Posted: 12/3/2024 5:46:02 PM EDT
| I did some reading over on the Hide, and basically anything other than Proof is considered "for the poors," and even Proof is mid-grade, given that the true upper class are buying Brux or Bartlein etc blanks and having them custom spun and cut. I can't afford $700+ for a barrel for an AR, but I am willing to go beyond the $179 mass-produced stuff. I've been looking at Shaw and Rainier, and maybe Faxon. Any others I should look at? Looking for an 18-22" 6 ARC, +/- $400 is about where I can get at the moment. |
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https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/6ARC-Barrels-Uppers/121-788578/ This one started a few days ago. |
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Originally Posted By 3seven4: https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/6ARC-Barrels-Uppers/121-788578/ This one started a few days ago. Many thanks. I missed that. |
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I've been known to dump on Ballistic Advantage but mainly on their .223 barrels. I bought one of their 6mm ARC 18" SS barrels and while I've not done a lot of testing with it, it shot pretty damn good for a $200 barrel. I've killed a truck load of coyote and hogs with it out to 300 yards with no issues. Might want to consider one for a wallet friendly option. The barrel likes being suppressed. 
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Originally Posted By bluedog82: My Rainier Match has been meh. Never shot a sub MoA 5 shot group yet. I’ve heard good things about Odin Works. You should reach out to them. I took my 12” RA match out today and it shot decent. Some sub moa groups at 100 before moving out further.  12” 6arc @ 574yds, Rainier Match Barrel |
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Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: You should reach out to them. I took my 12” RA match out today and it shot decent. Some sub moa groups at 100 before moving out further.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVtm4d_mMOsI did, they didn’t really care. |
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Seems like a waste to shoot such a high performance cartridge from a dumpy barrel. You’d be hamstringing yourself every round you send downrange and wishing you’d have sprung for more. I’d spend no less than $300 personally. I’ve owned a lot of barrels and the sweet spot for me is Craddock RTR barrels. They shoot GREAT, and for the price especially. They’re not cheap, but you’d have to pay a lot more to get one that shoots even a small fraction of an MOA better. I say that as an owner of CLE, Bartlein, Proof, etc. My next barrel or two lined up will both be RTRs. |
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Originally Posted By tucansam: I did some reading over on the Hide, and basically anything other than Proof is considered "for the poors," and even Proof is mid-grade, given that the true upper class are buying Brux or Bartlein etc blanks and having them custom spun and cut. I can't afford $700+ for a barrel for an AR, but I am willing to go beyond the $179 mass-produced stuff. I've been looking at Shaw and Rainier, and maybe Faxon. Any others I should look at? Looking for an 18-22" 6 ARC, +/- $400 is about where I can get at the moment. Shaw is hit or miss. I would lean towards Faxon Rainer or even Odin works. |
Chicken Farmer by choice hunter of shade tree's and hiding spots by nature.
