DDustin Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 I'm not really an expert on barrels so I need some help. What's a really good 16" or 14.5", mid-length gas system, .223 AR barrel? I'm not too concerned with price but obviously lighter is better and I need high durability and great accuracy to be the priority. The gas port has to be mid-length though because its going on an ACR which has a mid length gas piston system, so rifle length wont be an option and also wont effect recoil impulse either way. I know most go with 16"-18" but I've really grown to like the way the 14" handles in matches and like I said I won't get or need the benefit of an 18" w/ rifle length gas system. Is it possible to get a barrel accurate out to 500 yards in 14.5"? So far that's the farthest I've seen in a match, if I'm wrong let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Black Hole Weaponry, 16" LT contour. Black finish in stock at fatboytactical.net My 18" loves Nosler 55 Ballistic Tips. Pat Kelley got me interested in this brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDustin Posted November 16, 2013 Author Share Posted November 16, 2013 How is the accuracy? That's my priority, especially with a 14.5". I was thinking about looking into the company that used to make the OBR barrels. I would like sub moa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Sub Moa is reasonable. It's not a benchrest gun, it's for 3 gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDustin Posted November 17, 2013 Author Share Posted November 17, 2013 (edited) Do you mean reasonable or unreasonable? My backup AR used to be 1 MOA or better and the OBR (when it get's here) is supposed be 1/2 MOA. I was looking at the JP 14.5in barrel. Can anyone comment on that barrel? Edited November 17, 2013 by DDustin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmego Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 I have had excellent results with BCM barrels. I have had a 16" and an 18" that both held sub MOA with my hand loads. I know they may a LW/pencil profile in both the 16" and the 14.5". My current 18" is a Criterion barrel and it has been very accurate, however, I am not sure if they offer a 14.5" barrel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
californiasushi Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 I have had excellent results with BCM barrels. I have had a 16" and an 18" that both held sub MOA with my hand loads. I know they may a LW/pencil profile in both the 16" and the 14.5". I haven't had very good luck with a couple BCM chrome moly barrels I had (non BFH). They would only shoot about 2moa with 75/77 match ammo and a bit worse with 55 fmj's. I've had good results with Noveske, RRA, and Daniel Defense 14.5/16" barrels. They shot both 55's and 75/77's well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireShooter Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 Put a Kreiger barrel in it. Sent your bolt in to them to get the head spacing right when they cut the chamber. Or you could go with a JP barrel. All of JP barrels come with an enhanced bolt with the proper headspacing already factored in. Both barrels have been cryo treated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireShooter Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 I run JP barrels any they are increadibly accurate. It takes about 500 rounds to get them completely broke in to acheive maximum accuracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireShooter Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 One more thing. With my experience a 1:8 twist works best with me. The tightest groups i ever acheived with a gas gun wis wtih sierra 69gr fmjbt running benchmark powder. chronoed average 2730fps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDustin Posted November 18, 2013 Author Share Posted November 18, 2013 I'm not running a gas gun, ACRs are piston operated. But 1/8 was what I was thinking would be best I also prefer Sierra 69gr MKs in my current 1/9 barrel so not having to switch bullets would be nice. Have you shot the JP 14.5"? How durable are they in terms of heat build up/cool down and round count? The ACR barrel is rated at 60,000 or more rounds because of the melonite coating, which I always liked. On the other hand my RRA barrel was shot out around 12,000 rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireShooter Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 i have ran a JP 14.5 without any issues. The heat build up is comparable to a 16 or 18 in the same caliber. as far as round count I would be really supprised to see any barrel hold a sub MOA group after 10,000 much less 60,000. the only thing about the 14.5 barrels is that you will be lacking on velocity which wont't make that much of a difference until you pass 3-400 yards. Then you will really notice a difference. I can't say enough good things about JP barrels though. sorry i don't read good. haha i didn't see the part about the ACR. I dont have any experience with piston operated rifles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireShooter Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 but if your wanting to consistently shoot out to 500 yards i would reccomend an 18" barrel or longer. not saying that it cant't be done you will just be lacking behind the guys running the long barrels and in my opinion the 18" is a great compromise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDustin Posted November 18, 2013 Author Share Posted November 18, 2013 The 60,000 rounds thing was one of the key selling points of the ACR. The barrel and internals are coated and have been tested to go that long without losing accuracy. I was originally going for a 16 or 18, but after my barrel work I lost some accuracy but I still want a 14.5 as my main barrel. So I'm going to replace that first and maybe over the summer get an 18" for the matches that would need it. Thats the other selling point, the barrel changes in under 5 seconds. So I can, funds permitting, use the 14.5 for most matches and for the bigger matches use the 16 or 18. I still feel like the 18 might be a little cumbersome though so I'll have to handle someone elses to get used to it. How/what were your 200 and 300 yard groups with the 14.5 JP? Thats this issue I have now. They go from 1" at 100yrds to 5" or 6"(or bigger) at 200yrds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StravIs09 Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 Black Hole Weaponry, 16" LT contour. Black finish in stock at fatboytactical.net My 18" loves Nosler 55 Ballistic Tips. Pat Kelley got me interested in this brand. I also saw some posts about the black hole weaponry barrels being very good. I purchased a 16" and an 18" Medium contour barrels. I have received and built up the 18" into a awesome 3gun set up. I have found that it doesn't shoot 75 bthp or 77 smk ammo very well which is what i have used in the past with great success. I think the barrel still needs some breaking in but at best I am getting about 1MOA with match loaded 69smk's. In Black hole defense I also fluted the barrel before I built and tested for base line accuracy. I also fluted a noveske afgan 14.5 with the same method. it still holds 3/4 or better MOA with 55fmj and pretty much anything else. I placed my order 5/16/13 and still have not received the 16" barrel direct from black hole. they must be