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Barrels, barrels, barrels.


Matt.Cross

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Barrels by the barrel-full! Actually, I've been hunting around to find barrel-makers selling barrels for DPMS style .308s... Anyone got suggestions? So far my two most satisfactory results were Les Baer Customs and Krieger. I know there are others but I need some reminders and suggestions. Post up boys!

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Ballistic Advantage

Shot those guys an e-mail, haven't heard back from them. I'm not sure if they're just too busy or what. Have you done business with them? I looked at Accuracy Systems too, but I'm looking to install my own barrel if at all possible, and my budget wouldn't hold up to their pricing too well. I have an e-mail on the way to Rock Creek Barrels as well, I heard a rumor that they're building AR barrels now too.

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Shot those guys an e-mail, haven't heard back from them. I'm not sure if they're just too busy or what.

They're always too busy.  Not for a bad reason, either.  They're the same guys that make all of the custom barrels for Spike's Tactical, so they've pretty much got their hands full, full time, just with that. 

No custom barrel maker is gonna be "fast" - that's just the nature of the beast.  What you have to decide as the customer is what you're willing to wait for.  Custom barrels can be a 3-month wait, 6-month wait, 1+ year wait...  Ballistic Advantage is worth the wait.

Emails will take a back seat with them - Give them a call on a regular phone (which so many people are hesitant to do in the email-age) - talk to a human.  Call Ballistic Advantage, ask for Adam, and talk to them verbally.  You'll have better results.  I'm just sayin'...  <thumbsup>

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For those that have never heard about this, or seen this - there's a "Machinist's Rule":

There are 3 ways you can have it:

You can have it FAST

You can have it CHEAP

You can have it HIGH QUALITY

PICK ANY 2!

If you want it FAST and CHEAP, it won't be high quality.

If you want it CHEAP and HIGH QUALITY, it won't be fast.

If you want it FAST and HIGH QUALITY, it won't be cheap.

What 2 do you want?...

Same thing goes with barrel makers, in a VERY big way.  Keep that in mind, guys, because barrel makers are the ultimate machinists.

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I'll be sure to call 'em up and see what they have to offer, had no idea there was so much demand on the custom barrel market. Maybe I need to get a couple of spindle machines, a lathe and a brideport, and revisit my favorite pasttime! ( I am not a 'professional' machinist, but I know enough to be dangerous ;) )

Update: I e-mailed Dan Lilja this morning to price a couple barrels, he responded very promptly!!! You can check out Lilja's AR offerings here. I have more information coming on whether or not they do custom AR profiles.

Update 2: Apparently, Ballistic Advantage must be VERY BUSY, because I called and couldn't leave a message. Their voicemail box is FULL!!! Man, these guys must have about a decade of backlog, but in the current economy, good for them! I e-mailed adam again, per the voicemail greeting's suggestion. We'll see what happens.

Called Accuracy Systems, left a voicemail, hopefully they will be calling back too.

Update 3: Lilja doesn't offer custom AR profiles, they have drop-in barrels but they only offer the profiles on the aforementioned page. Still, they're nice barrels and I'm considering buying a 20" model to try out.

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Happy with a Lothar Walther Match bull (6200 contour) in LW50 stainless.Choice of contour,chamber,twist,length,thread and crown type.

Price was very reasonable... but be prepared for a wait. For myself it was 4 months.  :(

That's a good recommend, they have a tremendous reputation! How does it shoot?

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I was in your position in early 2010.There are lots of great choices for barrels.I settled on LW because of my experience with LaRue.

Just finished 200 rds of practice ammo,Federal OTM.On good days,5 shot groups have been consistently in the .7 -.9 range @ 100.

With more practice and better ammo I'm sure the groups will shrink.

Good Luck with your build.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 5 months later...

This is an old thread and I assume things have changed...so..

I am interested in building another upper. Would like to understand what is the best "value" for an accurate barrel??  Specifically, I want to end up with an 18 in barrel, although a 20 in will work.

My understanding was that DPMS SASS barrels were very accurate, and now JSE has them at a great price.

I also spoke to a gunsmith that suggested the 20 in Lilja barrels. More expensive but Lilja is known for their benchrest barrels.

I currently have the DPMS 308B barrel upper which is a 308 barrel. I would want a barrel such that I could shoot both surplus 7.62 as well as factory 308.

Soooo.  what are your suggestions based on experience??

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Hi Guys  When I first got the fever I bought a dpms sass from jse surplus at a darn good price...this boat anchor is/was very accurate out 500 sub moa.....so this second build I bought one of rainier arms select barrel, one of those polygoogle  3r barrels....lemme tell ya this its a pleasure to shoot and a tack driver ..weighs hardly more than my 6.8 barrels! fit and finish is great...and guess what?  They got em on the shelf...so I ordered another today...sold the sass today  yippee!  waitin months and years for guns and parts....nah not me <thumbsup>  Wash

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Hi Guys  When I first got the fever I bought a dpms sass from jse surplus at a darn good price...this boat anchor is/was very accurate out 500 sub moa.....so this second build I bought one of rainier arms select barrel, one of those polygoogle  3r barrels....lemme tell ya this its a pleasure to shoot and a tack driver ..weighs hardly more than my 6.8 barrels! fit and finish is great...and guess what?  They got em on the shelf...so I ordered another today...sold the sass today  yippee!  waitin months and years for guns and parts....nah not me <thumbsup>  Wash

So what did you NOT like about the SASS barrel???

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Wash,

I am curious......

did you have a "full" SASS upper with all the same "stuff" as DPMS?? or just the barrel?

did your lower have the PRS stock?

your new build, besides the barrel, what is different from the SASS upper that also affected weight?

whats the length and contour of the Rainer barrel??

Tnx

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Wash,

I am curious......

did you have a "full" SASS upper with all the same "stuff" as DPMS?? or just the barrel?

did your lower have the PRS stock?

your new build, besides the barrel, what is different from the SASS upper that also affected weight

whats the length and contour of the Rainer barrel??

Tnx

Hi Toshu!  I had the sass barrel mounted on a megs ma 10 upper/lower using a troy extreme battle rail that covered the gasblock. this new build is identical cept for the ranier barrel and the trigger,,,this new build weighs hardly more than any of my 6.8spc 's ar15. Go to rainier for the profile...its the 18" select in black  <thumbsup>  Wash

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