2/13: Edited for more content below.
Have been working on a project gas gun for a few weeks (MSR10 by Savage) and found a great deal on a Dracos 22" 6.5 CM barrel. It arrived last Friday and I took most of the weekend to assemble and start load development. The main reason for purchasing was their claim of: lifetime sub-MOA accuracy, and heat dissipation (always a cold bore shot). If both prove true while maintaining good consistency for longer strings (sub-MOA 10+ shot groups) I think this will be a winner. The longer-term warranty will be more difficult to "prove" but I shoot a few thousand rounds a year so this should be fairly easy to verify.
Couple of points to note:
First, I bought this thinking it was a 1-9 but to my pleasant surprise, it's a 1-8 twist 3 groove pattern at 22.45" in length. It's a typo on Dracos website that should be corrected soon. The barrel OD is a monstrous 1.2" but gas block is lower profile adding .4" to height (1.609" from bottom to top of block). Extension and headspace are set to DPMS style bolts (JP Precision?). my 18" traditional fluted barrel from Savage was 2.6# in a relatively thin contour. This barrel at 1.2" diameter and 22" weighs 3.6 lbs, so it is definitely heavier but seriously not by much given the diameter and length. I believe they said it was about 3-4 oz heavier than a similar carbon barrel.
Second, the team at Dracos has been AWESOME with respect to customer service, questions and guidance on tuning. They confirmed by phone that the warranty covers sub-MOA accuracy for the life of the barrel. I had lots of questions/concerns following purchase that they were very fast to answer or find correct answer and get back to me.
Third the gas block allows adjustment to the dwell time not gas volume. This means that you should be able to (theoretically) adjust the gas block to slow the movement of the bolt by literally lengthening the gas tube system. In practice, I am pleasantly surprised that it does seem to function exactly as intended: I was able to back out the set screw (effectively lengthening the gas tube) allowing more time for the bullet to exit and chamber pressure to drop before extraction begins. I can say that after adjustment, my brass was very clean and recoil pulse felt *slightly* lower. More testing on this to come after I find a good load.
So far, have been avg .5-.6 MOA for consecutive 5 shot groups at 100yds. OCW testing got me to node at is producing .5-.8MOA groups at 300yards, which I believe I can clear up this weekend with some tweaks to my loads. I do not claim to be a great semi-auto shooter; all groups were shot in 15-20deg weather with lots of layers that make "feeling" the rifle in the shoulder difficult at best. My sight picture on trigger break felt good for most shots but I had very hard time getting consistent recoil pattern.
Accuracy: This barrel definitely seems to want to shoot about .6MOA 5-shot groups. Here is an aggregate series of several 5 shot groups of both the factory and handload ammo. The handload is simply a variation of what shot well in the prior barrel, so its not a tuned load yet. Factory Hornady factory 140 ELD Match and Federal Gold Medal 130 Hybrid ammo both shot well but also had some fliers that are either me, the barrel, the ammo or combination of all three. I am working to eliminate some of those variables next weekend. But if you look at the right hand table in each of the pictures below, the avg. size is consistently about .6MOA.
At 300 yards, I was able to test a version of a OCW test loading 123 ELDM's over 40.7-41.1gr Varget to see how it would produce at longer distances. The results are extremely similar to that of the 100 yard testing but with less variability in group height. The wind was from 9 oclock at the range with a somewhat gusty pattern ranging from 3-7mph, so calmer day but I definitely noticed the shots that drifted right as wind gusted or stopped. The Vertical average is still .6 but the horizontal has grown due to wind and conditions.
While I am sure that some time behind the rifle and tweaking loads will help, this is still a 1/2-3/4 MOA rifle barrel for five shot groups. While some here may be looking for consistent .25MOA 10-shot groups, I can freely admit that I am not that guy. I am happy when a rifle shoots average groups about 1/2 MOA because at longer ranges, the biggest issue is calling the wind correctly, hitting cold bore shots and consistency in POI over time. So far, this barrel is definitely showing capability of doing all three of those things.
So is it worth $800-900 of your hard earned money? That will depend on your needs and precision requirements. I personally feel that this barrel is certainly worth purchasing if you factor in the following:
1) Accuracy is sub-MOA gauranteed: all factory and handloads are trending to .6MOA avg CTC.
2) Consistency has been VERY good with respect to POI: group centers are staying within .25 MOA of eachother even after extended strings of 10-20 rounds without any cooling period.
3) Heat dissipation: I can't empirically say that the barrel was "cooler" than with a steel barrel but qualitatively, I fired 40 rounds in about 12 minutes and I was able to put my hand and cheek on the barrel without any hint of too hot. It was very cold outside at 15-30deg so that will also keep heat to minimum but that test would have fried my fingers on my bolt or my standard AR15 no matter what the airtemp. I plan to test this more to see if I can "prove" this with temp gauges but will see when I can get around to that.
4) Fit and finish is extremely high end: this was a "blemished" barrel (which I got at lower cost ~$530 IIRC) but I seriously checked it out for 15 min and could NOT find the blemish or issue.
5) Warranty: last but not least, remember that this has a lifetime warranty, and, while warranties are only as good as the company behind them, after speaking with their team, I feel very confident in their commitment to providing a great product.
6)
So would I buy this again? Absolutely! While I would have been thrilled to say its driving .3-.4MOA 10 shot groups "all day long" that would be disingenuous at best. I think that with the ability to retrofit a custom barrel into a budget semi-auto 6.5 CM and get close to 1/2 MOA consistency is pretty dammed good given all the tolerances that go into this system.
Update 2/13: I've added more targets with average size in inches and MOA.
