broken picture links repaired

Observations on the Accuracy of a 20” Lothar Walther AR-15 Barrel


I’ve used a 20” stainless-steel Lothar Walther barrel for evaluating the accuracy (technically precision) of quite a few different 5.56mm/223 Remington factory loads. Prior to firing each of these factory loads, I’ve fired a 10-shot control group using some of my “generic” hand-loads; by generic, I mean that these hand-loads were not “tuned” for this specific barrel.  The targets shown below are a collection of some of these 10-shot control groups.





I purchased this 20” Lothar Walther barrel directly from Lothar Walther.  The barrel is manufactured from LW50 stainless steel.  The Lothar Walther website states that LW50 was developed “in 1994-95 as a safe alternative to 416R and to solve durability problems associated with 416R.” I currently have fired 3,550 rounds through this barrel and the barrel is still shooting sub-3/4 MOA groups, as evidenced by the the 10-shot groups pictured below.

Lothar Walther barrels are produced using button rifling.  This barrel has traditional rifling (not polygonal rifling) and has a 1:8” twist rate.  The barrel has a 223 Wylde chamber, “M4” feed-ramps and a recessed target crown.













All shooting was conducted from my bench-rest set-up at a distance of 100 yards. The 20” Lothar Walther was free-floated. The free-float handguards of the rifle rested in a Sinclair Windage Benchrest, while the stock of the rifle rested in a Protektor bunny-ear rear bag. Sighting was accomplished via a Leupold VARI-X III set at 25X magnification and adjusted to be parallax-free at 100 yards. A mirage shade was used. Wind conditions on the shooting range were continuously monitored using a Wind Probe. The lower receiver housed a Geissele High-Speed National Match trigger. The set-up was very similar to that pictured below.







The Wind Probe






Finally, the 10-shot groups . . .


Sierra 52 grain MatchKings;  ES = 0.59”.





Sierra 52 grain MatchKings;  ES = 0.62”.






Sierra 77 grain MatchKings;  ES = 0.61”.






Sierra 77 grain Tipped MatchKings:  ES = 0.68”






Sierra 52 grain MatchKings;  ES = 0.64”





Sierra 52 grain MatchKings;  ES = 0.71”






Sierra 77 grain MatchKings;  EX = 0.69”






Sierra 55 grain BlitzKings;  ES = 0.635”.






Hornady 50 grain V-MAX:  ES = 0.75”.






Sierra 52 grain MatchKings:  ES = 0.73”





The ten, 10-shot groups pictured above have an average extreme spread of 0.67”.


Lastly, for any Internet Commandos in our viewing audience toady, here’s a pic of a sub- ¼ MOA group fired from the Lothar Walther barrel at 100 yards.





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Thanks for posting

I have thought about building around a Lothar Walther barrel a few times, maybe this thread will give me the push for a Winter project.

What year did you buy this barrel?

Outstanding, thank you.

Good stuff as always!

Outstanding post as always Molon.

De nada.  


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Just be aware that there are versions of these barrels that have polygonal rifling.  I haven't tested the accuracy of any of those.


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I have one of those. A spikes Lothar Walther lw50 midlength 16" fluted version.  This version is a huge compromise. It's a sub moa 5 shot group barrel with 77gr smk's but you can't fire long strings. It heats up super quick and the groups open up.

That's too bad.  This barrel has over 3550 rounds now and it's still shooting great.