Larue 18" Stealth Barrel?

[Bakwa]

I'm looking at Larue's Stealth barrels and I'm 90% sure that I'm going to buy one for my next build.
I want to build my version of the SPR concept. Handy, accurate, and able to range between 25-600yds.

At first I was set on a Rainier barrel, but the Larue barrels are slightly cheaper, and seem to have great reputation as well.

If I'm looking to shoot consistently under 1MOA at under 200yds, will a Larue do it for me? I know that Larue doesn't have a 1 MOA guarantee like Rainier does, but I've heard reports of stupid good accuracy produced by them. Is there anyone with Larue Stealth barrel experience on here that would advise against getting one for this project?

Thanks in advance for the response.

 

[Monstershot]

I had a LaRue 18" Stealth. Loved it! Just replaced it with an 18" Stealth in 6.5 Grendel to fill the SPR role. I'm going with something shorter in 5.56. This group was initial ammo testing to see what it likes. It also liked 77gr FGMM really well. Buy with confidence. It was pretty consistently sub MOA, though I felt I was limited somewhat for group shooting with my 3-9x40 VXR Patrol. Replacing that soon as well...

 

[bfoosh006]

You might want to look at what brand barrels were most commonly used in this thread.. in the SPR Division... IM sent.

 

[TonyTheTiger]

An 18" mid gas barrel? Ghey...

 

[Bakwa]

I had a LaRue 18" Stealth. Loved it! Just replaced it with an 18" Stealth in 6.5 Grendel to fill the SPR role. I'm going with something shorter in 5.56. This group was initial ammo testing to see what it likes. It also liked 77gr FGMM really well. Buy with confidence. It was pretty consistently sub MOA, though I felt I was limited somewhat for group shooting with my 3-9x40 VXR Patrol. Replacing that soon as well...

Thanks.
That's on par with what I've been finding. It's always good to get first hand experience.

You might want to look at what brand barrels were most commonly used in this thread.. in the SPR Division... IM sent.

Good stuff. A lot of Larue barrels in that list. Some RRA's, Shillen's, and Krieger's as well. But a lot of Larue's.

 

[Bakwa]

An 18" mid gas barrel? Ghey...

Yeah, I know.
Guess I'll have to give up my dream of being a ninja sniper for CAG without the rifle length 18"er.

 

[TonyTheTiger]

Yes you will, among the other negatives of an unnecessarily short gas system.

 

[Monstershot]

Yes you will, among the other negatives of an unnecessarily short gas system.

I shot my mid gas 18" LaRue Stealth next to a WOA 18" with rifle length gas and felt exactly no difference. Both were very sweet recoiling rifles. YMMV.

 

[TonyTheTiger]

My mileage does vary. Considerably. What were the spring weights of the two rifles? Buffer weights? BCG weights? Adjustable gas block? Muzzle brake? Same load through both guns? Without tech details all your statement says is that you're both pleased with your purchase and somewhat offended by my statement.

 

[Monstershot]

Not offended in the least, and you are the one who jumped confronationally into this thread. I was just relating my experience.

Speaking of experience, have you shot an 18" LaRue Stealth next to an 18" rifle gas WOA barrel? How about shooting a Stealth barrel at all? Let's start with that mileage.

I helped a friend build an SPRish rifle similar to mine. Same BCG, similar rail, A2 fh vs pws triad, standard spring and h2 buffer vs JP SCS. Same ammo, WOA barrel. Same scope, similar weight.

Not that any of this matters. Recoil on these guns can barely rank as such, and matters little when shot for precision.

 

[Bakwa]

Yes you will, among the other negatives of an unnecessarily short gas system.

What are the negatives of a mid gassed 18er?

 

[TonyTheTiger]

What are the negatives of a mid gassed 18er?

Compared to rifle or even intermediate gas? Reduced brass life, more component wear, dirtier inside the receiver if you care about that stuff, less ability to push loads hard, noticeably harder to spot misses in tall grass or wet dirt inside of 250 yards even if the recoil doesnt feel that much different. I'm sure there's other things but those are the big negatives that I've experienced.