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Originally Posted By doty_soty: Seems like a waste to shoot such a high performance cartridge from a dumpy barrel. You’d be hamstringing yourself every round you send downrange and wishing you’d have sprung for more. I’d spend no less than $300 personally. I’ve owned a lot of barrels and the sweet spot for me is Craddock RTR barrels. They shoot GREAT, and for the price especially. They’re not cheap, but you’d have to pay a lot more to get one that shoots even a small fraction of an MOA better. I say that as an owner of CLE, Bartlein, Proof, etc. My next barrel or two lined up will both be RTRs. Craddock and RA Ultramatch barrels have always performed for me. I think I’ll move forward with ordering 1-2 RTR’s to test based on your feedback. |
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Originally Posted By Ryan_Scott: White Oak probably makes them by now. IIRC WOA said they’re holding off on this (maybe it was 6.5G? Both?) for the time being, which probably means ever. I do wish they’d branch out a bit. They’re such a sweet mix of price to performance. |
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Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: Craddock and RA Ultramatch barrels have always performed for me. I think I’ll move forward with ordering 1-2 RTR’s to test based on your feedback. Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: Originally Posted By doty_soty: Seems like a waste to shoot such a high performance cartridge from a dumpy barrel. You’d be hamstringing yourself every round you send downrange and wishing you’d have sprung for more. I’d spend no less than $300 personally. I’ve owned a lot of barrels and the sweet spot for me is Craddock RTR barrels. They shoot GREAT, and for the price especially. They’re not cheap, but you’d have to pay a lot more to get one that shoots even a small fraction of an MOA better. I say that as an owner of CLE, Bartlein, Proof, etc. My next barrel or two lined up will both be RTRs. Craddock and RA Ultramatch barrels have always performed for me. I think I’ll move forward with ordering 1-2 RTR’s to test based on your feedback. I think I’m up to 5 now. My next will be one of their ultralight 6.5G’s. I have a pair of their 300BLKs. Something like a Faxon or BA would have been fine for all it needed to do, but I was on a bit of a precision kick at the time so I got a 10” and 14.5” 300. I tested them both with Hornady VMAX and both produced .8 MOA 5 shot groups. Pretty wild for a 10” 300BLK. Their 18” has done several 5rds in the .5MOA range even with just AAC ammo. I’m sure it’d do better with some FGMM. With lots of ammo it’d outshoot my CLE and Proof 5.56 builds, and those shoot about as well as you’d expect. |
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Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: Isn’t Faxon in the same boat? I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews. Kinda but they have a little better track record of standing behind their product. Or I guess I should say the people who carry Faxon have a better record of standing behind the product. I have an early Shaw that is a Shilon blank that is superbly accurate. But I have built a couple that were meh at best. I’ve only seen one Faxon that was over two moa. And my daughter has that one. The other two people didn’t have their barrel nut torqued correctly and once I retorqued it they shot reasonably well. The one we had to ship back the gas port was not fully drilled. And it took forever to get it back. But the new one they shipped back was excellent. And a buddy of mine got one that the headspace was off on. He shipped it back to MidwayUSA and they got a replacement really quick. |
Chicken Farmer by choice hunter of shade tree's and hiding spots by nature.
| Had a faxon barrel.. And was unimpressed. Best I could get was a 1.5 inch group with a bag and bipod. Swapped it out for a 14.5 noveske. Went to zero after putting a new scope on there. And managed 4 sub moa groups after zeroing(to be fair they were 3 shot groups) took it to a pr class and was hitting 18x30 at 907 yards. Pretty sure I tagged one at 975 but my spotter couldn't confirm. |
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Well damn!!! I guess I'll take my 15.1" CLE ( Had a nicely spun Douglas in both 556 & 6 arc before they stopped selling to public )all 3 of my Noveske's ( 12.5", 14.5" & 18" ) and go be poor in the fucking corner by myself.............. Craddick RTR barrels are fucking nice also and Rock Creek Blanks at that so tell me about how such a high performance cartridge needs better????????? |
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I just bought a Krieger 10 twist which will be chambered for 6 ARC in an AR-15. JP bolt and barrel extension. Seekins Precision IMRT-3 upper. |
N&MEM, SSDR, NRA Life Member
Epstein Scalia did not kill himself.
Gun control is literally Hitler.
Some people have issues. I have a subscription.
Gun control is literally Hitler.
Some people have issues. I have a subscription.
