Barrel for AR in .308

What do you want your gun to do?

Given the length of action required, you really are limited to AR-10 type designs. Which fall into 2 + 1 build architectures. Which, with a very broad brush are ArmaLite and DPMS (the third are the complete AR-10 builds from Brownells, which tend to true to the Stoner designs).

If I were in the market, I like the Portuguese--pattern AR-10 (other than how hot the charging handle gets). I've just not gotten enough practice in with a T-shaped charging handle on a .308 sized AR to really cotton to any of them.

If the question is "What should I be looking for in a barrel?" - then...

I would recommend something less than 20" if you want to carry it at all. The receivers are bulky and heavy already. If is a range bench fun toy that you can put a bipod on, then get whatever. Barrels that are 16-18" (and then add a muzzle device) are about as long as most people want to lift and maneuver. OP may consider a target crown instead of a muzzle device to save on overall length. OTOH, a good muzzle break can reduce recoil, but increase dB. Use defines that choice.

DPMS has produced mostly unlined steel barrels with carbine gas. There is nothing wrong with any of that since it's typically a lower volume shooter than 223/556. However, I'd suggest an adjustable gas block IF you want to keep or reload your brass since the OP is building. The 308 cartridge has about 50% more powder than 223 in the same length gas system. (And people call a 223 carbine "overgassed!" haha.) Having the ability to tune the gas down to optimum levels is great.

Even if the question is about 308 barrels, we have to acknowledge that the whole 308 family+ could be a possibility (243 Win, 260 Rem, 338 Fed, 358 Win, plus 6.5CM, 6CM, etc). It's no secret that the smaller diameter calibers benefit from longer barrels. But if the OP chooses a "suboptimal" combination as judged by the internet, then what is that to us? It's the OP's money and choice. Build a 16" 243 Win if you want.

Just thought of this and I'm done. If the OP is considering a Bushmaster barrel that comes with their low profile gas block (or any recent bankruptcy parts sale), most of them are not parkerized underneath the gas block.

I’d you are looking for a good complete upper, I can tell you these are pretty accurate:

https://palmettostatearmory.com/ar-10/ar-10-upper-assemblies.html

Either a Craddock turned Bartlein barrel, or Proof Research are the two LFAR barrels I would buy today.

Varminterror said:

Either a Craddock turned Bartlein barrel, or Proof Research are the two LFAR barrels I would buy today.

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Either of those will do considerably more than OP is requiring at much more expense than is needed for OPs stated purposes.

For good accuracy inside 300 (or even 500) MY choice would be https://criterionbarrels.com/produc...ngth-gas-chrome-lined/?attribute_pa_length=18

Use code Ruggles15 for 15% off.

@js8588 - thanks, but I didn’t ask for your opinion on my answer.

That Criterion barrel costs the same as the Proof barrels I am shooting. Why pay the same price to get less?

I did my 80% AR-10 build with all Aero Precision parts, including a 18” barrel. It has been good so far, I’ve just been plinking around with a red dot. The rifle is just heavier than I care for, so I would keep the barrel light if you plan to carry it much.

I have a 20-inch Faxon Big Gunner .308 barrel. This upper is my hunting upper - the rifle weighs 7 1/4 lbs without optic. My other upper, for long distance shooting, has a 24-inch Columbia River Arms (formerly Black Hole Weaponry) standard profile barrel.

Varminterror said:

@js8588 - thanks, but I didn’t ask for your opinion on my answer.

That Criterion barrel costs the same as the Proof barrels I am shooting. Why pay the same price to get less?

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Proof barrels for $300-ish?! Nice! Where?

I recommend Ballistic Advantage. Great quality barrels that will provide outstanding longevity, dependability & accuracy. Yet they won’t cost an arm & leg. Criterion is also a decent choice in the more affordable range.

Navy87Guy said:

@Varminterror Thanks for the input...although I’m not sure I would say a $200 difference (and an 80% increase) is exactly “the same price”.

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$20 difference for some of us:

Ok....you got a specific barrel in 6CM on sale...or you had a coupon or something. The lower line of Proof barrels, (PR10), are priced at $450-$500+! Showing your specific transaction as a normal opportunity is disingenuous.

The OP shared with us precisely what he wanted in his follow up post.

Navy87Guy said:

I’m looking for something that will send .308 bullets down range (probably inside 300 yds) with reasonable accuracy. Not match grade accuracy...just average for an average shooter.

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Not sure why people always do this. “Oh...you don’t want a decent quality barrel at an affordable price, like you asked for! NO, what YOU want is a Proof or a Bartlein at many hundreds of dollars more! Trust us... It’s much more goodlier!”

