Wilson Arms Barrel - Type 1 or 2?

[Chrazy-Chris]

Any of you using a Wilson Arms barrel? When did you purchase it and which bolt type does it take? I'm suffering a bit of confusion over this because I purchased mine in Nov 16 and I recall the description being somewhat vague but leading me to believe it took a .136 bolt. Now, their website lists that their barrels come with a .125 bolt. I tried dropping in my 7.62x39 bolt and factory rounds seem to "stick" and are hard to extract. Does anyone have some insight on this and to whether they may have, for some odd reason, switched from the .136 to the .125 chamber?

I am seeking a set of go/no-go gauges to try with both bolts, I know that's the right way to figure this out - just really not enthused to drop 100 bucks just to find out. I would've gone with a better barrel that came with a bolt had I known this was going to be such an issue.

[Chrazy-Chris]

Update - I'm going to give these gauges a shot: https://www.reamerrentals.com/Produc...de=6%2E5GB%2Eg

[VASCAR2]

I assume you bought your Wilson barrel from JSE Surplus as that was the only source I ever saw where they advertised the Wilson 6.5 Grendel barrel for sale. I think that it has only been in the last 4 or 5 weeks that I noticed JSE was now selling barrels in 6.5 Grendel that use .125 7.62X39 bolts. Prior to this time and last year JSE web site indicated their 6.5 Grendel barrels used .136 6.5 Grendel bolt. JSE description of the 6.5 Grendel bolt was almost a word for word copy of the description used on Alexander Arms for their 6.5 Grendel bolts.

Have you tried to calling the vendor to see if they could advise the correct bolt for the barrel they sold you. If your barrel was chambered using a .125 bolt and you used a .136 bolt you'd experience excessive head space. If you fire a round with excessive head space I'd think the case shoulder could be blown forward ruining the brass. If the barrel was chambered for a 6.5 Grendel bolt with .136 bolt face and you tried to use a .125 bolt a factory round might not even completely chamber because of the chamber being to short. If you could get a round to chamber it could spike pressures and possibly fire a little out of battery.

I think your wise to get the chamber gauges. The only reason I can think a vendor would chamber a 6.5 Grendel barrel using a .125 bolt is because of the cheaper price and they might be easier to source than 6.5 Grendel .136 bolt. After JSE switched from .136 bolt to .125 bolts I will no longer recommend their barrels.

Unfortunately this just adds more confusion for the consumer. At least when Black Hole Weaponry sold barrels using either .136 or .125 bolt they marked the barrel either Type II or Type I to signify which bolt was used for the particular barrel.

[Chrazy-Chris]

I assume you bought your Wilson barrel from JSE Surplus as that was the only source I ever saw where they advertised the Wilson 6.5 Grendel barrel for sale. I think that it has only been in the last 4 or 5 weeks that I noticed JSE was now selling barrels in 6.5 Grendel that use .125 7.62X39 bolts. Prior to this time and last year JSE web site indicated their 6.5 Grendel barrels used .136 6.5 Grendel bolt. JSE description of the 6.5 Grendel bolt was almost a word for word copy of the description used on Alexander Arms for their 6.5 Grendel bolts.

Have you tried to calling the vendor to see if they could advise the correct bolt for the barrel they sold you. If your barrel was chambered using a .125 bolt and you used a .136 bolt you'd experience excessive head space. If you fire a round with excessive head space I'd think the case shoulder could be blown forward ruining the brass. If the barrel was chambered for a 6.5 Grendel bolt with .136 bolt face and you tried to use a .125 bolt a factory round might not even completely chamber because of the chamber being to short. If you could get a round to chamber it could spike pressures and possibly fire a little out of battery.

I think your wise to get the chamber gauges. The only reason I can think a vendor would chamber a 6.5 Grendel barrel using a .125 bolt is because of the cheaper price and they might be easier to source than 6.5 Grendel .136 bolt. After JSE switched from .136 bolt to .125 bolts I will no longer recommend their barrels.

