I've come to notice that every time someone asks about a barrel on the forums, regardless of which company or price point they are asking about, there are a large number of positive responses. While this is generally a good trend, it may occasionally lead people to higher expectations and disappointment when they purchase one. I for one have made many purchases based on recommendations online, only to be disappointed.

Below is a list of brands for the Precision AR barrel I've owned or owned by friends that I shoot with often. Most are mine. I've also included the company that chambered the barrel as I feel that is as important if not more so than the blank manufacturer. I will not go into detail of how each individual barrel shot as my requirements change based on the purpose. I do not require a recce style barrel with a 1-6 optic to be as accurate as a heavier DMR with higher mag optic. Likewise, price makes a difference as I may be satisfied with 1 MOA from a $200 barrel but not a $500 barrel.

Krieger: 4 for 6. These were chambered by (3) CLE, (1)Krieger, (1)KAC, or (1)unknown. 2 of the CLEs, the Krieger, and the KAC shot lights out. One CLE and the unknown did not met expectations. FWIW the unknown smith Krieger was a 6.5 creedmoor gas gun built by someone else, I did not know the build quality of the rifle so I can't totally blame it on barrel. The one by CLE is a friend’s who has two from CLE. One of them shoots significantly better than the other.

Bartlein: 2 for 2. My PVA chambered 6.5 CM is the most accurate semiauto I own. A friend's .223 chambered by Bartlein is also very accurate.

Douglas: 2 for 3. One of mine was by CLE and friends was chambered by Centurion. Both shot very well. Mine took a bit to break in before shooting well. The one that I wasn’t satisfied with was a Superior Barrels (now defunct) chambered by CLE. The essentially took the CLE barrel and treated with an EPVD type process. Don’t recall the details exactly and their website is now gone. I do recall comparing it to my standard CLE Douglas and it not shoot as well as standard.

JP 0 for 2. While I have not been satisfied with the two I’ve owned, that may not be totally the fault of the JP barrels. My 6mm Creedmoor barrel was very accurate, however my issue was pressure and velocity. Only being able to go 2900 before having pressure issues makes shooting that caliber totally pointless. My gunsmith (PVA) refuses to chamber any 6mm cartridge in a large frame AR for this reason. So the issue may be more with the caliber than the barrel. My upper with JP Valkyrie barrel is on its way back to JP for various issues. Can’t point the finger at JP just yet, however it’s fair to say I’m not totally happy.

Larue Stealth: 2 for 3. I convinced 2 friends to buy these. Theirs shot, mine didn't.

Criterion: 0 for 3. Big disappointment here. None of these shot satisfactorily for myself or a friend. Two were chambered by CLE, one by criterion. I’ve seen their bolt gun barrel shoot extremely well but for now I am staying away from their gas gun barrels.

WOA (I think Wilson blanks): 3 for 3. Just replaced a Criterion with one of these in the exact same configuration. Costs half the price and groups are half the size. A good friend has two and is very happy with both. This IMO is best value.

Shilen: 1 for 1. Friend of mine found one for a discount. Shoots very well for the price he paid. Full retail price is pushing that of the Kriegers and I’m not sure I would choose them over a Krieger. He is happy with it though, so that’s what matters.

So that's my very subjective review of the many barrels I've used. Having experience with multiple brands allows me to better judge and compare various ones. Anyone care to post experiences with theirs?

Like you I have owned many premium barrels. Because of the logistics of owning numerous rifles in the same caliber I won't commit the time to develop optimum loads for each individual rifle.

After extensive testing I settled on a load that shot very well accross the board. 24.5 grains of Varget with Sierra 69 grain Match King's, seated at 2.250" I'm using CCI-BR4 or Russian kvb-5,56m primers.

While this load isn't optimized for any individual rifle, it shoots 1 moa or better from all but my chrome lined blaster barrels.

Ammo makes a huge difference and expecting every rifle to like the same ammo rarely happens. I suspect my disappointment with a couple of my barrels has to do with my unwillingness to spend more time in load development to try to get the most from them. One is  CLE Krieger that has always been less than what I thought it should be.

