Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Ballistic Advantage barrel shoots well.

They pushed out that statement and too this day they still haven’t tested the 6ARC like they said they were. Their last statement was from October 2021, they said they were to busy, which is understandable.

I do see their concerns when it comes to high power shooters. They will ride the edge of pressure majority of the time they go over it.

Now normal folks who adhere to hornady recommendation not to load over 52k will probably be fine.

Or ?
Means, or never started or ?
They don't sell anything Grendel or ARC.
They don't want to be held liable for reloaders over pressure.
Just a little too much leverevolution, seems to cause real high spikes, real quick !
Thank you for the stuff. I'm going to load some more bt's to make sure they shoot that good again, then do a quantity load so I have ammo on hand.
Chronograph should be here today !

That's a good thing to check those loads and make sure you aren't giving it too much beans buddy. Then after that, load all the ammo you want. Looks like you are getting it dialed in. On to the subject of the 10 shot groups that I brought up earlier, I haven't been shooting them much anymore, since I am shooting more long range and trying to conserve my ammo. But its always a good idea to shoot them when verifying a load. Then, when you find a load you are happy with, load a chit ton. With my AR's, I set the bar at sub moa 10 shot groups. That way I know if I shoot 3 or 5 shot groups, the load is fully capable of sub moa. Even at long range, which I also verify. I also try to work up loads that work that well in multiple rifles. For me, a 10 shot group tells me far more than a 3 or 5 shot group. Now in my new to me 30-06, I've been shooting 3 and 5 shot groups. With ammo that was loaded for another rifle. This was under the fine tuning process and to make sure bedding was correct. Now its on to load development, where I will shoot multiple 5 shot groups. If I get a string where 2 shots are 1 1/2+ inches apart, I'll stop shooting that load and pull the bullets and save components. I'm glad to see your 6 ARC is shooting acceptably well for your needs. Makes me want to pull my 6x45 out again. I recently bought some 87gr Vmax's to play around with, since they were a pretty good deal at Scheels. I'm also glad you are posting pics and getting out and enjoying our shooting sports buddy. Even with a hurt back. I know that sucks. I've still been shooting my competitions as my ribs heal up. They are not 100%, even after a few months. I felt that on the last shoot and have another one coming up next saturday.. Laying in the dirt and shooting isn't my favorite thing to do, but I'm keeping up with the guys there. Even with my mostly bone stock Tikka... The only one shooting without a chassis..

I have to get out !
I'm going stir crazy in the house.
I've tried to get anything lifting, bending, or twisting done.
I gotta call the urologist on Monday. I don't have an appointment til June 16th ! Back surgery won't be done til that kidney stone is out !
That means into July maybe !!!
Then minimum 3 months to mend, before pt starts.....
That puts me into October ...
No hunting for me this year, other than waterfowl. Finn should be ready for simple retrieves by then, maybe started casting ?
I'm just playing with range toys, and maybe calling coyotes ?

Sounds like a plan. I'm going to go and work up some new loads for my 6x45:


I was ringing steel with it at 400 the other night. Shooting along side a guy and his girlfriend. He was using his DPMS AR308 and was not hitting jack chidt. After a while he asked, "what yardage is the coyote target"? I said 400:



He said, "oh chidt, that is why I'm not hitting anything, I thought it was 500!!". Then his girlfriend says, "I could have told you it was 400". Oh, it was interesting. The guy was in shorts and getting down on the cement pad and shooting prone:


As the sun was going behind the hill, it was getting chilly. Probably around 40 degrees. He said, "damn its getting a little too cold out here to be laying on this cement, I should have been more prepared". His girlfriend said, "well you are a marine, not a boy scout". I almost started busting up.. Strange guy, but the girlfriend was hot.. ha ha.. I was using my 85gr SGK load for my 6x45. That seems like a very popular bullet, works great on deer and the like I guess.. It was definitely tagging that yote silhouette at 400 yards with every shot though. Almost too big of a target for most rifles I shoot...

Always a good time with the general public !!

I love BA barrels for their accuracy, I just hate they are so damn heavy. Not all are that way, I have several of their pencil barrels that are accurate but 3-5 shots and they begin walking, great for deer or hen house intruders, but wouldn't want to go cyclic with one.

I wished there were some midweight choices in their ARC options like this Grendel barrel I have

I surely do loves pictures of targets well shot and of the guns what done it.

Hey Darryle,
I've not had it done, but is it possible to send an AR barrel out, and have it fluted ?
Normal rifle barrels get it done, why not an AR ?

They can be done, there was a group over on another forum that got together and did a group buy. I don't remember the shop that did the work because I didn't have an unfluted barrel to send in. I did buy one from another member that sent one in and got ansy and bought one fluted and finished his build. The work was really nice and deep, but sharp. I ended up taking it to a machine shop buddy of mine and tumbled it in his tumbler, after a serious tape and seal job, it came out perfectly fine with nice edges on the flutes. It was still heavier than I liked but shot excellent. We also used a steelabrator on another stainless barrel to see what would happen, apparently nothing, no improvement or no harm either. We kinda were thinking stress relief, but other than a weird finish, it was a waste of time.

If BA would copy that Grendel barrel profile and fluting in 6mm ARC, I would buy 3 or 4 just to have. That 20" barrel is just a few ounces heavier than my 16" Faxon 6mm ARC barrel.

Can you please specify some details, how many flutes, flute width, barrel OD behind gas block, and flute depth, thus groove to flute bottom measurement? Anything else, weight, length... Please & Thanks


Edited

Boomer, I will measure them tomorrow. I have the calipers sitting right there with it because I was wondering myself about actual weeight savings.

Boomer,
If yours turns out nice, and no loss of accuracy.
How much to do mine ?

I'll have to see how it goes. I'll reach out to you directly to let you know what's happening.

Awesome !
Thank you.
I'm looking forward to this.

Chronograph results from this morning.
90 grain Nosler BT, 2.195 OAL, 28.0 grains of varget. 18" barrel.
Average of 3 shots, 2685 fps.

95 grain Nosler BT. 2.208 oal, 30.0 grains of leverevolution, 18" barrel.
Average of 5 shots, 2838 fps.

105 Grain Hornady bthp, 2.210 oal, 29.5 grains of leverevolution, 18" barrel.
Average of 3 shot. 2675 fps.

OK, it's hard to measure flute depth with a pair of calipers alone, but with a couple of drill rods, it becomes exponentially easier.

Front Flutes:

Width .250"
Length 5"
Barrel diameter .730" forward of the gas block journal
Minor diameter at base of flutes .640"

Rear Flutes:

Width .375"
Length 10.5"
Barrel diameter .850 aft of the gas block journal
Minor diameter at base of flutes .640"

Weight listed is 33.3oz
Weight with gas tube and low profile non-adjustable gas block was 2lbs 5 oz

Link to the barrel:

Ballistic Advantage fluted 6.5 Grendel barrel DMR contour

Thanks for the details! It's much appreciated.

Played with my oal a little with 105 grain Hornady bthp's, and went to 2.220 over 29.5 grains of leverevolution.
Yep, that'll do pig !
90 gainers are still shooting well.

Looking better splat..