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Help deciding which 16" barrel


XtReMe90

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I have a LaRue PredatAR 16" mid length barrel on its way but also like the looks of the Nordic 16" 223 wylde barrel. What's your experiences with both and any advantages of one over the other?

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I only have experience with the 16" Nordic (in a CarbonArms-made upper). It's a proven half-MOA shooter with the right bozo behind the trigger. Even with me, it was MOA in the match I shot with it. Freakishly good, actually. Also tons of fun n the shoot house in that same match.

I've seen some folk have concerns with those barrels recently (past year?). I don't know how much is sample variation or what. Mine is awesome, but I still plan on selling the upper since I don't use it much. My other upper has seen more use.

unfortunately, I have no experience with any LaRue barrel.

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I'm one of the folks that started a thread on problems with the 16" Nordic barrel. Several with the same accuracy problems sent them back to Nordic. My understanding is they were not properly chambered and were fixed.

Hopefully it was a one time problem that has been rectified. I've not seen anyone posting problems in several months. (My barrel was purchased around October 2014.)

I did not return my barrel. I replaced it with a Black Hole Weaponry polygonal barrel. Groups went from over 1-1/2" at 100 yards to below 3/4" with select ammo.

Bill

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I have been shooting the Stretch 16 from Strongside Tactical for the last 6 months and it has been very impressive. It is as accurate and soft shooting as my Nordic 18" Competition barrels. The intermediate gas system without adjustable gas block is much softer than any of my midlength guns with adjustable gas. I'm not a great long range shooter and I get sub moa 5 shot groups with factory 55 grain ammo. Check it out!

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  • 1 month later...

Just to throw more info into the mix, I'm really, really digging the 16.5" Ultralight with rifle-length gas from Voodoo Innovations I swapped to this year.

The tuning window is pretty small on that one and you need to use loads that are closer to the upper end for reliability. The accuracy was okay and it was light for sure.

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Just to throw more info into the mix, I'm really, really digging the 16.5" Ultralight with rifle-length gas from Voodoo Innovations I swapped to this year.

The tuning window is pretty small on that one and you need to use loads that are closer to the upper end for reliability. The accuracy was okay and it was light for sure.

I was ready to go to war getting mine to run with M193-spec stuff after the install. Added a really nice SLR adjustable gas block, rounded up a few different buffer weights to balance with the Young's lightweight bolt carrier, headed out to the range early for some serious tinkering.

But then a funny thing happened. The gun just ran... and ran and ran and ran. I know I'm probably dooming myself here, but it hasn't given me any trouble at all.

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I just finished a build and I am very impressed with my Stretch 16... I am not a shooter who can feel many subtle differences in some of the enhancements i have made on some of my AR's. In the case of this last rifle, I can tell a difference. I am shooting better than ever.

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I just finished a build and I am very impressed with my Stretch 16... I am not a shooter who can feel many subtle differences in some of the enhancements i have made on some of my AR's. In the case of this last rifle, I can tell a difference. I am shooting better than ever.

Same here, I just got to the range yesterday with my Stretch 16 fluted melonite ASSEMBLY and it is unbelievable. It literally has the recoil if a ruger 10/22, just a whole lot louder with the Miculek brake. The GF who is a better long gun shooter than me was putting down 1 1/2" groups at 100 yards with a Geissele high speed two stage national match trigger at 4.5 lbs.

I am beyond happy with the barrel choice.

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I have shot all of the 16" barrels commonly used by 3gunners, the Stretch16 does not have an equal. Some get close, one being the JP, but the combination of accuracy, soft shooting and reliability of the Stretch16 is top of the heap.

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