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Posted: 4/7/2015 11:41:14 PM EDT
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I have narrowed it down to 2 barrels. Both 18.5" Rifle Length Criterion (sold by Fulton Armory). One is their Light contour, chrome lined and the other is their Medium contour, stainless. Both can be found here.
My question is, chrome lined vs stainless aside, will I loose much accuracy going with the light contour vs the medium. I would love the parkerized finish but if I need, I can always get the stainless cerakoted. My intentions for this rifle are to do a little hunting while also being able to drive tacks at the range. Max probably realistically not past 600 yards. The light contour appeals to hunting aspect and due to being chrome lined it is parkerized and will be more durable. I just assume that the medium contour will be more accurate. The added weight and stainless is unappealing though. |
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The weight differents may not be noticeable. I have the 20" M110 Criterion. It's big but with fix Magpul MOE stock the weight of the rifle is balanced. Either will be just fine. Both barrels will last for years. It's been said you can get 6000-10000 rounds from Stainless, Chrome is around 10000-15000. Those numbers are IMHO.
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Comparing barrels of different materials and different contours is hard enough. Expectations about one contour being "more accurate" than another aren't really possible between the two different barrels.
I wouldn't assume the stainless barrel was stiffer enough to make a difference in accuracy. A medium contour barrel might be stiffer than a lighter contour, but the material can make a difference too. Either one, according to Fulton, is "match quality," (which is a vague term, even coming from Fulton), and I would think that you'd have to be a super marksman to be able to see any functional difference between the two. |
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I had a custom DPMS with the lightweight chrome lined Criterion barrel, free floated. I shot some 1 MOA groups with it using hunting hand loads.
It isn't really what I would call lightweight though... more like medium. It is nowhere near as light as most .308 battle rifle barrels like an M-14, FAL, or original AR-10. It also has the ass-backward "govt profile" reverse taper, where it gets thicker AFTER the gas block. It doesn't handle great. It was a good shooting barrel, but I didn't care for the profile. I wanted lighter, particularly on the muzzle end. I ended up selling it. |
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