Trying to decide between a Lilja and a WOA for a 20" precision project...

http://www.riflebarrels.com/products/ar.htm

http://www.whiteoakarmament.com/

WOA seems to have the edge in price but that's a secondary consideration as far as I'm concerned...

You really can't go wrong with Lilja, they are a top tier barrel maker.

Lilja are great barrels and they have great customer service.  I have built quite a few rifles with there barrels and they are all tack drivers.  Shilen also builds a great barrel, however, i still prefer Lilja.   Sorry, never used WOA.

ALL of the mentioned barrels are really good...however it may come down to what's available.You'd better check and see what you can find, you'll be in for a shock.Barrels are vaporware right now....

I have never used a white oak. I love my Lilja. I am glad they finally started making drop in barrels. I had to purchase a blank and have it installed when I made my last AR. Not all bad though since Mark Hunt put it together for me.

Does White Oak have any Olympic medals, World records, or other notable wins?

I'm pretty sure were not talking about barrels in the same class here. Perhaps white oak is a better barrel for the dollar but Lilja is one of, if not the best, barrel maker in the world.

John Holliger at White Oak has put together many national championship uppers for match shooters.  I still think he builds the uppers for Carl Bernosky who is a gunsmith himself.  I don't think you'll get a bad barrel from him.  Lilja makes OK barrels but they are not the preferred barrel for guys that shoot tactical matches or bench rest for that matter.  The barrel makers I read about most are Bartlein, Krieger, Obermeyer, Broughton & Shilen.  I'm not sure where White Oak gets their blanks but  I think it's Krieger.  I don't see much about Lilja on forums like 6mmBR and the Hide.  Lilja does however make AR-15 barrels and I think people assume they are better than the mass produced stuff and they are.  You just don't see many posts of people shooting competitions using them.  I don't read  every post but I read enough to know that Lilja doesn't appear that much outside this forum.

Dont forget Compass Lake. They do alot of Dennys Douglas barrels.

They've got Kreiger barrels in stock with 7.7 twist.  Only 28 blanks left.

HERE

When I first started out making AR barrels for myself I built 2 identical long range barrels using the same(1x8 3groove) Lilja blank that they use on their complete barrels.
I wouldn't hesitate to get one of their complete barrels.
I have however had some internal issues with at least one of their other blanks I've used(30 cal) as well as some small contouring issues(Straight finished contour was bigger diameter at the muzzle so it had to be turned to get gas block on).
I have one of their 22 LR barrels for the 10/22 and it is just awesome.
If you know a good gunsmith who can make you a barrel I would get a broughten.
Just shot this weekend with my 3-gun AR which has a Broughten 5C blank 17" 1x12 bull and at 200 yds with a load I was using for my 24"(60 berger w Varget) the darn thing shot a 1.14" CTC 5 shot group....with an 8 power scope no less.  I forgot my 50s that the barrel really likes so I thought I'd see if it would stabilize the 60s..yup!

Nick

Unless something has changed, John uses Wilson blanks and has Frank White of Compass Lake chamber and contour them for his White Oak Barrels.
That is how it was 2 years ago when I purchased one of Johns 18" SPR Contour barrels.
They are very good barrels.

I have one of each. My target rifle has the Lilja AR24 and my SPR has a 16" WOA SDM fluted barrel.  Both are excellent quality in my opinion.  My target rifle is sub 1/2 MOA for sure.  I'm tweeking a few loads that are close to 5 shots in one hole with it.  The WOA I haven't had a chance to bench as it is my SHTF rifle that I wanted to be more accurate than average.  Oh, and the wife shoots my S&W M&P15T.  

Lilja is TOP notch for sure.  And as far as competition they have not made drop in barrels for very long, so availability was an issue.  Keep your eye out as you will start to see them.

And yes WOA uses Wilson blanks, at least as of last month when I received my barrel.  And before someone posts "WOA doesn't make a 16" SDM barrel" I wanted to say that it was a custom order item from White Oak Precision.  I love it as it's light weight and accurate.

Richard

Really no such thing as a White Oak Armament barrel, as they aren't a barrel maker, just a barrel finisher.

That said, John and company can build with the best of them.  They've built me excellent barrels from both Wilson and Rock Creek.  They also turn out Kriegers and Pac-Nors on a regular basis.

Maybe you should split the difference and have WOA make you a barrel from a Lija blank.    

John's not much of a shooter........

8  time Presidents 100
2000 Pershing Trophy winner
2002 Coast Artillery Trophy
2002 National Civilian Service Rifle Champion
2005 Crescent Cup winner, Camp Perry....

Just to name a few....oh, and his barrels are some of the best made...this is a pay your money and take your choice  IMO, but I am a litttle biased, 2 of his rifles are in my safe...I am down with the other post as to what's available. Looks and sounds like the OP can do no wrong with either...

The way I understand it is that White Oak Precision makes the barrels out of Krieger, Pac-Nor and Shilen blanks.  These are for the competition type guns that John makes.

(WOA) White Oak Armament is a division of White Oak Precision and sells barrels mostly turned by CLE to the general public. From what I've been told most of these barrels are Air Gauged Wilson barrels.    LIke the SPR and SDM.  

CLE also sells SPR barrels themselves, but I believe they use mainly Douglas and Krieger blanks.  They are located in the Panhandle of  FL.   Been meaning to get up that way.....

If this is wrong, please feel free to correct me....

I got on the Lilja bandwagon right away. If you want to see how accurate and AR-15 can be buy a Lilja AR24 3 groove handlapped stainless steel barrel. Feed it some quality ammo and you will be amazed. I don't knock other makers items as most sell very good products. Trying to say one make is better than another is like pissing into the wind. I can personally say all the AR barrels I have received from Dan Lija shoot astonishing well and clean up with little effort due to the great internal finish. In my opinion his new Patrolman CM barrels are one of the best buys for the money out there.

I was pretty set on Lilja but couldn't find nay in stock. Second choice was WOA but then again nothing in stock. I did find a Superior barrel in stock and ordered that. From what I've read they use Walthar Lothar barrels which are pretty good. 20" match barrel with matching bolt for 400$ ain't bad.

I have a WOA upper with a Wilson barrel and love it. Unless you are a world class shooter NOW, the WOA/Wilson will do you fine. When you rebarrel after about 5000 rds that would be the time to upgrade to something else.When the best shooters in the country want a service rifle for competition, WOA/WOP or Compass Lake is where they go .