Perhaps the OP is looking a barrel that is QPQ treated, or Parkerized?
What’s more, is using a high end, match grade barrel WITHOUT all the supporting factors, i.e., match grade & headspace bolt, custom loaded ammunition etc., will give no better accuracy than using a Criterion, Ballistic Advantage, Faxon...probably even a stock DPMS barrel. You don’t just install a match barrel on a rifle & “POOF”, instant .25”MOA accuracy! Some of us know this.

@David Hoback - that’s every day pricing for anyone who qualifies in any of a thousand ways.

David Hoback said:

What’s more, is using a high end, match grade barrel WITHOUT all the supporting factors, i.e., match grade & headspace bolt, custom loaded ammunition etc., will give no better accuracy than using a Criterion, Ballistic Advantage, Faxon...probably even a stock DPMS barrel.

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I have built and rebuilt over 700 barreled uppers, this statement is patently false.

Whatever you need to tell yourself. TAG..Im out...You win.

Oh wait! We call this EVIDENCE. He did an entire series on this. Real life is different from “Interwebs talk”.

I have been very,very happy with my Criterion Barrels.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy more barrels from Criterion, the added precision ( accuracy ) is well worth a hundred'ish bucks more then other barrels.

And given the price of ammo... I'd rather have a more accuracy minded barrel. After all ... the whole point to shooting is hitting what you are aiming at.

In the Grand Shceme of a rifle... IMHO, the barrel is the best spent money and the most value, or if you will...the best "bang" for the buck..... seriously.

David Hoback said:

We call this EVIDENCE.

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I call that “Inarticulate YouTubery”. Which is also clearly different than Real Life.

If any barrel will do, then any barrel will do, and the question wouldn’t had been asked.

On the bang-to-buck spectrum there is a place that one can reside. Finding others experiences and what they paid can help with choosing what is acceptable for the scenario.

Some may even say you splurged with a B.A. barrel, why spend more when an AR Blaster from RenoUSA is the cheapest? After all, it doesn’t matter.

The good barrel is the best money spent. And will provide better accuracy with the same parts and components than an “average” barrel.
Regardless what is said on IdiotTorus. And no, that is not “as good as you’re gonna get”.

Whether that is in another’s affordability range or not is a completely personal decision.

I will run about $7,000 worth of ammo through the barrel. Four hundred extra in the barrel is not a thing. Accuracy at 300 yards with a 30caliber bullet is.

$7000 worth of ammo? Through a bare stainless barrel? Even at a $1 a round(which is crazy... because if you aren’t reloading than ), that’s 7000 rounds.....You believe to be able to send 7000 rounds through a SS barrel with any kind of accuracy? See, you missed the whole part I talked of the barrel bore being treated. Even the highest prediction of 6.5CM barrel life is around 3000 rounds. Yet you somehow believe yours will “magically” have barrel life more than DOUBLE that number?
OK, good luck with that.

Buzznrose said:

I’d you are looking for a good complete upper, I can tell you these are pretty accurate:

https://palmettostatearmory.com/ar-10/ar-10-upper-assemblies.html

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Be careful, NOT all PSA uppers will work correctly with all DPMS pattern lowers.

My buddy has a PSA upper in 308 that will. NOT take p-mags, and will not lock open when on my DPMS pattern lower.

Yes, I know the mags lock into the lower...but, with my friends upper, they wont lock in...steel mags work perfectly.

@David Hoback - you grossly misunderstand what barrel life means - and frankly, it’s clear you’re talking out of both sides of your mouth.

A 6.5 creed’s useful barrel life in long range precision competition is typically over by 2500 rounds, but in the context of a thread like this, where extreme precision and long range accuracy isn’t a design parameter, it’s easy for barrel life to be double or triple that. When we pull a precision rifle barrel at 2500 rounds, it is most commonly because the velocity is slipping, meaning we’ll have different drop at 1000 yards on the second day of a match than we did in the first, secondarily, it’s because a 1/4moa rifle is now shooting 1/2moa (or most frequently, nothing has happened yet at all, but we know a change is coming somewhere in the next 500 rounds). The rifle still fires, and the bullet still flies. These barrels don’t suddenly become smoothbore shotguns at 2501 rounds.

Lots of folks put exceptionally high round counts through non-nitrited, non-chromed barrels. And of course, the OP didn’t stand up on the Mil-spec Mafia soapbox and ask for a treated barrel; you were the one who has insisted upon treated barrels in the thread.

If you are looking for JUST the barrel, I have been very happy with my 2 McGowen barrels for right around $300