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I was looking for another option for a chrome lined pencil barrel and started looking at Sionics. They make chrome lined barrels that aren't over gassed and tend to shoot pretty well for what they are. Of course every barrel is HP, MP tested and air gauged but they are also X-ray'd which is something I never heard of. I read and watched a ton of reviews and decided to call them and ask a bunch of dumb questions. I had to leave a voicemail that afternoon but decided to order a barrel and BCG anyway. The next morning I got a callback and I can't remember his name but he was very polite and didn't mind answering questions, which is very rare these days.

I told him I went ahead and placed my order but I inquired about their Nitrided barrels vs chrome lined. He said they did one run of those and they preferred chrome, it's been proven for over 50 years and even though it cost more, if done right it hurts nothing. (My own opinion is nitride is cheap and that's the biggest reason it's being pushed right now.)

The next question was what size is your gas port? (I know .078 is pretty common on a mid length) They won't give out their port sizes but their ML 16" guns are sized in the mid .070's and are designed to run suppressed (super sonic) or unsuppressed. They shoot pretty soft and don't like overgassed guns any more than anyone else does. I was kinda thinking why won't you tell me when I can measure it myself but I put it aside and moved on.

I asked about their NP3 coated BCG's and made the mistake of saying nickel Boron. Theirs are nickel Teflon which is a tougher, slicker finish and it is more expensive to do. They start with a regular chrome lined BCG and coat over that. He said they had some internet reports of flaking a while back and said, yes the NP3 will not adhere to the chrome, the first time you shoot it, you will see some flaking from there. They use quality springs and extractors, HP and MP test every bolt. So I upgraded my order and figured I'd try one. I asked a few more questions and everything was answered to my satisfaction but let's move on.

http://sionicsweaponsystems.com/store2015/16/24-5-chrome-lined-w-low-profile-gas-block.html

I got the barrel in and started trying to measure the gas port, I had nothing exact. The closest thing that fit was a roll of solder I had and it measured .065 with a little wiggle room. .078 would not fit. The finish was good and the chrome lining looked like it was polished. I put the gun together (new parts from Black Friday and old parts I had laying around here) and decided I needed a better trigger so I put the upper on my Colt 6920 lower with an H buffer and G2S trigger. I figured I'd get to shoot after our Steel Challenge match yesterday. I stuck a Trijicon 1-4 Accupower scope on there and grabbed some of my reloads, 55 grain NBT and 77 grain SMK's. Ejection was 3:30-4:00 and about 4' away.


We had a South wind that was whipping pretty good but I sighted in at 100 yards and tried a 200 yard group with the 55's. The immediate thing I noticed is this is the smoothest gun I've got, I never lost the sight picture from recoil. Much better than the rest of my Mid lengths.

The orange dot is 2" and as I said it was windy but I wasn't too concerned and had to head home.

Today I went back out with a crazy North wind and if 2 10 round groups fired back to back offended your senses, this will make you sick. Remember this is a chrome lined pencil barrel that is made for a hard use gun, and a 1-4 power scope. I fired 5 10 round groups, 4 with 55 NBT's and the middle one with 77 gr NCC's. Started bottom left and went CCW shooting the middle last. I also made 2 scope adjustments on the 2 bottom targets. I've often said I'd be good with a solid 1.5" gun and I think this one will work. I'll of course try again on a better day and think it will do better but here it is.

I'll report back as things go and when it dries up a little I'll get out to shoot steel and stretch it out a bit. I'm pretty sure it'll work.

edit to add that while the accuracy is ok, the main thing I'm impressed with is how smooth this gun is to shoot and the light barrel did not walk, I shot with the wind and without the wind accounting for group shifts.