Choosing a barrel for PCC: Taccom vs. Macon Armory vs. ???

[jmac2112]

I need another gun like I need a hole in the head, but....  I like to build and tinker, so I've bought an Aero EPC upper/lower and I'm working outward from there.  I might want to shoot it in USPSA someday, but in the meantime I've got 12 year old who likes rifle better than pistol, so he'll be the primary user.  This will be a rifle, not an AR pistol, and within reason I'd like to keep it pretty light.  I already load 9mm for Carry Optics (Blue Bullets 125 gr. TC, loaded to 135 PF), and I'd like to use the same load in the rifle.

 

Big question I have is which barrel to get.  I've seen lots of recommendations for Taccom.  I'm drawn toward the Superfeed 16" ULW (basically a 5.25" barrel with a long shroud):

 

https://taccom3g.com/product/taccom-ar15-ulw-9mm-pcc-ramped-barrel/

 

Anyone have experience with this barrel?  Any real difference between the ULW and the XLW besides the fact that the XLW is only 11 oz?  Does the porting in the ULW shroud actually do anything or is it just for looks?

 

On the other hand, I could go with a 16" Macon Armory barrel.  They get good reviews, but I imagine I would have to alter my load for that barrel, and it would be heavier (which is both good and bad).  

 

If you've got any advice, lay it on me!

 

Thanks,

 

John

 

 

[WxGuy]

30 minutes ago, jmac2112 said:

Any real difference between the ULW and the XLW besides the fact that the XLW is only 11 oz?

I have both of these barrels and the XLW (for me) is more accurate.  Mate them up with a carbon fiber hand guard and you have a very light front end. 

 

The porting is really a show piece on the ULW but the color combos are cool!  My ULW is red w/ports.

[bigdawgbeav]

I have the XLW and love it.

[jmac2112]

Thanks to both of you!  The only concern I have about the XLW is that a really light barrel would make follow up shots harder (though it would be ideal for Steel Challenge).  Have you found that to be an issue at all?

[Dirty_J]

29 minutes ago, jmac2112 said:

Thanks to both of you!  The only concern I have about the XLW is that a really light barrel would make follow up shots harder (though it would be ideal for Steel Challenge).  Have you found that to be an issue at all?

Yes. It’s an issue. 
 

ULW is superb in a situation where it’s one shot followed by a transition… and/or you want to use a common load between handguns and the PCC. 
 

The über lightweight profile is a disadvantage in any sport that needs 2 rounds on a target. 

[zzt]

3 hours ago, Dirty_J said:

Yes. It’s an issue. 
 

ULW is superb in a situation where it’s one shot followed by a transition… and/or you want to use a common load between handguns and the PCC. 
 

The über lightweight profile is a disadvantage in any sport that needs 2 rounds on a target. 

 

+1.  I'll also add that switching to the Briley Raptor barrel made the gun balance better.  It also made it less twitchy.  I started with the Wiland LLW barrel at 11 oz.  It is very similar to the Taccom, except the shroud it 4140 steel.  The Wiland was finnicky about the ammo it would feed, so I took a recommendation and bought the Raptor 11 oz. 16" barrel.  It does feed everything, including all the stuff the Wiland choked on.

 

I started with a 3.5 lb.gun in rimfire, because everyone said it would transition faster.  I swapped out the super light weight plastic stock for an Aluminum Kidd chassis and smoke composites butt stock, because I wanted more rigidity.  With the Raptor barrel it balances right between the hands and is faster in my hands for steel challenge.  First match was getting used to the new set up.  In the following two matches I cut 7+ seconds off my total time.  The new setup with the Briley is sooooooooo much faster on double taps it is no comparison.  The last rifle match was set up USPSA style with no steel.  It took me two stages to get used to double and triple tapping, because you don't do that on steel challenge.   From the third stage on I had it down.  Point, pull the trigger as fast as you can three times and get three A zone hits.