All of my WOA barrels have been excellent. Factoring in the cost makes them a steal. I don't know how they do it at that price point.

Yep, I have a few different ammo types I test out before I throw in the towel on a barrel:

22.6 8208 with a Lapua Scenar-L
Geco 55gr .223
IMI 77 razor core
PMC 77

I like testing both IMI and PMC because they are on total opposite ends of pressure spectrum.

I can add my experiences.

Krieger, Douglas, and Pac-Nor <.75 MOA (25 shot aggregate "MOA all day")
Criterion 1.5 MOA at best
Larue (3 examples) ~1 MOA never below in shot strings greater than 5.
Lothar Walther 1 MOA 25 shot aggregate.
Multiple loads starting with "sweetheart" loads that shoot well across numerous guns.  I even tried lapping a Larue barrel with cast lead plugs to try and improve it to no avail.

I have a Shilen I've yet to chamber and build (6x45).

If I were building a precision rifle tomorrow I would buy a Krieger or Pac-Nor based on my previous experience.

ETA: Saw this in "active" didn't realize it was AR only.  Above experiences in ARs are Criterion, Larue, and LW.  My conclusion doesn't change, the next precision AR I build will have a Krieger tube.

Also I'm not disappointed in the Larue or LW barrels.  The cost:performance ratio is satisfactory to me.  Criterion is the only real disappointment I've had.

In general - are you handloading and tuning for each of these barrels, or shooting factory ammo?

Depends on the barrel and it's purpose, but I have tuned handloads for all before writing them off.

For the higher end barrels, I may shoot a few rounds of factory to break it in a bit but generally go to handloads and stay there.

Some of the barrels are purchased for a trainer or recce gun where I don't need the accuracy and velocity consistency of handloads so I just stick to factory on them.

I had the same experience with a Douglas/Superior Barrel.  I couldn't get it to group better than a 1.5" 10 shot group.

Larue I've got a 20 that shoots fantastic and a 12 that I haven't given up on yet, but doesn't seem like it's going to be sub moa.  Some of that may be the lighter 12" setup being harder to manage recoil consistently on.

Great post.  In my experience - all 20" match HBAR's:

Shilen: 2/2

Wilson/RRA: ~3/5  - I'M done, but they do at least try to stand behind it

Bergara: 0/1. People act like Bergara is super amazing- not in my experience, nor do they stand behind their product.

I have a few...

Bartleins have been the best, closely followed by Krieger. Spooky accurate.
I have both a Krieger and Bartlein in .260 Remington.  Both shoot very well.

1 Rock Creek barrel on my 6.5 Grendel. That is my very favorite gun, well under MOA with multiple loads.

2 Bruxs, one on my beater AR and another on my wife's rifle. I'll never buy another Brux.

1 PacNor 3-groove on my .260 FN PBR. Decently accurate. Probably wouldn't buy another one, though.

I also have several Green Mountain barrels in various chamberings. Those are a screaming bargain, IMO.

I have a couple Faxon 6.5 blanks I haven't spun up yet. I'm interested to see how they work.

I've had several Green Mountain barrels as well.  All have been excellent shooters for the money.  Not .5moa shooters, but the worst gave me 1.1 MOA on the MOA all day challenge.

Agree with Green Mountain value.

Have half a dozen blanks waiting on various projects.

This thread is excellent in that many folks show that you have to 1) have a quality blank, 2) it has to be chambered and crowned correctly, 3) have consistent, quality ammo that likes the chamber and throat you selected.

USAMU practice shows you can have blanks from even the best manufacturers that may shoot poorly, sometimes due to conditions the gunsmith can't control (like the quality of the steel alloy and whether or not it has "Stringers" of softer material within the steel strata).  You might be able to chamber an economy barrel with a brand-new reamer with a beautiful, polished throat and out-shoot a barrel from a hand-turned blank chambered with a mid-life or worn reamer, or a barrel that got a dinged crown.

A blank manufacturer's consistent QC partnered with an experienced gunsmith-machinist who takes his time ensuring a chamber's cut precisely will most-often beat out a mass-produced machine-chambered barrel.

