Of sorts anyway.
I wanted an 18” gun again and got to looking at Criterion’s CORE barrel. These are chrome lined barrels that are hand lapped and profiled differently than most. They start heavy and taper out to a .625” gas block journal. The claim was a more accurate chrome lined barrel of which I’m a fan. 18” and rifle gas, 223 Wylde chamber and a 1/8 twist. Sorry I didn’t measure gas port.
https://criterionbarrels.com/products/ar-15/ar-15-core-series-rifle-gas/?v=7516fd43adaa
I ordered the barrel and Badger Ordinance gas block along with a rifle length gas tube. I also ordered a Colt upper, one of the newer CZ Colts that has no C just 13629 and a Brass Forge logo.

The barrel/upper fit was tight enough that I heated the upper to mate the barrel. It was square without needing to true it up.


I installed a Midwest Industries M-lok 15” rail on it which uses a non indexing barrel nut so I torqued the nut to 60’ lbs on the advice from Criterion. The rail is strong with anti rotation for either direction and pretty light. I added a Vortex Flash hider and a new CZ/Colt BCG.




Can’t distinguish the new from the older ones I have, quality from the new Colt seems to be good.
Continued…

I added a small BCM Gunfighter CH and a 10x super chicken in an ADM 20 MOA mount. No BUIS for now. Attached it to a Colt M4 lower I had with a Geissele G2S trigger, Magpul K2+ grip and an LMT SOPMOD stock with a standard power spring and an H2 buffer.

The gun weighs 7.020 lbs and with the scope it weighs 8.895 lbs. The balance is just on the inside of the magwell and the gun feels much lighter than it is.
So this morning the wind was calm and I had to go sight it in. Shooting 77 grain SMK’s with 24.5 grains of TAC it averaged 2720 fps in the chronograph with 10 shots.
I bore sighted then got one shot on paper, measured with the reticle, made adjustments and got the shot on the left. Made more adjustments and went too far right confirmed with the second shot then adjusted and fired the five shot group circled.

Accuracy was .732” for the first 5 shot group and .986 for the second. A buddy shot the second group.

I’m very pleased with this barrel and all the components I used. Ejection is at 5:00 and the bolt locks back on empty, I have an H buffer coming in that I’ll see how much difference it makes. The gun is very mild mannered to shoot and even though I envisioned this as a long range steel gun, I’m sure I’ll be killing coyotes with it as well. I might swap the scope out later for a 3-9 Accupoint to lighten it up even more but it is very capable as it is now.

Nice rig.

Very nice; I'd say that's a keeper.

MM

Very nice.
I appreciate the report.

How the balance? How's it feel in your hands?

Nice! Very nice!

Very nice rig, TWR.

Thanks guys.
The balance point is just inside the magwell with the SOPMOD stock on there. It feels lighter than my 16” pencil barrels but they all have lights on them. The dang thing just feels alive!

I will will report back once I get some rounds down it. Yesterday we had a small window before a cold front hit and the wind was just starting to pick up when I sat down on the bench. We shot 15 rounds before the wind and rain moved us down to the pistol range. I want to try some different bullets knowing the 77 SMK’s aren’t the most accurate bullets at 100 yards.

I mentioned how tight the receiver was, the gas block was also a good tight fit. The barrel dated 2/22, just looks like it’s been well thought out on every aspect of it. I’m sure I’ll wind up buying another one.

I like that.

Looks good TWR. Great list of components too. Glad to see someone using and reporting back on CZ/Colt stuff.

Got a buddy that has been using the new Colt stuff and liking it just as well or better than the old. He’s used a couple of the uppers and both of his were thermal fit too. I had ordered a Toolcraft BCG but he sent me a link for a sale on the Colt and since he’s bought a few already to replace his older semi carriers, I thought why not?

Glad I did but now I’ve got an extra BCG so you know it’ll turn into another gun if I don’t watch it.

That’s an excellent review.

Huh??? You forgot the sarcasm emoji

i've not found them to be better then 52, 53 and 55gr offerings for 10 shots.

plenty good mind you.. but not smallest agg.

ymmv

I will take the 77 smk over the 52,53,55 for the 600yd line.

It takes a little distance for the 77’s to come into their own.

Shooting at 100 yards, I’ve found more than a few bullets that out shot the 77’s. I like them for their killing ability and I built this upper to play with on our steel range, it’ll see plenty of 77’s but I’m sure my 55 grain NBT’s will produce a tighter group for show and tell.

I don't think the difference in accuracy between a, say, 60 or 69 Sierra over a 77 is useful. Even they are 1/4 minute better, what are you gonna do at <=200 that couldn't be done with the 77? Further out, the 77 beats them in the wind.

I use light bullets up close not so much because they are more accurate, but because they cut down on recoil.

Those Criterion's are very nice barrels. I sighted one in with 52s and got about a 1/4" group for 3 @ 100.

Ya any additional accuracy gains are strictly for “bragging rights”. 100 yard groups of less than 1.5” will work for anything I need to do.

Well I swapped to a 1-4 Trijicon on this gun for hunting, added BUIS’s and went to sight both in today.

Got it about an inch high at 100 then moved to 200 yards and shot a sub MOA 5 shot group with 77 SMK’s.

Then went and sighted the irons at 50 meters, grabbed another red dotted AR and confirmed zero, then i was done.

What kind of mount are you using for your scope?

J, TWR is probably in bed. That appears to be an AD Recon mount. Nice mounts. I had one, but don't do quick disconnects and got rid of it. That is one qc mount that is good for returning to zero. A very solid mounting system.

I'll take them all day long at any distance. Short or long. I'll give up a little to gain a lot..

Oh so many times I've shot the infamous 1/4" group for 3 shots. With any bullet weight in any rifle, just about every time I go to the range.. I'm not going to walk down to the target and take a picture of it every fn time though. I'd be worn out.. 10 shot groups are also highly overrated, but we can all talk about how our guns shoot sub moa for them though.

Show us and tell us. I can't wait.. Your rifle is looking good though.

It is an ADM Recon mount, I still have the 10x super chicken in another one and can swap back and forth for hunting or the steel range. Plus I like shooting irons now and then.

If the wind holds I may try to sneak back out this evening and try the 55’s.

I also swapped the H2 buffer out for an H buffer and ejection was at 4:00, 18” rifle gas really shouldn’t need an H2 and I wanted to be sure it runs good in cold weather too. Still pretty smooth.