I have tried to find the answer but have failed I guess. Everywhere I look premium is directly related to the barrel, but I ordered this upper on the 4th:

PSA 16" Mid Stainless 5.56 NATO 1/7 SS12G2 Premium - Without BCG or Charging Handle

Is it the barrel that makes this a premium, or something to do with the upper itself?

FN made barrel

This.

Not to question PSA, anyone or that it is not a FN barrel, but I went through every stainless steel barrel upper listing and none of them state they are FN barrels.
Didn't they used to say they were FN barrels?  I can't remember.   PSA confuses me too sometimes and I can see how the OP can question this.  
I know a bit back they had an upper that did not say it was a FN barrel and it was. You would think they would state (as a great selling point) it if it was.

The above (the OP's listed upper) says:
Barrel:  16",  416 Stainless, Modified A2 profile.  Chambered in 5.56 NATO, with a 1/7 twist, M4 barrel extension, and a mid-length gas system.  
Barrel is finished off with a Midwest Industries SS12G2 12" free-float rail, low-profile gas block and an A2 flash hider.

Two other listings on a 16" and 20" Stainless uppers say:
Barrel: Premium 16" (20") hammer forged, matte finish, 410 stainless steel, 1:7 twist with a 5.56 NATO chamber, mid-length gas port, M4 feedramps, and
is High pressure tested and Mag particle inspected. The barrel profile is a special lighter weight with a .750 gas block and lightened between the
muzzle and the front sight base.

I can see the later (hammer forged) being FN barrels, but PSA has changed things up before.  I wish they would just make a set standard and stick by it.
Just want to make sure we're giving the OP the correct answer.

Good Luck OP!
me

It's my understanding that FN does not make the stainless barrel.

This always boggled my mind. Their "premium" is an FN CL barrel, but NOT (I repeat: NOT) CHF.
Why? CHF usually gets more than the non CHF "premium". Wouldn't you assume "premium" is top of the line? I would. But no, it's not in this case. I guess they should call the FN CL CHF the "ULTRA premium" then.

I believe it's because they had the premium line before they had the option of CHF, so they have Premium and Premium CHF now.

Hmm, maybe it is a misprint in the description for that particular upper?

Don't assume anything beyond the description.  Sometimes mistakes are made, but read it carefully.  There was a recent post about there being a $100 difference between 1/7 and 1/9 PTAC uppers.  The fellow didn't notice that the more expensive upper included a BCG and CH.

I have bought several uppers, parts kits and other items from PSA.  Even made two orders this weekend when there was free shipping.  Have been very satisfied with the products and prices.  Shipping is sometimes slower than I'd like, but I'm older and used to the old days of waiting longer.  If I wanted it faster, I'd pay more from another vendor.

I ordered this while back (PSA 16" Mid-length Stainless 223 Wylde SS12G2 - Without BCG or Charging Handle  SKU 32113)
looks like the same as op stated and without the word Premium.   I called PSA and CS said the barrel is from Wislon Arms.

Wilson makes good SS blanks in my experience. I expected these to be no name barrels, really. I only paid $310 bucks for the whole upper.

Is it safe to assume that wilson makes the freedom SS barrels? Or not.

not sure, but i thought the same thing.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_2_301/251635_Barrel_qualitiy_question__ordered_premium_ss_received_ss_freedom_.html

So, I guess, we're back to the OP's original question.  Answer: Apparently nothing ... at least on the Stainless Steel barrelled uppers.
I guess if they have the Hammer Forged Stainless uppers with 410 Stainless barrels would be the "Premiums".  

Understanding that the CMV CL FN barrelled uppers are still going to be "Premium" Uppers and the FN CHF uppers, well ... just FN CHF and more expensive.

I think GCO is right.  Oh my, the Gods must be crazy  
PSA just came out with the Freedom Line.  Now would be the best time to adjust their "tiers" to the product line.
As Synyster said above, maybe they didn't have CHF when they came out with the Premium FN CL barrelled uppers ... but, now they do.
Time to adjust to CHF to their Premium Line, FN CL to the PSA Standard, Freedom Baseline in both CMV and Stainless, and then have a Premium Stainless line?
Which they probably can't disclose the barrel manufacture due to a disclosure clause, which is understandable and just the way it is.  
Like I said in an above post, just have a set standard that people can go by.  