I may be one of the few Lilja AR barrel users here.  it is a factory drop in, chambered in .223 Wylde, 1:8 twist.  It came pre-chambered, barrel extension in place, hand lapped and ready to break in and shoot.  It is far better than I am capable of shooting.  From bench with good adjustable front rest and bag and rear rabbit ear bag to eliminate as many variables as possible and with laddered Berger 52 FB handloads it is consistently sub 1/2 MOA, and pretty close to that with Berger 77 OTM handloads.

But, . . . this is a sample size of one.  Most of the examples given above may be sample sizes of one, two or maybe three.  This means that statistically we have very sparse information upon which to make informed decisions.  For that reason, based on the performance of one barrel, I cannot say whether the next barrel will be equally good.  For other reasons, set forth below, I can make an educated guess.

Reality is that individual barrels, even from the top custom barrel makers, do have unique identities.  Some shoot and some simply will not find a load that they like.

I have a Douglas "Supreme" barrel on a 6mm bolt gun that has been superb, especially with light bullets because it has a slow twist.  But it, too, is a sample size of one.

I also have a Douglas sourced barrel on a Remington Custom Shop bolt gun (hunting rifle sporter profile) that is quite good, running in the 3/4 MOA range.  I don't know whether to count that as 2 of 2, because Remington probably did the chambering, but it shoots.

I have one Kreiger barreled .308 bolt gun that is also extremely accurate - close to 1/2 MOA with carefully selected components.  Sample of one, though.

What I can say is that a good place to look is published competition results in national or international events.  Is the barrel maker winning or finishing in the top tier in national or internationally recognized competition events where sub MOA accuracy is at a premium?   If so, chances are good that the quality control and consistency of technique, equipment and materials will be high.  When sourcing from such companies you greatly increase the chance of getting a shooter.

I'm not going to list every AR barrel I've had, but I haven't been disappointed with either the JP or the Criterion 308 AR barrels I've had.  I have had several Wilson AR-15 stainless barrels and have been pleased with every one of them.  The biggest disappointment I've had was a Noveske.  Way too much money for a barrel that wouldn't out shoot any of the cheap Wilsons.

2 for 2 with Krieger.  Consistently sub moa.  223 barrel was only fed factory ammo...preferred 55gr blitzkings 69/77 smks. 6.5cm loves 140eldms and 142smks.  Factory hornady 140s were .7"

1 for 1 with shilen.  223 wylde, loves 69gr and 77gr.  Didn't care for black hills reman.  Good enough to consistently hit the 4" plate at 500m.

1 for 1 with Rock Creek.  Loves the heavy stuff best.  77 and 75gr create bug holes.  55gr, not so much.

1 for 1 with bushmaster.  It was a special run of 1/7 hbars for an NRA event and I bought it second hand.  It was an moa barrel or just under and had no business being one.  I consider it a win.

2 for 3 with colt. 2 shot well, the other was a scattergun.

0 for 1 with 16" larue stealth.  At best a hair over an inch.  Only liked 77gr stuff.  Could be considered a win, but I expected more due to the hype.

None of the others were precision oriented rifles so they won't be mentioned.

This issue of specific ammo cooperating with a given barrel can be bigger than you expect in some cases.  There is an excellent example of this in a current thread over on the AR15/Variants section where Pew Pew Tactical tested the PSA 6.5CM AR with various ammo brands/types.  It's a little better test than you often see in a case like this and certainly seems to point out ammo variances in a given gun/barrel.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/AR-15/PewPewTactical-s-review-of-our-PSA-6-5-Creedmor-/121-731739/

I built a .308 with a Dan Lilja barrel - it was replacing a Black Hole Weaponry barrel that patterned like a shotgun, and my buddy was very disappointed with the accuracy.

He ordered the lilja - I installed it, and just during break-in (done per Dan's instructions) with cheap PPU soft points we were shooting MOA.  Once break-in was completed we switched to some 168gr FGMM ammo, and my buddy was smiling.  That thing was very very impressive.

DPMS NMs have been good and somewhat bad to me, but I don't recall data off hand.