 

My takeaway from all this is balance is way more important than weight.  Too light up front and the barrel wanders and you have to be perfect with your trigger pull.  Too much weight out front and it slows transitions and feels like you are swinging a log.

 

I like the 16" barrels so much I sold the Wiland 22 and 9mm barrels and went 16 for everything.  The 16" on my PCC is a pencil barrel and it balances perfectly.  The PCC is 5.5 lbs. with red dot.  I don't think I'd like to go lighter than that.  The powder puff loads I shoot for steel can barely be felt.  The 132PF is noticeable.  The 144PF I use for forward falling steel leaves my arm sore after the match.

Edited November 22, 2021 by zzt

[Dirty_J]

I’ll second a pencil profile as being the best of both worlds. I ran the 14” MBX lightweight barrel with their pinned comp this year. Awesome balance on my setup. 
 

I’ve ran everything from a ULW to a 16” standard profile ballistic advantage… the MBX is my go-to barrel now. 

[WxGuy]

Barrel preference for me is the Brekke 10.5"/6"comp.  My #1 and #2 PCCs have these.  Taccom XLW and ULW are 3-4 for 9mm.

[jmac2112]

So many choices....  Thanks for all the feedback, though!  

[jmac2112]

Taking this in a different direction, would it be fair to say that the buffer system and overall balance of the gun have a much greater effect on follow-up shots than any muzzle device?  In any case, how would you rank those three in order of importance?

 

 

 

 

[Dirty_J]

I would agree with that.
 

Buffer and balance > muzzle device…. But why not have them all! 

[Racinready300ex]

My barrel journey started with the taccom ULW which I liked. I felt like I could handle a little more weight going longer and pick up some velocity. So I switched to the taccom 13/16. The feature I like the most with these barrels is the feed ramp really. I'm happy with this barrel.

 

Now I've just finished building a second gun and decided to try something different just to see what it does. This gun has a shooting innovations 10.5 barrel with a Brekke comp clocked for RH shooter. This comp looks like it should be more effective than the taccom unit, but I'm sacrificing some of the feed ramp. It's also a little heavier, but I like the feel of the weight like this. The gun is done but I've yet to shoot it. I doubt I'll shoot it any time soon lol.

[zzt]

3 hours ago, jmac2112 said:

Taking this in a different direction, would it be fair to say that the buffer system and overall balance of the gun have a much greater effect on follow-up shots than any muzzle device?  In any case, how would you rank those three in order of importance?

 

 

 

 

 

Balance, buffer/spring combo, weighted bolt, short stroke and then muzzle device.  When I switched from an LLW 5.5" barrel to a 16" pencil barrel with a comp I saw less dot movement.  However, I attribute that to more weight out front and better balance, not the comp.   With small charges of fast powder the comp has little effect.

[TRUBL]

The ULW/XLW barrels are pretty much made from the same blanks. As for dot bounce.....the faster impulse will allow for fast double taps, however.....it will all come down to buffer system at that point. The new air cushion system has been VERY successful at being FAST, soft and smooth. Kenny Nag is running a ULW with the air cushion and loves it.....feels that he is get much faster splits that ever before. And who's gonna argue with him? 

[Racinready300ex]

10 minutes ago, TRUBL said:

The ULW/XLW barrels are pretty much made from the same blanks. As for dot bounce.....the faster impulse will allow for fast double taps, however.....it will all come down to buffer system at that point. The new air cushion system has been VERY successful at being FAST, soft and smooth. Kenny Nag is running a ULW with the air cushion and loves it.....feels that he is get much faster splits that ever before. And who's gonna argue with him? 

 

Has he used a timer with it? Not saying he isn't getting faster splits but with no numbers it's hard to know what he means. 

[Dirty_J]

16 minutes ago, TRUBL said:

The ULW/XLW barrels are pretty much made from the same blanks. As for dot bounce.....the faster impulse will allow for fast double taps, however.....it will all come down to buffer system at that point. The new air cushion system has been VERY successful at being FAST, soft and smooth. Kenny Nag is running a ULW with the air cushion and loves it.....feels that he is get much faster splits that ever before. And who's gonna argue with him? 