 

[TonyTheTiger]

A2 fh vs pws triad, standard spring and h2 buffer vs JP SCS.

Thats significant right there.
But you're right, no personal experience with Larue barrels, just quite a bit of testing between carbine/mid/intermediate and rifle length gas systems to back up my statements.
While I was feeling a bit confrontational the other night and I did drift this thread from its original Larue specific questions I think the pros/cons I listed above are worth consideration when looking at barrels. Those things might not matter to you at all, if so don't worry about it. They matter to me and I won't even run mid gas on a 16" barrel anymore and I'm considering testing a 14.5" intermediate barrel next to see if its viable.

 

[Bakwa]

I won't even run mid gas on a 16" barrel anymore and I'm considering testing a 14.5" intermediate barrel next to see if its viable.

Interesting.
I've only just in the past few years understood why a mid on a 16" is better than a carbine on a 16". It's interesting where the market goes as well. You see a lot more mid length gas systems than you ever did before.
Heck, it's only been in the past year that I've found out that there was an intermediate gas legnth.
An intermediate on a 14.5" seems very interesting. Seems like that would greatly narrow the window of buffer sizes one could use reliably. Maybe this is the future though. Good luck to you.

 

[TonyTheTiger]

Yeah, theoretically the 16" intermediate should have a narrower operational window than a mid but I haven't managed to get outside of it with loads ranging from mouse fart to primer pancaking and in a wide range of weather conditions. The 14.5" intermediate has to be getting close though, like all the 16" rifle gas barrels I see guys running at matches. Word is they can be finicky to load for but once these guys find the magic load they swear by them. Hopefully some day the AR platform hits a developmental dead end and I can stop wasting my money on the latest innovation...

 

[-Time-]

I say go for it. I've been shooting my 18" stealth since 2/21/16. 1577 rounds so far, 99% mk262 or my clone, and accuracy has been superb.

Clay pigeons at 300 yards is cake. As long as you can call wind, a 5" plate at 500yards isn't hard. I don't usually shoot paper, but the last time I did at ~1k rounds I shot a .376" group at 106 yards.

IMO the mid length gas isn't a big deal. I shoot suppressed, so I put an adjustable gas block on everything anyways, but even with the gas block open it's not like recoil is harsh or excessive.

I think many times people look at things on paper for too long, start getting nitpicky, and overblow the differences. Would it be nice to have rifle gas? Sure. Does it outweigh the fact that the stealth is a really nice profile, extremely accurate, and can be had on sale for $245? I don't think so.

 

[bigjake83]

Does it outweigh the fact that the stealth is a really nice profile, extremely accurate, and can be had on sale for $245? I don't think so.

This is where everybody should be calling Bullshit..

Think about it, I've called and talked to LaRue technicians several times to confirm this, there's absolutely no difference between a Stealth Barrel and the OBR/tOBR Barrels, same Barrel extension, same type of Steel, same Rifling just a different Contour.

​​​​​So you can buy a Stealth Barrel with barrel nut and gas tube for $266.00, but a tOBR Barrel is $725.00!! So in other words people are getting charged $460!! for his half-assed Switchblock.. Really???

All this tells me is that LT has been bending people over, and overcharging them for a long ass time.

 

[TonyTheTiger]

Good to know Jake. I have a neutral opinion of his products but I've always disliked Mark on principal, now I remember why.

 

[longshot2000]

^^^^^
Getting really confused and frustrated, and not understanding what Mr. Time is saying.


