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what is the hides opinion on ballistic advantage barrels

Sky Blue Authentic Hornet

Sky Blue Authentic Hornet

Private
Minuteman
May 10, 2025
22
22
St cloud m
#1
I've built dozens of uppers using ballistic advantage barrels all 223 wylde or 5.55, well one .308. All have been pretty good, every (about 6)18 SPR stainless barrel upper I've built has shot lights out. I've had some 16s that were just ok, one 223 wylde 16 that could group for sheer. The 10-14.5 i really didn't try to test accuracy much since they were just short blaster builds.

The last 5 or so I paired with BKF mod 0 thermal fit uppers, freezing the barrel overnight and heating the upper is definitely required, very tight fit.
 
#3
I’ve used one in the past for a 10.5” setup. Sold it shortly after but not due to its performance. Frankly I didn’t have it long enough to make any real assessment. I have however had friends that had significant degradation of accuracy in as little as 2,000 rounds.

In a market with so many good manufacturers why pick a BA barrel is my immediate thought.
 
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#7
I prefer to assm. uppers with accuracy being preferred... and BA / Aero barrels tend to be a "hit or miss" in that dept.

A respected barrel is a inexpensive cost , compared to the ammo's cost used during a barrels life... so why not buy a better barrel for about a $120 dollars.
We all are willing to buy "expensive" ammo ,in hopes of improving accuracy, and tend to spend that extra "$120" on ammo trying to make a inexpensive barrel shoot to our expectations.
To me, buying a more precision oriented barrel, is worth more than a more expensive trigger or "fancy" BCG. ( How ever I do like a better trigger, Lol )

I have had great results from Criterion barrels... so IMHO, that is money well spent.

The gain in overall general accuracy, has been worth it to me... even in less prone to accuracy built uppers.. ( 300BK / 5.56 Pistols. )

That said, BA and Aero have their place in the AR world. They all seem to work and meet a spot in the AR market.

It is kinda about what you want from your barrel.
 
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#8
Expect what you pay for. You're probably as likely to get a barrel that shoots decent as you are one that doesn't, with the Bell curve "wow that's shit" tail being higher than the "wow that shoots good" tail. But, not everyone wants an $800 custom CLE or Bart to go out and blast M855 once in a while, and they work fine (even great, given what they cost on sale) for that application.

I've had four; one 16" stainless match that actually shot generic 55gn stuff pretty well (~1.5" groups consistently, gave to a buddy while helping him do his first AR build), one 350L that's done fine with hunting loads so far, and a 14.5" and an 18" that were both fit for scrap and got tossed.

Anecdotally, I have a custom 6x6.8 WOA barrel that is by far the worst AR barrel I've ever used (the chamber is cut so poorly it literally cheese-grates brass), so shit-tier barrels aren't limited to the manufacturers everyone likes to teabag all the time like BA.
 
#9
Buying BA barrels is like playing Russian Roulette with a 6 gun with 4 of the chambers loaded.

Maybe you win, maybe you don't, but the odds are against you.

Personally, I'm 50/50 with them. But I was able to salvage the bad one by recrowning & chasing the muzzle threads to all a brake to thread on w/o binding up; both were their SS, premium barrels.

No need to buy from them with so many other mid-range price point barrels available that offer more consistency, barrel to barrel.

YMMV

MM
 
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#10
I have one BA barrel. A 16" that is on the AR that I keep in my car. It was accurate enough out to 100 yards for me using a RD. I have heard that they are hit and miss overall, but what do I know with an experience of 1 barrel.
 
#11
Every so often a blind squirrel finds a nut and given the way the internet is, it fucks up the curve.

...and I think some people just want to sound cool/validate their choices/troll and say things that just aren't true....("all day long if I do my part")

Every barrel has its own personality.
 
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#14
I used to love ballistic advantage barrels but last few years gave up on them they just don't seem to shoot as well as they used to, maybe the higher production numbers are hurting their quality I dunno

Cheap barrels are a lottery I like the green mountains more than the others under 200$ they do a few things that put them above the other cheap competitors
 
#16
There's a LGS close to me that makes there own ARs ,small frame and large, when i decided to finally build myself a AR10 I used them as my FFL for the lower build kit from Areo , looked at their 308 and they used BA barrels , very nice looking builds was tempted to just buy theirs , but was determined to build my own , used wilson combat super sniper barrel, big mistake ,after many different factory loads and a few hand loads and shimming the barrel, still getting only 1-1/2 moa groups ,should have spent another 150- 200 on a quality barrel .
 
#18
My dad has a heavy profile 22” 6.5 CM barrel that’s a solid moa shooter.

I have a 16” 308 that’s more of a 2 moa shooter. That’s kinda “meh,” but sufficient for the purpose.

This is what you should expect. Could be pretty good. Could be kinda meh…
 
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#21
Sky Blue Authentic Hornet said:
I've built dozens of uppers using ballistic advantage barrels all 223 wylde or 5.55, well one .308. All have been pretty good, every (about 6)18 SPR stainless barrel upper I've built has shot lights out. I've had some 16s that were just ok, one 223 wylde 16 that could group for sheer. The 10-14.5 i really didn't try to test accuracy much since they were just short blaster builds.

The last 5 or so I paired with BKF mod 0 thermal fit uppers, freezing the barrel overnight and heating the upper is definitely required, very tight fit.
Click to expand...
every single 14.7 pencil barrel I've used for builds has been fantastic. Had a 6.5 barrel that sucked and a 308 that was average but those shorter pencil barrels are great
 
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