AR-10B barrel extention swap

[Barrett.]

I recently got myself an Armalite AR10B. It's a 16 inch, which is what I wanted, with the factory barrel in it. I haven't taken it out to the range yet to see how she groups but spitballing ideas, I've thought of replacing the standard near pencil profile barrel with something more substantial while still remaining (preferably) at 16 inches, as I bought the thing to be a sorta 800 and in DMR type build. The problem, as I'm sure people familiar with the ar10 are, is you can buy an Armalite barrel for it for about $250, or go all the way up to premium barrels, all of which are north of $600 with the entire mid range being made up of DPMS pattern barrels. My question became, could a qualified gunsmith take the current barrel and a decent dpms pattern barrel, swap the barrel extentions, headspace the bolt and replace the gas tube and have a functioning firearm with the same bolt and reciver set? Or is a DPMS barrel only ever going to be good with a dpms bolt? As an E-3, I'm trying to make the most of what I've got, especially consittering the price (and sometimes lack of quality) that AR10 parts have sometimes.

 

[bigjake83]

I recently got myself an Armalite AR10B. It's a 16 inch, which is what I wanted, with the factory barrel in it. I haven't taken it out to the range yet to see how she groups but spitballing ideas, I've thought of replacing the standard near pencil profile barrel with something more substantial while still remaining (preferably) at 16 inches, as I bought the thing to be a sorta 800 and in DMR type build. The problem, as I'm sure people familiar with the ar10 are, is you can buy an Armalite barrel for it for about $250, or go all the way up to premium barrels, all of which are north of $600 with the entire mid range being made up of DPMS pattern barrels. My question became, could a qualified gunsmith take the current barrel and a decent dpms pattern barrel, swap the barrel extentions, headspace the bolt and replace the gas tube and have a functioning firearm with the same bolt and reciver set? Or is a DPMS barrel only ever going to be good with a dpms bolt? As an E-3, I'm trying to make the most of what I've got, especially consittering the price (and sometimes lack of quality) that AR10 parts have sometimes.

Yes you can pull the barrel extension and have a barrel spun up using the Armalite bolt and barrel extension. Give Compass Lake a call and talk to Paul. If you're wanting to save some money they have cheaper blanks to choose from.

 

[msgriff]

You can put a DPMS pattern barrel w/extension on a Armalite AR-10B as long as you use a DPMS pattern bolt. The major difference between the bolts of the two patterns is the depth of the bolt face, which will affect headspace if mixed.

 

[sinister]

Shoot out the factory barrel you have first -- you may be surprised, plus the experience you gain on the rifle as-configured will add to your skill and experience set.

Once you've shot out the factory barrel a good gunsmith can use your original extension for a new one.

Plain-Jane 16-inch standard pencil barrel AR-10B with Larue Rail -- more than capable at 500 yards:

Same rifle later with 16-inch precision barrel:

 

[TonyTheTiger]

Shoot out the factory barrel you have first -- you may be surprised, plus the experience you gain on the rifle as-configured will add to your skill and experience set.

Was going to say the same thing. For the rate of fire most people ask of their guns pencil barrels are usually a lot better than internet lore would have you believe.