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BCM barrels don't do much for me (granted, n=1 in my instance).
What borescope are you using? I outta buy one. |
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Great post! I love techy stuff. I should bring my borescope from work. I'd like to see how my DD(CHF/CL) has held up over the last few months and look at my old Bushmaster and see how that thing has fared over the last two decades(CL'd for sure, no idea if they were ever CHF)That BCM looks terrible. Maybe you could get them to replace it.
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What borescope are you using? I outta buy one. View Quote
Pics aren’t the best quality; for home use, it’s perfectly adequate. |
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BCM is gaining a reputation for bad barrels. Thanks for doing this.
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Quoted: www.amazon.com/dp/B07TTQF24FPics aren’t the best quality; for home use, it’s perfectly adequate. View Quote |
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Fantastic thread.....almost reminded me of reading an old Molon thread.
In regards to the BCM barrel.....just another drop in the bucket full of terrible accuracy reports. At this point after years of hearing about 5-7MOA BCM barrels, and now seeing more and more evidence under the scope, no way I'd ever buy one. Thanks for the post, really enjoyed reading it. |
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Shame BCM doesn't dump bad batches of barrels in the trash for youtube instead of gas tubes. So much for all that QC, even with BCGs. Maybe they should cut back on the ad/paid actor revenue and redirect those funds to QC roots.
Good to see Daniel Defense and Criterion holding up to their reputations. |
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I always figured BCM just bought cheap/shittier/seconds barrel blanks from FN. Which is fine, except they should price them less than $300 lol
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I always liked BCM and have one that still shoots great. I wonder how much of it is just built up crud? Did you try some JB Borepaste with the patch on a worn out brass brush?
I haven't really looked into it with a borescope yet and planning to buy one this year thanks to this thread. |
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Also, excellent topic. I was just looking up about borescopes as I was coming into this forum and saw your thread. I think I will go ahead and order one off Amazon.
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I always liked BCM and have one that still shoots great. I wonder how much of it is just built up crud? Did you try some JB Borepaste with the patch on a worn out brass brush? I haven't really looked into it with a borescope yet and planning to buy one this year thanks to this thread. View Quote |
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Thanks for taking the time to put this together. It's interesting to compare different barrels visually from the inside.
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It really is wild how within the last few months, I've seen an explosion of end user bore scope pics.
This is a great advancement for us end users, and will allow a whole new level of scrutiny to a mfg's barrel quality. I know these things have been around for years, and years, but apparently they are getting cheap enough for the masses to use. |
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I always liked BCM and have one that still shoots great. I wonder how much of it is just built up crud? View Quote Criterion advises against taper pinning and frowns upon even conical tipped set screws to install fsb/gb because even when installing with care they were able to record measurable bore deformation with both attachment methods via air gauge. Speaking of Criterion..it is no suprise to see how nice the bore of their CL barrels are, considering they are lapped and being (or at least originating) as an offshoot of Krieger. |
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Thanks all for the feedback.
I think it is important to emphasize that my pictures should only viewed as anecdotal evidence. I don’t believe this small sample paints a comprehensive picture for any of the represented manufacturers. In fact, every one of these barrels has, technically, met their advertised level of performance. I can confidently say the FN SPR and Criterion are truly “MOA” or better. Some barrels like the 1500rd Colt SOCOM have exceeded my expectations, and the FN Collector M4A1 was a let-down. I am however starting to see a trend with BCM, and hope they take note of this thread. It’s going to be interesting as more people start posting up pics! |
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My BCM SOCOM barreled upper is 6-7 years old & one of the better shooting ARs I’ve ever owned.
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I'm not one to talk smack about BCM, but I also have one of their barrels (bought new, used, uninstalled) sitting an a rifle cabinet as a spare that did not live up to my expectations. You don't need a borescope to see the tooling marks in its bore.
Oddly, it shot 55gr ball noticeably better - good, even - than heavier match rounds. I'm going to build it into a spare carbine upper with a dot or irons at some point. I have another barrel from a different maker, QPQ'ed, that looks awful inside and even has a faint ring that looks to be a tooling mark. It shoots anything I put it in great. |
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Wow! Great thread and a real eye opener!
New, New Years Resolutions:
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OMG some of those gas ports look atrocious...I'm assuming they're are drilled prior to the chrome lining process? Also, technically wouldn't it be better to have these drilled centered within a groove vs. a land? Or, worse straddling both as in some of these pictures? My OCD is kicking in big time
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Anyone have any bore scope pics of Ballistic Advantage barrels? Especially the Hanson barrels. Would love to know how they compare to some of these.
As for BCM, I like some of their stuff (upper receiver, lower receiver, PNT trigger, that's about it) but wouldn't own any of their barrels or BCGs just due to personal experiences. I am also not a huge fan of their receiver extensions. It seems like adjustable stocks love to stick to those things for some reason. |
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Quoted:
I'm not one to talk smack about BCM, but I also have one of their barrels (bought new, used, uninstalled) sitting an a rifle cabinet as a spare that did not live up to my expectations. You don't need a borescope to see the tooling marks in its bore. Oddly, it shot 55gr ball noticeably better - good, even - than heavier match rounds. I'm going to build it into a spare carbine upper with a dot or irons at some point. I have another barrel from a different maker, QPQ'ed, that looks awful inside and even has a faint ring that looks to be a tooling mark. It shoots anything I put it in great. View Quote |
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That looks very similar to my DD Lightweight 16" midlength barrel. I'm not sure on total round count. Might be as much as 600 rounds.
