I have Criterion lightweights that are 16” that work well for hunting. What I’m looking for is a heavier contour for longer strings of fire without my zero going to crap if I were to take a class or shooting for beer money with my friends. My 16” will work for HD for the time being because I don’t see that as being prolonged rate of fire. My 20” ARs are heavy because I’m using them for stand hunting and shooting for fun at distance.

Looking at 14.5 or 16 for length. I’m staying away from pistol/SBR length at the moment.

If weight doesn't matter, full bull.  Maybe have it fluted.

Colt/FN SOCOM.

I've been more than happy with them.

Have you tried zeroing, dumping a mag, then seeing how much the group opens up? Even though it's a light weight barrel it's made by a quality manufacturer and should still shoot well. Not trying to discourage buying more parts though.

Colt Socom

I was thinking SOCOM. Guess I’ll start looking at specs. Should I assume they are Chrome lined from FN and Colt?

I have a 16” bull from my first AR I bought that was an Oly. That thing shot incredibly well but was a bit heavy. The rifling was very crisp and no chatter marks in the barrel. Could always have it recontoured.

Colt/FN SOCOM will be button broached/ chrome lined bore and chamber.

This right here... you don’t need a real beefy barrel to avoid shifting POI when hot.

This. When I was a noob. I thought it was an issue with my BCM lightweight barrels. It took me a while to realize those barrels just shot like shit in general.  Other lightweights I’ve had since I’ve never noticed it as an issue.

My most accurate 16" precision AR barrel is a full custom Bartlein. 223 CLE chambered, 1/7.7 twist, mid gas, fluted barrel, light heavy profile It only weighs 28 oz. .775" under hanguards with .075" depth flutes, .750" gas block made just long enough to fit the titanium SLR adjustable gas block .730" in front of gas block, .050" flute depth in front of gas block. It has 1/2×28 threads but if I had to do it again I'd get 5/8×24 and use a .308 muzzle device.

The complete rifle is 6 pounds on the nose without optic and was made just to shoot 77 TMKs suppressed out to 400m.

I would never take that rifle to abuse at a class. I have carbine training guns for that. The ultralight heavy barrel is for precision work and wears a Leupold 3.8-18× Mark 5.

If you go SPR profile (.850" under handguard) you end up with a 34oz or heavier barrel. Yuck. If you want handy you want 28oz or under barrel IMO.

As for rapid fire, this is 10 shots in 20 seconds at 320 yards. The lack of precision is more about me shooting fast and my skill vs the barrel not being up to task, IMO. Something has gone horribly wrong if it does not shoot a sub MOA 5 shot group under 300 yards slow fire.



Just realize the .223 bullets are slaves to the wind. You can only be shockingly silly accurate in low wind conditions.

Recce profile.  Heavy under the handguard, .725" from front of the gas block journal to the muzzle.  It is 34 ounces, but quite manageable, and far more accurate than I can shoot.  Accuracy stays with it as it heats up.

If your barrel is so hot it changes the rifle's zero you're also going to have enough heat coming off the barrel to interfere with a good sight picture. Mirage can interfere with sighting a lot sooner than your barrel will change it's impact point.

Bull barrels suck to live with. IMO anything heavier than a SPR profile is too heavy. Colt's old H-Bar profile is excellent and the limit of what I think a maximum dimension barrel should be. Other companies have similar profiles, "Hoplite" profile is very close to Colt H-Bar dimension.

SOCOM 14.5" is excellent as well. NRA service rifle profiles are fine for tournament use, too heavy for a useful self-defense rifle unless you never intend to leave your home. Service rifle profiles are fine for varmint hunting, probably their best use outside of competition.  

Not really... You can burn a mag in a pencil barrel and have a noticeable shift in POI or group size opening up without mirage ruining your sight picture.

Extreme spread bugs me. I guessed the squares are 3", and set OnTarget to 300m.

Attached File

.800, .750, .720, IMHO

I have shot in approximately 200 NRA highpower tournaments and my front sight fades in and out of focus on the second string of ten in the rapid fire stages. Unless there is a steady breeze the heat rising from the barrel interferes with precision shooting. 20 shots slow fire in the standing position. 10 shots in 60 seconds in the sitting position, followed by a second string 10 shots in 60 seconds in the sitting position. Only 30 rounds have been fired, spread out over a considerable period of time, and already heat coming off the barrel is creating mirage. The 300 yard stage is conducted after a considerable break in time, and the second string of 10 rounds fired inside of 70 seconds also creates mirage.

This is only a real problem in the summer months, but the rate of fire in NRA highpower is no where near the rate of even a casual backyard get together.

M1-A Super Match and NRA Service Rifle barrels are not "lightweight" and still give off enough heat to effect your sight picture.

Shot a lot of service rifle... and an absolute shit ton of 3-Gun an higher rates of fire than you’ll ever find in service rifle.

Having shot both M14/M1A’s and AR’s competitively mirage is a much bigger issue with the former which is another reason why it’s a sub-par platform.

My opinion stands.