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Opinions on most accurate barrels in 223. JP, Noveske, etc?

K

Kubitza123

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Aug 15, 2012
806
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Central Texas near Waco
#1
Looking for opinions on the most accurate 223 barrels for a possible build.

Thinking I'd do some sort of monolithic upper Vltor Vis, Mega or??

Looking for most accurate barrel that I can get such as a JP or Noveske that can be had in stock and little or no wait time.


Those are just the two that ring a bell but just want to be sure I'm not missing out on something as good or better at a better price point .
 
#2
JP
Noveske/Pac-Nor
Krieger (Midway, Brownells and even custom shops like CLE routinely have inventory on hand that they can turn out in a hurry)
CLE also does Douglas, Bartlein, Criterion and others of varying configurations/etc.
WOA
Shilen Match
Lilja
The list goes on and on really...

Knowing your budget and how long, if at all, you are willing to wait may help this discussion out a little.
 
#3
The Nordic 18" competition is a very accurate barrel, $269 retail. Smaller gas port so you don't have to run it with adjustable gas. All I use, but then again it was made to my specs. :) That said, you can go for a Kreiger (several different ones in stock at Midway for about $600 on up). A little more finicky, but they do have more accuracy potential. Monolithic uppers don't add accuracy.
 
#8
In the end I feel strongly that proper load development is a large percentage of an accurate barrel. My brother and I have a Mossberg and Wilson 1:8 twist on our .223's. Both were about $180.00 each. The right load now yields 3/8" - 1/4" groups. Buy what you feel comfortable with, but you don't need to drop $400-500 on a barrel.
 
#9
My first experiences with precision AR builds were accompanied by WOA and Rainier Arms barrels. I can't speak highly enough to the quality and accuracy of these barrels. Granted, when I was building, Noveske's weren't in my budget; but if you are building with a budget in mind, the WOA SPR barrel and Rainier UltraMatch barrels are outstanding!
 
#21
I've used a variety of barrels. The most unimpressive makes were from Noveske. Two recons and one SPR. Noveske does not have barrels, they're pacnor barrels speced out by Noveske. In any case all three of these couldn't keep up with my WOA or BCM. Just my experience.
 
#26
RichS said:
Don't they use an odd thread pitch making the use of the more popular muzze devices a no-go?
Click to expand...
It's 5/8-24 on the barrels meant to be more accurate, the lightweights still have a 1/2-28 thread. 5/8-24 is the same thread as 6.8 and 308 which is convenient for those swapping suppressors. 6.8-308 flash hiders and comps work fine but if the barrel is used for 3 gun or multigun using an efficient full blown competition brake like the SJC Titan or Hill Rolling Thunder it would be best that the bore be .050-.060 larger than the bullet dia.
 
#27
Kubitza123 said:
Looking for opinions on the most accurate 223 barrels for a possible build.

Thinking I'd do some sort of monolithic upper Vltor Vis, Mega or??

Looking for most accurate barrel that I can get such as a JP or Noveske that can be had in stock and little or no wait time.


Those are just the two that ring a bell but just want to be sure I'm not missing out on something as good or better at a better price point .
Click to expand...

For what use?
You don't need a $550 Krieger to shoot 3 gun or blast. If you plan to shoot long range targets or varmints off a rest or bench then a Krieger DCM would be a good choice.
 
#30
I just ordered a complete 18" varmint upper that will have the barrel full length fluted to save some weight. I will put it on my Colt LE6920 M4 lower which has a Geissele SSA-E trigger. I'm hoping it will group less than 1/2" at 100 yds. with my reloads. I'm also hoping it will run like a sewing machine.

White Oak Armament
 

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#31
My vote is for ARP 223 WYLDE 1x8 twist. Just had mine a month or so and weather will not give me a chance to really see what it will do. Have just broke barrel in and that is it, heard and read tons of great things about arp. My 2 cents worth. Good luck.

Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk 2
 
#32
my ar 308 has a rock creek and is a solid .4 moa gun,that being said i also did a ar 308 for my brother that has a ranier ultra match that is a 5/8 moa gun. these 2 would be at the top of my list if i were building more
 
#35
I'm hoping that it will be with my reloads. My stock Bushmaster DCM would shoot 10 shot -1/2" groups at 100 yds right out of the box with my reloads. So I'm hoping this one will also. If it won't , but gets close I will be happy. I won't know until I get it around June.
 
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#36
MarkCO said:
The Nordic 18" competition is a very accurate barrel, $269 retail. Smaller gas port so you don't have to run it with adjustable gas. All I use, but then again it was made to my specs. :) That said, you can go for a Kreiger (several different ones in stock at Midway for about $600 on up). A little more finicky, but they do have more accuracy potential. Monolithic uppers don't add accuracy.
Click to expand...

