Trying to find a barrel for my new  build.  This will really be my first build in 6 years.  There have been so many barrel manufacturers pop up in the market since the last time I was looking I dont know what is what and who is who.

Im trying to build a lighter weight 16" or 18" rifle.  Gun will be used for everything from  plinking to local carbine matches to coyote hunting and I wouldn't mind being able shoot prairie dogs with it on occasion.  Im not looking for the most accurate barrels but I would still like to pull handloads into the MOA range.  Blackhole Weaponry was the barrel I used last time.  Seemed like a good price for a decent shooting barrel.  Any others out there today worth watching for?  Buddy bought a used DD barrel off the EE here and it shoots really well so I was wondering if a DD or Larue barrel was worth the coin.

If you are talking light weight and good shooting my all-time favorite is the Faxon Gunner barrel.  Faxon makes very nice barrels.  I have also had good perfromance from Ballistic Advantage.  DD and Larue also have a following, but I don't have any personal experience with them.

Faxon makes some great barrels for the $$.
I have several and have been happy with them.
16" Gunnar profile is a nice lightweight profile. I have 2 and they can shoot moa.

Most recently, I got my hands on a Larue PredetAR 16" barrel and have to say I love it.
Here is my sight in target from it's virgin run, using my light 3gun hoser reloads, not even worked up for this rifle.
50yards with a red dot optic.



You can see on the center target where I walked the zero in shooting 5 shot groups.
The other targets on the left were for making small adjustments.
Right side targets were fine tuning zero.

Here were the first shots fired at 25 yards.



And for kicks, my virgin run of my 10.5" AR Pistol with a Faxon barrel. 50 yards red dot.


And my 12" Faxon barrel build @ 50 yards w/ red dot.


Here is the build with the Larue.


And one of my 16" Faxon Gunnar builds right after building. It now wears a red dot.



Both companies make great barrels, but I like the way the Larue shoots.
If $$ are a concern, go with Faxon. You can find deals on them too. AIM has deals with pinned gas blocks as well.
If you don't mind spending a bit extra $$, I like the Larue.
The Larue PredetAR barrel is a lightweight profile, but not as skinny as the Faxon Gunnar, FYI.

Ill have to check out Faxon I keep seeing them talked about so Ill give them a look over.  Is the gunner thicker than the pencil version?

Thanks! At this point a good trigger and a nice barrel are my main goals for this build.  So I dont want to say that money is a concern but I dont want to drop excessive money if it isnt needed.  I picked up my old black hole barrel when they were $150-$200 bucks.  I almost shit when I noticed they are usually selling for nearly $300 now.  

How heavy is your rifle with the Larue barrel?  At this point I am not sure if I want to go light weight or just lighter weight so I am not lugging around a 13 lb bolt gun chasing coyotes.  I really like the groups I keep seeing with Larue Barrels but at the same time the Faxon looks like it will do exactly what I want from this rifle for less.

For accuracy you should look into Stainless barrels. They are less expensive now and many more choices compared to years ago. Chrome lined are not as accurate and CM steel is more corrosive and often more ''mass produced'' to lower tolerances.
Stainless barrels are usually made to tighter tolerances because of easy of manufacturing.

I guess that is my issue too. OK, so we have the basic cm steel barrels which come in the low buck factory rifles. On the high end we have Kreiger blanks cut by WOP or CLE. The middle is vast!

IME, I can say PSA premium barrels shoot good enough for a 0-200 yd rifle, but what shoots well enough to get 2 Mia at 600 yds?

What is with all the names? Did barrel blanks start coming in from overseas lowering the cost to turn one out and engrave it?

Between $100 and $550, is there really a market for this much choice?

The Larue build is about 6lbs, but that is with all kinds of weight savings like the slick upper, delrin buffer system etc.

The Gunnar is barely heavier than the pencil. If you go Faxon, get the Gunnar.

If you go Larue, you can add the MBT trigger to the order for a reduced cost.

The weight comparison between Gunnar and PredetAR barrels......not sure of exact specs, but the Larue has more mass for sure.
Gunnar approx 20oz?   1.37lbs
PredatAR approx 26oz   1.68lbs

Faxon GUNNER or BA Hanson have both served me well on builds like you are describing.

Nope.

Yes, it is slightly larger diameter between the chamber and gas block than their pencil profile, and the same as the pencil profile from the gas block to the muzzle.

Go with the Gunner unless you plan on going to shooting competitions and comparing group sizes.  It will still shoot MOA or better with such a light profile.. which is better then most people can shoot themselves.  And especially adequate for coyote hunting.  

Most budget barrels are easily 2 MOA, likely 1.5 MOA.. which is still good enough to hit a human sized torso to 800+ yards and more then anyone will ever practically use in real world situations.  But the Gunners are some really really good shooting barrels for such a light profile.  One other advantage that really has me loving the Faxon barrels is they do not shift their point of impact after heating up like all the other lightweight barrels I have owned in the past.  Meaning you shoot a couple mags through it, you don't have to compensate for your point of impact being off.  

I always like to have a fixed FSB on the barrel so for me I will always have to go with the Gunners, as the Pencil barrel they offer doesn't have a long enough area to mount a fixed FSB but the Gunner does.  They are the same dimensions out past the gas block but the Gunner is just slightly thicker between the chamber & gas block where it really matters.  Faxons Gunner barrel is often quite a bit lighter then other peoples "pencil" barrels.  

You can often times find good deals on them at Right To Bear for around $150-175ish depending on length.  If you haven't built one in awhile then Nitrated/QPQ/Melonited (basically same thing) barrels are also something likely new to you.  Faxon and a lot of other barrels are Nitrated.  This has replaced the old standard of Phosphate exterior/chrome interior.  I personally prefer it over phosphate/chrome because it offers you the same advantages as the chrome bored barrels but also has the same protection on the outside of the barrel so that it won't rust either and is very hard.  The finish generally looks like a really rich dark blue-black finish similar to hot blue but blacker.  It gives you the same amount of life expectancy as chrome lined barrels if not more.. and can not chip away as it ages since it isn't a coating.  And since it isn't a coating it also won't effect your accuracy either.  

All of this said, the best bang for your buck barrels today IMO are - Faxon, Ballistic Advantage, Green Mountain.  I really like them all, but I love lightweight barrels and Faxon is the leader of the pack in that regard.  

I usually look at Faxon and BA and see which one fits my build best.  

I go wtih BA a lot since I like a FSB.

Not even slightly overwhelmed. BCM 16" Mid enhanced light weight

https://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-BFH-16-Mid-Length-ENHANCED-LIGHT-WEIGHT-Bar-p/bcm-brl-mid-16-elw-bfh.htm

Not even a little bit overwhelmed.  Green Mountain, X-Caliber, and Black Hole have all my barrel blank needs covered.  TROMIX or Paladin turns them into barrels.

I’d go to them for a completed barrel without a second thought if they had what I wanted.

Yup I was kind of thinking that if I did the Larue I would also run their trigger.  IF I dont do Larue Ill check out another trigger.

Ouch, do they shoot as good as their price tag?

Is Blackhole still turning out good quality?