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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Which barrel for SPR? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 1/2/2018 7:37:31 PM EDT
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Looking to build a MK 12 Mod 0 type SPR. Trying to decide which barrel to buy. I have built some carbines and an SBR on BCM and LMT barrels with good results. Looking at Larue Stealth barrels, White Oak Armament, and some from Rainer Arms. I have had great experiences from all of these shops, as well as my custom Lilja 7mm-08. I would like to keep the price under $350 however, and the Liljas start at $460.
The Larure 18" dosen't come in the rifle length gas system, but that is not necessarily a deal breaker. I know all of these guys make good stuff, but I am having a hard time picking. Open to other suggestions as well. What says the hive? |
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You mentioned building a "MK12 MOD O type" rifle. Do you require the SPR Ops contour? If so that limits your options. I don't think you'd go wrong with anything you have listed if you do not need the contour. In any case, the 18" rifle gas generally makes for a very soft shooting rifle that suppresses well. |
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Quoted:
Check out Ballistic Advantage. I have one of their stainless fluted 18” rifle gas barrels and wouldn’t hesitate to buy another. I just got a BA Premium series .223 wylde over the holidays and put a scope through it: Throat (pretty serious tooling marks and some type of gouge. It is a short leade FWIW): 
2" or so forward of the throat (this looks like pitting, but shouldn't be in a new, stainless tube) 
A few inches on...by luck caught a bur on the land on this shot (you can see the copper smear after it where the patches didn't clean it out) 
Closer to the port...same pitting or staining that runs from just forward of the chamber to the port: 
OK, the port...pretty serious bur where it was drilled through, but this should shoot out on barrel break-in. It's smaller for a midlength port; so that's good: 
Midway to crown...this is closer to what a new barrel usually looks like. No polishing, but not expected at the price point: 
...and finally the crown. BA does a neat recessed crown on their stainless barrels that should protect it from impacts pretty well if you are not using a muzzle device. 
Overall it's the ugliest new barrel I have scoped. The only other brand new barrels I have on hand to scope are chrome lined- BCM, Colt, and DD. They look a lot better, and are not marketed as match barrels. The stained parts looks more like a milsurp barrel that has had corrosive ammunition fired through it. It is one that BA OEMed for another manufacturer/dealer and may be a "second"...I don't know their business model. EDIT: None of this matters as much if it does well on paper. As you'll see from the copper in it, it has been test fired but I have not been able to put it on paper yet. It will probably shoot OK, but will definitely need a break in to work out the burs and tooling marks. I've never shot a CLE or WOA, but have had excellent experience with PRI Douglas, Lothar Walther (for LaRue), in-house LaRue, and a Rainier (BHW for Rainier)- all shot very well and were consistent. The PRI and LW were just barely at the top of the pack. |
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Quoted: Odds are they will shoot, but you're also more likely to get one that doesn't than the brands with a slightly high cost threshold like borderpatrol listed above. I just got a BA Premium series .223 wylde over the holidays and put a scope through it: Throat (pretty serious tooling marks and some type of gouge. It is a short leade FWIW): https://i.imgur.com/clSn6Tu.jpg 2" or so forward of the throat (this looks like pitting, but shouldn't be in a new, stainless tube) https://i.imgur.com/eHnc55e.jpg A few inches on...by luck caught a bur on the land on this shot (you can see the copper smear after it where the patches didn't clean it out) https://i.imgur.com/2tXf5Kk.jpg Closer to the port...same pitting or staining that runs from just forward of the chamber to the port: https://i.imgur.com/kbYfAL1.jpg OK, the port...pretty serious bur where it was drilled through, but this should shoot out on barrel break-in. It's smaller for a midlength port; so that's good: https://i.imgur.com/oZVAcvJ.jpg Midway to crown...this is closer to what a new barrel usually looks like. No polishing, but not expected at the price point: https://i.imgur.com/ELFecP4.jpg ...and finally the crown. BA does a neat recessed crown on their stainless barrels that should protect it from impacts pretty well if you are not using a muzzle device. https://i.imgur.com/Zb6kqbT.jpg Overall it's the ugliest new barrel I have scoped. The only other brand new barrels I have on hand to scope are chrome lined- BCM, Colt, and DD. They look a lot better, and are