Throat and leade. Attached File 3 inches past the throat. Attached File 8 inches past the throat. Attached File Gas port. Attached File Debris field after the gas port. Attached File I haven't done any real accuracy work with this one yet but my previous DD lightweight barrel could get under 1 MOA with handloaded single fed SMK 80 grain bullets. |
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Excellent technical thread, thanks for taking the time to do this write-up and all the detailed pics!
Quoted:
I'm not one to talk smack about BCM, but I also have one of their barrels (bought new, used, uninstalled) sitting an a rifle cabinet as a spare that did not live up to my expectations. You don't need a borescope to see the tooling marks in its bore. View Quote |
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Great technical report; it’s nice for someone to put out something of substance and not opinion. I have three BCM barrels, a 14.5” SOCOM profile barrel for one of my SBR’s, a 16” C-8 HB clone, and 20” barrel. Never had any problems with them, but then again, maybe I have not shot them enough. I have plenty of their equipment, and although I really think they make quality stuff, I do find the a lot of their gear over priced and just a huge billboard for advertising.
There are many good barrel makers out there; I practically own most of the high end barrel brands. But my go-to and favorite barrel will be the Colt 14.5 SOCOM barrel, followed by LMT’s 14.5” Carbine barrel. The Colt SOCOM is just accurate, and for the money, you cannot beat it. You can buy a complete barrel assembly with FSB and barrel nut for around $300 USD (depending on the flavor of the month, maybe cheaper) and every one I own is just dependable and accurate. The LMT comes in Close second, and I find myself shooting it more often |
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Quoted:
Great technical report; it’s nice for someone to put out something of substance and not opinion. I have three BCM barrels, a 14.5” SOCOM profile barrel for one of my SBR’s, a 16” C-8 HB clone, and 20” barrel. Never had any problems with them, but then again, maybe I have not shot them enough. I have plenty of their equipment, and although I really think they make quality stuff, I do find the a lot of their gear over priced and just a huge billboard for advertising. There are many good barrel makers out there; I practically own most of the high end barrel brands. But my go-to and favorite barrel will be the Colt 14.5 SOCOM barrel, followed by LMT’s 14.5” Carbine barrel. The Colt SOCOM is just accurate, and for the money, you cannot beat it. You can buy a complete barrel assembly with FSB and barrel nut for around $300 USD (depending on the flavor of the month, maybe cheaper) and every one I own is just dependable and accurate. The LMT comes in Close second, and I find myself shooting it more often View Quote |
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This is an awesome comparison, great to see this data.
Wondering about getting a bore scope camera and checking out a few barrels. |
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According to the SOGLW guy here, BCM makes pretty much nothing in house. View Quote If you dig into the ATF production reports over the years, it’s not actually surprising that BCM doesn’t roll their own hardware. Their annual numbers are pretty abysmal. So it doesn’t seem viable for them to invest in their own production lines. |
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technically wouldn't it be better to have these drilled centered within a groove vs. a land? Or, worse straddling both as in some of these pictures? View Quote Also keep in mind, many factors other than round count are at work here such as pressure, velocity, barrel length, barrel mass/contour and volume/rate of fire. Unless all factors are controlled and equal any borescoping done after firing is inconclusive. You can destroy a barrel (any barrel from any manufacturer) in short order with extreme pressures and abusive firing schedules. As far as accuracy (precision) and consistency potential? On a CL barrel uniformity and consistency of the plating is one of if not the most critical factors and cannot be gauged with the naked eye or borescope. |
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Quoted: Grab one of those Teslong Borescopes off of Amazon, at worst you're out 50 bucks. View Quote Just trying to decide if the newest version is worth the extra $20 ($49 vs $69). The only difference appears to be the new version is completely rigid. |
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Anyone have any bore scope pics of Ballistic Advantage barrels? Especially the Hanson barrels. Would love to know how they compare to some of these. View Quote 8.3" .300 Blackout BA Hanson Pistol Length AR 15 Barrel w/ Lo Pro, Performance Series: Fixed link to product page Edit: for clarification this is a QPQ/nitrided barrel. BA does not advertise is this is CHF or button broached. The tool marks are less pronounced than the FN Collector Series barrel. Note the length of the lands in the throat to leade transition. The #1 and #5 lands are significantly lunger than the rest. Lands are numbered in clockwise sequence from 1 to 5. TDC is 12 o’clock. I have not yet shot this barrel; I’m interested to see how it shoots. BA Performance Series Hanson Profile, .300 AAC BLK, 8.3” pistol, 1/7” 5R, Zero rds. |
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Anyone have any bore scope pics of Ballistic Advantage barrels? Especially the Hanson barrels. Would love to know how they compare to some of these. As for BCM, I like some of their stuff (upper receiver, lower receiver, PNT trigger, that's about it) but wouldn't own any of their barrels or BCGs just due to personal experiences. I am also not a huge fan of their receiver extensions. It seems like adjustable stocks love to stick to those things for some reason. View Quote |
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According to the SOGLW guy here, BCM makes pretty much nothing in house. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes |
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