just for back ground I'm trying to help a friend out with a lemon for an AR.  Factory gun with a that can't hold a pie pan at 100 yards.  I've tried several fixes and it has to be in the barrel.  It's a carbine gas and 16 barrel, bore looks good, head space is good, brass not chewed up and cycles fine.  Lower and upper fit is normal, trigger is rather good for a factory unit.  Tried one of my Higher end target scopes, a known good scope was no help.  Tried four factory and one hand loaded types of ammo, no help.  Replaced cheap gas block, no help.  checked barrel torque, no help. Pulled barrel cut a new crown, no help.  Best group was over 3 inches and several groups all five shots were not even on the target page.  I have to believe the barrel is a lemon.  No warranty help as he picked it up years ago second hand.  He's agreed to let me replace the  barrel anyway and has decided on a medium weight stainless barrel of good quality as long as it is priced right, yes that means cheap, LOL.  I'm open to idea's as to trouble shooting.  As for price he'll have to suck it up if it cost more than he likes as I'm not going to put another junk barrel in it just to make more work for myself so I'm hoping for something sub 2 MOA in the 150 to the 200 price range.  Even considered picking up a complete upper on black Friday and robbing the barrel if that works out to be cheapest route.  Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

I know that this is on the top side of your price range and exceeds the requirements you laid out but I don't think you can get a better barrel for 200$.



http://www.larue.com/larue-stealth-556-barrel-mbt-trigger-polymer-combo-old



This would be my second choice.



http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=XFX15A58R16NLQ&name=Faxon+Firearms+16%22+Gunner+.223%2f5.56+4150+QPQ+Nitride+Barrel&groupid=2144



If you don't like those, go to Green Mountain and look around.



http://www.gmriflebarrel.com/

I'm all for the Larue barrels, got one coming for myself when they were posted here a couple days ago.  His problem is the rifle is a carbine gas and I'm hoping to be able to reuse his stock  hardware so not to have any extra expense.  I've got my eye on the GM barrels, waiting to see what happens Friday, been shooting their 22lr barrels for years.  

If he was set on a SS barrel I would probably go Green Mountain myself.  But if it doesn't have to be an SS barrel then another good option to save a few dollars would be Ballistic Advantage.  They also have their higher end SS barrels but they cost more.  I don't see you having any issues achieving sub 2 MOA out of any of their regular Chrome Moly barrels, and likely closer to 1 MOA with good ammo.  They are also Melonited and have a nice finish/look to them that is resistant to corrosion.  I believe that the Melonited Chrome Moly barrels will last much longer then a regular SS barrel will, but from the way it sounds the barrel is not shot very much anyways.  

Ballistic Advantage has a 10% off discount code.  I believe it is - save10now   , if that is not it just google it and it will pop up.  They also have free shipping, so if you just wanted the stripped barrel and would settle for a regular melonited barrel you should be able to get one shipped to your door for around $145-150ish.  They will also pin on a GB or FSB for additional costs.  

I like both of these companies a lot, and on average I would say that GM has a more accurate barrel.  But not by enough that your average shooter will notice and the cheaper price, melonited finish, and ability to pin a FSB on is enough to give them the edge on this one if it were me.  

I almost forgot but instead of erasing what I just wrote, I will add that Schuyler Arms has the Ballistic Advantage barrels on sale right now for $95 stripped.  I don't know anything about their company but see a lot of people recommending them due to this sale.  One last thing to consider is installing a mid-length barrel on his rifle for him.  Especially if you could pick up a barrel for $95, just add a gas tube for $10 and a handguard for $15-25.


Edited to add - Once again I found another good deal and remembered this thread.  Cold Hammer Forged Daniel Defense carbine barrels with gas tubes for $150, now that is a heck of a deal if he sticks with carbine length gas -
https://www.westernsport.com/product/daniel-defense-16-m4-cold-hammer-forged-barrel-carbine-length-stripped/

He seems set on SS barrel, my fault  as I've let him shoot a couple of my rifles with SS barrels and he's under the impression there's some kind of magic involved with them,  I don't let on that most of my rifles are heavily worked over and the ammo is tuned for each gun, some times it's good to keep them guessing.  

And I totally agree, 1 MOA can be done with many of the Chrome Molly barrels at 100 dollar price point with careful ammo selection.