not marketed as match barrels. The stained parts looks more like a milsurp barrel that has had corrosive ammunition fired through it. It is one that BA OEMed for another manufacturer/dealer and may be a "second"...I don't know their business model. EDIT: None of this matters as much if it does well on paper. As you'll see from the copper in it, it has been test fired but I have not been able to put it on paper yet. It will probably shoot OK, but will definitely need a break in to work out the burs and tooling marks. I've never shot a CLE or WOA, but have had excellent experience with PRI Douglas, Lothar Walther (for LaRue), in-house LaRue, and a Rainier (BHW for Rainier)- all shot very well and were consistent. The PRI and LW were just barely at the top of the pack. It's safe to assume there are more WOA barrels on ARFCOMMERs MK12s than any other brand. |
| Criterion might be the best at that price point with white oak very close. If your set on Larue you can buy the 20 and send it to ADCO to have them cut and turn you the right profile. Green mountain also makes a barrel that some members have reported as being very accurate. |
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If you are on a budget, I have had a good experience with Aero Precision's 18" CMV barrel .
It has the correct profile for a MK12 as well and accuracy is decent. 55gr @ 200yds 
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Quoted:
Odds are they will shoot, but you're also more likely to get one that doesn't than the brands with a slightly high cost threshold like borderpatrol listed above. I just got a BA Premium series .223 wylde over the holidays and put a scope through it: Throat (pretty serious tooling marks and some type of gouge. It is a short leade FWIW): https://i.imgur.com/clSn6Tu.jpg 2" or so forward of the throat (this looks like pitting, but shouldn't be in a new, stainless tube) https://i.imgur.com/eHnc55e.jpg A few inches on...by luck caught a bur on the land on this shot (you can see the copper smear after it where the patches didn't clean it out) https://i.imgur.com/2tXf5Kk.jpg Closer to the port...same pitting or staining that runs from just forward of the chamber to the port: https://i.imgur.com/kbYfAL1.jpg OK, the port...pretty serious bur where it was drilled through, but this should shoot out on barrel break-in. It's smaller for a midlength port; so that's good: https://i.imgur.com/oZVAcvJ.jpg Midway to crown...this is closer to what a new barrel usually looks like. No polishing, but not expected at the price point: https://i.imgur.com/ELFecP4.jpg ...and finally the crown. BA does a neat recessed crown on their stainless barrels that should protect it from impacts pretty well if you are not using a muzzle device. https://i.imgur.com/Zb6kqbT.jpg Overall it's the ugliest new barrel I have scoped. The only other brand new barrels I have on hand to scope are chrome lined- BCM, Colt, and DD. They look a lot better, and are not marketed as match barrels. The stained parts looks more like a milsurp barrel that has had corrosive ammunition fired through it. It is one that BA OEMed for another manufacturer/dealer and may be a "second"...I don't know their business model. EDIT: None of this matters as much if it does well on paper. As you'll see from the copper in it, it has been test fired but I have not been able to put it on paper yet. It will probably shoot OK, but will definitely need a break in to work out the burs and tooling marks. I've never shot a CLE or WOA, but have had excellent experience with PRI Douglas, Lothar Walther (for LaRue), in-house LaRue, and a Rainier (BHW for Rainier)- all shot very well and were consistent. The PRI and LW were just barely at the top of the pack. Quoted:
Quoted:
Check out Ballistic Advantage. I have one of their stainless fluted 18” rifle gas barrels and wouldn’t hesitate to buy another. I just got a BA Premium series .223 wylde over the holidays and put a scope through it: Throat (pretty serious tooling marks and some type of gouge. It is a short leade FWIW): https://i.imgur.com/clSn6Tu.jpg 2" or so forward of the throat (this looks like pitting, but shouldn't be in a new, stainless tube) https://i.imgur.com/eHnc55e.jpg A few inches on...by luck caught a bur on the land on this shot (you can see the copper smear after it where the patches didn't clean it out) https://i.imgur.com/2tXf5Kk.jpg Closer to the port...same pitting or staining that runs from just forward of the chamber to the port: https://i.imgur.com/kbYfAL1.jpg OK, the port...pretty serious bur where it was drilled through, but this should shoot out on barrel break-in. It's smaller for a midlength port; so that's good: https://i.imgur.com/oZVAcvJ.jpg Midway to crown...this is closer to what a new barrel usually looks like. No polishing, but not expected at the price point: https://i.imgur.com/ELFecP4.jpg ...and finally the crown. BA does a neat recessed crown on their stainless barrels that should protect