I often get questions about AR barrels as I use, wear out and change them routinely.
Thought I would post some of what I have learned here for anyone who might be interested.
Heavy Varmint .204 Ruger
After setting up a couple of dozen .204's for myself and friends I have noticed that the ones made by Les Baer are always top shooters. Very good in appearance to bore scope, consistent velocity and amazing accuracy. I am not a huge fan of the LB AR's due to very limited feature selection but barrels are the best I have tried. I recently had one turned down to about a MK 12 contour and it was under .5 MOA for 5 shot groups every time. Made a handy set up.
I have not seen a Baer .204 HV that would not shoot .25 MOA for 5 shots. Most actually do better. Average barrel life runs about 2500 prior to exceeding MOA for 5 shot groups.
My experience with others is far less satisfactory.
The other AR barrel I have had good experiences with is the Douglass MK 12 18" barrel 7 twist. It shoots faster, more accurately and last longer than any others I have tried. I have tried far more expensive barrels, more hyped barrels. They were all 60-130 FPS slower with the 77 grain SMK. They shot from 1 MOA to over 2 MOA for 5 SHOT GROUPS. The Douglass barrels shoot from .75-1.1 MOA for TEN SHOT GROUPS. This is without exception. They also seem to shoot more accurately at the longer ranges up to 600 meters. In calm conditions 5 shot groups at 600 meters run from 2.5 to 6" with most being under 4". Good barrels at a good price. One of the few times I have seen a less expensive product routinely out perform a more expensive one. Average barrel life 52-5500 prior to accuracy exceeding 1.5 MOA at 600 meters.
Thought I would post some of what I have learned here for anyone who might be interested.
Heavy Varmint .204 Ruger
After setting up a couple of dozen .204's for myself and friends I have noticed that the ones made by Les Baer are always top shooters. Very good in appearance to bore scope, consistent velocity and amazing accuracy. I am not a huge fan of the LB AR's due to very limited feature selection but barrels are the best I have tried. I recently had one turned down to about a MK 12 contour and it was under .5 MOA for 5 shot groups every time. Made a handy set up.
I have not seen a Baer .204 HV that would not shoot .25 MOA for 5 shots. Most actually do better. Average barrel life runs about 2500 prior to exceeding MOA for 5 shot groups.
My experience with others is far less satisfactory.
The other AR barrel I have had good experiences with is the Douglass MK 12 18" barrel 7 twist. It shoots faster, more accurately and last longer than any others I have tried. I have tried far more expensive barrels, more hyped barrels. They were all 60-130 FPS slower with the 77 grain SMK. They shot from 1 MOA to over 2 MOA for 5 SHOT GROUPS. The Douglass barrels shoot from .75-1.1 MOA for TEN SHOT GROUPS. This is without exception. They also seem to shoot more accurately at the longer ranges up to 600 meters. In calm conditions 5 shot groups at 600 meters run from 2.5 to 6" with most being under 4". Good barrels at a good price. One of the few times I have seen a less expensive product routinely out perform a more expensive one. Average barrel life 52-5500 prior to accuracy exceeding 1.5 MOA at 600 meters.
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