Preferred replacement AR15 barrel

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Rockrivr1

Rockrivr1

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I have an AR15 that the barrel has finally reached the end of it's life. The rifling and grooves are pretty much gone and its time to replace the barrel. I'm looking forward to doing this myself as I've never done it before and figure it would be a fun project to take on.

So with that said I'm collecting the items I'll need to do the work. My question though is what replacement barrel would you recommend? I'm looking online and there are dozens of them to choose from with prices all over the spectrum. If this was your project, what brand of barrel would you purchase?

Thanks
 
What is your goal? One-hole groups, PRC, plinking, or hunting? What role does budget play in your decision? I love my $180 Faxon 20" Government profile rifle gas nitride barrel, but, at the end of the day, it will never be better than a 1MOA barrel.
 
badkarmamib said:
What is your goal? One-hole groups, PRC, plinking, or hunting? What role does budget play in your decision? I love my $180 Faxon 20" Government profile rifle gas nitride barrel, but, at the end of the day, it will never be better than a 1MOA barrel.
Click to expand...

This will definitely be a plinking gun and with a barrel length of 14.5, which is what's on it now. As to price, I'll save up to get the best one I can.
 
Rockrivr1 said:
This will definitely be a plinking gun and with a barrel length of 14.5, which is what's on it now. As to price, I'll save up to get the best one I can.
Click to expand...
Is this going on a pistol, rifle, or SBR? IOW, are you looking for a barrel that has a pinned-and-welded flash hider to get you to 16", will you be doing that yourself, or is it unnecessary?

If you need pinned, here are options with slim brakes or flash hiders, that you can remove the (included) gas block and install the barrel nut over:

https://aimsurplus.com/faxon-firearms-14-5-slim-perm-brake-16-in-oal-gunner-223-5-56-barrel/
https://aimsurplus.com/faxon-14-5-slim-perm-flash-hider-16-in-oal-pencil-223-5-56-barrel/

$270, but you won't need a gas block, flash hider, or the work of pinning either.
 
I've used a barrel form Olympic Arms before they changed ownership. It was one of there Accuracy barrels and it has been great, < 1 moa all the time, with 5 holes touching if you do your part at 100 yrds, with hand loads. I have since started turning my own barrels (contours) and chambers so I can get the leads I want for what I shoot. I've also have got a barrel from Brownells that has shot very good too.
 
Rockrivr1 said:
This will definitely be a plinking gun and with a barrel length of 14.5, which is what's on it now. As to price, I'll save up to get the best one I can.
Click to expand...

Ballistic Advantage has pretty much the same barrel on sale right now. I have two BA barrels and the price is fair and the barrels performed as expected.

kwg
 
Olympic Arms has not changed ownership.They cut way back on the workforce and are still surviving.MOA would be one of their average barrels.Many are much better.They're still in business and are worth looking at for barrels.Not an AR barrel but I have a 35 Whelen with one of their barrels that will shoot under 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards.
 
I’ve used many different barrels over the years to build ARs. From budget to top end barrels. Picking the right barrel for your intended use is more important then the amount of money you spend.
For just general use for plinking and informal target shooting, you can find barrels from $80 to $150 that will serve your purpose.
If you’re one of those guys that likes to send lots of lead down range very fast, get a hammer forged barrels.
Nitride barrels tend to very accurate and hold up very good.
Then you also need to think about the chamber and twist of your barrels. If you’re into shooting low cost ammo, which will mostly be 55gr ammo, you would be better off going with 5.56 1 in 9 twist.
1 in 7 would be fine but if you like shooting beyond 100 yards 1 in 7 would be better for heavier bullets.
I have found that the 223 Wylde chamber with a 1 in 8 twist makes for one of the best all around barrels.

By the way. How many rounds have you fired in your AR and what type of ammo. I ask because it takes a lot of ammo to wear out a barrel.
 
Green Mountain barrels are very cost effective. I have a 20” A2 profile from them 1:8 twist that is a 0.7 MOA barrel with good ammo. Put together a 16” carbine gas system Green Mountain Barrel for my son and it makes him smile each range trip. I like the GM AR15 barrels they are reliably good.
Lou
 
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GunnyUSMC said:
I’ve used many different barrels over the years to build ARs. From budget to top end barrels. Picking the right barrel for your intended use is more important then the amount of money you spend.
For just general use for plinking and informal target shooting, you can find barrels from $80 to $150 that will serve your purpose.
If you’re one of those guys that likes to send lots of lead down range very fast, get a hammer forged barrels.
Nitride barrels tend to very accurate and hold up very good.
Then you also need to think about the chamber and twist of your barrels. If you’re into shooting low cost ammo, which will mostly be 55gr ammo, you would be better off going with 5.56 1 in 9 twist.
1 in 7 would be fine but if you like shooting beyond 100 yards 1 in 7 would be better for heavier bullets.
I have found that the 223 Wylde chamber with a 1 in 8 twist makes for one of the best all around barrels.