it from impacts pretty well if you are not using a muzzle device. https://i.imgur.com/Zb6kqbT.jpg Overall it's the ugliest new barrel I have scoped. The only other brand new barrels I have on hand to scope are chrome lined- BCM, Colt, and DD. They look a lot better, and are not marketed as match barrels. The stained parts looks more like a milsurp barrel that has had corrosive ammunition fired through it. It is one that BA OEMed for another manufacturer/dealer and may be a "second"...I don't know their business model. EDIT: None of this matters as much if it does well on paper. As you'll see from the copper in it, it has been test fired but I have not been able to put it on paper yet. It will probably shoot OK, but will definitely need a break in to work out the burs and tooling marks. I've never shot a CLE or WOA, but have had excellent experience with PRI Douglas, Lothar Walther (for LaRue), in-house LaRue, and a Rainier (BHW for Rainier)- all shot very well and were consistent. The PRI and LW were just barely at the top of the pack. 
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Quoted:
Intermeresting. What bore scope do you use? I need to get one. Quoted:
Intermeresting. What bore scope do you use? I need to get one. This is what a newish stainless bore usually looks like (ruger):  Quoted: BA barrels are cheap barrels, that are great for blasters and minute of man accuracy. They are far from a serious choice for a serious shooter. It's safe to assume there are more WOA barrels on ARFCOMMERs MK12s than any other brand. |
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Quoted:
If you are on a budget, I have had a good experience with Aero Precision's 18" CMV barrel . It has the correct profile for a MK12 as well and accuracy is decent. 55gr @ 200yds https://i.imgur.com/E1cFIVK.jpg?1 |
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Quoted:
BA barrels are cheap barrels, that are great for blasters and minute of man accuracy. They are far from a serious choice for a serious shooter. It's safe to assume there are more WOA barrels on ARFCOMMERs MK12s than any other brand. Quoted:
Quoted: Odds are they will shoot, but you're also more likely to get one that doesn't than the brands with a slightly high cost threshold like borderpatrol listed above. I just got a BA Premium series .223 wylde over the holidays and put a scope through it: Throat (pretty serious tooling marks and some type of gouge. It is a short leade FWIW): https://i.imgur.com/clSn6Tu.jpg 2" or so forward of the throat (this looks like pitting, but shouldn't be in a new, stainless tube) https://i.imgur.com/eHnc55e.jpg A few inches on...by luck caught a bur on the land on this shot (you can see the copper smear after it where the patches didn't clean it out) https://i.imgur.com/2tXf5Kk.jpg Closer to the port...same pitting or staining that runs from just forward of the chamber to the port: https://i.imgur.com/kbYfAL1.jpg OK, the port...pretty serious bur where it was drilled through, but this should shoot out on barrel break-in. It's smaller for a midlength port; so that's good: https://i.imgur.com/oZVAcvJ.jpg Midway to crown...this is closer to what a new barrel usually looks like. No polishing, but not expected at the price point: https://i.imgur.com/ELFecP4.jpg ...and finally the crown. BA does a neat recessed crown on their stainless barrels that should protect it from impacts pretty well if you are not using a muzzle device. https://i.imgur.com/Zb6kqbT.jpg Overall it's the ugliest new barrel I have scoped. The only other brand new barrels I have on hand to scope are chrome lined- BCM, Colt, and DD. They look a lot better, and are not marketed as match barrels. The stained parts looks more like a milsurp barrel that has had corrosive ammunition fired through it. It is one that BA OEMed for another manufacturer/dealer and may be a "second"...I don't know their business model. EDIT: None of this matters as much if it does well on paper. As you'll see from the copper in it, it has been test fired but I have not been able to put it on paper yet. It will probably shoot OK, but will definitely need a break in to work out the burs and tooling marks. I've never shot a CLE or WOA, but have had excellent experience with PRI Douglas, Lothar Walther (for LaRue), in-house LaRue, and a Rainier (BHW for Rainier)- all shot very well and were consistent. The PRI and LW were just barely at the top of the pack. It's safe to assume there are more WOA barrels on ARFCOMMERs MK12s than any other brand. |
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Quoted:
Brass from a BA 16” SPR bbl. https://s19.postimg.org/obl716qib/IMG_7087.jpg Muzzle of same bbl. https://s19.postimg.org/v0g0nug2r/15_AB4_D7_F-31_A0-40_D4-_AFD6-0_A06_DCDB7051.png I had one B.A. barrel (10.5" QPQ) thankfully it didn't look like that 
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Here’s the first BA QPQ barrel I ever bought. Blotchy nitride finish in the chamber.
