Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles an education in chromed barrels!

This has gotten to be fun, think I am finding that Bravo Company barrels are made by Green Mountain, then Spikes, PSA, and Noveske barrels are all made by FN and I think all use the M249 type double thickness chrome lining. I had a Noveske barrel and it would shoot a 1 inch 3 shot group was not a bad barrel but it was heavier, I never shot a deliberate 10 shot group with it, Daniel Defense makes their own barrels now don't know if they chrome them or have someone do it. I guess Krieger makes their own Criterion barrels that are said to be chromed and hand lapped.

Trying to "guess" how to rate them regards overall accuracy/value.

My thoughts are:

Daniel Defense
FN
Criterion
Green Mountain (Bravo company)(also Olympic arms I think)

None of the stainless barrels from anyone are chromed that I know of.

Daniel Defense SBN version barrels are not chromed either but they are nitrided inside the bore & outside as well.

If you want the highest level of accuracy, I'd think one of the versions above would have an edge over an chrome lined barrel, but I dunno absent enough side by side comparisons under some controlled conditions.

MM

you can see my post on my opinion of criterion's barrel. it shoots almost as well as my lilja barrel which is the same length and contour. the lilja I think does shoot better with a larger variety of loads. but with loads the CBI barrel does well with and preferred loads for the lilja is about the same accuracy wise.

Bravo Company barrels made by Green Mountain. That would explain a lot and I'm not surprised.

Jimmy, Criterion barrels are button rifles, where FN and DD are hammer forged.

My first group of of my new Criterion barrel went 5 shots at 3/4 of an inch. I suspect it will do better once I wring it out a bit.

wait a minute...back the truck up. you mean on top of losing sleep over what caliber and what type of bullet i should be shooting, now i need to worry about my barrel?

Not all of them. Probably just their standard chrome lined barrels. They forge some themselves and if I remember right, at one point were using Criterion for their SS stuff.

Sounds like they are about like Wilson barrels then which isn't half bad for the cost.

I just picked up a 16" Wilson Combat Ultra light for my wife's new build.

I haven't made it to the range with it yet.

That's not the same Wilson. Wilson Arms (barrels) and Wilson Combat are two different companies.

For what Wilson Combat costs generally at lease IIRC, they should outshoot Criterion and the Wilson arms tubes.

the criterion is said to be chromed and then hand lapped, probably not a bad choice. So maybe the list is in decreasing order:
Criterion (button rifled, chromed, hand lapped)
Daniel Defense hammer forged and chrome lined
FN (double chrome thickness)

way down the list Bravo company-Green Mountain

if I made this post on M4 carbine I would either be banned or an "industry professional" would come along and defend green mountain barrels..

Criterion and Daniel Defense both have 16" barrels in the lightweight/pencil contour I want.

Although one is button rifled and the other is hammer forged, I'm getting the idea that both makes are equally well thought of, on the average.

Would that be about right?

Was it Daniel Defense, or Bravo Company that someone had some pretty unpleasant thing to say about recently in this forum?

Barrel was shooting 3" groups and the maker would not stand behind it?

That was me and it was 4" groups. It was a BCM rifle and no, they did not stand behind it.

I have little regard for that company or their products.

BTW, I shoot a Daniel Defense S2W nitrided barrel now and I am very happy with it.

Terry

what is funny is that they make a $2400 "Jack Carbine" that is loved on by the typical crowd with apparently a green mountain barrel in it. I am sure it works just fine, and will hold a 10 shot 2-3 inch group at 100 yards but to me that is just horseshit. Of course I know nothing, and someone will be along to extol the virtues of a 2 MOA $2400 weapon. I guess what is even funnier is some rag, I think Shotgun news had the Jack carbine shooting .25 inch groups or some such B.S. another reason why I don't by gun rags any longer.

DD Pencil barrel with 1-7/.750 gas block may shoot the 70 grain TSX better than the .223 wylde 1-8 .625 gas block...

I guess they figure if Noveske and Wilson combat have a market for $2500 DI AR15s, they might as well join the gravy train. Some people just have to have the most expensive stuff.

Green Mtn is just like any of the other large barrel makers, like Wilson. They make at least 2 different grades of barrel from hand-lapped to Blaster grade. I've shot some of my best scores with a lapped Green Mtn.

I had a barrel that the maker said was Wilson that shot ho-hum and died even quicker. It was not a lapped barrel. But then it was a blaster-grade upper.

the FN barreled Noveske I had was a heavy pig but shot reasonably well. IIRC it would make a MOA, they did replace the barrel for me however. I found Noveske a pleasant company to deal with.

I've had 3 BCM barrels, still have two which are both standard chrome lined barrels. The SS barrel I had was a MOA shooter for sure, the chrome lined ones will put my 75/77 loads inside 2" consistently. Never tried developing a load for them.

My Colt and FN made CHF PSA CL barrels will do the same or better. Again, never tried developing a load for them as they shoot pretty good with generic loads.