracy. My hypothesis is that as the barrel heats up, the polymer threads will begin to distort and shrink or become misformed. Metal threads wouldn't be as easy to damage or heat up.
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The 15-22 as previously mentioned actually does have aluminum inserts where the barrel mates with the upper receiver and the barrel nut screws on. However, I do not think that this has a large effect on accuracy. Like I said in my previous post, the important things are barrel, bolt/barrel mating, trigger, and optics. Obviously the shooter will play a big part in this, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jsha22lr
Wolverine, that is exactly what I was thinking talking about. By stiffening the whole receiver there is less flex in it. Now doubt that with optics there is a slight amount of flexing when you tighten on rings and sights and what not near the back. Thats why the ar target rifles are mostly heavy. The more metal there is to stiffen the whole thing the better right?
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This effects accuracy, but not really. A more accurate description would be to say that the polymer has an effect on the optic's point of aim. What I mean is that the polymer won't effect the accuracy of the round, but given enough pressure on the handguard, if any sights are mounted to it, it can throw off the point of impact from the point of aim. If you mount the optic to the receiver and free float the handguard by removing the endcap, you will no longer have this problem. For the record, an all aluminum AR15 will have this same exact problem.
Also, "the more metal there is to stiffen the whole thing the better" is not necessarily true. A heavy barrel will be more accurate than a light profile barrel, but only to a certain point. Adding metal all around the rifle in any area other than the barrel for the sake of adding material will NOT increase accuracy. It might do a million other things depending on where the weight is added, but it will not add accuracy.
Given all of this information, I still come to my original conclusion that an all aluminum receiver on this rifle will not improve accuracy.