Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Wilson Combat Barrels on Sale

FYI

Wilson Combat has a fair number of their SS 5.56 barrels on sale for under $200.

I only have one WC barrel, a fluted 16" & after I finally got a bolt fitted to it, it shoots very well & cleans easily.

With 77gr IMI Razorcore, the 1st 5 shots after initial sight-in went into well under an inch with 3 of them cloverleafing. My handloads do just a bit better.

Even though the barrel has intermediate gas, with a Sprinco Standard (white) spring & an H1 buffer, it's a tad over-gassed to my preference, throwing brass to just forward of 3 o'clock..............I'd really be happier with it closer to 4 o'clock, but it is reliable & doesn't seem to be beating up the brass, so I may just leave it alone, or I may put on an adjustable gas block.

They chamber the barrels VERY TIGHT (short) on headspace, so you may have trouble finding a bolt to fit & they do not offer a fitted bolt to buy with the barrel.

Of 6 or 7 bolts that I had on hand, none would headspace.........all were too tight to chamber a GO gauge. But it would take a -.002", not a -.001" so between .001-.002" short.

So I had to stone the lugs on a bolt to get it to fit................after that, it's been perfect.

The chamber of the barrel was nicely done as was the rifling & the finish, both inside & out on the barrel, was very good.

$200 for a quality SS barrel is not too bad.

MM

I got a tactical hunter 7mm-08 while back. Aero Precision BCG works fine. Pretty barrel and shoots great.

Keep trying to talk myself into a 300 Hamr barrel.

I strongly recommend against a WC .458 SOCOM barrel. It is not a legit reamer (reverse engineered).

MUCH BETTER OPTIONS/companies if you seek that caliber...

I talked my self into it. I have an early RRA "Operator" in .223 Wylde that is so heavy I don't use it much. This seemed like a good move.

A 16" Ranger .300 HAM'R barrel, LW stock, LW free Float forearm and othe misc pieces are on their way. So are ammo, cases and mags.

Wish me luck.

Going to take out the HAM'R's older brother this weekend - the 7.62x40. It's tits with the 125gr Sierra PH.

You are going to like that HAM'R.

I’d get a HAMR if I didn’t have so much good hunting ammo stockpiled with my ARP 6.8. It’s splitting hairs for me, though I talk myself off a HAMR constantly.

One of my buddies has a WC 7.62x40. It shoots very well and is an interesting cartridge. I am, however, surprised MM is endorsing these barrels. Considering he's had issues with them in the past. From what I've seen from WC, though, they seem to shoot well..

I've had good luck with the various BRT gas-reducing parts (gas block inserts etc), esp compared to adjustable gas block aside from the Larue and Noveske on/off style gas blocks. The click adjustable gas blocks I've used all seem to eventually clog with carbon and induce an undergassed condition. Just my experience...

One of the very highly respected guys over at Sniper's Hide (Padom) is highly endorsing the RCA adjustable gas key that they make.

I haven't tried one yet, but I might..............simply change out the BC, but you do have to take the BCG out of the gun to adjust it.

RCA is a great company to deal with & everything else I've used from them has been top shelf

MM

RCA Adjustable Gas Key BCG

Our chamber is the one that will work with new production unsized Starline cases. P, T & G worked with us to optimize the chamber. Current production cases are larger than Marty's original chamber in a couple areas.

Mr. Wilson,

Yesterday, I ordered the 223 WYLDE, SUPER SNIPER, 20", FLUTED, CROWN, STAINLESS, together with gas block and tube. Are all the 223/556 BCGs made to the same specs, or is there any that will work better with this barrel?

Thanks,

I'm not Mr. Wilson but any 223/5.56 Bolt Carrier will fit, but not all bolts may fit according to how the chamber was reamed.
Go back & read my post at the beginning of this thread.

MM

I've read your post. Thanks. Also, I was familiar how tight the Wilson chambers could be. Just asking the Source as he is posting here

I can tell you a little more about my experience.................

