I've got a few AR15's in 16" I used to have a 24" but that thing was obnoxiously long and I got rid of it. It was a tack driver though cut a string at 300 yards. I'm thinking about getting a 18" since it seems to have slightly better ballistics but not as long as the 20+ inch barrels. Has anyone seen much better perfomance out of their AR with the extra 2 inches?
I'm also looking at the 12.5" barrel for a 300 BLK, from what I've seen that is a decent barrel length for the round. I'm not planning on anything past 300 yards. I may keep it as a pistol till I SBR it or have it blind pinned. So I can have a stock. Other than to add a silencer later is there any great advantage that anyone can attest to from personal experience to a 16" barrel?
I was thinking about it the other day but it seems like something similar to those fake silencers if it was close to the bullet size may increase the pressure and give you better ballistics, anyone ever used one of those on a chrono? Not sure if I'm totally off base or not. I was thinking something that would basically be like a flash hider type material but bored out to be slightly bigger than the bullet might give you slightly better ballistics and powder burn. However I wasn't sure if this was illogical reasoning on my part or not.

WOA 18" SPR barrels are killer accurate, in 5.56 and 6.8.

ARP has http://www.ar15performance.com/

I think I might have to get one of their barrels 5r rifling is supposed to be really nice. I imagine that will cost me though.

NOPE, not really.

My 16" LW Melonite was $175 with a 223 Wylde chamber and 5R rifling

The SOCOM is a heavier profile.

JCB's new 6.8 build has an ARP 16" barrel as does BIL's too

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/u...TOO#Post3298679

That is insane I'm sold on them now, as soon as they get back into selling barrels. Thanks that helps a lot on where to get my barrel.

http://www.ar15performance.com/ this place was recommended to me for having quality barrells.
I saw a few weeks ago sportsmans guide had a sale with 16 inch 223 barrels for about 90-100 not sure about them but at that price it might be worth trying it out.

No Chrome I bet, I'm not going to repeat, You get what you pay for so if that is your budget, by all means, save a little longer, buy better. 90-100 dollar AR barrels are/will be not a quality product.
Factory seconds/thirds....

I just bought a 16" 5R barrel from AR Performance but have yet to get the gun put together yet since I'm still waiting on two parts.
The guys over on the 6.8 forum were very convincing.
I really wanted to go with a White Oak Armament match barrel but they had a 12 week lead time and the ARP 5R was in stock.
I haven't been able to find any bad reviews on the ARP or the WOA barrels. One is match and the other isn't but both are supposed to be of excellent quality.

You might check with Midway USA.
If they have it in stock, you will have it in a couple of days.
I've bought 2 CMMG 300 Blackouts and 2 223 Wylde 24" ER Shaw tack drivers from them.

I just completed my build of my new AR -

Lower - LW15 (polymer)
Upper - Mega monolithic
Barrel/Bolt/Carrier - ARP 18" 264 lbc, melonite treated, superbolt (7.62x39).
Optics - Millet 4x - 16x - 56mm - LRS

I shoot it this weekend (Sunday), going to break it in on 80 rounds of Wolf Grendel ammo.

It took me about 2 weeks to get this build to hand cycle for the following reasons:

Feedlips of the barrel extension overhung the receiver M4 ramps catching the nose of bullets.

After blending the feed lips the gun was failing to feed cartridges FTF, this was due to the ejector rod being too long and sharp, ground that puppy down too.

Then the magazines, well I tweaked those as well, i had one C-Product mag (10 rounder from Alexander Arms) that would lock the bolt open on the final round. Bought 2 new 25 round ASC mags and wouldn't you know it, they dont engage the bolt catch, the follower is to shallow. I have two followers in the mail from ASC that will hopefully resolve that issue.

All in all, this was not a build and shoot project - ARP was helpful via the Internet.

BB

This a Poly lower problem causing this?

ARP barrel and extension in my Spike's Lower worked great, but it is the Melonite 16" LW profile barrel in 5.56/223 Wylde chamber

If you want sheer accuracy go with a stainless barrel and nothing attached. 18 inches will do you fine.

is a 223 wylde the same as regular 223?

Nope, It will safely shoot 5.56 with higher pressures and is tighter than a NATO chamber. This makes it more accurate for 223 ammo. It is a Hybrid chamber.

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=29944

I would want a 1/8 twist wylde chamber

Negative, the upper receivers feedlips and the barrel extensions feedlips didn't fit together well, the barrel extension's lips overhung the upper receivers creating a ridge that would catch the bullet tips.

With fitment like that how did your headspace check out? Im not so sure i would be very satisfied with that kind of issue! Arp barrel and mega upper? Two top notch manufactures i am curious to see pics if this. Do you have any?

My ARP went together just fine on a Spike's Upper. BIL's went together fine as did JCB's ARP build.

The 264 lbc barrel and bolt is headspaced by ARP, I would've been more concerned if I had purchased from separate vendors (bolt barrel).

Here is photos of the feedlips issue:
http://68forums.com/forums/showthread.php?29284-G-Failure-to-Feed-Ideas

Here is video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b6ctWHqtQs

I was not happy that I spent a decent amount of money on quality parts and had to do some grinding and polishing to get the gun to function on a basic level BUT what choices are there? I wanted a monolithic upper and I wanted a decent priced barrel bolt combo. Sending it back incurs shipping and handling fees and I would have been looking at the same products again a week later... So I just grinned and beared it - this weekend if the gun shoots well and cycles fine then I'm sure the grin will quickly be replaced with a smile. I must temper my hopes though - it is Wolf ammo....

Oh BTW I tried different mags and ammo when it was jamming, this wasn't an ammo problem.

BB

My 7.62x39 upper refuses to load Wolf HP ammo and of course, I have spam cans full of that stuff....
It runs like a sewing machine with Monarch and Wolf FMJ, Norinco 154gr SPs and my handloads with Hornady 123gr SST ammo.
I have spent some time with the dremel polishing the ramps, tho.

I have a pair of 10 round ASC mags from Model1 that are pretty much junk and refuse to feed ANYTHING, ANYTIME.
I have a pair of 30 round AR Stoner mags from Midway that are smooth as silk.

I have noticed that the more I use the 30 rounders, the better they work.

The pleasant surprise is the MOA accuracy with 4.99 a box Monarch!

where did you get your barrel from?

ARP Direct, ordered from ARP Online store

http://www.ar15performance.com/5_56_223

http://www.ar15performance.com/6_8_arp

Yeah your right I had an idiot moment and replied that to my own thread when I meant to send it to someone else. I agree the cheap barrels are likely crap quality compared to what I'm looking for. The barrels I'm looking at start at about $200 but I really like the ones you suggested.

From what I've seen on their website they make 16 inch and 20 inch, I don't know if it would be worth it to buy a 20 inch and have it cut down and re threaded at 18 and if it could be done properly. I really like the idea of having a 5r barrel though.

Took my gun out for the first shooting this weekend.

Failure to extract on every round (40 rounds).

Bolt is being sent back to ARP.

Shooting one at a time, the groups were 1.5 - 3 MOA at 100 yards using Wolf Gold Grendel ammo in the 264 lbc barrel.

BB