Can't decide on a barrel for my AR

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mtnbkr

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I need to buy a barrel to finish my AR15, but can't decide between an HBAR or one of the lightweight variants. My AR is going to be for range plinking and will have iron sights only. It will have a free floated handguard though.

Whatever barrel I choose must have a chromed bore, a 5.56mm chambering, and be 16" long. I want a threaded muzzle for a flashhider.

I've handled an AR built close to my specs with the hbar. It felt a bit heavy to me. I think I'll like the weight of a lightweight barrel better. However, I like to shoot a lot and will likely put 100-300 rounds through the gun per range session. What I don't know is how much a lightweight barrel will fluctuate POI during a range session. I'm not going to be bumpfiring, but I won't be shooting slowfire either. Plan on 1-2 shots per second and 1-2 30rnd magazines at a time.

I plan to shoot as far out as 100yds, but targets at that range will be soda can sized or larger. If it can hold that even while hot (and not shift so much that I'll have to use Kentucky Windage), I'll be happy.

Will a lightweight barrel be a problem for what I plan on doing?

Are there any factory barrels between the size of the HBAR and the various superlights without going to the hideous looking M4 barrels?

Chris
 
The A2 20 gov't profile barrel is between and HBAR and lightweight. Good luck finding one though. Many people are having smiths turn H-Bars to get an A2 profile.

I have a 20" A1 Pencil barrel. This is my favorite AR config. It doesn't group quite as tight as my HBAR, but is good enough. It is also light enough to hold on target for longer periods of time and much easier to move from target to target on. The A1 should easily handle the plinking you plan so long as you don't do 30 rnd mag dumps one after the other several times.

Good luck. The cool thing about ARs though it you always try something new and keep what you like.
 
Yeah, it seems most of the light barrels are the 20" ones. Turning an HBAR down seems like a good idea. I'll have to remember that.

Chris
 
You might want to consider bushmaster , Chrome barrels and lightweight. That should read chrome lined.
 
CMMG did a special run of 1/7 midlength gas system medium-profile (between pencil barrel and HBAR) chrome-lined 4150 steel 16" barrels. They were part of a special group buy at AR15.com.

I believe that both ADCO and Giffman bought some of the barrels for resale as well, so even though the group buy is over, there may still be barrels available through those companies.
 
If it's going to be free-floated and for the range, just go with the heavy barrel in 1x9. In that configuration, I would go for 20".

Otherwise, if you are going 16", go for the Bushmaster ultralight and don't bother with freefloating.
 
My opinion is, if it is going to be 16", it should be lightweight. I had a 16" bull bbl and I never liked it. It felt too heavy for the size and handled like a pig. I like the look of the M-4 style bbls but if you don't, there are others that will work for you. I had a Fulton Armory 16" that was not not a HBAR and not a lightweight, check them out. I got a post ban bbl with all the stuff for $100 on AR-15.com. Post ban stuff is a good deal right now as everyone is dumping it in favor of the pre-ban config stuff. The pre-ban stuff doesn't shoot one bit better than the post ban stuff and I have never even owned a bayo for an AR-15 so all that matters is the threaded muzzle. The threaded muzzle is nice but when people are giving away like new bbls for $100, I can live without it. I say that but the fact is, I traded my post ban 16" for a pre-ban 20" and I am much happier. ;)
 
I believe that both ADCO and Giffman bought some of the barrels for resale as well, so even though the group buy is over, there may still be barrels available through those companies.
Click to expand...
If they still have them, they're not advertising. I've been checking all the sites and looked at the equipment exchange over at AR15.com, but haven't found much.

Otherwise, if you are going 16", go for the Bushmaster ultralight and don't bother with freefloating.
Click to expand...
I already have the freefloat tube (gift). A 20" barrel is too long IMO. I wanted something short, light, and handy. But I also want to shoot the snot out of it. :evil:

I'm leaning heavily towards the Bushmaster Superlight barrel based on what I've read about it. If I find a happy medium, I may go that route instead, but I don't want to spend $300+ on a barrel.

Thanks for the info...