RRA NM. 2 of 2.
#1 earned most of my EIC points. Several 200/200 on MR-31 target, and 490s/500-25x overall at 100yds. 1st place Service division in MOAAD challenge.
#2 is a new club rifle. Personal best 10 shot score on MR-31, 100-8x.

CLE NM, don't know blank; probably Krieger. 1 of 1.
Personal bests of mid 190s/200 with 50% Xs on 600yd MR target.

From my experience a good barrel shows less variance than a lesser barrel. A good barrel to me will shoot a variety of loads well.

If you have a barrel that you have to try multiple powders and bullets to find something that shoots well, then you don’t have a good barrel. Sure, you can probably a combination that shoots but that’s a lot of wasted time/energy trying to solve a problem you spent money to create.

For an auto-loader I expect to be able to grab premium ammo off the shelf and shoot roughly a moa group. I also expect to be able to put a common powder behind a smk to shoot sub-moa.

I’m:
1/1 on Krieger.
1/1 on Douglas turned by CLE
1/1 on criterion
1/1 on Wilson
2/3 on Larue.

Of those the Krieger and Douglas shot the best.

+1

I've also found that my better barrels tend to show lower SD/ES with velocity.

Another vote for green mountain barrels. My 18 inch 223 Wylde is a great shooter.

This was the first barrel I bought that wasn't part of a complete upper and it loves nosler custom match 69gr though 99% of the rounds I use are magtech 5.56 77 gr.

So far:
Bartlein (Bolt gun) - Easy 1/2" at 100m or better, even during load development. 18" .308 WIN.
Krieger (S/A) - Easy 1/2" with the gun locked in a tripod. 22" 6.5 Creed from Fulton Armory.
BCM (S/A) - Finicky, have only tried 77gr SMK. Likes FGMM, need to try 69gr. 18" .223.
Larue (S/A) - Still working with this one, should be MOA. 16" PredatAR .308 WIN.
Criterion (S/A) - Needs some break-in but after about 50 rounds shows great promise with Hornady 123gr AMAX. 22" 6.5G from PF.
CMMG (S/A) - Should be good for .75" at 100m after about 25 rounds. 16" 6.5G Anvil platform.

I also have a bunch of chrome lined barrels, including DD, Colt, FN (PSA), LMT, and Centurion. These all shoot fairly well, averaging 1.5-2" at 100m with my plinking reloads.

Another Lilja .308 barrel experience here.  Mine shoots 2 of the 3 types of ammo I test with (168 FGMM, 175FGMM, and Black Hills 175) slightly better than my Tikka CTR bolt gun does, and it just barely loses out to the Tikka on that 3rd type.

Green Mountain Barrels 18inch 223wylde  416r SS fluted 1:8

from left to right @100 yards from bipod and rear squeeze bag
Nosler Custom match 223 69gr smk  0.64moa  /  Magtech 5.56 77gr otm 0.84moa  /  Gorilla 223 69gr smk 0.78moa



For $200  I dont think you can beat that. I just with they would do a 6.5 grendel barrel

As far as "precision" AR barrels, I don't have too many, but figured I'd share my experiences with what I have run.

1 x Lilja AR10 barrel in .260 Remington. Barrel is very accurate, but the gas port is too big, and too close (RLGS). It trashed brass within 2 firings.
1x Proof Research AR10 barrel in .260 Remington. Barrel is extremely accurate, and soft on brass with its +2 gas system.
2x Larue Stealth Barrels - Both are incredibly accurate for how inexpensive they are; they'll both hold .75 MOA for 25 rounds with handloads. For a $250 barrel, its a heck of a good deal.

I'm 2 for 2 with WOA, likely both Wilson blanks, both .223. One is a 20"  varmint barrel that shoots a remarkably wide variety of ammo well. It's pretty easy to get 5 and 7 shot groups under .75 moa. It will turn in an occasional group just under .5 moa. The other is a 16" DMR with a coarse-reticled 6.5x scope. It hovers around 1 moa, but based on occasioanal groups and clustering within groups, I think it would shoot as well as the other with a target scope. The 16" is more ammo picky than the 20".

