Howdy gents. I have an AE MKII with a factory AI 16.5” 308 barrel on it. It shoots very well. With that said, I’d like a 20-24” barrel to better maximize the cartridge’s ballistic capabilities. I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading and most seem to be saying that AW or AT barrel will work in an AE, however I have encountered a handful of folks who have said that using one of these barrels is ill advised as the fully threaded AT and AW barrels can be damaged by the recoil lug on the AE. Damaged threads near the shoulder would make the barrel unusable in an AW or AT later on. I’d hate to damage the barrel such that it wouldn’t be usable on my AT down the line. Before moving on to the question of sourcing, can anyone confirm if they’ve had issues with damaged threads on an AW/AT barrel in an AE?
My second question is; where the heck are the AE barrels? If I can confirm that AW/AT barrels work, then I could go that route, but I would prefer to have a barrel without the wrench flats that the newer AI barrels come with to keep the classic old school look of the AE. Eurooptic has tons of barrels, but they all have the flats. Does anyone still make actual AE barrels or am I out of luck? I’m still relatively new to the world of precision bolt guns, and AI’s in particular, so thank you all in advance.
My second question is; where the heck are the AE barrels? If I can confirm that AW/AT barrels work, then I could go that route, but I would prefer to have a barrel without the wrench flats that the newer AI barrels come with to keep the classic old school look of the AE. Eurooptic has tons of barrels, but they all have the flats. Does anyone still make actual AE barrels or am I out of luck? I’m still relatively new to the world of precision bolt guns, and AI’s in particular, so thank you all in advance.
