a few barrel questions

[eli polite]

i am going to be buying another barrel for my wife's AR very soon. and because of the huge verity of ammo and barrel types i end up scratching my head.

ill tell you what i am looking at. all of them are 14.5"

-SS polygonal 3 grove riffling. 1 in 8
-chromolly 3 grove 1-7

this gun will probably shoot every thing from ss109 to bear 62 grain its not for 300+ yard shooting but i still want it to be accurate and i want the barrel to last.

one last question whats the average life expectancy of an AR barrel how many thousands of rounds? im guessing that that would depend on what ammo and barrel type?

 

[AK10mm]

Re: a few barrel questions

No wonder you are scratching your head.No such thing as a 3 groove barrel with polygon rifling,poly is normally a hexagon or octagon shape with no grooves and lands.

Unless you have a permanently attached muzzle device to bring the length to 16",or plan on registering the AR as a SBR,a 14.5" barrel is a bad Idea.

 

[eli polite]

Re: a few barrel questions

it will be pinned and welded i did not even notice that i put the 3 grove on there till now. that was bone headed.

i have a 20 polygonal on my AR and I'm very happy with it so I'm sure I'm going to go that route again.

after deciding to go with the polygonal I'm only left with one question what metal to go with? SS, chrome molly, chrome lined, non lined barrel

 

[Oodin]

Re: a few barrel questions

I think generally chrome-moly and unlined are the same thing. Chrome lined barrels are generally accepted to have better life than unlined ones; whereas unlined ones are generally accepted to being more accurate. I'm not sure where SS barrels fall, except usually being more expensive.

 

[lwrkeysfisher]

Re: a few barrel questions

I wouldn't run a lot steel cased or corrosive ammo in a stainless chamber, it's just asking for trouble (probably wouldn't be a problem but why risk it).

The chrome-moly barrels I have used (Rock river & White Oak - Wilson 1-9/1-8) have been more accurate than the chrome-lined barrels I have used (LMT, Colt, & Noveske 1-7) , but I think for an all around gun I would go with a chrome-lined 16" barrel. Understand that if you are not using quality match-grade ammo, the ammo will be more limiting than your barrel most of the time.

If it were me I'd buy a Noveske Recce (16" chrome-lined 1-7) barrel and call it a day. Also pinned flash-hiders are a headache if you ever want to sell or modify the upper.

 

[AK10mm]

Re: a few barrel questions

Carl at Black Hole Weaponry does Poly rifling,he will do any configuration you want.

A permanent Attachment will limit you a lot in what you can do with the upper.JMHO

 

[eli polite]

Re: a few barrel questions

i have been looking at black hole, noveski, lilja, black rain, and YHM. i currently have a Walther and i love it so i am considering one of those as well.

price is not a concern i just want low maintenance on this particular rifle

 

[ryohavoc]

Re: a few barrel questions

Why not just buy a SS LW50 polygon rifled barrel direct from Lothar-Walther.com They have AR-15 barrels for sale right now.

 

[pupdawg]

Re: a few barrel questions

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: epdesign</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i have been looking at black hole, noveski, lilja, black rain, and YHM. i currently have a Walther and i love it so i am considering one of those as well.

price is not a concern i just want low maintenance on this particular rifle </div></div>

Low maintenance... I would say chrome lined.

 

[244]

Re: a few barrel questions

Have you looked into a nitro carborized treated barrel? It goes by many names (Tenifer, QPQ, Melonite, etc.) and is a type of case hardening that increases corrosion resistance significantly and increases wear resistance. It gives chrome lined protection (of the exterior as well as the bore), but does not have the dimensional variances that often cause the accuracy problems of chrome lining.

IIRC, LWRC uses the process, as well as others.

Here are a couple places that offer barrels/uppers:

AR15 Performance

Superior Barrels