My personal experience is that my 18" noveske SPR is my most accurate barrel.  Followed by a tie between my Colt socom 14.5 barrel and Noveske 13.7.  I have a Triarc 12.5 that should be up there, but I havent done much with it yet.

Here is a wealth of information for anyone looking at accuracy information...

Molon Thread

I used to do accuracy testing for a precision rifle manufacturer, where I would literally take a bunch of rifles to the range and test-fire them with cans of Lapua ammo all day, all week.

The difference between Krieger and US import Lothar Walther barrels was night and day.

There were several Krieger-barreled rifles already paid for by customers that I wanted to keep, they shot so good.

A lot of them shot .5 MOA out of the gate.

The LWs rarely shot like that, and mostly started out 1.7 MOA.  Some of them I could get to shoot 3rd .5 MOA, but it was a lot of work.

I've personally had excellent results from:

GAP chambering and profiling Obermeyer and Bartlein pipes on 2 different AR10 builds, one in .308, the other in .260 Rem.  Both are "find the smallest target you can, and shoot it all day" lasers.

I've also done some accuracy testing for Precision Firearms with Bartlein barrels, and lost count of how many rounds I put through the same hole at 100yds, to the point of being unbelievable.

I've had excellent results with many Lilja drop-in 6.5 Grendel barrels, ranging from 22" fluted heavy down to 16" Wasp profile with the group buy we did.  A lot of those barrels were 18" MLGS, and shot lights-out.  I still have my 17.6" Lilja Grendel AR that I built and it has been a shooter from day 1.  10rd ragged hole at 100yds, 8" vertical 4" horizontal at 1000yds rapid-fired.  That's with a .650" profile under the handguard lightweight barrel, probably my favorite barrel ever because it's so light and accurate/precise, which isn't normal.

I've also experienced exceptional accuracy from Steve Satern cut-rifled Grendel barrels that were on the original AA GDMR and GSR rifles.  We're talking 8 rounds into .2" at 100yds with 107gr SMK on top of 8208 XBR.

Criterion 6.5 Grendel barrels profiled and chambered by Precision Firearms have been shooters, usually just under MOA out of the gate, followed by sub-MOA 5rd groups with hand loads.  They are an excellent buy for the money for those who don't want to pay Krieger, Bartlein, or Lilja prices.

My LaRue Stealth 2.0 Grendel exceeded expectations out of the gate with the Burris 6x scope on it, and has already printed some 5rd bugholes for me with Hornady American Gunner affordable fodder.  Barrel isn't even bedded.  Every other sample I'm talking about above with the other companies is a bedded barrel in a trued receiver face.

If you're expecting to buy one of the lower end barrels and get consistent, MOA or better accuracy, you're really rolling the dice.

I excluded all of my experiences with .223 Wylde, 5.56, etc.

I will mirror what Sinister said as well.  I've seen barrel blanks from the best of them ruined by people that don't know how to profile, chamber, or cut gas ports. Sometimes that applies to the barrel-makers themselves, who are fine to drill a hole straight, machine the rifling, and then let a rifle smith do the rest.

That sucks your JP's didn't perform, which is extremely surprising.  Well, you indicated the 6 was accurate, but exhibited pressure and velocity issues.  I'm interested in the specs on that barrel and BCG.  Was it the +2" gas and VMOS?

I wouldn't disagree with Josh not chambering any 6's in a large frame AR...the 6.5's have to be tamed quite a bit as well.

It's tough to even comment on the Valkyrie also due to the numerous issues folks are experiencing with it out of their rifles.

I will note that I have two different JP rifles, one in .260 and the other in 5.56.  Both of them are laser accurate.  The .260 has shot 5-shot groups in the .2's, the same with the 5.56.  However, I also have observed that they prefer slower loads as well.

I recently purchased a PredatOBR in 5.56.  I will be checking it out for it's accuracy as well.

Sorry, just saw this.

The 6mm CM was +2 gas, but on JP's recommendation I had used the LMOS carrier and SCS. I'm not sure if the VMOS was even out at the time.

