Barrel Test by Lug1

I volunteered to test a barrel for Righttobear.com.  They picked up some Colt overrun barrels.  These barrels are melonite with a heavy profile.  They are 20" long with a target crown and unthreaded so no flash hider is used.

To start with I checked head space with my Manson gauges, which the single sample they sent me passed.  I then used drill bits and calipers to measure the gas port.  It is slightly larger than 3/32" bit.  I mean just ever so slightly.  My calipers got it at .0940.  The standard for a .750" barrel at the gas journal in rifle length position is .0930-.0960.  It seems to be right on target for appropriately gassed.

To build this uppers I used a standard out of the box AeroPrecision upper receiver.  A Palmetto Premium BCG and charging handle.  It got a stainless Luth-AR rifle length gas tube.  And an ALG handguard.  I will also add here, I was expecting a 16" barrel.  I did not look at the photos closely.  Not sure why I expected a 16" barrel.  All I had on hand was this 13" ALG hand guard and it was built as a carbine.  The gas block was left uncovered(in poor taste) but did not effect testing.  The barrel came single dimpled for a set screw.   I have a Springco Blue spring in the lower and an H2 buffer in it.

I put my Leupold 2x7 VX-I scope on top of it.  And dialed it in at my local indoor range.  I then made the trip to my buddy Sethro's range out in Era, TX.  He has a 300 yard strip that is fairly well maintained.  It has a slight elevation at the 300 yard out mark, around 30-40 feet.

The objective was to see how this barrel would group with many different types of ammo.  We used 55gr-77gr ammo.  We elected to shoot 5 shot groups for this test, to get through as much ammo as we could.  We shot some extra groups of the good stuff.  Most groups were shot at 100 yards and Sethro decided he wanted to stretch it out to 300.  I declined with a 7x scope, my eyes aren't that good.

We documented this adventure with video and photo's.  It was hot.  His range decends down to a bottom area.  Our temperatures ranged from 91 upon arrival, to the last groups shot at 97 degrees.  The winds were very light never getting over 5mph.  But we shot prone close to the ground and I don't feel like it was ever a factor.

Please note the * in the Speer Gold dot group.  This group was shot with Speer Gold Dots that were on my tailgate in the sun.  They were darn near painful to load they were so hot.  I thought that might help accuracy.  My opinion based on what they did the first time and then this 2nd more spread out group, the sun baking had an effect.  We kept most of the ammo shaded most of the time.

In these groups there were a couple of "OH SHITS" as soon as the trigger was pulled and you knew it was gonna be a flyer.  Not a lot, just a couple.  We did nothing, all groups were measured as they were shot.  There were no exclusions.  The Caldwell lead sled removes a lot of error, but it is possible to bump or pull the shot if you try hard enough.

Yes this is a sample of one.  Yes it was tested in hot conditions and the barrel stayed hot.  This sample seemed like a very serviceable unit.

I would also add the intention was to get Chronograph data.  The Chronograph got left behind accidentally.  This needed to happen today because of scheduling and time frame.  So maybe in the future, in a follow up possibly we can get some chronograph data.  Today we have none.  Sorry.

I will be adding some video and photos so I am gonna reserve a few slots for posting.

I have no idea why this video is vertical.  I recorded it propery, it appeared to be properly recorded on my phone and now it is screwed up and vertical....

My apologies I am embarrassed.



Initial temp upon arrival right before taking the above video



Proof we shot some ammo



2nd Group

Temp at the last groups.  These are at 300 yards.



300 yard FGMM 77gr



300 yard Black Hills 77gr

Cool! Was hoping this info would be released to us!

Awesome man thanks for the post. I offered to get in on this but you were quick on the draw. Interesting the groups on the black hills improved at distance.

Possibly?

Not only is @Lug1 a hero without a cape in his day job, he’s a firearms enthusiast and product tester.

Very informative and professional write up there Lug1.

I put more weight on break-in or seasoning.

Break in or seasoning a melonite barrel?

Nice thorough report.

That's pretty interesting.  What's the source?  Was this determined using real world data collection like radar or was it from a computer simulation?

Good write up and it illustrates the point to use the right bullet for the right range. Some people think that if a 77gr is good for 300+y then it should be great for 100y, it ain't. Look/ask what competition shooters are using at certain ranges because they are doing it based on years of shooting and the experience of the people that went before them.

Wait, Lug shot at 100yds and Sethro shot at 300?

Lol. It is good for 100yds, but kind of a waste of it's capabilities.

Sethro took shots at 100 and 300.

I took shots at 100.

I want to go back with some higher powered glass and take shots at 300.

7x at 300 was a stretch for both our eyes.  He is a little younger than me, he did a good job at 300.

How many rounds have been through it? 80?