busy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dauntedfuture Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 Barrel length has nothing to with accuracy. Longer barrels will give you more velocity at longer ranges and as a result shoot flatter with less wind drift. Most benchrest barrels are on the short and fat side of things. If you go with a shorter than 16" barrel then you will need to SBR the gun or pin on a comp. I'm not sure I'd buy that any gun will keep 1moa after 60k rounds. I'd gave to see the test to believe it. 10-15k possibly, not 60k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDustin Posted December 24, 2013 Author Share Posted December 24, 2013 Barrel length has nothing to with accuracy. Longer barrels will give you more velocity at longer ranges and as a result shoot flatter with less wind drift. Most benchrest barrels are on the short and fat side of things. If you go with a shorter than 16" barrel then you will need to SBR the gun or pin on a comp. I'm not sure I'd buy that any gun will keep 1moa after 60k rounds. I'd gave to see the test to believe it. 10-15k possibly, not 60k. The brake will be pinned. I don't think it'll hold 1MOA all their tests say is that it's good for 60000. So I'm assuming thats just within spec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbox Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 (edited) "I'm not running a gas gun, ACRs are piston operated. " LOL your ACR is a gas gun...does gas operate the system? Yes "The 60,000 rounds thing was one of the key selling points of the ACR. The barrel and internals are coated and have been tested to go that long without losing accuracy." That's combat effective accuracy...around 4 MOA and they say the barrel is shot out. A WHOLE deferent specification of accuracy than a match grade barrel. You could probably shoot a 5.56 4" group at 100 yard with a barrel with NO rifling left, just like slugs in a smooth bore shotgun. Edited December 25, 2013 by Finbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polymerfeelsweirdman Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 not sure if many of you have tried one but I have been fairly satisfied with a wilson combat stainless barrel. have mainly put tbat awful wolf ammo through it and it has done ok accuracy wise. for 250 you can get a lightweight contour 14.5" or 16" barrel, or a fluted medium contour version for 300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mngunguy Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 (edited) You could probably shoot a 5.56 4" group at 100 yard with a barrel with NO rifling left, just like slugs in a smooth bore shotgun. Keep in mind slugs for smooth bore shotguns are rifled themselves. Once a barrel gets shot out groups get ugly real fast. Lucky Gunner did a steel vs brass ammo test early this year and posted lots of information and pictures of the barrels as they wore. Not a bad read. http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/ Groups got real ugly when the barrel was toast. 50yd 10rd group using a 17x US Optics scope. Edited December 25, 2013 by mngunguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Anderson Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 JP, Nordic, Krieger, or a dozen others will make terrific barrels. Trying to ask a bunch or AR guys which one will be the best in an ACR is probably not going to get you the best result. All of them will shoot fine and everyone has their favorites. Your other big limiting factor (I'm guessing) will be the barrel diameter at the gas port. This is where the piston system will attach. It has to be "x" diameter in order to work. I don't know if that .750 or something else with the ACR. make sure whatever barrel you order is right because you don't have any options right now with that platform. As for that 60k thing. Your ACR barrel will be considered shot out by most of us long before you hit 60k. The ACR is a military gun and acceptable accuracy for it is way different than for three gunners. Do you really think if there was a way to put a coating on a barrel and increase barrel life five fold we wouldn't have done it? This is the game where guys pay 400+ for barrels. Melonite isn't the holy grail of barrel life and it's been tried before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Anderson Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 BTW, the biggest increase in barrel life in the ACR comes from the piston system. Nothing at all to do with the coating. The piston system lowers heat buildup in full auto or extended firing strings. Normally not a significant concern for three gunners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDustin Posted December 25, 2013 Author Share Posted December 25, 2013 (edited) I don't see why asking AR guys would get me no where. The ACR uses AR barrels. Im also not too limited by the barrel diameter as thiswill be using an adjustable gas regulator that's made to fit, also the piston guide block is the same. The only issue might be an oversized gas port which still can be solved but it'll add cost. Also I may be an ACR guy but I was an AR guy before that lol. It's not either or. My barrel life quotes and the comments about the coating came from the manufaurer. I don't know enough to go further than to just quote them and others who've reported going well beyond a standard barrels life. I'm not knowledgeable enough on that topic to depate it on my own and it's derailing the thread a bit. So lets just let that part of the thread die. Specifically I'm looking for whats arguably the most accurate barrel in 14.5in. The gas length needs to be mid length so I don't have to order new conversion parts or a new handguard. Is there anything that's typically more accurate than JP? Everything seems to be pointing to their 14.5in so far but before I drop the hammer I'd like to know if there's something better. Edited December 25, 2013 by DDustin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBets Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Dustin You are a good dude. I met you at rockcastle international.... All the things you are told here are from dudes with the dedication and money to put things thru their paces beyond what you and I could conceive. Here's the deal. Jp makes the best barrels for the money...otherwise the AMU and others wouldn't be running them. They can run whatever wins!!! That answers that!! As far as length you have said multiple times 14.5 is what you want. Get it!!! As far as the acr see my above comments...if it was the answer people with a lot more money and time than us would be running them. It's America!!! You made it free!! Run the acr and jp barrel. It's what you want. That being said if you want your equipment to never hold you back it's not the best choice. I was told once by a top competitor at some point if you are serious you will practice and practice and your equipment will wash out in the end. It will be the same for you...it was for me. If it's just for fun do what makes you happy!! Bets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgj3 Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Part of JP's success comes from the way they set up complete uppers and rifles. The Kreigers and Criterions and other big-name barrels are often as accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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