I tried to include the shop that chambered each blank as I feel that is as important if not more so than the blank itself.

This is a great thread to follow!

My library consists of
2 Criterion, had to send one back for rechamber that fixed it's problem.
1 Shilen, good to go but no eye opener.
2 X-Caliber that are extremely accurate
1 Proof Research that I just got and is truly a work of art.  Anything I miss with this barrel is all on me.

Word is the "group buy" barrels on the 6.5 Grendel forum are indeed Green Mountain.

It depends on which "group buy" barrels you're referring to. The ones that BFT runs for the "MONSTER" barrels are Green Mountain. I have a thread there as well for 10.5", 12.5", and 14.5" Lilja barrels though. It's nice to have options.

WOA 1 for 1,  3/4 moa easily.

while not semi auto, my tikka T3x 223 varmint factory barrel isnt great. I bought it to shoot cheap bulk ammo through so I could save my fancy custom R700 and not have to reload. and its shoots 4moa+ with cheap ammo. I know, but still,

I have little experience but will share mine. The most accurate barrel I owned was a Les Baer in .264 LBC.  It was also by far the most expensive.  Shockingly, my DPMS factory LR-6.5 in 6.5 Creedmoor is very consistent and much easier on brass after I modified it to a +2" gas system.  My CLE-turned Douglas blank in .223 is also a very consistent performer with heavier loads.  Years ago I had a Rock River .223 Wylde that performed well with a variety of loads.

With the exception of the Les Baer, none of these tubes approached one-hole groups, but they were/are serviceable for long distance at about one MOA.

Kreiger from CLE that was a dream, but man did they fuck it up. I ordered a 223 Wylde chamber and somehow they sent me a laser gun. It was that good.

Bartlein from Precision Firearms. I've only just function tested it but I'm luke warm on it as of now. I hope I warm up to it and it settles down but I'm not jumping up and down about it. More to come on that front once the weather warms up a touch.

I remember when Les introduced his AR.  At the time, only he and RRA offered accuracy claims.  The few that had them on this site, had nothing but goods things to say.

At the time, it was much more $$ than I could swing.

I'm curious how this turns out for you.  I've got a 6mm bartlein on order from them.

For me
Noveske 3 of 4
21" fluted 308, 24" 6.5 creedmoor are both lasers. 10.2" 300blk while I didn't need or expect bugholes is also a laser with capable optic and 100% reliable.
18" 5.56 I've struggled to hold moa with. It's extremely finicky.

Lilja
11" 6.5 Grendel is a laser also.

is it medium-weight, or a lighter profile?  My medium-weight is easily .75" with Mk262

Spr profile. Rifle length gas system, 1/8 twist 3 groove.

made by Noveske?  I have the 18" SPR profile Noveske, I thought they were all 5R 1/7.

Yes. I think mstn had them made. I could be wrong on the 3 groove but it's 1/8 and rlgs and not the usual intermediate

Obviously unobtainium now, but I have a Sabre Defence fluted SPR chrome lined upper and it is far and away the most accurate AR I have ever shot.  I don't know what special magic or process they used but every factory original barrel (not the post-liquidation seconds), I ever shot from that company was disgustingly accurate.

Oh how i miss Sabre Defene...

Here's my anecdotal barrel list:
Rock Creek 16" .308 - sub moa with handloads, doesn't love M80 (when suppressed).
Superior (Lothar Walther blank) 18" .223- 1/4 to 1/2 MOA, stupid accurate
Noveske 16" .223- Jury is still out, i need to find a good load for this one
Rainier Ultra Match 18" .223 - Great shooting, 1/2moa

I have been buying up SPR barrels as they appear on the sale and auction sites, have 2 spares now.
I have never shot a more accurate chrome lined barrel.

My buddy has a 14.5” Sabre Defence upper and that thing shoots very well. Sad to see Sabre Defence gone.

I have a Sabre Defence with a 24" fluted bull barrel that I need to spend more time with.

I shot a sub .5 moa group with PPU match 69 gr.  I'll try some other ammo this summer, and see what I can do with it for the MOA All Day contest.