Hello,
So, Im building my first AR, and I decided to go with a Faxon Arms barrel. The barrel I was looking at was a 16" pencil profile barrel (SKU:15B58M16NPQ). I see that there is another near identical barrel, but made with 4150 CMV Steel instead of 416-r stainless. I also read in another thread here, that Stainless steel is not a good choice for a pencil barrel; reason stated was that it had a low heat resistance. Because pencil barrels can heat up pretty quickly, this would end up wearing out the barrel faster.
What I would like to know is basically, is this barrel a good idea? Or should I buy the 4150 steel barrel instead? or maybe get a completely different profiled barrel, like the gunner profile?
I already know that pencil barrels will lose a bit of accuracy when heated up, thanks to a video for Mr.GunsnGear. What im worried about is if a stainless steel barrel is really that bad of idea, or if it will be fine. I know it will heat up as I fire it, but im not going to be doing mag dumps, otherwise I would have looked at heavier barrels. Im also going to be shooting 55 grain .223 out of it more than most.
And to be honest, my biggest worry is if it heats up, will I have to worry about a catastrophic failure of some kind.
Thanks ahead of time for any information.