Here’s the replacement they sent me. Same blotchy finish. 
Then they sent me the above SPR barrel as a substitute for the QPQ barrels as I was done with QPQ. I have since polished the chamber and fixed the brass problem. Then I bought a BA 7.5” QPQ pistol barrel and that one keyholed with Rem UMC 55gr ammo. It does shoot other ammo just fine, so I’ll blame this issue on the ammo/barrel combo. |
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I have a White Oak SPR barrel, and I'm very pleased with it. I didn't build a Mk12 clone, but it's inspired by it, and it shoots lights out with that barrel. They double dimpled for my geissele gas block, and it was spot on and clean as can be. I was mad at my self for not realizing you have to request a blasted finish, but now that I have it, I like the polished look.
Box was falling apart from shipping, and it freaked me out, but it's packaged well and there was no damage. Can't really blame them for that. |
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Quoted: BA makes barrels for Aero... |
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Quoted: That would make sense. We have never had a BA or AERO barrel pass our concentric thread test. Their average concentricity is .004 off center. We have made AERO aware of these issues. If you are not putting a suppressor on the barrel, the threads being concentric or not don't matter. But for the price paid, they are acceptable for sending rounds down range at a pie plate. |
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Quoted: Good info. Thanks. Any other brands that you know not to be concentric on average? There is a reason good barrels are expensive. Holding tight tolerances is time consuming and requires a lot of attention. WOA, LaRue and Noveske SS barrels are almost always around .001 which is about perfect. In regards to more production type barrels, DD and BCM are almost always under .003 which is acceptable for carbine/combat type barrels with suppressors. |
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I have a fluted 18" BA SPR barrel and a 14.5" BA Hanson barrel that have both met or exceeded my expectations. Haven't put either one to paper in a while (shoot mostly steel) but that sounds like a fun thing to do this weekend if I can get away. My memory of sighting them in tells me they were both in the neighborhood of 1.5 MOA performers, but I'm by no means a talented precision shooter. I have always felt that BA products are outstanding value for what you spend. I'm under no delusions that they're pushing the envelope of performance, but I'm not a good/frequent/serious enough shooter to spend $300+ on a barrel and so I'm quite happy with what I've gotten. @bigbore Do you have any experiences with Odin Works barrels? I had one of those a few years back and was very impressed with it. |
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Quoted:
proper SPR isn't gonna be cheap, why not Douglas SS? Besides....he's already ordered the WOA 18" rifle-length gas 1:8" twist barrel which IMO is a great choice. |
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Quoted: CMMG and PSA barrels should always be checked before installing a suppressor. There is a reason good barrels are expensive. Holding tight tolerances is time consuming and requires a lot of attention. WOA, LaRue and Noveske SS barrels are almost always around .001 which is about perfect. In regards to more production type barrels, DD and BCM are almost always under .003 which is acceptable for carbine/combat type barrels with suppressors. How does Faxon compare? Do you sell any barrels? If you do what brands? I'm always curious about this when statements like above are tossed out there. A dealership that sells Fords will never say a Chevy is better for instance. |
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Quoted: Do you sell any barrels? If you do what brands? I'm always curious about this when statements like above are tossed out there. A dealership that sells Fords will never say a Chevy is better for instance. As for Faxon, we've never looked close enough at them to have an opinion. |
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Quoted:
That would make sense. We have never had a BA or AERO barrel pass our concentric thread test. Their average concentricity is .004 off center. We have made AERO aware of these issues. If you are not putting a suppressor on the barrel, the threads being concentric or not don't matter. But for the price paid, they are acceptable for sending rounds down range at a pie plate. Quoted:
