Gunsmithing RPR - Barrel Replacement Advice

[ChuckP65]

Has anyone bought one of the pre-fit RPR barrels that Kreiger makes? I'm looking for feedback. I'm also considering an LRI and any other advice I can get. I want the muzzle to be about .900 which I think is the largest that will fit on the stock gun. I know Bartlein makes them and they are the very good but pre-fits are not available. Much appreciated!

 

[Alan101]

I ha ve used and been very happy with the two Criterions I have used, They offer various barrel profiles and run around $500.

 

[N.Parish]

The Krieger prefit barrels are awesome. I have 2 on my rpr's . The rifles are both boringly accurate! Less than a 1/2 in all day with the right loads. For the price over a criterion is worth the cut vs button rifling imo but thats up for a whole other debate! The criterion barrels are really nice so are the patriot valley arms prefits. Ive also heard great things of the LRI barrels. That being said i will always use krieger barrels on everything i have because ive been so happy with the ones i have . Hope this helps. Cheers

 

[ChuckP65]

Has anyone bought one of the pre-fit RPR barrels that Kreiger makes? I'm looking for feedback. I'm also considering an LRI and any other advice I can get. I want the muzzle to be about .900 which I think is the largest that will fit on the stock gun. I know Bartlein makes them and they are the very good but pre-fits are not available. Much appreciated!

Thank you so much! This is what I needed to hear.

 

[tna9001]

I had an LRI barrel on a RPR, tackdriver.

 

[raven88]

Has anyone bought one of the pre-fit RPR barrels that Kreiger makes? I'm looking for feedback. I'm also considering an LRI and any other advice I can get. I want the muzzle to be about .900 which I think is the largest that will fit on the stock gun. I know Bartlein makes them and they are the very good but pre-fits are not available. Much appreciated!

I watched the vid that Lowlight did.....called LRI and Chad sent a barrel out real quick....got a wrench and barrel vise from brownells.....got the go/nogo gauges from midway or brownells?? and the job went smooth and did not take very long. LRI barrel shoots great....its got about 2300 rounds through it. Still shoots 5 in a dime if I pay attention. Chamber was cut for the Hornady factory 140 ELD-M. It is a 26". Give Chad a call.....

 

[clcustom1911]

I had a Proof M24 profile prefit on mine that I got from Stocky's. It was easy to mount up and shot fantastic

 

[whatsupdoc]

Krieger will make you a semi custom barrel but will only cut a SAAMI chamber, If you require something tailored to a particular bullet then you are better off at LRI. And if you want it in a hurry just call LRI, Krieger has a backlog of a few months. Why do you want .9 at the muzzle. Gun not heavy enough.

 

[ChuckP65]

Krieger will make you a semi custom barrel but will only cut a SAAMI chamber, If you require something tailored to a particular bullet then you are better off at LRI. And if you want it in a hurry just call LRI, Krieger has a backlog of a few months. Why do you want .9 at the muzzle. Gun not heavy enough.

Kreiger has prefits in stock already made and I want a heavier barrel for heat dispersion. That said the LRI folks are pretty convincing. I'm aware of chamber reamers and all that is involved. I'm trying to buy a much more accurate barrel for my RPR without having to stick to one bullet type. I want whatever I get to accept factory ammo even though I also reload. The factory RPR barrel on my gun has about 1,200 rounds through it. I know they are supposed to last longer but I was getting as good as a 5 shot 7/8ths inch group at 300 yards and now I'm not near that any longer. I've tried everything else but a new barrel.

 

[Bender830]

"Tried everything else but a new barrel"

You tried giving it a proper cleaning? And checking to see if your lands have eroded which would require a change to seating depth? And you know you were in a solid accuracy node to start with?

Just wondering, might be worth it to try those things if you haven't already before dropping a couple hundred bucks on a new tube.

 

[Racer88]

Kreiger has prefits in stock already made and I want a heavier barrel for heat dispersion. That said the LRI folks are pretty convincing. I'm aware of chamber reamers and all that is involved. I'm trying to buy a much more accurate barrel for my RPR without having to stick to one bullet type. I want whatever I get to accept factory ammo even though I also reload. The factory RPR barrel on my gun has about 1,200 rounds through it. I know they are supposed to last longer but I was getting as good as a 5 shot 7/8ths inch group at 300 yards and now I'm not near that any longer. I've tried everything else but a new barrel.