By the way. How many rounds have you fired in your AR and what type of ammo. I ask because it takes a lot of ammo to wear out a barrel.
Click to expand...

My experience with the Wylde chamber was a mixed bag. If you wanted to shoot heavy pills > 60 gr, it did great, < 1 moa. But if you wanted to shoot the cheap 55 gr ammo don't expect any accuracy < 1.5 moa. The average was 2 moa or greater, and that was with the best hand loads. My other gun with a 223 Min spec chamber would shoot < 1 moa all day long with the same ammo.

I would choose a 1:9 or 1:10 twist if I was not going to shoot the heavy pills > 60 gr. If mainly 55 gr and less the 1:10 would be a better choice.
 
Blue68f100 said:
My experience with the Wylde chamber was a mixed bag. If you wanted to shoot heavy pills > 60 gr, it did great, < 1 moa. But if you wanted to shoot the cheap 55 gr ammo don't expect any accuracy < 1.5 moa. The average was 2 moa or greater, and that was with the best hand loads. My other gun with a 223 Min spec chamber would shoot < 1 moa all day long with the same ammo.

I would choose a 1:9 or 1:10 twist if I was not going to shoot the heavy pills > 60 gr. If mainly 55 gr and less the 1:10 would be a better choice.
Click to expand...
How many Wylde chambered barrels have you used? I would have to say that one would not be a good number to draw a conclusion from.
Now the OP did say that he was looking for a 14.5" barrel. That will cut his choice down a good bit.
 
Food for thought here - Twist rate is not what stabilizes the bullet. Rotational velocity does that. Rotational velocity is a function of twist rate and muzzle velocity. Shorter barrels have a lower muzzle velocity so a faster twist rate is needed to regain some of the lost rotational velocity (if that is a concern for you). Whether that is needed in any particular case is up to the individual gun owner, his accuracy requirements, and the combination of bullet and load to be used in a particular gun. A 1/9 twist barrel will have just less than 78% of the rotational velocity of a 1/7 barrel and a 1/10 twist has 70% of the rotational velocity of a 1/7 barrel.
 
GunnyUSMC said:
How many Wylde chambered barrels have you used? I would have to say that one would not be a good number to draw a conclusion from.
Now the OP did say that he was looking for a 14.5" barrel. That will cut his choice down a good bit.
Click to expand...

I've only had one. The barrel would shoot clover leaf groups very consistently if I used the 69gr SMK ,up to the point where I shot the barrel out then it opened up to 1.5-2 moa. With the long jump to land I could not get the 52, 53, 55gr bullets to shoot with any accuracy to my liking. I did give it the best shot I could. I used 6 different powders and with about 7 different bullets trying to find a combo that it liked. I never did find one. I eventually shot the barrel out trying to find one, 4k + rounds.

The Wylde chamber was design with long leads so it could shoot the higher pressure 5.56 ammo and take the longer/heavier bullets used in match shooting. It did great in this, but it hurt the smaller bullets with the long jump to leads.
 
Blue68f100 said:
I've only had one. The barrel would shoot clover leaf groups very consistently if I used the 69gr SMK ,up to the point where I shot the barrel out then it opened up to 1.5-2 moa. With the long jump to land I could not get the 52, 53, 55gr bullets to shoot with any accuracy to my liking. I did give it the best shot I could. I used 6 different powders and with about 7 different bullets trying to find a combo that it liked. I never did find one. I eventually shot the barrel out trying to find one, 4k + rounds.

The Wylde chamber was design with long leads so it could shoot the higher pressure 5.56 ammo and take the longer/heavier bullets used in match shooting. It did great in this, but it hurt the smaller bullets with the long jump to leads.
Click to expand...
If your looking for accuracy potential the 223 chamber is the best bet, but when it comes to the AR 15 and ammo that is available it's not the best choice.
2_AR-15-223-vs-556.jpg
The 223 Wylde has the same freebore as the 223 but has the same throat as the 5.56 and tend to be very accurate. The barrel twist rate will have more to with how well it shoots different bullet weights.
I also find that 4000 to 5000 rounds a pretty low round count to shoot out a barrel, unless you are pushing some pretty hot loads, which would not be best in any semi-auto.
 
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