Good yes but not as good as it is over 300. Agree that it is a waste of its capability. I use 69gr under 300, 77gr over 300. If I'm shooting at 100 only I'll use 53/55gr for the tightest groups.

https://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/ar-15-ammunition-barrel-twist-rate/183192

In which is the .pdf with the above pic
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a519801.pdf

He shot very well at 300.

I'm wondering how much they will want for the barrels.

I shot about 40 on a 25 yard indoor range.

I don't much believe in breaking in a barrel.  I have yet to own a barrel that got significantly better with age or any special break in.

I have never owned a Krieger or anything like that.  This barrel is obviously not a Krieger.

I attempted to pic up some lighter varmint rounds.  No luck.  Would have had to order them off the internet and they would never have gotten here in time.

I am curious how they would do.

He did.  And he is ordinarily a good shot.

But to make it clear, we had this gun strapped into a Caldwell Lead Sled.  This helped us maintain our groups.

Some people don't need it, for testing purposes I use it to try to remove variables.

Okay then, gnat castrator. Got some 35gr VMAXs for 50yd?

So 120ish. Yeah, negligible lapping (eta: because of melonite). 200 is the sweet spot for most bare stainless, whether velocity deviation tapers off or bullseyes happen more often.

However, that may give credence to seasoning, fouling, copper equilibrium - whatever you wanna call it. At least before I realized a different shooter was in the mix.

Looks like this one could shake out to ~0.8 MOA average with the good stuff. Not too far off the big names.

Still trying to figure out when you're going to address the melonite.

ETA: and the lead-sled.

Not sure if you think this is a stainless barrel or not.

Yup. I can get sub half moa groups from 75eld’s and 77smk’s at 100yds. A good barrel and the right load is what matters. The 77’s do amazingly well out of my AR’s, the 75’s are my go to for my bolt gun. Most of my shooting is done at longer ranges, so I’ve never really shot the lighter bullets.

As for break in with a gas gun, I think the majority of breaking it in is polishing out potential burrs from the gas port.

Based on some of the groups, with tuned hand loads I think this barrel is likely capable of .5-.75 in the right shooters hands. I don’t shoot distance more than 4 or 5 times a year (life gets in the way).

I have had tightening of groups at distances over 200 out of my 300 Win Mag’s and 7mm Mag hunting rifles. Meaning I have 1.5”-2” dreads at 100 yds concerning me, then they hit 2-3” at 200-300 yds. (These are usually heavier, high BC bullets moving toward the upper end of recommended pressures.)

Not sure what the BC is for the 77gr bullets we tested, nor the speed. (Based on the ejection pile I’m guessing speeds were similar for all 77 gr loads.) But, the 100 yd groups with the 77gr were as tight or tighter than the lighter loads.
If I’m on a budget (always) and don’t have time to handload (usually) I’d shoot some cheap 55’s.

Sethro

Ha!  Sethro's first post.  This is the guy in the videos folks

Only really light bullet I have ever reloaded are 40gr Blitzkings, holy fuck! 3400+ fps is scary LOL.
My 69gr SMK load @ 100y, 10 round group. I'm calling that 9 o'clock a flyer.


BOT Looks to me that y'all may be on to something, gj RTBA!

Hey Lug, any chance of a borescoping and cleaning report?

Sailor, I see the competition as WOA's Wilson blanked postban "service rifle" barrel at $220.
For a budget precision build, I think $200 or less would get consideration.

This.
WOA's entry level barrel is hard to beat for the money. Under $200 would be a good place to start.

I do not own a borescope.

Excellent write-up. Lots of useful detail and very well written. Thanks for sharing this with us..

Perhaps this fix for your "portrait" video. How to Change Orientation of YouTube Video

From 2012.  I can no longer find that function.  Anybody that can spoon feed me it is appreciated.  But I am not finding the ability to do this under enhancements anymore.

Nice write up Lug

@SailorJ

Dont know how much margin you have to work with but i think these would need to be priced under any BA or Faxon barrels that are similar to sell

When did Colt start using melonite barrels?

I don't know the answer to this.  One possible solution I considered was they were melonited after market?

Maybe somebody else has a better answer.

Bottom line is the sample I got was quality.  That mattered more than the name.

Given they can't be 100% linked to Colt and they aren't threaded.  I don't think they're going to be very easy to move unless they're priced pretty cheap.

bumping just because

Thats my thinking also...

CDNN has a similar barrels for about $60, along with bear creek, classic arms and a few others. With no proof of provenance, especially with no markings, I would find it hard to see these moving at more than $65-70 shipped. Colt seemingly never sends major components out without some sort of production marking(or so most consumers would believe). Colt hasn't gotten into melonite. I think Right to Bear stumbled into a batch of "Colt Type - AR15" barrels vs Colt production. They could possibly be the infamous Colt Competition production that Colt dabbled in a many years ago, but CDNN had cleared all of that inventory out in the last three or so years.

Some crappy barrels though.  This one has proven not to be crappy with a single sample albeit.

I would not pay $60 for bear creek.