Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Barrel deal question?

Current soup of offerings…..what’s best value for a lightweight, 16” walking varmint AR barrel? Purpose for this one would be little rapid Fire, other than follow ups on multiple coyotes at night or armadillos….so 10 rds before we see it walk much is probably plenty. Will be hanging a can on it and occasionally swapping optics, but more likely just a dedicated night rig….and I move/walk a lot, so light profile is probably best. 1:7/ 1:8 preferred.

TIA

You should ask Ackleyfan about his new Criterion Core Series barrel.

Don't rule out a pencil barrel if you want lightweight. Some are more accurate than most people believe.

How long are you willing to wait?

How sensitive are you to gas system length?

MM

Pencil would be fine I think. Mid for 16”. My current setup without a suppressor has an 18? or 20” JP Supermatch barrel. While it’s a shooter, it’s no lightweight….and more weight/length than is needed for this, especially once I start adding to it. I’ve just not been keeping up with latest options for lighter, accuracy offerings. ARP has done well with 6.8 stuff for me, though.

ARP is totally unobtainium & has been for a long time.

Of immediately available stuff, Ranier Ultra Match w/intermediate is more than outstanding but is $$$$.

Craddock with Rock Creek or Criterion blanks are 6 months out.

BA, fluted version, which I really hesitate to even mention, are available at a pretty low price point, but that's barrel roulette.

Criterions Core Series, come & go, sometimes you can backorder, but the wait is unknown.

WOA is out 12+ weeks too & 16" barrels is not really their forte.

JP does make some relatively lighter weight barrels, but the wait is very long & $$$$.

Ditto for any brand barrel from CLE, but a little bit cheaper than JP, but not much.

I'm about to start testing Wilson Combat barrel w/intermediate gas, 27 oz, but cannot recommend it yet & headspacing it has been a royal PIA.

If you want it right now, the Ranier UM is hard to beat...............weight wise, a little more mid-weight than lightweight, but certainly not a heavyweight.

MM

I've been happy with barrels from Ballistic Advantage, DSA, and Palmetto State Armory.

Asking, not recommending.

Would a pencil be suitable for "10 rounds before it starts walking" with
a can hanging on it?

Joe Bob has the 16 inch Odin barrel in stock.

No experience with it, caveat emptor.

https://www.joeboboutfitters.com/Od...-Length-Bar-p/odin-b-223-16-ul-ml-tg.htm

Last time I looked Sionics pencil barrels alone were not available but the two I have are very good shooters at around 1.5 MOA. I question how they'd do with a can on them though.

If a can is a must, I think I'd opt for Noveske's light weight, it's a little/lot heavier than a pencil barrel but the two I had were both very accurate. And yes, I'm talking 10 shots.

Others will disagree of course, but if it was me and price was a consideration Id go with:

BA Hanson 16" with 0.75 gas block (they make a 0.625 too if you want really light). These barrels are a nice profile and come with a pinned gas block. Gassing on my BA's has been good with an H or H2 buffer.

I have several BA barrels and I have not had one that wasn't a great shooter. They have an MOA guarantee for all barrels 16" or longer. I've never had to use any warranty from BA and over the last few years I've shot these barrels a lot.

Great deal:
https://aimsurplus.com/ballistic-advantage-16-in-5-56-hanson-mid-length-barrel-performance-series/

Another option would be the Faxon Gunner barrel. Pencil profile out front and heavier profile at the rear. I've owned a couple faxon barrels but not this one. The one I currently have (6.5 Gren) is a GREAT shooter. They offer a standard 5.56 version and a "match" 223 wylde version. It can be had with a pinned gas block or not.

https://aimsurplus.com/faxon-firearms-match-series-16-in-223-wylde-gunner-profile-barrel/

This might not be the best deal, I was just on AIM's website and they had it in stock. AIM is good to deal with.

Odin Works would be another to look at. Lots of options from them. A little more money but not bad. I have one barrel from them too. Also in 6.5 gren and it shoots, although between the two I prefer the faxon, which is lighter, just as accurate, and I prefer the nitride finish . I also don't particularly like the adjustable gas block that Odin includes with all of their barrels.

MM, let us know how the WC barrel shoots for you. A buddy of mine has one and it it a tack driver. Yours probably will be too.

At one time Odin used Mcgowen blanks. I don't know if that's still the case. The one I have is a real shooter.

Thanks….that BA deal looks about right….everyone loves accurate, and we all have our requirements, but this doesn’t have to be bench/target accurate, just as accurate as I’m going to be off sticks or improvised, an 1.5 moa is probably more than enough. I doubt I’ll stretch it to 300 much at all in my use….where/how I hunt coyotes. At night with thermals, it’s even more of an outlier to shoot much past 200 for them. Looks like it has more than enough meat to handle what little heat I might put to it. If it sucks, I can always recoup some $ or throw it on a beater upper.

I put a 5.56 1-7 twist 18 inch BA on my daughters AR that had a 1-9
Twist barrel. That damn thing will hold the 10ring at 600yds with 77gr Sierra’s. It’s a moa barrel as well. Another barrel to look at are the green mtn barrels. I have an 18inch 1-7 twist 223 Wylde once I got a load figured out it shoots 55 on up to 75gr eld-m very well.

https://www.gmriflebarrel.com/gm-m37-16-5-56x45mm-1-8-twist/