Accu-wedge?

I watched a few video's on accurizing an AR and many were using a wedge or something similar. Only one guy actually showed an accuracy test and it wasn't that great of an improvement, at least to me. My upper and lower are pretty tight right now. May loosen up over time and I'll worry about it then. I'd like to get a spacer to move my grip back a little for a better trigger pull. They use to make a spacer for this. I assume they still do, I just haven't looked.
 
I have them in all my AR15 precision oriented rifles, perhaps twenty-five plus rifles, I don't believe they accomplish anything more than removing the slop between the upper and lower and any improved results are strictly from just that.

I hate a sloppy upper/lower fit.
 
I've been tweeking my AR however, it just won't shoot like my bolt guns, It shoots about .75 @ 100yds. I've never tried the accu-wedge however next time I find one I'll give it a shot. Seems to me that it would make an improvement! We torque action screws in our bolt guns makes sense to me to have a tight upper and lower. You might only gain 1/4 MOA but
 
bohunr said:
it seemed to help mine. it tighten it up, maybe its a mental thing. if its tight its more accurate. for what they cost it doesnt hurt.
Click to expand...
Don't sell mental short when it comes to shooting. Concentration has a very large bearing on accuracy.
Hunter55 said:
I've been tweeking my AR however, it just won't shoot like my bolt guns, It shoots about .75 @ 100yds. I've never tried the accu-wedge however next time I find one I'll give it a shot. Seems to me that it would make an improvement! We torque action screws in our bolt guns makes sense to me to have a tight upper and lower. You might only gain 1/4 MOA but
Click to expand...
None of my ARs were terribly sloppy fit, and that may have a bearing on the fact that I didn't see a noticeable change in accuracy w/the wedge. It seemed logical that tightening up the fit would improve accuracy, but I just couldn't tell any real difference.
Widow maker 223 said:
I have one gun that has a little slop, it shoots 1/2-3/4'' groups with several different loads.

One lower I made from scratch out of steel locks up tighter than a vault and doesnt shoot any better.
Click to expand...
My experience as well.
 
The only way a 'wedge' could help is to take up slop between the upper and lower - the bang part and the held part. But - any slop should be repeatable on the shot. Rifling torques the upper when shot. Doubt anything noticeable unless >300 yd shots.
 
they do help with rattling yes as many has noted.
Actual accuracy didn't have a notable difference, like some has have stated I did feel or think it was better. But group sizes didn't go down (cycling was smoother)
 
Last edited:
My rifle doesn't have a rattle as of yet but it is pretty new so that may be the reason for a decent tight fit. I did see a good idea on another site where the guy made bushings for his receiver pin holes and it really tightened up his upper and lower, but its more work than many of us would want to do just to stop a rattle. I got spoiled with a RRA Predator rifle years ago. It was close, really close, to shooting as good as some of my bolt rifles. Now the bar is set pretty high and I expect a lot out of an AR and I'm not even close yet. But comparing a $500 rifle to a $1200 rifle is probably the issue. Point is, I don't think an Accu-Wedge is going to solve my problems. LOL! I don't mind spending a few bucks on a new barrel but when I see reviews I can't help but wonder if its worth the money and am I just going to end up with nothing better than what I already have. I've always been an accuracy freak. I want to know that when/if I miss its not the rifles fault.
 
A thin rubber O-ring of the proper size snugly placed on the front lug of the upper receiver will stop the slop. It is cheap, easy to acquire, and there is nothing inside the rifle to work itself into a position to cause any trouble.
 
Like I mentioned I did try them once, it did tighten up the rattle in the rifle I tried it in. Didn't change accuracy one bit on the target.
My final opinion is pretty much if you like the results, great use it. But it does not add to anything, except fitment of the upper and lower in my experience. To some it is worthwhile, as the rattle does bother them. That does not mean that it couldn't just in my case it didn't. But it did "sound" and "feel" smoother in operation, which honestly is not a measurement in reality in my simple opinion.

I don't even consider it any more if the AR I have at my disposal rattles, no problem, provided it meets my accuracy needs. If it doesn't perform to my expectations I look every where else except the upper and lower mating. I'm not discouraging the thought, or practice. Just my limited (meaning I'm not working on YOUR rifle) experience is it's just not the cause. Will I swap to get the best fit possible with a upper and lower in the start? Yes, but it's not a requirement.
Does it discount the idea? No, if one desires a tight fit whom am I to say they are wrong or foolish to seek such. If they feel that it will improve their rifle in some way.

Personally I'm not on either side of the fence, nor am I on the fence. I simply don't focus / consider on it. Just rather what it shoots like as it sits. If it does not perform the barrel is the first suspect in my mind, after I check the barrel nut tightness / alignment.
Could it egg out a take down pin hole? yes it could, just as much as any misalignment would as a example with a tolerancing stack up.
Should it? No, the material "should" give enough support or upward pressure to have a proper alignment yet provide support by it's design concept.
I've seen others offer in the past a set screw from the bottom of the lower to do the same effect in the past. But funny you don't see that anymore being offered. I've seen like many of ya'll other companies offer "shimming kits", steel sleeves to insert into the upper lugs, etc etc... all have fell by the wayside over the years.

Yet the accu-wedge remains as the least evasive attempt for this idea. So honestly would I condemn or promote the concept. Neither is the answer.
Does it make a "difference" ? Depends on what is the difference sought. Some would say yes, some no.

Like hm1996 pointed out on confidence I've seen gunsmith's use a bore scope to their advantage with customers let them look down the barrel, talk about how bad the barrel is.
Now the customer can't hit the broad side of a barn, when before they could produce decent accuracy. Naturally a new barrel was installed, the customer now happy.
I "had" a Rem 700 in 7mm Mag that he tried the same trick on me, which I refused to look at the scope. Instead I just shot the rifle to evaluate. 5 shots cloverleafed on target at his range he sat there in disbelief ... my son now uses that same rifle with it's "pitted" looks like "5 miles of bad Georgia backroads" factory barrel (IIRC the barrel date code was 1963? maybe 1965 not sure but I do recall it was earlier than 1968). To harvest game every year, my only advice was to him never look at the barrel with a borescope, it will scare the accuracy right out of the barrel. (same ole girl, different dress)
 
Last edited:
A rattling upper would theoretically have zero impact to accuracy since the optic is mounted to the upper itself. You would only have the parallax issue of the scope not sitting perfectly still in the same exact spot every shot (no chance it’s noticeable within the accuracy of an AR). If you are moving it enough to make it shake while you are taking a shot, it aint hitting what you are aiming at anyways.

Mine have the extra threaded spot in the lower for the nylon tipped grub screw, it tightens up the lower/upper connection to where you arent moving it with a hammer. Does make it a little more difficult to pull the pins, especially in the summer, but still doable in the field.
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top