Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Barrel Choice?

what do you guys say........

Rainer 16" match lightweight or a Criterion Core?

Looking for better than average accuracy !

Can't go wrong with either................Ranier has a no questions asked accuracy satisfaction guarantee on the Match series, can't remember what Criterion does, but all reports I've seen on the Core Series barrels has been good.

The Ranier is SS & the Match series is not lapped, the Criterion is chrome lined & is lapped & will be more durable .

I have a Ranier UnltraMatch barrel that is as good as anything else I've seen & they are pretty good to deal with.

There's been a rumor that their UM-2 barrels are made by Criterion, but I've never seen it confirmed, & I think their current Match barrels are from Green Mountain, but not certain.

If it matters.

MM

Thanks MM, does anyone offer an assembled uppers with a choice of these 2 barrels?

Or are these build only options!

I don't know of anyone building with the Core Series, & I don't know if Ranier builds an upper with the light match barrel either, but you can check their website.

Ranier would most likely build one for you if you call them & discuss it with them.................they are pretty good to deal with.

If you want a really quality built upper with a similar barrel, check out White Oak Armament & Compass Lake Engineering's complete uppers..................both have barrels that are equal to, or better than what you are looking at (in SS) & both are 100% GTG as far as dealing with them in full confidence. Their stuff is top shelf.

Or a Ranier with one of their UltraMatch barrels.

MM

MM thanks for you time, I'll look into Rainers Ultramatch assemblies!

Actually, it looks like Ranier is not currently building any uppers at all.............I just checked their website.

But here are links to White Oak & Compass Lake..............both are very similar & produce top shelf products. You can buy with confidence from either one.

What are you going to do for a lower?

MM

WOA 18" 3-Gun Uppers

WOA 16" SPR

Compass Lake Engineering Uppers

I’ve got a JTE billet lower with a cmmg lower parts kit,and a Vltor A5 buffer tube, with a sprinco green spring and h2 buffer,and a magpul moe sl-s stock, with an elftman match trigger!

Green spring might be too heavy, you'll just have to test...............with mid-length gas I always end up with an H2 buffer & either a white (standard) or blue (enhanced) spring if the gas port is sized right & assuming a full weight BCG.

Elftman Match triggers are very, very good IMO..........I have a couple of them, tuned to around 3.0 lb. Nice that they have a half-cock notch similar to a 1911, for safety reasons.

Good choice.................just be careful when you get it together...........when you touch the trigger, it's going to fire, there is zero take up, just about like a good bolt gun trigger.

MM

Im going with a RCA standard bolt so ill just have to wsit and see on the spring, and the trigger definitely has a very clean break!

So far it’s been a fun project!

AF.
For a straight up accuracy build I'd follow MM's advise and go with either the Compass Lake or Rainer.

If the build was for run-and-gun type shooting and I expected to barrel to see hard use, Criterion Core Series all the way.

Criterion is doing some really good stuff...................I wouldn't be afraid to put a Core Series barrel on a "precision" rifle & the price (so far) is surely right. I like the durability of the chrome lined, lapped barrel.

In fact, the next build I do will be exactly that if I can ever get an 18" rifle gas Core Series barrel as they've not been available for some time now.

MM

I appreciate all the info im still trying to decide if I want to build the upper myself, which receiver and gas block would you guys prefer to build on?

Lots of good receivers; I like SanTan best, Vltor MUR, Cross Machine Tool (CMT) & BCM.

BCM by design is a thermo-fit to a standard barrel extension so there is no play & no need for gluing the barrel into the receiver to insure accuracy..................if you want to go that far. And you can usually find BCM blems at a decent price, whatever you consider decent today.

As for gas blocks, if you want an adjustable one, then IMO, SLR is the top of the heap but Seekins & Odin both work as intended, just a little less user friendly.

If you want non-adjustable, then I still like SLR, but one from any of the more reputable manufacturers is usually just fine.

I generally prefer clamp-on versions, but you need to be careful with clamp-on's so that the GB & the rail are compatible for fit / clearance...................SLR will fit with pretty much any rail.

Set screw type GB's generally don't have the clearance issue.

MM

Another upper to take a look at is the Aero M4e1 Enhanced. I really like the barrel and handguard mounting system. So long as you use one of Aero's compatible handguards (which are very nice themselves), the handguard attaches directly to the upper receiver instead of to a barrel nut.

A cool (and theoretically more rigid) way to screw everything together. I recently used one of their enhanced uppers and handguards, and wish I had used them on earlier builds.

Hows the accuracy?

Too early to tell, I used it on a 6 arc build that I am still working on getting set up.