I will offer this... And, agree with Jake. The Stealth barrel from LaRue is 100% quality, and well worth the price. I don't think you can beat it for value in 5.56mm. Yes, there are better barrels. But those better barrels are not $225. I also agree with Jake, that Mark succeeds with a certain amount of... let's call it opaqueness. He does not fully describe his barrels, and how a Stealth differs from an OBR barrel. I don't think it does. And, with some of the forced transparency Mark has endured, with a dip in the market for guns, he has shown his hand with the 5.56 ultimate upper, and now the 7.62, et. al. upper. Here, you will see that the heavy barrels are all the same, except that Mark does not sell the big bore barrels by themselves. The small bore... Heavy / OBR = Stealth. Skinny = PredaTAR. Personally, I have no use for the thin barrel. The heavy Stealth profile barrels are very, very good barrels. Did I say they were remarkably inexpensive? If I don't use a 5.56 Stealth barrel, my next best barrel is a Bartlein, Lilja or Krieger at $450.

 

[bigjake83]

^^^^^
Getting really confused and frustrated, and not understanding what Mr. Time is saying.


I will offer this... And, agree with Jake. The Stealth barrel from LaRue is 100% quality, and well worth the price. I don't think you can beat it for value in 5.56mm. Yes, there are better barrels. But those better barrels are not $225. I also agree with Jake, that Mark succeeds with a certain amount of... let's call it opaqueness. He does not fully describe his barrels, and how a Stealth differs from an OBR barrel. I don't think it does. And, with some of the forced transparency Mark has endured, with a dip in the market for guns, he has shown his hand with the 5.56 ultimate upper, and now the 7.62, et. al. upper. Here, you will see that the heavy barrels are all the same, except that Mark does not sell the big bore barrels by themselves. The small bore... Heavy / OBR = Stealth. Skinny = PredaTAR. Personally, I have no use for the thin barrel. The heavy Stealth profile barrels are very, very good barrels. Did I say they were remarkably inexpensive? If I don't use a 5.56 Stealth barrel, my next best barrel is a Bartlein, Lilja or Krieger at $450.

I have no idea WTF - time- is talking about , but basically I think it's Bullshit that LT has been charging $725 for a tOBR/OBR Barrels, and come to find out they are literally identical to the stealth barrels he is now selling for $225!! And Yeah the stealth barrels are hell of a good deal. It's just astonishing how much ML contradicts himself and is company.

 

[bigjake83]

I'm not sure where the confusion is, but basically what I'm saying is hating the company because of the price of a product is stupid, and unwarranted since no one got pissed at other companies that have done basically the same thing. And it's really not something to get worked up over since (if they're really the same barrels) you could just order the barrel & nut and get your alternate barrels that way.

either way we've gotten entirely too off track for this thread.

To the OP: The stealth barrels shoot great, work well, and I think you'd be happy with your purchase.

I don't want to keep this shit going, but it's really you that's not getting the point, you're comparing apples to oranges. If you were an owner of an OBR or tOBR and it paid $725 for a barrel, and then they start offering same damn barrel just in a different Contour, for $225 you should be pretty fucking pissed off. That's like a 200% reduction in price, name me one fucking company that has been "basically doing the same thing"

You're a Fucking Idiot!! If they were lowering the prices of the OBR and tOBR barrels that would be "stupid and unwarranted" to "Hate" on LT.

Since LT has already stated that these Stealth barrels are the exact same as all the others, but he's still charging OBR and tOBR owners 200% more..

 

[flyright]

I think it would be 69% off day - I hope they are not the same barrels.

 

[-Time-]

I don't want to keep this shit going, but it's really you that's not getting the point, you're comparing apples to oranges. If you were an owner of an OBR or tOBR and it paid $725 for a barrel, and then they start offering same damn barrel just in a different Contour, for $225 you should be pretty fucking pissed off. That's like a 200% reduction in price, name me one fucking company that has been "basically doing the same thing"

You're a Fucking Idiot!! If they were lowering the prices of the OBR and tOBR barrels that would be "stupid and unwarranted" to "Hate" on LT.

Since LT has already stated that these Stealth barrels are the exact same as all the others, but he's still charging OBR and tOBR owners 200% more..

Are you pissed at S&B for charging like 1k more for every scope, all the years before they dropped the prices on their scopes?

be glad they dropped the price on some of their products. If they had never dropped the price on their stealth barrels you wouldn't be pissed at them right now, just paying $200 extra for a stealth barrel.