Chris
 
A2 profile should be plenty. (it works fine in FULL auto for the army after all :)

A1 (thinner still, and more common) should even be just fine.

With iron sights, you do not need an HBAR*.


*in the rare case that you're an uber competition-grade shooter with special custom iron sights and a $6k match gun, you may be the exception to what I said. In that case however, you will not need to ask about it on THR :)
 
i want to de-ban my 20 inch bushie
and get a 20 govt profile, a lugged base and a threaded barrel end

By the time you ship it to a smith
and pay for the lathe work, FSB afixing and re park,
you might as well buy a new Govt profile "pre ban" Bushie barrel for $195

Kurts Kustom and AR15barrels will do the job for about 170 bucks

65 FSB swap
30 thread bare end
50 turn & repark
25 in&out shipping

http://www.kurtskustomfirearms.citymax.com/

www.AR15barrels.com

for 20 bucks more you get an extra barrel that will slowly aquire more parts until you magically own 2 ARs

:evil:
 
I am very happy with my Bushmaster superlight barrel.

Amazing how much handier the carbine is now.
 
Bushmaster Superlight it is. I can't come up with a compelling reason for the HBAR other than better heat control and I doubt I'll notice that with open sights.

Thanks for the help guys!

Chris
 
If you want to shoot it a lot and be accurate - and not too heavy - you can have the barrel fluted. It reduces weight but makes the barrel more rigid and cool off better.
 
I second the barrel fluting. Really a nice feature to have and reduces the weight while cooling off the barrel at the same time. However, I have a 16" HBAR and the weight difference is negligible if you add accessories to the front post such as a GG&G sling/light combo or surefire.

Kev
 
I've checked fulton armory and can't find any 16" barrels that aren't M4 type. I can't stand M4 style barrels.

I thought about fluting a heavy barrel, but that adds $50 or more to the price and I'm not sure I want to spend that much. It's still on the table though.

I'm not adding accessories to my gun. It won't even get an optical sight.

Chris
 
If you don't like the M203 cut then my advice is to get a heavy barrel from Adco and have them turn it down.
 
The superlight barrel replaced a fluted heavy barrel.

The reduction in weight is noticable...

Not as accurate, but the difference is not much.

Whatever barrel you get, try to get one that is ready for installation, any extra work will cost more than it is worth.

Well, unless you or your buddy has a lathe... ;)
 
Have to shoot from the bench to notice.

Scope does not hurt either...

I need to get the time and money to really go out and shoot it, see how 69 gr. SMK performs.

With 55 gr. FMJBT 1/9 twist is better than 1/7.

Even the lightweight barrel is enough to hit sillhouttes out to 600 with M193 spec ammo.
 
Another vote for a A2\government profile barrel.

From what you wrote, this is the barrel you want...
abbl16m4a.jpg

It is a Bushmaster 16in M4 Barrel Assembly (I know that pic shows it in "ban" form but they come in preban style too). It meets all of your requirements (5.56 chamber, fully chrome lined and is made of 4150 steel). It will generally run right at $200 but with everything going on right now, good luck find one (from any manufacturer) The best place for you to begin your search would be Eagle Firearms They are the best online source that I know of for BM parts (both in price and inventory) Just e-mail them for availibilty and price.

One more thing, I suggest you not worry about free floating it. I imagine there are very few people in this world who can shoot a 16" carbine with open sights well enough to benefit from FF'ing the barrel.

Good luck
 
I bought the BM 16" Superlight. I know it doesn't make a whole lot of weight difference, but every ounce adds up. I have been pleased with the accuracy, and I don't even have a floated setup.
 
From what you wrote, this is the barrel you want...
Click to expand...
Except that I can't stand the esthetics of the M4 barrel. It shouldn't be important, but it is. :)

One more thing, I suggest you not worry about free floating it.
Click to expand...
I'm not worried about it. I wanted the particular freefloat tube I have because I like the way it feels in my hand (Hogue FF Tube and pistol grip). Freefloating is a side benefit.

As it looks now, I'm going with the Bushmaster superlight. It appears to be what I want and accuracy falloff due to the lighter barrel doesn't seem to be the problem I thought it might be.

Chris
 
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