I have a 16" mid length rifle with a stainless steel White Oak Armament 1:8 barrel with Wylde chamber.

I've had it for around 10 years. This  is what it looked like when it was originally purchased.



I really liked the idea of a midlength  gas system, and stainless steel barrels were catching a lot of attention, so I picked this one up at a gun show. I didn't really have any plans for it.

Eventually, I scoped it and after a few years I added a free float Troy rail system.

I added a Nikon Monarch  2.5-10X scope on a Larue SPR-E mount. In this configuration I had a lot of success with 55 grain ballistic tips.


I installed a 51T flash hider mount for my AAC M4-2000 suppressor. After adding the suppressor, I could still get 1 inch groups at 100 yards. However, I didn't shoot the rifle much anymore, as I got into Colt 1911s,  and that consumed me for a few years.

I ultimately added a longer free float rail, and removed the front sight base in lieu of a low profile gas block under the rail. After repainting, here she is:



A few confessions:
1- I have shot this rifle with a 22lr conversion kit.
2- I've shot plenty of cheap ammo (steel cased) through her.
3- I clean it with a bore snake, hardly ever with a rod with brush/patch.

After lots of testing with multiple loads, this rifle system seems to be unable to group well (>1").

Is it time for a new barrel?  How do you know?

Before I replace it I would give it a really good cleaning with the Kroil/JP Paste system from Brownells and in some VFG pellets and a good rod to really make sure that you are not dealing with copper and lead nastyness, that are known causes for accuracy loss.  

Boresnakes are something that I sue for cleaning in the field, but not as a regular cleaning item, they are very fast and convenient, but I'm not sold on how solid of a fouling removal job they do.

That's just my 0.02, and I'm not actually a firearms cleanlyness nazi, I will frequently go months and 1000's of rounds between cleanings of the bore, above normally fixes any accuracy issues that I am having.

1.1" @ 100 is still good enough and over your 1" limit. Maybe you should be more specific on how "bad" these groups are.

Estimated, how many rounds have you shot through the barrel?

I agree. It needs a VERY thorough bore cleaning, especially since it's had lead through it.

Plan on ruining at least one bronze brush doing it. Lead can be a mother to get out.

Here are some targets I shot this week. These were shot without a suppressor at 100yds. It started out pretty windy, but the range has full side berms so I'm basically in a bowl. By the time I shot these groups, the wind had died down.







The Ammo ranged from 50gr to 77gr, and anywhere from $9/box to almost $27/box.

Good question. I wish I knew. Maybe a few thousand at most.

I'll give it a good cleaning and try it again. I am just really depressed it couldn't do any better than that with some really good ammo I tried.



That represents a lot of money's worth of lead and time it took to find it.

Unless you are on a steady diet of steel cased ammo 1000 rounds is nothing. 5000 rounds is an average lifespan for a high power competition rifle and that's only because they will stop shooting X-ring at 600 yards around then. That same barrel could solder on for fun at least 5000 more rounds.

Steel case ammo ruins barrels in short order. The bullets are a bi-metal design that are hell on barrels. 4000 is a long time when shooting that crap.

I think it's the powder and priming mix that does them in quicker with steel, personally.

Stainless steels are often soft, especially from some of the major sources, because they are easier to drill a straight hole through than CM or CMV.

Chamber pressure can be pretty high with some of the 5.56 loads out there, so gas-checking the throat will lead to accuracy issues often.

I would pull the barrel anyway and step up to a cartridge that performs like a .308 175gr SMK, but with half the recoil.

For precision work, .223 Rem is just very boring to me now, to the point that I wonder when I will ever get around to loading for it, when I have so many different 6.5 Grendel bullets and cases ready to go.

Impact on steel is totally different, sounds like a 168gr SMK just about, but you can see your own hits through the scope since there isn't much muzzle climb.

Your current set-up is a perfect host for Grendel when you are ready to make your transition over.

If you want a .223 Wylde barrel that will last an unbelievable life time, get a JP.

I guess I need to give her a good deep cleaning tonight.

Other than a brush, what's the best way to get lead out of a barrel?

Good advice. I have other rifles in .308win. Unfortunately, I try to stay away from non-NATO calibers, as I don't reload.

A brush and Kroil is the least toxic solution I've used. Kroil is pretty good about getting under the lead and helping the brush strip it out.

I don't have any Kroil, but I used a couple different anti-copper solvents and broke in a brand-new brush cleaning the barrel tonight. It's shiny bright now!

55s aren't the most precise bullets out there.  What trigger do you have, and how do you rest your carbine when you shoot it?

I tested 50gr, 55gr, 73gr, 75gr, and 77gr.

I have a rock river arms 2- stage national match trigger in this rifle. I shoot it over a Wiebad front bag (pump pillow) and a rear bag.

Picked up some new rounds for my next range-trip. Hopefully the cleaning out of the bore will improve my groups.

OP, I definitely wouldn't throw in the towel just.  As stated, get a good copper solvent (Sweet's 7.62, Butch's or Barnes CR-10), soak a few patches and run them through.  Let it soak into the copper for a few minutes and then scrub that piece with a nylon brush.  When I'm done scrubbing with the brush, I like to run two patches with a carbon cleaner (Hoppes No 9) then run several dry patches through it.  If you've only been using a bore snake for cleaning this rifle, you'll definitely want to scrub the crap out of the chamber.  Having a chamber brush and a "T" handle for the rod are damn near essential for this task as it's super tight.

It appears you've got some good ammo.  You might try some 69gr FGMM or Black Hills Match also.

I soaked it in a copper solvent a couple times, ran a brass brush through it, and ran a bunch of patches. It sparkles!

I've looked all over for 69gr FGMM, but can't find any of it local.

Thanks for the encouragement. Hopefully the good scrubbing will make a difference.

I have noticed something about the Stainless barrels that I own.  They don't like to shoot clean.  After cleaning my 3 gun rifle it usually takes 50-100 rounds before it will group well again.  It is also a WOA barrel.

Well, I got back out to the range today and tried to see if a thorough cleaning did the trick.

i brought eight different loads with me and shot them UNsuppressed and then suppressed. All targets were shot with the same 16" mid length rifle as above at 100yds.

First I fouled the barrel with 20-ish rounds of American Eagle 55gr. After that, I shot a 5-rd group unsuppressed with each load and circled it in blue ink. Then I shot a 5-rd group suppressed with each load with an AAC M4-2k attached and circled it with a black marker.

Most groups moved considerably, some did not. That's normal.















I'm not happy with any of these groups. I think I need a new barrel.

Yup.

You can shoot a precision barrel until it starts to open up, then use it as a blaster.

The other way, not so much.

Takes about 15-20 minutes to swap tubes if you have the right tools.

Several thousand rounds of steel cased?

Pull that sucker.

Honestly, with all that money that was put into ammo testing a questionable barrel you could have just went and bought a Stealth barrel an be done with it......