It's not my company, and PSA can and will do what they want.  But, they are just hurting themselves by confusing current and future customers, current owners and
the same people reading this that are trying to support them the best we can.  

Thanks to the PSA Fanboys out there, who make reading PSA Industry enjoyable.  

And to the PSA Mod... It is noticed you are on here on weekends, in the middle of the night and doing the best you can.  Keep up the good work!  
I wouldn't want your job... But, I know someone who would.  Mrs. GCO, unground him and let him out to play

Sorry for the rambling.
To the OP... As long as your happy with your upper, that's all that is important here.
Good Luck!
me

Edit: My spelling sucks.

Zenfoldor, my upper's 1/8 twist like 62,  69 and 77 gr. bullet and shoot one moa. at 100 and up to 300 yards.  Not so good with 55 gr thought.

Thanks all for posting here. I got my upper in yesterday and it's beautiful. It does say freedom on the barrel, so it reads like: 556 NATO 1/7 Freedom, iirc The upper is stamped PSA. Really, looking at this gun, it looks like a much more expensive gun. I am 100% happy with how it looks and feels.

I will shoot it today. I hope for good things. At this price, I could throw that barrel away and replace it with a noveske and I would still have gotten this puppy at a steal. ALG trigger with JP springs. I posted the whole build on the tech forums a while back, but it's all from PSA except the red dot and the Anderson lower.

I couldn't be happier with it. If someone woulda told me I coulda got a quality recce with a rail system and optics for under 600 bucks, 5 years ago, then I woulda have spend that 1500 bucks on my 6920. Brand names aside(and I'm a big colt guy so bear with me), this PSA build might just be the best AR-15 I own.

Outstanding.

I've been able to shoot plenty of XM193 relatively accurately out of most of my 1/7 and 1/8 rifles. I'm a big believer in Molon's studies. You think your 1/8 twist is causing over-stabalization in 55gr bullets? Might just be you are using cheap 55gr and good quality heavier stuff? Or just got a bad batch of 55gr bullets if reloading.

i have a 16" mid length freedom and its very nice fit and finish.. i havent shot it yet but i dont expect to be disappointed. im sure they are wilson barrels and ive had a few feom them and they were GREAT

The problem is the horrible website and product information on it. It needs to be completely redone with accurate information so people can really determine which upper is right for them.  I bought two "premium" barreled uppers and then found out CHF was actually better so I sold the "premium" uppers and bought CHF barreled uppers.

CHF are labeled Premium CHF.

I wouldn't expect them to change their whole line up because of the new CHF line. When they started the Premium line, CHF wasn't an option.

PTAC
Freedom
PSA
PSA Premium
PSA Premium CHF

It's honestly not difficult. I REALLY hope you didn't lose any money going from the premium to CHF uppers. You'll never notice a difference unless you're doing mag dump after mag dump.

I work with Magento for a living. It's basically just a content management system. They website wouldn't need to be redone, but the person entering in the data needs to be more firm with the warehouse on what they are actually selling.

So, how I would do it, would be to make an excel spreadsheet with all the possible parameters an AR could contain. Like:

Barrel Manf:
Barrel Twist
Barrel Material
Upper manf:
Upper Stamp
Upper roll mark
Upper Material
Forward assist
Dust Cover
Charging handle
BCG
Handguard/Rail
Sights
Model
Designation

Then I would fill out as much info as I had on each entry. Example:

Barrel Manf: - Wilson
Barrel Twist - 1/7
Barrel Material - 410 Stainless
Barrel Process - Hammer Forged
Upper manf: FN for PSA
Upper Stamp: No Stamp
Upper Material: 7075-T6
Forward assist - Included
Dust Cover - Included
Charging handle - None
BCG - None
Handguard/Rail - MISSG2
Sights - None
Model - Premium
Designation - CHF
Barrel Nut - Standard
Gas Length - Medium
Gas block - Low profile Aluminum pinned

It would be a little more fleshed out than that. Then you could just copy and paste that in each new upper and fill out the ones you know, and the ones you don't, send to warehouse for answers or just put unknown on it.

It is fine, and just needs some standardization.