First... a 7/8" 5-shot group at 300 yards is 0.2785 MOA, which is a super-impressive group. When you say you're not getting 7/8" groups anymore... what ARE you getting? What kind of groups are you achieving on a REGULAR basis at this point?

That said... 1200 rounds is nothing for a 6.5CM barrel. My original factory barrel passed the 3500 round mark last weekend. Granted this was at only 100 yards, and I wasn't trying super hard.... 0.6 MOA 5-shot group.

7 weeks ago at 300 yards. Barrel was over 3,000 rounds at this point. Those pesky 5th shot fliers! But, still pretty good, I'd say. They're not 0.278-MOA groups like your 7/8" 5-shot group at 300. But, any time I'm sub-MOA at 300 yards or farther, I'm a happy camper. BTW, I only shoot factory ammo.

I cannot imagine you've burned out your barrel at 1200 rounds.

PS... I "neglect" my barrel by cleaning it maybe once every 500 rounds.

 

[ChuckP65]

"Tried everything else but a new barrel"

You tried giving it a proper cleaning? And checking to see if your lands have eroded which would require a change to seating depth? And you know you were in a solid accuracy node to start with?

Just wondering, might be worth it to try those things if you haven't already before dropping a couple hundred bucks on a new tube.

I thought I did. I listened to people on this forum and bought JB to try and remove any carbon rings. That didn't work. I have not altered seating depth yet. I don't know what an accuracy node is.

 

[ChuckP65]

First... a 7/8" 5-shot group at 300 yards is 0.2785 MOA, which is a super-impressive group. When you say you're not getting 7/8" groups anymore... what ARE you getting? What kind of groups are you achieving on a REGULAR basis at this point?

That said... 1200 rounds is nothing for a 6.5CM barrel. My original factory barrel passed the 3500 round mark last weekend. Granted this was at only 100 yards, and I wasn't trying super hard.... 0.6 MOA 5-shot group.

View attachment 7221238

7 weeks ago at 300 yards. Barrel was over 3,000 rounds at this point. Those pesky 5th shot fliers! But, still pretty good, I'd say. They're not 0.278-MOA groups like your 7/8" 5-shot group at 300. But, any time I'm sub-MOA at 300 yards or farther, I'm a happy camper. BTW, I only shoot factory ammo.

View attachment 7221239

I cannot imagine you've burned out your barrel at 1200 rounds.

Maybe I expect too much. I was pretty regularly able to get less than .5 MOA at 300 yards with several types of ammunition and it then changed. I tried carbon ring removal, scope remounting, tightening all screws. Nothing works. I even sent the scope in to Vortex. They called yesterday to say it's normal. I really don't want to have to use exclusively handholds and load to long OALs.

 

[ChuckP65]

Maybe I expect too much. I was pretty regularly able to get less than .5 MOA at 300 yards with several types of ammunition and it then changed. I tried carbon ring removal, scope remounting, tightening all screws. Nothing works. I even sent the scope in to Vortex. They called yesterday to say it's normal. I really don't want to have to use exclusively handholds and load to long OALs.

This is not a fish story. Here are two sample groups:

 

[Racer88]

Maybe I expect too much. I was pretty regularly able to get less than .5 MOA at 300 yards with several types of ammunition and it then changed. I tried carbon ring removal, scope remounting, tightening all screws. Nothing works. I even sent the scope in to Vortex. They called yesterday to say it's normal. I really don't want to have to use exclusively handholds and load to long OALs.

I would say that .6 - .8 MOA is routine for me out to 300 yards. If I do my part, I can get 1/2 MOA. And, when the planets align and I hold my mouth right, I occasionally get 1/3 MOA. All with factory match ammo. It's been that way since my RPR was new, and it's still about the same now. 3,500 rounds through the barrel! And, I am NOT obsessive with the cleaning. If anything, I've neglected it.

 

[Racer88]

This is not a fish story. Here are two sample groups:

Impressive, especially considering it's 300 yards. Was that custom loaded ammo?