Quoted: BA makes barrels for Aero... |
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Quoted:
The pie plate comment seems a little harsh. My 18” SPR will consistently do .75 moa with hand loads. I’m not saying it’s the most accurate barrel in the world but it’s definitely not just a blaster. Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted: BA makes barrels for Aero... |
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Quoted: BA barrels are cheap barrels, that are great for blasters and minute of man accuracy. They are far from a serious choice for a serious shooter. My experience with BA barrels has me putting them as a decent choice for a short to mid range (0-300 yards) general purpose build. To me, that means service grade accuracy expectations (approx 1.5-2.0 MOA with good ammo). I like them for some of my SBR builds because they are gassed well, they make nicely profiled lightweight barrels and they shoot reasonably well, about on par with my BCM barrels. Now that I think about it, I should do an accuracy comparison between my BCM BFH 11.5" and my 11.3" BA. Might have to do that in a week or so. For an precision build, a BA barrel wouldn't even make the list of possible choices for me. |
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Quoted:
That was a comment on the target market of low cost AR barrels. 90% of all AR owners will never do anything shooting related beyond shooting at a pie plate, from a bench at 50yds. So as long as the bullet isnt keyholing into the pie plate, those barrels are plenty good enough to make 90% of the market happy. Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted: BA makes barrels for Aero... |
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Quoted: The pie plate comment seems a little harsh. My 18” SPR will consistently do .75 moa with hand loads. I’m not saying it’s the most accurate barrel in the world but it’s definitely not just a blaster. |
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Quoted:
This... Go to CLE & have them spin one up for you. You wont be dissapointed. Worst mistake Ive made w/ firearms was selling that upper  Quoted:
This... Go to CLE & have them spin one up for you. You wont be dissapointed. Worst mistake Ive made w/ firearms was selling that upper Quoted:
PRI barrels? PRI only sells Douglas and Bergera (who I never see mentioned)? Quoted:
The pie plate comment seems a little harsh. My 18” SPR will consistently do .75 moa with hand loads. I’m not saying it’s the most accurate barrel in the world but it’s definitely not just a blaster. To be clear, I never meant to turn this into a hit thread on BA with the bore scope pictures. I'd just scoped that one by coincidence and thought it would be value added to the discussion and recommendations. I think the BA barrels offer plenty at their "add to cart" prices at distributers and enable a lot shooters to build reliable, reasonably precise rifles at low cost. They are also very responsive to the community and customer service appears to be excellent. I think the most instructive element as that in barrels too, the markup with premium brands often goes to something more than the name and you are unlikely to see the same level of care, finishing, and QC go into something that costs half (or less) as much. I'm not sure how LaRue is able to sell theirs at $225 unless they've heavily invested in automated processes. |
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Quoted:
Not saying you can’t achieve that, but out of 100 participants in the sub MOA challenge thread, not one barrel is BA. LaRue, WOA, RRA, Krieger etc are the majority used. Quoted:
Quoted: The pie plate comment seems a little harsh. My 18” SPR will consistently do .75 moa with hand loads. I’m not saying it’s the most accurate barrel in the world but it’s definitely not just a blaster. |
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Quoted:
