Just placed an order for an 18" rifle gas Criterion fluted .223 Wylde chambered barrel.



This is to replace a Mega 18" which just wasn't quite as accurate (precise :-) ) as I had hoped.

You will have to give us a range report.  Good luck with the new barrel.

I like pie

I bought three Criterion 16" midlength pencil barrels. They are more accurate than a BCM. They seem quality, but not SUB MOA. That's all I can say.

The "lightweight" Criterion profile is NOT all that lightweight. More like a medium, optimum, or gunner profile from others.

If you wanted hyper accurate and sub 24oz you won't be satisfied, IMO. If you want a good barrel you will be happy. The Criterion Wylde chamber seems to like 55 grain and hate 77 grain... can't say why that is.

DevL,

Thanks for the input, and if better than BCM I'm going to be happy because I've had several exceptional BCM barrels.

It is my plan to post on this project once (if ever) the barrel is received.

FYi, I like pie too :-)

Ammunition quality is more important than barrel quality. Modern barrels are very well made. I have rack grade chrome lined barrels that routinely shoot <1.5 moa with 52/53 grain Sierra MatchKing bullets. I own a 16" Colt H-Bar that shoots .800" 10 shot groups with this ammo. All of these rifles shoot 3 to 3.5" groups with M193/M855 ball ammo.

I know this isn't what people want to hear, but money (or time at the reloading bench) invested in premium ammo will achieve more accuracy gains than buying better barrels. I purchased a Krieger 1/7.7 twist barrel and was disappointed that it didn't shoot a lot better than some of my standard barrels. It's a very good barrel, but at close to $500 I wanted to cut that .800" group in half. It's only marginally better than my Colt H-Bar.

Some barrels just shoot exceptionally well, it's just the luck of the draw. You will never really know any barrel's potential until you actually feed it ammunition that can bring out it's best.

Barrels are relatively cheap compared to the cost of ammunition needed to wear one out. Even premium barrels costing $500+ are inexpensive compared to 5000 rounds of tournament grade accuracy and another 10,000+ rounds of noise making and casual shooting use. Ammunition is by far the most expensive item in the life of any firearm.

There is a lot of truth in what BP says above. I might differ slightly in my opinions but am a firm believer in quality ammunition, preferably handloaded makes the greatest improvement over blasting ammunition.

Agree completely.  Even so, quality control is extraordinarily higher and tolerances much tighter with the custom barrel makers like, Kreiger, Lilja, Bartlein and such.  That means the chance of getting a deeply sub MOA barrel is greater.  Benchrest shooters buying from these makers still know that each barrel is still a world unto itself.  They may order 4 or 5 supposedly identical barrels, test them, select the one that shoots the tightest groups, use it in competition and sell off the others.  We are talking about perhaps one-tenth of a MOA or less difference among them all.

Seems like a lateral move to me.

40% pie ! LOL