Alexander Arms 18" Lite Barrel

[JuanC]

Just noticed AA has a 18" barrel on the website for sale. Just throwing it out there. I may cancel my 16" AA barrel and opt for the 18" for my build.

[LRRPF52]

I have 2 of them I got last year.

They weigh 1 lb 13oz. I got them with AA matching bolts, AA uppers marked 6.5 GREN.

The MLGS 18" has more dwell time than a 16", and velocities are within 10-40fps of each other most of the time. I need to build them up and chrono to compare these with my 16" AAs though.

[JuanC]

I have 2 of them I got last year.

They weigh 1 lb 13oz. I got them with AA matching bolts, AA uppers marked 6.5 GREN.

The MLGS 18" has more dwell time than a 16", and velocities are within 10-40fps of each other most of the time. I need to build them up and chrono to compare these with my 16" AAs though.

Definitely sounds like a win for these as they are the same price.

[ahillock]

Definitely sounds like a win for these as they are the same price.

Similar FPS, but 2" extra in length. 16" is still a better bet, especially if going to go hunting with it or do any kind of advanced rifle course.

[tasty_chicken]

How is the accuracy on these barrels?

[Rickc]

Similar FPS, but 2" extra in length. 16" is still a better bet, especially if going to go hunting with it or do any kind of advanced rifle course.

Why is.the.16 better?

[Bwild97]

Less barrel, to have to wield?

[pajasonc]

Similar FPS, but 2" extra in length. 16" is still a better bet, especially if going to go hunting with it or do any kind of advanced rifle course.

Depends on what the actual velocities are and how much you want to get out of it. I would expect that the difference would end up being around 50 to 70 fps with factory ammo. Even 70 fps isn't much difference, but if you are using tougher bullets, like the ttsx that 70 fps would be the difference between 300 and 350 yards as far as bullet expansion. Might not be worth the extra length and weight for most though.

[ahillock]

Why is.the.16 better?

Because if LRRFP52's numbers are correct that it is only a 10-40 FPS difference between the two barrels, the lighter and shorter 16" is more useful in lost situations and will probably be more accurate with the shorter and stiffer barrel.

[ahillock]

Depends on what the actual velocities are and how much you want to get out of it. I would expect that the difference would end up being around 50 to 70 fps with factory ammo. Even 70 fps isn't much difference, but if you are using tougher bullets, like the ttsx that 70 fps would be the difference between 300 and 350 yards as far as bullet expansion. Might not be worth the extra length and weight for most though.

LRRFP52 said 10-40 FPS. Any difference seen will me larger at the muzzle velocity. Downstream, you won't see much difference and the stiffer 16" barrel could very well be slightly more accurate under use.

[LRRPF52]

Most of my velocity measurements have been with Lilja and other 18" barrels, but I had a conversation with Bill A. about this many years ago, and he said for some reason with 6.5 Grendel, he didn't see much difference in velocity between 16" and 18" barrels, but when you step up to the 20" or 19.5", you get a noticeable jump across a wide number of samples, not just anecdotal snapshots of a few barrels.

This has been my experience as well, but when hand-loading, you can comfortably get over 2500fps with the 18" barrels with a 123gr and still be at 50ksi.

The one area that Bill and many shooters favor the 18" is in balance, as sometimes the 18" just handles a little better.

If suppressing, I think 16" is the way to go compared to an 18" MLGS, because the dwell on the 18" MLGS is already pretty high.

For some reason, I have found myself shooting the 18" barrels more and more over my 16", and I just stripped down my 16" AA barreled original Grendel to change out some things, bed the barrel, etc.