 

[Monstershot]

I don't want to keep this shit going, but it's really you that's not getting the point, you're comparing apples to oranges. If you were an owner of an OBR or tOBR and it paid $725 for a barrel, and then they start offering same damn barrel just in a different Contour, for $225 you should be pretty fucking pissed off. That's like a 200% reduction in price, name me one fucking company that has been "basically doing the same thing"

You're a Fucking Idiot!! If they were lowering the prices of the OBR and tOBR barrels that would be "stupid and unwarranted" to "Hate" on LT.

Since LT has already stated that these Stealth barrels are the exact same as all the others, but he's still charging OBR and tOBR owners 200% more..

Jake, it's not the 'exact same' barrel. As you stated earlier the barrel assemblies come with the pst gas block/tube which as you know can be used for suppressed and unsupressed fire with the flip of a switch. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) it uses two gas port holes. This system had to have some serious R&D behind it as ML has had his weapons involved in military contracts. That R&D has a price. The tOBR barrels are also a proprietary invention and part of a system that is not unique but rare in the market place. That required R&D to bring to market as well.

I agree $725 is still too much but innovations, whether you think they're warranted and effective or not, have a price. If no one is willing to pay for them either they're not truly innovative or they're not cost effective.

 

[bigjake83]

Jake, it's not the 'exact same' barrel. As you stated earlier the barrel assemblies come with the pst gas block/tube which as you know can be used for suppressed and unsupressed fire with the flip of a switch. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) it uses two gas port holes. This system had to have some serious R&D behind it as ML has had his weapons involved in military contracts. That R&D has a price. The tOBR barrels are also a proprietary invention and part of a system that is not unique but rare in the market place. That required R&D to bring to market as well.

I agree $725 is still too much but innovations, whether you think they're warranted and effective or not, have a price. If no one is willing to pay for them either they're not truly innovative or they're not cost effective.

I get what you're saying about the R&D, and maybe the initial cost for the R&D, but once that process is done these things are pushed out through a CNC machine by the hundreds, like any other Gas block.. and at this point I don't see how a $460 gas block is even realistic.. my initial issue with this is the the barrels are truly exactly the same, with the exception of that Switchport gas block and that's it, and I have concurred this information with multiple technicians at LT. The devil is in the details, the whole reason that they are shipping out these Builder kits is so they don't have to pay the fees to the government for sailing it actual firearm, and that is how the truth of the barrels came to be. This entire time all of us OBR owners are tOBR owners were told about these barrels that are made of this G14 Classified metal, mixed with unicorn cock and tears broken liberals in this proprietary metal and it was such a great secret because it was such a phenomenal Barrel...

Well now that they started shipping these building kits people like myself started asking questions especially at such an unbelievable price when a barrel on his website alone is just $75 Less then the entire kit the comes with the same barrel..hmmmmm??

Also due to the disappointment of the fitment of these Builder kits is another reason for my initial Inquisition. So I have some fun facts first off the barrels themselves are the exact same as what you would get and any other LaRue rifle. Second the upper receivers they provide do not fit any standard mil-spec lower receivers, or even the LaRue lowers for that fact. If you look on MSTN tread on here you will see the photos that I have submitted.

Anyway to bring a close to this discussion the main reasons I have pointed out these issues is that LT is just so blatant with the contradictions. This isn't about one person griping about an indiscretion, it's about putting out information out so future buyers can make smart decisions. There is absolutely no other company that does the things that LT does and for reasons we will probably never know.

 

[Qazwsx]

Back to the point of the discussion. I have a sample size of exactly 1, but I built an upper using the 18" stealth barrel, larue gas block, bcm carrier, geissele rail and some shit upper I had lying around, possibly delton. The gun absolutely hates mk262, 2-3 shots in less than moa and the next will be 2-3 moa flier. Bad pressure signs on the brass to the point it looks unsafe.