ETA: Then you could compare any uppers side by side and see the exact differences. You could up sales like that, because there are a lot of unlisted selling points. I woulda been even more hyped about my upper if I had known it was using a Wilson blank and not just some no-name junk that I would need to replace. That's what I assumed. I woulda maybe bought 2 had I know that, since I'm a long term WOA guy.

Synyster... I'm not arguing with you by any means and I appreciate all the help that you give to the posters on here.  Just conversation on PSA, OK?
I do agree the PSA FN CL will be fine for most shooters.
You know, and I know, as well as many others consider the PSA CHF barrelled uppers are their Pemium Line.   But, PSA does not list them as Premium CHF.
Not one of any of their [ETA: CMV] CHF barrelled uppers are listed in the item titles as Premium.  Just PSA CHF.  Only their normal PSA FN CL barrels are listed as Premium.
That is what I was trying to say in my post above.  I just looked through all the FN 5.56 CMV barrelled uppers again and that's the way it is.
I hope this makes sense.  If they would add "Premium CHF" to the CHF uppers would be just as good too.
me

Hmm strange - I guess they don't have premium in the title any more. When I ordered my 10.5 and a few other uppers they did have the word premium in the title.

For example, a rifle I ordered was titled

"PSA 16'' HF M4A1 SS12G2 Strikefire Premium Carbine"

I screen-shotted the listing in case it was taken down. It was taken down, I'll post it up when I get home just to make the thread relevant for future users. I think my question was satisfied. It was a mis-labeling of the listing.

I know.  That's the way it used to be.  I really noticed back when I ordered a 14.7" CHF LW middy and it wasn't a premium and got me looking at the rest.
I don't know when it changed.  I'm not into stainless barrels, I just started lookng at them after everyone started posting thier cool pictures of them.
I just jumped in here to try and help out, not create a stir.
I remember SteveStach's original post when he said he was going to sell his uppers to buy CHF, or, maybe he posted it in AR Discussions.

I don't post much in here or on ARFCOM, but I read just about every entry on the PSA Industry page (except the "Where my order thread" ... it makes me nervous ).
I support PSA, believe in them, never had any problems with them, any of my orders, or any of my purchaces.  I know if there is a problem, they'll make it right.
I don't mind the wait ... All good things come in time.  I have several and very happy.  

OP ... Glad you got your upper and happy with it.  Let us know how she shoots.  Post a pic.  We all like pics

Good Luck to All!
me

PSA answered in this thread.

Apparently the premium and the freedom barrels are the same, but different rollmark.

Here's my gun

ETA: That's a PA red dot I got for 50 bucks on the 4th, and the ALG QMS trigger(if you've never had one, it's William Geissele's wife's company, it plus JP springs makes a GREAT trigger for the price) lower parts kit and PSA extension tube kit with stock, both from PSA. If you look close you can see the PSA molded stamp on the stock. Good stuff. Whole gun under or at 600(I did a thread with all costs disclosed but can't find it), and that's with a trigger and optics that I don't really need to replace. Amazing! Only thing not from PSA is the Anderson stripped lower I got for 50 bucks, which works fine and has a good finish.

Nice blaster!!  
I saw in the other thread that you didn't get the rail attachments.  Oops!   They had of this same problem a while back also.  PSA will get them out to you.  
That's why the PSA Mod asked if they were attached to the barrel.   They must have somebody new in shipping that didn't get the memo

Here's your other thread:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_4/650676_Budget_KINDA_Recce_build_in_progress.html

Congrats!  Have Fun, Be Safe, Shoot Straight!
me

Awesome! I've been looking for that guy. Lol, thanks! :)

I'd rather they keep the prices low than waste money filling in all that stuff for every product.



 

Don't forget the Madness line! Well, it may just be Madness sale items but PSA sometimes treats the name as a separate line.

And at one time PTAC and Freedom appeared to be the same low price line but now PTAC is the low end and Freedom can be anything.

Heck, I'm still trying to figure out all the PSA BCGs!

Madness meant without bcg/ch option

Synyster... Did you see they fixed one and has "PSA 16" CHF Mid-length Premium Upper - Without BCG or Charging Handle" on today's listing?
Of course, they have it for $409 on the page, but when you click on it, it says on sale for $299.99.  Good price!  
Glad they are listening and changing the new CHF barrelled listings back to Premium in the item description.
me

Just saw that! Good deal

the word premium.