Some more 300 yard targets from September of last year. Round count was at about 2800 rounds at this point. Three out of five groups hovering around the 1/2 MOA mark. Factory Hornady ELD-Match ammo.

 

[ChuckP65]

I did insist on a new Viper as the Vortex test does not involve putting a scope in rings so they honored my request to replace it. As far as cleaning I definitely don't over clean as I am of the Kyle Lamb school that cleaning too much is worse than too little. I know that something is wrong. I just haven't figured out what yet. I'm getting pretty close to leaving the barrel as the last possible thing to blame.

 

[ChuckP65]

Impressive, especially considering it's 300 yards. Was that custom loaded ammo?

Some more 300 yard targets from September of last year. Round count was at about 2800 rounds at this point. Three out of five groups hovering around the 1/2 MOA mark. Factory Hornady ELD-Match ammo.

View attachment 7221290

No. Believe it or not the better group was ELD 140 and the one that is around 1.3 inches was Superformance SST of all things.

 

[Racer88]

I did insist on a new Viper as the Vortex test does not involve putting a scope in rings so they honored my request to replace it. As far as cleaning I definitely don't over clean as I am of the Kyle Lamb school that cleaning too much is worse than too little. I know that something is wrong. I just haven't figured out what yet. I'm getting pretty close to leaving the barrel as the last possible thing to blame.

So, what kind of groups is it shooting now? How much worse?

(I'm also using a Viper HST 6-24x 50 scope.)

 

[Racer88]

BTW, I'm eyeballing an off-the-shelf Krieger barrel, too. But, I'm waiting until my barrel finally starts showing signs of being shot out. So far... I keep shooting sub-MOA with it! 3,500 and counting! ?

 

[ChuckP65]

So, what kind of groups is it shooting now? How much worse?

(I'm also using a Viper HST 6-24x 50 scope.)

Typically around 3 inches at 300 so MOA. RPRs should shoot better than MOA.

 

[Racer88]

Typically around 3 inches at 300 so MOA. RPRs should shoot better than MOA.

Could be SO many things. Everything's tight? I had my handguard come loose once, and it affected my groups. Parallax (not meaning to insult your knowledge or abilities). Scope mounts loose. Spitballing here. Damaged barrel crown? Aggressive cleaning regimen? I'm guessing you've already eliminated all those possibilities (didn't go back and review the entire thread).

Too much caffeine, maybe?

If the rifle was shooting in 1/2-MOA (and less) range before, it's not a defective barrel from the factory. And, I doubt you shot it out in just 1,200 rounds. So....

 

[ChuckP65]

BTW, I'm eyeballing an off-the-shelf Krieger barrel, too. But, I'm waiting until my barrel finally starts showing signs of being shot out. So far... I keep shooting sub-MOA with it! 3,500 and counting! ?

I have an AR that I put an Odin Works barrel on. Honestly the improvement of a bull stainless match barrel over stock was inc

Could be SO many things. Everything's tight? I had my handguard come loose once, and it affected my groups. Parallax (not meaning to insult your knowledge or abilities). Scope mounts loose. Spitballing here. Damaged barrel crown? Aggressive cleaning regimen? I'm guessing you've already eliminated all those possibilities (didn't go back and review the entire thread).

Too much caffeine, maybe?

If the rifle was shooting in 1/2-MOA (and less) range before, it's not a defective barrel from the factory. And, I doubt you shot it out in just 1,200 rounds. So....

I'm checking everything again. It's not aggressive cleaning, could still be a carbon ring, I will know if it's the scope as Vortex just shipped mine back. I don't really want to part with $550 so I'll go through the while thing one last time and I'll check things with OAL guage. Should know more in a week.

 

[Racer88]

I have an AR that I put an Odin Works barrel on. Honestly the improvement of a bull stainless match barrel over stock was inc

I'm checking everything again. It's not aggressive cleaning, could still be a carbon ring, I will know if it's the scope as Vortex just shipped mine back. I don't really want to part with $550 so I'll go through the while thing one last time and I'll check things with OAL guage. Should know more in a week.

That made me think I should remeasure mine... out of curiosity. I've got measurements from close to when it was new. I measured it when I was playing around with some custom ammo from Copper Creek. I wonder how much it's changed, now that I've got over 3,500 rounds through it.