I've built around 25 - 30 AR's & have used a variety of barrels & bolts, all from well recognized sources; I don't mess with junk.

The one & only Wilson barrel I've used is the only one I've ever had an issue with finding a bolt that would correctly HS.

The 1st barrel that I got from Wilson, had the issue............a GO headspace gauge would not allow the bolt the close (actually 6-7 bolts), nor would it close on several brands of NEW factory brass or loaded ammo with any of the bolts.

I talked to Wilson CS & they acknowledged that their barrels/extensions were tight but in spec & even if the bolt would not close on a GO gauge, it was still OK..............IMHO, not closing on a GO gauge with a bolt that is in spec means that the barrel in not in spec.

So they sent me a 2nd barrel that was the same.

So I measured the bolts that I had on hand & selected the one that was the closest to fitting & stoned the lugs on the bolt to get the HS to where the bolt would close on a gauge that was GO +.001". After that it's worked just fine in several range sessions.

I also asked Wilson if they could/would supply a matched barrel & bolt....................they said that they would not.

I think that most people just put a gun together & don't check the HS for lack of having tools or don't know how or don't think it can be a problem.

And it may not be.................except when the bolt will only close on certain factory ammo, which by standard, is all supposed to be below GO gauge dimension for HS; then it's a BIG problem IMO.

However, when a bolt slams home with the force of the recoil spring during firing / loading, that force can & will crush fit ammo that is a bit long for the chamber of the barrel.................but that's not how it should be & is not acceptable to me.

If Wilson is going to maintain that kind of policy & practice, then they should surely provide the option of providing a fitted bolt when purchasing a barrel.

After I advised them that I had resolved the issue, they did say that if I had not, that they would have taken the bolt & barrel & adjusted the HS as required.

I think Wilson is a standup company & I have 2 of their 1911's but I don't agree with their philosophy or AR barrels headspacing on 5.56 /223 Wylde.

But I'd surely love to hear Mr. Wilson himself address the issue here.

MM

I will admit we did have an issue with setting our chambers to min HS for awhile, but this was corrected some time back and we now set the HS to min +.002" which I believe to be industry standard. Why they wouldn't send you a matching bolt/bbl I can't explain, but I'll make sure this won't be the case in the future.

All of our bolts are 9310 and to true MilSpec so should fit with any bbl that's within HS spec. I routinely switch bolts doing testing (usually 5.56 or 300 HAM'R) and have never had an issue with HS.

My bitch has always been that Wilson Combat took Marty .458 SOCOM design AND NAME... and built the chamberings WITHOUT Marty's approval.

IF WC had built a modified variation and called it .458 Wilson Combat (or whatever)... I would never have raised the topic here or on .458 Socom Forums.

Not questioning if they shoot well... or if your nuance changes helped/hurt... moreover the lack of respect I see for Marty.

I own six .458 SOCOMs...

All are legit chamberings from Tony or Thomas.

Thank You for the response, Sir.

What is the timeframe that you made the change to your chambering practice?

The timeframe for the barrel in question was October 2021 & the person that I corresponded with was Randal Robinson.

I'm glad to see that you've changed your practice to be more aligned with industry standard as it is definitely a better move for the mass market for barrels.

Doing minimum HS might be fine, so long as you would advise people of that & offer/provide a matching bolt, however, given the really large array of ammo manufacturers of 223/5.56 ammo, many from outside the US, that could still be a problem............I've actually measured some factory ammo at zero HS +.001" which, of course, is not as it should be.

At any rate, as I noted in my OP, the barrel I got from your company is a quality barrel in all respects with regards to finish, inside & out, with good cleanability, & it shoots very well.

After sighting the scope, the 1st 5 rounds with IMI 77gr Razorcore went into about 3/4". I haven't bothered to work up a better, fine tuned load as that kind of performance with a factory round is perfectly sufficient for my needs.

Again, thank you for your kind response.

MM