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I bought a complete upper in 6mm ARC from Grendel Hunter for about $800 and got it in about three days. Accurate and runs great. I got the 22” version. https://www.grendelhunter.com/6mm-arc-uppers/ 
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Originally Posted By tucansam: I did some reading over on the Hide, and basically anything other than Proof is considered "for the poors," and even Proof is mid-grade, given that the true upper class are buying Brux or Bartlein etc blanks and having them custom spun and cut. I can't afford $700+ for a barrel for an AR, but I am willing to go beyond the $179 mass-produced stuff. I've been looking at Shaw and Rainier, and maybe Faxon. Any others I should look at? Looking for an 18-22" 6 ARC, +/- $400 is about where I can get at the moment. Wow! Not sure where the Hide folks pull their data points from but it sounds like their a$$es. Too say, Proof barrel are mid-grade! Makes me laugh! Proof barrels are only the second most used barrels on the Pro PRS circuit. #1 Bartlein #2 Proof #3 Krieger. That just to hard to believe. Makes you wonder, why do so many pros use them if they are just mid? Now, Bartlein is #1 by a huge margin. I think it's like 49% Pros use their barrels. Proof is like 12%. Those three barrel companies account for almost 75% of the shooters. For normal people who have to pay for their equipment. Bartlein blanks are $450. After tooling/taxes/shipping you will be well north of $750. Proof AR10 all stainless barrels can be found for $454. Tax/title/shipping $500ish. Not too far from your $400 mark. I'm no PRS Pro but my Proof 6.5cm barrel is stupid accurate. From my research Criterion, Hart, Shilen, Geissele are all good barrels. Some like Criterion in the $300-400 range. Others like Shilen and Hart closer to the Bartlein prices. |
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For context you're not saving much money if you plan on shooting the rifle because ammo is going to eat up the difference in price real quick in a couple hundred rounds. Just something to think about. I've been told if you want to splurge on a Bartlien barrel you might as well get it in 400MODBB steel. Which admittedly I don't have enough personal experience with the 400MODBB but rather that's the advice I got from a premier industry professional that shoots a lot of lead down range and I trust. So in the mean time I have one in .308 and one with a match 5.56 chamber. End of the day you could vary well get a really cheap barrel that out shoots a bartlien 1 out of 100 barrels. People and competitors pay for consistency that's what a premier barrel maker is selling. |
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I'm happy with my 21" Odinworks barrel. Below is a group from working up some ammo for it using CFE223 and 108gr ELD-M seconds bullets from Midway. The standard deviation on velocity for that group was 2.9 ft/s using a powder measure (i.e. not weighing each charge)! I'm even more happy because the barrel came off the prize table at a 3 gun match. Attached File |
Pain or damage don't end the world.Or despair, or fucking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man and give some back.-Al Swearengen
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Originally Posted By eMc9001: Anyone ordered one of the new Noveske DDF barrel's? I'm torn between a 12.5" Beer City Bullets, Noveske, Centurion at the moment. Would prefer having a headspaced bolt which all seem to offer. Are you able to find a BCB in stock? I’ve got one. I’ve got a 14.5 Noveske too. They shoot about the same depending on ammo. IIRC the BCB is cut rifled though, conferring the advantages that implies, and it’s also gassed softer to split the difference running suppressed. My Noveske probably needs some tuning even with a low backpressure can but my BCB I’ll probably leave it be or at most maybe use a heavier spring or buffer. Edit mine isn’t the DDF. They seem to value that pretty dearly. More than I do. It looks a bit snake oily to me personally, but I haven’t looked into it much since seeing the initial marketing for it. |
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Originally Posted By doty_soty: Are you able to find a BCB in stock? I’ve got one. I’ve got a 14.5 Noveske too. They shoot about the same depending on ammo. IIRC the BCB is cut rifled though, conferring the advantages that implies, and it’s also gassed softer to split the difference running suppressed. My Noveske probably needs some tuning even with a low backpressure can but my BCB I’ll probably leave it be or at most maybe use a heavier spring or buffer. Edit mine isn’t the DDF. They seem to value that pretty dearly. More than I do. It looks a bit snake oily to me personally, but I haven’t looked into it much since seeing the initial marketing for it. I contacted them and they said they should have some more coming in a few weeks which Id prefer to probably go that route since everyone including yourself Ive heard from says they are tuning quite well. Yeah I did more research on the DDF and may steer away from that, seems the GB makes it really hard to mount foward accessories due to the clearance. |