It has an athlon talos btr on top that I moved over to my BCM ar to functions check and it isnt the scope. Haven't tried to diagnose anything since I built it to shoot mk262 only and just switched back to my bolt gun.

My experience anyway for what its worth.

 

[BCP]

I've never heard anything bad about them, was thinking about building a rifle with one of their 18" lightweight barrels but then my state's laws went completely fucking sideways so I've kinda shelved ARs for the moment. The best dollar for dollar barrels I've had were white oak so that would be my suggestion, they are priced similarly (maybe a bit more?) than larue.

The only two ARs I've got at the moment are SPR clones, a mk12 mod 0 and mod 1, both of them use ballistic advantage barrels which are a great bang for the buck and shoot around MOA with decent handloads.

 

[Not_A_Llama]

Pricing structures aside, the 20" Stealth upper I built out is fantastically accurate, turning in sub-MOA 5 shot groups with boring ease. It's really the only barrel I can say that about, other than a magical DD I once owned and burnt out (cheaper, too). I bought a spare 18" barrel that's sat around, but expect to buy a 16" and 14.5" to fill my RECCE/Mini RECCE role.

For the price, you can't really go wrong to try. The worst complaining I've heard out there puts you firmly in the realm of a "very good" shooting upper. You only really need to assess your own degree of anal retentiveness with regard to the setscrews, as the barrel has three, and it apparently drives some people insane that the .450" blocks out there only cover two.

For the gentleman above with Mk262 issues, I might suggest that a choice of random receiver may play a role; loctiting the barrel into the upper with activator has helped cut down flyers for me across all AR platforms I own.

 

[bab029]

The only two ARs I've got at the moment are SPR clones, a mk12 mod 0 and mod 1, both of them use ballistic advantage barrels which are a great bang for the buck and shoot around MOA with decent handloads.

I can confirm the quality of ballistic advantage, especially for the money. My 18" spr will nearly hold MOA at 100 with Winchester white box m855.

 

[mi223]

I wasnt going to get into it but since you mentioned it, my balistic advantage barrel shoots moa or better with a 6x optic at 100yds with norma tac 223.

I got it on sale for 160ish. I figured it would be a safe bet with a sub moa guarantee.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[RobertVose]

The best bang for the buck are the Larue Ultimate Uppers. They come preassembled, with stealth barrels, a good trigger and are extremely accurate and well engineered. The kits are complete except for the lower.
The Larue offers an upper that is stronger than most and due to the way it seperately bolts to the hand guard has very little imparted flex or barrel interference much like a Seekins. My stealth barrel shoots as good as my OBR......

 

[drewthebrave]

I had a LaRue PredatAR barrel for a number of years that ran great in my "lightweight SPR" concept build, so I have every expectation that the Stealth would be just as accurate, and more consistent as it heats up. For $225 ($245 with M4 feedramps), LaRue offers a good value.

But if you want an SPR, build an SPR. I eventually sold my PredatAR barrel to build the Mock12 upper that I really wanted, and I don't regret it.

Compass Lake Engineering has SPR barrels available as low as $310 (Criterion) or $370 (Douglas).

SPR/MK-12 Barrel Archives - Compass Lake Engineering, LLC

compasslake.com

If you want to get something in the ballpark of the LaRue price range, Precision Reflex has 18" SPR-profile Bergara barrels on sale in FDE for $225 right now, or $265 for stainless.

Precision Reflex - Product Detail - 18" Bergara Barrels

This is the route I went, and I'm happy with the performance.

 

[Bakwa]

Thanks for the recent replies, though, I feel I should say, this thread is 4 years old...
LOL

I've since gotten a 18" Larue stealth barrel, put it on a DDM4. It shot about 1 MOA. It was a little heavier than I wanted it to be. I sold it.

I now have a 16" Bartlein chambered by CLE set up on my "SPR/DMR Competition" rifle. Love it. It's lighter. Handier. It shoots even better.
With good follow through, it's not uncommon to shoot 1/2 MOA 5 shot groups with it.