Mark,
What kind of groups are you getting from the Nordic barrel? I'm looking into a build and my three barrel "finalists" are Nordic, WOA, or ARP (all 18" rifle, Wylde....ARP is melonited too)
 
#37
Benched with a fixed 10x, I can consistently get 1/2 MOA with Nosler Ballistic tips out to 300m. Hornady steel match 55 is just over 1 MOA at 300m. Also benched with a fixed 10x and Nosler 69 CCs my 600 yard groups in still, or constant wind are around 4" for 5 shots. I have had better, but no wind is pretty rare at my range.

There are two intentional differences in the Nordic. First, the chamber is not as tight as some others. I literally took a bucket (about 1K rounds) of no-go rounds from a JP case gauge and shot every single one through my first Nordic barrel, without cleaning...100% function. Second is that I decreased the gas port size so that the rifle is easier to tune without adjustable gas. You can use a quality gas block (I know where to get a really good one) with a low mass carrier and be 100% in all conditions.
 
#38
Hard to beat all the features of a AR15 Performance barrel(ARP)for the costs. All of my personal ARs have them and all shoot lights out if I do my part.
 
#40
I have always wondered if these barrel makers make their own blanks or get them from other makers and then turn them down to the finished barrels. The reason I ask is because I bought a rifled blank from Brux Barrels and had someone else make the finished barrel for the bolt rifle he built for me. He chambered it for me in 6mm Norma BR. with a neck diameter of .271. It turned out to be a very accurate shooter. My best 5 shot group at 100 yds. was .084" at 200 yds. was .375" at 400 yds. many way under 2" and at 1,000 yds. was 3.25". I never hear about anyone talk about Brux when it comes to AR barrels.
 
#41
Kubitza123 said:
Looking for opinions on the most accurate 223 barrels for a possible build.

Thinking I'd do some sort of monolithic upper Vltor Vis, Mega or??

Looking for most accurate barrel that I can get such as a JP or Noveske that can be had in stock and little or no wait time.


Those are just the two that ring a bell but just want to be sure I'm not missing out on something as good or better at a better price point .
Click to expand...

It is not possible to discern the most accurate barrel by brand. It is possible however to discern the relative accuracy for barrels at hand. That said, you might want to consider what champion shooters prefer. These are shooter who can actually discern one barrel from another. Some of these shooters prefer Saturn barrels. Interestingly, my most accurate barrel is one I am using now for NRA LR. It's a Douglas button rifled 1 in 7 smithed by Frank White.
 
Last edited:
#42
The three names that pop up the most in my neck of the woods are Krieger, Bartlein, and WOA. Kriegers are by far the most popular for NRA high power competitions down here. I'd say 8 or 9 out of 10 use them, with a handful using WOA. I've seen a lot of F class shooters use Krieger and Bartlein, with a few shilen, brux, etc.
 
#45
mateofeo85 said:
My first experiences with precision AR builds were accompanied by WOA and Rainier Arms barrels. I can't speak highly enough to the quality and accuracy of these barrels. Granted, when I was building, Noveske's weren't in my budget; but if you are building with a budget in mind, the WOA SPR barrel and Rainier UltraMatch barrels are outstanding!
Click to expand...

I have 2-3 WOA barrels and everyone of them are just like this. I have used a 16" 18" SPR and the 20" SDM which shoots about as well as a bolt gun. With factory match ammo at 100 yds sub .500" 3 shot groups is pretty common.
 
#46
Thats what i ended up with in the end fellas. JP CTR-02 complete upper 24" with heat sink under handguard, APA billet lower, PRS, JP Silent capture setup, Jard trigger, Bobro mount, 2.5-10X32 ZS NF.

Now just looking for fellow JP shooter to find out what ammo they have had the best luck with and its a 1-8 twist





 
#48
It seems that cut-rifled barrels are the most accurate and consistent at longer ranges (400 +). Way back when I shot benchrest, Hart, Shilen, and Lilja button rifled tubes held all the records (100 to 300). Thus I stick with premium button rifled barrels for most AR builds. I have seen at least 2 AR15's in the FS section that were built with Bartlein barrels but I do not have that type of budget!
 
#49
Sterling Shooter said:
It is not possible to discern the most accurate barrel by brand. It is possible however to discern the relative accuracy for barrels at hand. That said, you might want to consider what champion shooters prefer. These are shooter who can actually discern one barrel from another. Some of these shooters prefer Saturn barrels. Interestingly, my most accurate barrel is one I am using now for NRA LR. It's a Douglas button rifled 1 in 7 smithed by Frank White.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking about a Douglas SPR Wylde 1:7 for my build. I'm not sure though if it's worth the extar $$ over a WOA, Nordic, BHW, and ARP?
 
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