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Originally Posted By eMc9001: I contacted them and they said they should have some more coming in a few weeks which Id prefer to probably go that route since everyone including yourself Ive heard from says they are tuning quite well. Yeah I did more research on the DDF and may steer away from that, seems the GB makes it really hard to mount foward accessories due to the clearance. Originally Posted By eMc9001: Originally Posted By doty_soty: Are you able to find a BCB in stock? I’ve got one. I’ve got a 14.5 Noveske too. They shoot about the same depending on ammo. IIRC the BCB is cut rifled though, conferring the advantages that implies, and it’s also gassed softer to split the difference running suppressed. My Noveske probably needs some tuning even with a low backpressure can but my BCB I’ll probably leave it be or at most maybe use a heavier spring or buffer. Edit mine isn’t the DDF. They seem to value that pretty dearly. More than I do. It looks a bit snake oily to me personally, but I haven’t looked into it much since seeing the initial marketing for it. I contacted them and they said they should have some more coming in a few weeks which Id prefer to probably go that route since everyone including yourself Ive heard from says they are tuning quite well. Yeah I did more research on the DDF and may steer away from that, seems the GB makes it really hard to mount foward accessories due to the clearance. Huh. I just figured those BCBs were a thing of the past. I love my 12.5. It’s pretty light, gassed great, and shoots great. If I didn’t already have a Proof and Centurion 18 I’d love to snag their 18 based on my experience with their 12.5. I’d just hold out if I were you. I know Craddock has/had an 11.5 too, which I have one of. It’s great too but personally I’d rather pay the small premium for the BCB, and I say that as a huge fan of Craddocks. |
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Originally Posted By doty_soty: Huh. I just figured those BCBs were a thing of the past. I love my 12.5. It’s pretty light, gassed great, and shoots great. If I didn’t already have a Proof and Centurion 18 I’d love to snag their 18 based on my experience with their 12.5. I’d just hold out if I were you. I know Craddock has/had an 11.5 too, which I have one of. It’s great too but personally I’d rather pay the small premium for the BCB, and I say that as a huge fan of Craddocks. Good to know, I've heard nothing but great things about the BCB's so I'll have to stick around for when they have some more. I don't mind paying extra for something tuned/gassed a lot better. |
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Originally Posted By doty_soty: Seems like a waste to shoot such a high performance cartridge from a dumpy barrel. You’d be hamstringing yourself every round you send downrange and wishing you’d have sprung for more. I’d spend no less than $300 personally. I’ve owned a lot of barrels and the sweet spot for me is Craddock RTR barrels. They shoot GREAT, and for the price especially. They’re not cheap, but you’d have to pay a lot more to get one that shoots even a small fraction of an MOA better. I say that as an owner of CLE, Bartlein, Proof, etc. My next barrel or two lined up will both be RTRs. This is my next barrel. (For when I finally build a Mk12-6ARC). |
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Originally Posted By SuperJlarge: You should reach out to them. I took my 12” RA match out today and it shot decent. Some sub moa groups at 100 before moving out further. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVtm4d_mMOsSuperJ, I sure do appreciate your input in this forum. Just wanted to let you know some of us appreciate your work. Pulling triggers isn’t what I’d call “work”, but documenting what you do is work. What bullet weight were you shooting in your video? If you mentioned it in the introductory comments I missed it. |
Knight of Blunder - Fogo '21
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Originally Posted By tucansam: I'm looking at McGowen for $300 And thats another great option. Yes, they have lead time, but people fail to understand they will make you whatever you want. I have one in 6 Grendel. Its a shooter. My buddy just ordered the same barrel contour as mine, just in 6 ARC. He got the 26" length, rifle gas, .875 gas block, .850 to muzzle, and during their Xmas sale, he got it for $300. Not bad for a custom barrel. I plan on having them making me an AR10 barrel in 308, same contour as above, but its a low priority project, so its gets done when it gets done. As far as Proof? They are mostly pretty solid. Another friend has one on a 22 ARC. Its a shooter. He bought a prefit for his 6.5 PRC to go with his Defiance action, and honestly, he will even admit it is a bit meh, and he wishes he would have just bought a blank from Brux, Krieger or Bartlien. If Im doing bolt gun barrels? I buy from 2 places. Brux or Bartlien. Both are local to me. I know one of the owners at Brux, and the guys at Bartlien are good to local shooters. We have a few good smiths in the area that will chamber and do a good job of it and they dont take 6 months. |