Let’s see him out at some USPSA majors and we’ll know for sure. No doubt it’s a winning combo for Steel challenge. 

[Dirty_J]

2 minutes ago, Racinready300ex said:

 

Has he used a timer with it? Not saying he isn't getting faster splits but with no numbers it's hard to know what he means. 

He’s done “okay” for steel challenge. 

 

[TRUBL]

12 minutes ago, Dirty_J said:

Let’s see him out at some USPSA majors and we’ll know for sure. No doubt it’s a winning combo for Steel challenge. 

You will very soon.....he is kicking it in USPSA as well. It's a winning combo for USPSA as well.

Edited November 22, 2021 by TRUBL

[Dirty_J]

13 minutes ago, TRUBL said:

You will very soon.....he is kicking it in USPSA as well. It's a winning combo for USPSA as well.

.16’s with a blitz? That’s him. Not the buffer. I can drop 12’s on demand with a blitz 5020ss. 10’s and 11’s in the heat of it. 
 

If your buffer can shave 0.04 and get me .08’s… sign me up! 

Edited November 22, 2021 by Dirty_J

[TRUBL]

26 minutes ago, Dirty_J said:

.16’s with a blitz? That’s him. Not the buffer. I can drop 12’s on demand with a blitz 5020ss. 10’s and 11’s in the heat of it. 
 

If your buffer can shave 0.04 and get me .08’s… sign me up! 

.12 eh....you must be that much better than him in that case

[Racinready300ex]

39 minutes ago, Dirty_J said:

He’s done “okay” for steel challenge. 

 

 

Just winning doesn't really give you any data. I wasn't trying to say he was good or bad or that his opinion wasn't valid. But when you start tracking numbers you can repeat that's when you can tell the effects your equipment has. When I'm testing buffers I run the gun on a time so I have splits and I look at the hits on target plus note my subjective feelings. These thing may or may not all agree with each other.

 

 

35 minutes ago, TRUBL said:

You will very soon.....he is kicking it in USPSA as well. It's a winning combo for USPSA as well.

 

This is interesting, and more what I was talking about. That's a yuge change, if it where me I'd probably then jump back and forth a few times to confirm it wasn't me. Like @Dirty_J said people do 12's with all kinds of set ups. But if the way the gun is running with this buffer makes it easier for him to run 12's then it's a big improvement for him.

 

I can see at some point I'm going to need to test this thing, that's really the only way to know.

[Dirty_J]

53 minutes ago, TRUBL said:

.12 eh....you must be that much better than him in that case

11th overall in classification. 
 

Finished 18th overall at Nationals.

 

I do okay for USPSA. Yeah. 
 

Edited November 22, 2021 by Dirty_J

[Racinready300ex]

I don't pay much attention to those top 20 lists, but 84% at Nat's is pretty good.

[Dirty_J]

7 minutes ago, Racinready300ex said:

I don't pay much attention to those top 20 lists, but 84% at Nat's is pretty good.

I would tend to agree with that sentiment. There are plenty of folks that shoot the classifiers, but fall short across a 12-18 stage match. 
 

Match performance is way more important than shooting a classifier… but in this case.. you’ve gotta have the splits to hundo some of these shot-out classifiers. Only reason it was included. 
 

Chris Barrett has been shooting more USPSA lately as well… and his 60 second steel matches don’t exactly translate to major match wins for USPSA. 
 

Being good (or even great) and one discipline doesn’t mean that’ll translate 1:1 to the other game. 

 

Same goes for me… I SUCK at steel challenge… I’m A class… 

 

I wish Kenny much success with his USPSA shooting though… the more the merrier! 

Edited November 22, 2021 by Dirty_J

[Dirty_J]

Moral of the story being.. if your goal is to build a USPSA gun… don’t specifically replicate what top Steel guys are using.  It’ll have shortcomings.