Odds are they will shoot, but you're also more likely to get one that doesn't than the brands with a slightly high cost threshold like borderpatrol listed above. I just got a BA Premium series .223 wylde over the holidays and put a scope through it: Throat (pretty serious tooling marks and some type of gouge. It is a short leade FWIW): https://i.imgur.com/clSn6Tu.jpg 2" or so forward of the throat (this looks like pitting, but shouldn't be in a new, stainless tube) https://i.imgur.com/eHnc55e.jpg A few inches on...by luck caught a bur on the land on this shot (you can see the copper smear after it where the patches didn't clean it out) https://i.imgur.com/2tXf5Kk.jpg Closer to the port...same pitting or staining that runs from just forward of the chamber to the port: https://i.imgur.com/kbYfAL1.jpg OK, the port...pretty serious bur where it was drilled through, but this should shoot out on barrel break-in. It's smaller for a midlength port; so that's good: https://i.imgur.com/oZVAcvJ.jpg Midway to crown...this is closer to what a new barrel usually looks like. No polishing, but not expected at the price point: https://i.imgur.com/ELFecP4.jpg ...and finally the crown. BA does a neat recessed crown on their stainless barrels that should protect it from impacts pretty well if you are not using a muzzle device. https://i.imgur.com/Zb6kqbT.jpg Overall it's the ugliest new barrel I have scoped. The only other brand new barrels I have on hand to scope are chrome lined- BCM, Colt, and DD. They look a lot better, and are not marketed as match barrels. The stained parts looks more like a milsurp barrel that has had corrosive ammunition fired through it. It is one that BA OEMed for another manufacturer/dealer and may be a "second"...I don't know their business model. EDIT: None of this matters as much if it does well on paper. As you'll see from the copper in it, it has been test fired but I have not been able to put it on paper yet. It will probably shoot OK, but will definitely need a break in to work out the burs and tooling marks. I've never shot a CLE or WOA, but have had excellent experience with PRI Douglas, Lothar Walther (for LaRue), in-house LaRue, and a Rainier (BHW for Rainier)- all shot very well and were consistent. The PRI and LW were just barely at the top of the pack. Quoted:
Quoted:
Check out Ballistic Advantage. I have one of their stainless fluted 18” rifle gas barrels and wouldn’t hesitate to buy another. I just got a BA Premium series .223 wylde over the holidays and put a scope through it: Throat (pretty serious tooling marks and some type of gouge. It is a short leade FWIW): https://i.imgur.com/clSn6Tu.jpg 2" or so forward of the throat (this looks like pitting, but shouldn't be in a new, stainless tube) https://i.imgur.com/eHnc55e.jpg A few inches on...by luck caught a bur on the land on this shot (you can see the copper smear after it where the patches didn't clean it out) https://i.imgur.com/2tXf5Kk.jpg Closer to the port...same pitting or staining that runs from just forward of the chamber to the port: https://i.imgur.com/kbYfAL1.jpg OK, the port...pretty serious bur where it was drilled through, but this should shoot out on barrel break-in. It's smaller for a midlength port; so that's good: https://i.imgur.com/oZVAcvJ.jpg Midway to crown...this is closer to what a new barrel usually looks like. No polishing, but not expected at the price point: https://i.imgur.com/ELFecP4.jpg ...and finally the crown. BA does a neat recessed crown on their stainless barrels that should protect it from impacts pretty well if you are not using a muzzle device. https://i.imgur.com/Zb6kqbT.jpg Overall it's the ugliest new barrel I have scoped. The only other brand new barrels I have on hand to scope are chrome lined- BCM, Colt, and DD. They look a lot better, and are not marketed as match barrels. The stained parts looks more like a milsurp barrel that has had corrosive ammunition fired through it. It is one that BA OEMed for another manufacturer/dealer and may be a "second"...I don't know their business model. EDIT: None of this matters as much if it does well on paper. As you'll see from the copper in it, it has been test fired but I have not been able to put it on paper yet. It will probably shoot OK, but will definitely need a break in to work out the burs and tooling marks. I've never shot a CLE or WOA, but have had excellent experience with PRI Douglas, Lothar Walther (for LaRue), in-house LaRue, and a Rainier (BHW for Rainier)- all shot very well and were consistent. The PRI and LW were just barely at the top of the pack. Have you had an opportunity to scope a Bison Armory SS barrel? They're in the same price range as a Ballistic SS usually is listed and also offer an Ops Inc 12th Model cut, which is why the Ballistic barrels have been popular for Mk12 and Mod H builds. I've heard good things about Bison like I had with Ballistic, so I'm curious to see if at the same price point they're putting more work into assuring there are no/less burrs an imperfections and better bore finish. I personally had a 16" Ballistic TacGov SS and it was doing about 1" groups, with a percentage of that probably being shooter suckage. |
