RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

[FamilyMan]

I own a newer(around 300rnds fired) RRA upper with a mid length 16" 1:8 stainless heavy barrel (not bull) and have been really looking into the WOA barrels (SDM or SPR) and found out that they use the Wilson blank as well and was wondering what the quality of my RRA barrel is compared to those produced by WOA i am looking cause i have wanted to move to a 20" barrel and a higher quality barrel but if the quality is the same then i probably would stick with the 16" and upgrade some other components like stock trigger etc..first.What i shoot now is 300yds and under but i want to start extending up to 600 and further any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Brett

 

[Crashnrondo]

Re: RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

Sorry I can't help you with the WOA barrel but I would like your thoughts on the RRA barrel. I just bought that same barrel for a new build.

Thanks,
Ron

 

[DMack]

Re: RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

I have two WOA barrels. One in 20" and one 18".

Both are very straight. John makes a top notch barrel. In fact... White Oak just won the Presidents Hundred. If you want a top notch shooter, White Oak is my recommendation.

 

[ms6852]

Re: RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

I just purchased the predator pursuit with the 20" barrel 1:8 twist a week ago and have put close to 300 rds of various ammo through it. I have been shooting winchester, american eagle, and winchester 5.56 in 62 grain and 55 grain. It did not like winchester and I was given 100 rds of the 5.56 xm 193 ball by federal. This gave me the best group of the various ammo I shot that day. It was a 3 inch 10 shot group at 200 yds. Though the group is not the greatest I like it because I can hit varmint or hogs with this ammo consistantly since I broke 20 clay targets with 20 shots at 200 also. I fill confident with this. I still have not finished shooting ammo to see what it likes.

I bought a can of FederalXM855 62gr. fmj, a box of PMC 55g, a box of american tactical tracer xm856, a box hornady 75 gr., a different box of american eagle XM855 62 gr. I will try all this factory ammo to see how it shoots this weekend. All in all I like the barrel which is the stainless steel, mine is bead blasted and has a very nice crown. Here is the website of the exact rifle I purchased.

http://www.rockriverarms.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=229

 

[BCP]

Re: RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

Well, the 18" WOA SPR barrel I have is a great shooter but then so is my 18" JSESurplus cheapie upper, my RRA 1:8 stainless uppers, etc etc. A good shooting barrel is a good shooting barrel.

You really ought to say what kind of shooting you want to do and why your rifle won't currently do it. For instance you say 600 yards but there are lots and lots of different shooting disciplines out there...

 

[prplhaz72]

Re: RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

If your RRA is one of the air gauged stainless barrels with the 223 wylde chamber, I doubt you will see much difference going to the WOA. I am all for white oak, I own 3 of them now and they are all shooters. But an air gauged Wilson is an air gauged Wilson.

The only advantages I see is the WOA may have a little better cut chamber as I dare bet John pays a little be more attention to detail than RRA does. And the nice profiles that John makes the barrels in. Definitely saves a little weight vs the heavy barrels.

 

[FamilyMan]

Re: RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

@bcp
I Just shoot target from prone and a bench on paper and steel targets ( and maybe eventually coyotes) I originally bought an ar because I always liked the platform but never owned one and opted for the rra cause it was where price met quality and my budget now that I have had it I love it but realize I like the longer range shooting better and don't really feel it is set up properly for that but that is not based off of much experience being I am new to the game so I Am doing my research and trying to figure out where to start upgrading. I.e. If my rra barrel is insufficient quality I was going to start there but if it's comparable I thought maybe a prs stock and new trigger and that is where I am coming to the much more seasoned shooters here for advice I hope that is enough info on what I do and where I am coming from sorry if I rambled
Brett

 

[BCP]

Re: RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

Basically there are 2 types of "long range shooting" ie service rifle and benchrest/fclass blah blah. The differences between the two will be the size of scoring rings on the target and the type of rifle you will use. Service rifle is shot using a sling in the prone with iron sights (20" AR rifle with carry handle), fclass with a bipod or front rest and rear bags and scope (223, 308 bolt gun etc). Both types of shooting are done single-fed no mag feeding.

The best way to get started is to just go do it. Ranges that have those sorts of comps will typically let a noobie shoot with relaxed rules, ie you get to shoot at the service rifle target using a scope rifle in whatever caliber you want and the people are generally helpful. I bet if you go to a 600 yard shoot with your rifle and some handloads (75 amax 2.45 COAL 24 varget is what I use at 600 yard line in 223 it is a little hot) you may surprise yourself. Really all you'll need is a front and rear rest, some ear protection and ammunition (a notepad and pencil for keeping track of scores helps too). Everything else you will be able to borrow from the other people there.

The bottom line is that you really won't know what you "need" until you at least go to a match, watch people shoot and take note of what they are using.

 

[lwrkeysfisher]

Re: RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TheOneTwo</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If your RRA is one of the air gauged stainless barrels with the 223 wylde chamber, I doubt you will see much difference going to the WOA. I am all for white oak, I own 3 of them now and they are all shooters. But an air gauged Wilson is an air gauged Wilson.

The only advantages I see is the WOA may have a little better cut chamber as I dare bet John pays a little be more attention to detail than RRA does. And the nice profiles that John makes the barrels in. Definitely saves a little weight vs the heavy barrels. </div></div>

+1 As long as you get the stainless 1 in 8 from RRA it is essentially the same barrel. Only difference is the person cutting the chamber. I've had barrels from both and they both shot well---I would buy whichever was cheaper. Good luck.

 

[9H_Cracka]

Re: RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

John puts a match headspace dimension chamber in his in a very tightly controlled, low volume (relatively speaking) environment. RRA puts a long headspace (usually close to no-go) chamber in in a high volume environment.

Both start out as Wilson blanks, but that is where the similarity ends.

I've had good luck with multiples of both, but prefer the tighter headspace chambers on all my 223 rifles so that brass life is good while only having to set all rounds to the same headspace dimension. The only exception to this is my NTIT upper where I run the RRA chamber so that I know it will feed anything should a gun go down and I need to shoot someone else's ammo during the match.

 

[kraigWY]

Re: RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

I'm a big WOA fan, it would get my vote,

Having said that, if you're talking about 600 & further, I think I'd go for the 1:7 instead of 1:8 so I could use the heavier Berger Bullets. 1:7's just seem to shoot the 80 & 90 grn bullets better.

 

[msalm]

Re: RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

If I were going through the trouble of replacing a barrel on an AR, I'd make sure it was a hand-lapped custom be it Brux, Krieger, or ??? If you're looking for precision, get a precision barrel. I'd suggest looking into Brux, they offer profiled, threaded, chambered barrels with the gas port drilled in a groove for a very reasonable price in my opinion. I use a lot of Rock Creek barrels personally, but I have a lathe and can contour and thread/chamber them myself. I don't know that they offer a complete AR barrel yet, although call them and ask, they might have a few.

 

[Patriot Prepper]

Re: RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

Why don't you just keep the gun, as is, and buy another rifle more suited for 600 yards? Then you would have 2 guns for different purposes. Much more fun.

 

[Inogame]

Re: RRA stainlees 1:8 barrell vs WOA

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Patriot Prepper</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Why don't you just keep the gun, as is, and buy another rifle more suited for 600 yards? Then you would have 2 guns for different purposes. Much more fun. </div></div>

+1

Or put a new upper together and run it on your RRA lower when you stretch it out. Lots of folks run two seperate uppers for different purposes.

Either way if you like what you have I'm all for feeding the beast... you know you're gonna have about a hundred of these laying around anyway... if you keep coming to this site.