22 ARC. 5r or 6 groove

[Coyote Kev]

I'm building a 22 ARC AR. My ideal barrel is a 20 inch with rifle +2 gas. I'm having a hard time finding anything but barging bin barrels. I dont want to wait 8 months and I don't want to spend $800. Which lead me to X Caliber barrels. I have a choice between 5r and 6 groove. Which should I choose and why?

 

[Niles Coyote]

My preference has always been 5r when its available, will there be a meaningful difference... probably not. But the radiused land is supposed to be less damaging to the projectile.

 

[SupressYourself]

There's a few threads about this, for example: https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/barrel-rifling.7230411/
"They" say that 5R is easier on bullet jackets, and may collect less fowling / easier to clean.

 

[SupressYourself]

Bumping this thread to ask the current consensus on X-Caliber barrels. They seem to be well regarded, especially for the price. Their AR barrels page says this:

We only guarantee 1 MOA or less if a Rubber City Armory or JP Ent. bolt is headspaced to the barrel by X-Caliber Barrel & Mfg.

But then they don't appear to have the option to just add one of those bolts to your order. I suppose carrying inventory sucks...
Anyway, what says the Hide? Are they likely to shoot sub-MOA?

 

[Niles Coyote]

Wait for sales, I wouldn't pay full price. My experience has been mixed. If you are doing something specialized where you need it to say shoot 6mm GT or 6mm CM with 105-110 grain bullets while running a suppressor, even with the 2"+ gas system you may have better luck calling them and speaking to someone that could make changes to the gas port size verses ordering blindly on-line.

I have also had a R700 remage that was so off center I ran out of windage in the first scope I tried and could only use it in a chassis that had a significantly larger barrel channel... I really need to contact them on that one yet. As far as the actual accuracy/precision potential they have been decent... that said, they have been great when someone else (third party) does the chambering.

 

[supercorndogs]

My 6 arc barrel from xcaliber has been good. I have some other barrels made on their blanks by someone else that shoot well also.

When I emailed xcaliber they suggested the 6 Grove for a semiauto. That's what I went with when I ordered my 6 arc barrel.

 

[Coyote Kev]

Interesting. Did they say why?

 

[supercorndogs]

Below is xcaliber's response to my inquiry.

"It generally depends on what type of bullet and what type of shooting you're doing. The differences are very slight, however, the 6 groove tends to handle the very heavy bullets a bit more consistently, while the 5R and 3R/3Groove afford a better gas seal behind the bullet, are easier to clean and allow for ever so slightly higher and more consistent muzzle velocities and reduced spin-drift at distance, at the expense of faster heat-generation. In ARs, I tend to prefer 6 Groove because it is a bit more robust and can handle the relative higher volume of shooting. If I was using a 5rd magazines and shooting very, very slowly, I might lean towards 5R or 3R."

 

[ICU22250]

I just purchased an AR 15 X caliber 204 Ruger 3R barrel with the Rubber city bolt and so far it's been shooting about .5 MOA

to .75 MOA so far.. I haven't got too far with load development as I don't get alot of time. Had it cerakoted and fluted by them and I'm happy so far.. I think with load development she will be the cats meow... We'll see..