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Quoted: @nihilsum Have you had an opportunity to scope a Bison Armory SS barrel? They're in the same price range as a Ballistic SS usually is listed and also offer an Ops Inc 12th Model cut, which is why the Ballistic barrels have been popular for Mk12 and Mod H builds. I've heard good things about Bison like I had with Ballistic, so I'm curious to see if at the same price point they're putting more work into assuring there are no/less burrs an imperfections and better bore finish. I personally had a 16" Ballistic TacGov SS and it was doing about 1" groups, with a percentage of that probably being shooter suckage. I don't want to suggest that a barrel that looks ugly inside will automatically not shoot well- I have seen some nasty dark pitted surplus rifles that have done better than expected, but the most accurate barrels pretty much always look well executed inside. They definitely produce less copper fouling and clean much faster. I'd be more concerned about Bigbore's input on the thread concentricity. |
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Quoted:
I have had two, but it was before I owned the scope. They first was sent with the wrong finish, which they replaced for free. I thought I'd build a "Mod H" since I already had an allen suppressor and MK12 build. I only had it out twice, and did not get it to group like the PRI douglas on the longer rifle, but the weather was terrible both times and I think there were too many variables to write off the barrel. I just lost interest in the build... I don't want to suggest that a barrel that looks ugly inside will automatically not shoot well- I have seen some nasty dark pitted surplus rifles that have done better than expected, but the most accurate barrels pretty much always look well executed inside. They definitely produce less copper fouling and clean much faster. I'd be more concerned about Bigbore's input on the thread concentricity. Quoted:
Quoted: @nihilsum Have you had an opportunity to scope a Bison Armory SS barrel? They're in the same price range as a Ballistic SS usually is listed and also offer an Ops Inc 12th Model cut, which is why the Ballistic barrels have been popular for Mk12 and Mod H builds. I've heard good things about Bison like I had with Ballistic, so I'm curious to see if at the same price point they're putting more work into assuring there are no/less burrs an imperfections and better bore finish. I personally had a 16" Ballistic TacGov SS and it was doing about 1" groups, with a percentage of that probably being shooter suckage. I don't want to suggest that a barrel that looks ugly inside will automatically not shoot well- I have seen some nasty dark pitted surplus rifles that have done better than expected, but the most accurate barrels pretty much always look well executed inside. They definitely produce less copper fouling and clean much faster. I'd be more concerned about Bigbore's input on the thread concentricity. |
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Quoted:
Brass from a BA 16” SPR bbl. https://s19.postimg.org/obl716qib/IMG_7087.jpg Muzzle of same bbl. https://s19.postimg.org/v0g0nug2r/15_AB4_D7_F-31_A0-40_D4-_AFD6-0_A06_DCDB7051.png Maybe it's the angle but the left brass looks to be a lot longer headspace. I'm sure you were referring to the markings on the brass but the shoulder stood out to me as off. Add: I have my wildcat barrels done with just a base reamer, no finish reamer, & my brass is way better than that. It looks like a damaged reamer or a bunch of crud stuck in it when they finished reamed it. Also, aimed at @bigbore, how do you recommend finishing the gas port to avoid burrs? |
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Quoted: That would make sense. We have never had a BA or AERO barrel pass our concentric thread test. Their average concentricity is .004 off center. We have made AERO aware of these issues. If you are not putting a suppressor on the barrel, the threads being concentric or not don't matter. But for the price paid, they are acceptable for sending rounds down range at a pie plate. |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Which barrel for SPR? (Page 1 of 2)
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