Have been working on a project gas gun for a few weeks (MSR10 by Savage) and found a great deal on a Dracos 22" 6.5 CM barrel. It arrived last Friday and I took most of the weekend to assemble and start load development. The main reason for purchasing was their claim of: lifetime sub-MOA accuracy, and heat dissipation (always a cold bore shot). If both prove true while maintaining good consistency for longer strings (sub-MOA 10+ shot groups) I think this will be a winner. The longer-term warranty will be more difficult to "prove" but I shoot a few thousand rounds a year so this should be fairly easy to verify.
Couple of points to note:
First, I bought this thinking it was a 1-9 but to my pleasant surprise, it's a 1-8 twist 3 groove pattern at 22.45" in length. It's a typo on Dracos website that should be corrected soon. The barrel OD is a monstrous 1.2" but gas block is lower profile adding .4" to height (1.609" from bottom to top of block). Extension and headspace are set to DPMS style bolts (JP Precision?). my 18" traditional fluted barrel from Savage was 2.6# in a relatively thin contour. This barrel at 1.2" diameter and 22" weighs 3.6 lbs, so it is definitely heavier but seriously not by much given the diameter and length. I believe they said it was about 3-4 oz heavier than a similar carbon barrel.
Second, the team at Dracos has been AWESOME with respect to customer service, questions and guidance on tuning. They confirmed by phone that the warranty covers sub-MOA accuracy for the life of the barrel. I had lots of questions/concerns following purchase that they were very fast to answer or find correct answer and get back to me.
Third the gas block allows adjustment to the dwell time not gas volume. This means that you should be able to (theoretically) adjust the gas block to slow the movement of the bolt by literally lengthening the gas tube system. In practice, I am pleasantly surprised that it does seem to function exactly as intended: I was able to back out the set screw (effectively lengthening the gas tube) allowing more time for the bullet to exit and chamber pressure to drop before extraction begins. I can say that after adjustment, my brass was very clean and recoil pulse felt *slightly* lower. More testing on this to come after I find a good load.
So far, have been avg .5-.6 MOA for consecutive 5 shot groups at 100yds. OCW testing got me to node at is producing .5-.8MOA groups at 300yards, which I believe I can clear up this weekend with some tweaks to my loads. I do not claim to be a great semi-auto shooter; all groups were shot in 15-20deg weather with lots of layers that make "feeling" the rifle in the shoulder difficult at best. My sight picture on trigger break felt good for most shots but I had very hard time getting consistent recoil pattern.
Accuracy: This barrel definitely seems to want to shoot about .6MOA 5-shot groups. Here is an aggregate series of several 5 shot groups of both the factory and handload ammo. The handload is simply a variation of what shot well in the prior barrel, so its not a tuned load yet. Factory Hornady factory 140 ELD Match and Federal Gold Medal 130 Hybrid ammo both shot well but also had some fliers that are either me, the barrel, the ammo or combination of all three. I am working to eliminate some of those variables next weekend. But if you look at the right hand table in each of the pictures below, the avg. size is consistently about .6MOA.
At 300 yards, I was able to test a version of a OCW test loading 123 ELDM's over 40.7-41.1gr Varget to see how it would produce at longer distances. The results are extremely similar to that of the 100 yard testing but with less variability in group height. The wind was from 9 oclock at the range with a somewhat gusty pattern ranging from 3-7mph, so calmer day but I definitely noticed the shots that drifted right as wind gusted or stopped. The Vertical average is still .6 but the horizontal has grown due to wind and conditions.
While I am sure that some time behind the rifle and tweaking loads will help, this is still a 1/2-3/4 MOA rifle barrel for five shot groups. While some here may be looking for consistent .25MOA 10-shot groups, I can freely admit that I am not that guy. I am happy when a rifle shoots average groups about 1/2 MOA because at longer ranges, the biggest issue is calling the wind correctly, hitting cold bore shots and consistency in POI over time. So far, this barrel is definitely showing capability of doing all three of those things.
So is it worth $800-900 of your hard earned money? That will depend on your needs and precision requirements. I personally feel that this barrel is certainly worth purchasing if you factor in the following:
1) Accuracy is sub-MOA gauranteed: all factory and handloads are trending to .6MOA avg CTC.
2) Consistency has been VERY good with respect to POI: group centers are staying within .25 MOA of eachother even after extended strings of 10-20 rounds without any cooling period.
3) Heat dissipation: I can't empirically say that the barrel was "cooler" than with a steel barrel but qualitatively, I fired 40 rounds in about 12 minutes and I was able to put my hand and cheek on the barrel without any hint of too hot. It was very cold outside at 15-30deg so that will also keep heat to minimum but that test would have fried my fingers on my bolt or my standard AR15 no matter what the airtemp. I plan to test this more to see if I can "prove" this with temp gauges but will see when I can get around to that.
4) Fit and finish is extremely high end: this was a "blemished" barrel (which I got at lower cost ~$530 IIRC) but I seriously checked it out for 15 min and could NOT find the blemish or issue.
5) Warranty: last but not least, remember that this has a lifetime warranty, and, while warranties are only as good as the company behind them, after speaking with their team, I feel very confident in their commitment to providing a great product.
6)
So would I buy this again? Absolutely! While I would have been thrilled to say its driving .3-.4MOA 10 shot groups "all day long" that would be disingenuous at best. I think that with the ability to retrofit a custom barrel into a budget semi-auto 6.5 CM and get close to 1/2 MOA consistency is pretty dammed good given all the tolerances that go into this system.
Update 2/13: I've added more targets with average size in inches and MOA.
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