• If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership  The benefits pay for the membership many times over.

Barrel question?

D

DeputyDawg

Joined
Jul 2, 2023
Messages
114
Likes
70
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
I'm in the process of picking out an upper. A few of you have machined the barrel and the bolt are two of the most critical parts. What features should I look for in a barrel? There are so many different coatings and treatments I'm not sure which is better. I have no experience of what makes one better than the other.
 
caliber and bullet weight you are going to shoot?

How are you determining your twist rate.

Distance you plan on shooting at?
 
appraiser said:
caliber and bullet weight you are going to shoot?

How are you determining your twist rate.

Distance you plan on shooting at?
Click to expand...
300 BO and at 100 yards and under. I don't think my state has any range past that. As far as twist that's one thing I'm not sure about. But I was talking about things to look for like is a Parkerized barrel better than a nitride. things like that Im not sure what to look for.
 
What state?

Suppressor or not?

10" barrel, 6" suppressor 1:7 twist?

What's the Best Barrel Length for .300 Blackout? | Ballistic Advantage Blog

The .300 Blackout barrel delivers firepower and accuracy comparable to longer barrels. When you pair the barrel with .300 Blackout ammo, you get an easy-to-carry gun that spits rounds capable of penetrating...
www.ballisticadvantage.com www.ballisticadvantage.com
 
DeputyDawg said:
Going 16" and yes at some point it will be suppressed.
Click to expand...
A good question and the answers don't have to get too complicated. Lots of folks want to recommend short barrels for 300 BLK but that really applies to subsonic rounds + a can. Any supersonic loads you shoot will not be adequately burned by such a short barrel and you leave a lot of performance behind. If you want to shoot at 100 yards and possibly hunt, that 16" barrel is going to be best. Not only for the full velocity you will extract from the loads but the longer sight radius helps a lot for accuracy.

You linked to a good company for your barrel info, Ballistic Advantage. I highly recommend them and their 16" 300 BLK barrel is a top shelf option at a very reasonable price. The QPQ finish is same as Melonite which is very corrosion resistant. My oldest AR has a Melonite barrel and it has held up perfectly through the years despite being my range rat gun. The standard 1/7 twist is good for the typical range of 300 BLK rounds, from subsonic to supersonic. Until you use a can, I recommend 125 grain supersonic loads.

16

If you just want to buy a complete upper, the 16" Aero 300 BLK uppers will have this barrel in them. Aero bought out Ballistic Advantage and mostly if not exclusively uses BA barrels. Pretty sure the same guy runs BA, he just partnered with Aero.
 
greencobra said:
make sure the hole in the barrel goes all the way through.
Click to expand...
Funny story: a guy I heard of was told to "make sure the hole in the barrel goes all the way through" on his AR barrel as a joke. He looked at the gas hole, and saw it didn't go "all the way through", so he put it on his drill press and finished the hole all the way through to the other side.
I don't know if I 100% believe the story, but it was told to me by 3 different people about the same guy.
 
I will second the QPQ Nitride (melonite) finish. It is as corrosion and wear resistant as hard Chrome (maybe even better) but it is a very thin layer, so it doesn't change the rifling or surface finish in any meaningful way, so accuracy doesn't suffer like it typically does with hard chrome. With that, you should also get a nitrided BCG as they are way easier to clean than a parkerized .(phosphate) BCG
 
Mountain said:
A good question and the answers don't have to get too complicated. Lots of folks want to recommend short barrels for 300 BLK but that really applies to subsonic rounds + a can. Any supersonic loads you shoot will not be adequately burned by such a short barrel and you leave a lot of performance behind. If you want to shoot at 100 yards and possibly hunt, that 16" barrel is going to be best. Not only for the full velocity you will extract from the loads but the longer sight radius helps a lot for accuracy.

You linked to a good company for your barrel info, Ballistic Advantage. I highly recommend them and their 16" 300 BLK barrel is a top shelf option at a very reasonable price. The QPQ finish is same as Melonite which is very corrosion resistant. My oldest AR has a Melonite barrel and it has held up perfectly through the years despite being my range rat gun. The standard 1/7 twist is good for the typical range of 300 BLK rounds, from subsonic to supersonic. Until you use a can, I recommend 125 grain supersonic loads.

16

If you just want to buy a complete upper, the 16" Aero 300 BLK uppers will have this barrel in them. Aero bought out Ballistic Advantage and mostly if not exclusively uses BA barrels. Pretty sure the same guy runs BA, he just partnered with Aero.
Click to expand...

cookiecutter said:
I will second the QPQ Nitride (melonite) finish. It is as corrosion and wear resistant as hard Chrome (maybe even better) but it is a very thin layer, so it doesn't change the rifling or surface finish in any meaningful way, so accuracy doesn't suffer like it typically does with hard chrome. With that, you should also get a nitrided BCG as they are way easier to clean than a parkerized .(phosphate) BCG
Click to expand...

Thank you for the info guys. I will go check out Aero.
 
Mountain said:
Welcome. Hard to go wrong with Aero, and if you ever get tired of it, it should not be hard to sell. Very good quality but not ridiculous Gucci pricing.
Click to expand...
Just glanced over their site. Wish they made a complete upper at 16" and no striped uppers either but the barrel was only about $145. Just out of curiosity. What is 223? wild? I know what 5.56 and 223 Remington is but not wild.
 
DeputyDawg said:
Just glanced over their site. Wish they made a complete upper at 16" and no striped uppers either but the barrel was only about $145. Just out of curiosity. What is 223? wild? I know what 5.56 and 223 Remington is but not wild.
Click to expand...
223 Wylde is a hybrid of 5.56 and true .223. A 5.56 chamber is typically reamed with more generous dimensions with the goal of greater reliability. The somewhat 'looser' chamber does sacrifice a little accuracy. True .223 chambers are much tighter and can be less reliable for feeding and extracting in a semi-automatic, especially AR's. The Wylde chamber is tighter than the 5.56 for better accuracy but not quite as tight as .223. You can shoot .223 in a 5.56 chamber with no issues but 5.56 could potentially jam in a .223 chamber. Wylde is suppose to be GTG for both. I have White Oak and Compass Lake high power competition uppers and both have Wylde chambers.
 
PatMcD said:
Funny story: a guy I heard of was told to "make sure the hole in the barrel goes all the way through" on his AR barrel as a joke. He looked at the gas hole, and saw it didn't go "all the way through", so he put it on his drill press and finished the hole all the way through to the other side.
I don't know if I 100% believe the story, but it was told to me by 3 different people about the same guy.
Click to expand...
That's a really small drill bit
 
So I have another question about this. With a 16" 300 Blackout barrel I've seen a lot of pistol-length gas systems and carbine as well. Is there a right and wrong answer to this? Or am I good either way?
 
Mine has run flawlessly (both super and sub sonic, with and without a can on the supersonic variants, canned on the subs) and it has a pistol length system. I can't speak to the carbine length, only that I know the pistol length to work.

Good luck!
CC
 
Plainfield, just off 395. The shop is smaller than my shed, but they usualy stock a good amount of stuff. I think they're open on Sundays too.
 

Similar threads

Replacing BRNO Mauser Barrel
Replies
5
Views
488
BigGreen2000
B
quick question, what would be good to wrap lever rifle lever with besides leather?
Replies
15
Views
532
Sweeney
Sweeney
Faxon Firearms ar-15 barrels with integral brake
Replies
6
Views
406
cathouse01
cathouse01
Resleeving a barrel
Replies
24
Views
974
mac1911
M
Lower parts question
Replies
6
Views
699
Rick O'Shea
Rick O'Shea
Back
Top Bottom