Unfortunately this just adds more confusion for the consumer. At least when Black Hole Weaponry sold barrels using either .136 or .125 bolt they marked the barrel either Type II or Type I to signify which bolt was used for the particular barrel.

Thanks for the response Vascar. Yes, I bought the barrel from JSE and I contacted them to ask which bolt I should be using while providing my order # so they could look up my specific order. This was their response:

"You will have the best results with a 7.62x39 bolt (.125 bolt face depth), It will also work with the .136 bolt but according to the gauges the .125 is the correct option."

Now you can see why I don't trust their answer, especially with the fact that factory ammo doesn't seem to chamber right on my 7.62x39 bolt. They did offer to have me mail the barrel back to them so they could take a look, but I declined as I don't want to tear apart my build (bedded with loc-tite) and go through the hassle just for the answer to such a simple question.

Thanks again for your response - you confirming that they did, in fact, previously ream them for .136 bolt makes me feel sane again. Once I get the go/no-go gauges I'll hopefully have a crystal clear answer on which bolt I should use and I can move on with my load development knowing that my rifle is headspaced correctly.

I wholeheartedly agree with you that them going from the Type II to a Type I was not the right move. On top of that, it looks like they fed me false information. I did so much research into the bolt types before I bought my barrel/bolt for the exact reason of avoiding this issue and now here I am having to rent headspace gauges and buy/return bolts. At least I haven't shot my load ladder yet.

EDIT: Forgot to add that I also contacted Wilson Arms a few days ago but haven't gotten a response.

[A5BLASTER]

Sorry you having so much trouble getting your bolt figured out.

Just to put it out there if it was me and that would been the answer they gave me, I would already have the rifle torn down barrel shipped back and my money back in my account to spend with a better retailer and better product.

[Chrazy-Chris]

Sorry you having so much trouble getting your bolt figured out.

Just to put it out there if it was me and that would been the answer they gave me, I would already have the rifle torn down barrel shipped back and my money back in my account to spend with a better retailer and better product.

Part of me feels that way but the other part of me loves figuring stuff out and making things work. I've already painted the barrel and bedded it into the receiver as well as invested the time into figuring out this issue so at this point I just want to get it figured out. I really like the way the 20" fluted with a thread protector handles and fits my build purpose; I haven't seen any other 20" fluted out there in my price range (although I haven't looked too hard). At this point, all evidence leads toward me believing it's a .136 chamber which is what I would prefer. In the midst of all this confusion I already sold off my AA bolt so I have an Odin Type II BCG on its way. I got a fair price for the AA bolt and needed the full BCG anyways as the carrier from this build ended up going into another upper I built (it's funny how they multiple, right?) and I like having a dedicated BCG to each upper.

At this point I just want to get the thing up and running in a properly headspaced condition so I can tune my reloads and enjoy shooting it.

[Chrazy-Chris]

Update: I asked them once again if they have ever used .136 chambers and they stated the following:

"All barrels were supposed to be chambered for the .136 bolt face. We discovered that our most recent shipments came in with the 1.25, so that is why we made the change on the website."

[A5BLASTER]

So you have been useing the .125 bolt this whole time, is that what I'm reading and it is headspaced for the .136 bolt.

[Chrazy-Chris]

So you have been useing the .125 bolt this whole time, is that what I'm reading and it is headspaced for the .136 bolt.

Negative. I've only shot it with the .136. But when I had some chamber issues with my reloads, I went back to their website to double check that I was using the right bolt. Website said .125, dealer said .125, a lot of confusion followed. I only tried chambering live rounds with the .125 but did not shoot. The live rounds "stuck" on the .125 but did chamber. Go/No-Go gauges are on the way... will update when I have results.

[Chrazy-Chris]

After all that BS it turns out it was a type II all along. Passed the go/no-go gauge test with my new Odin Works BCG (very nice btw). Now I'm ready to get to shooting.

To sum up this fiasco, JSE used to sell type II chambers. Now they sell type I chambers. Grrrrr

[VASCAR2]

Thanks for the update Chris, unfortunate vendor doesn't have more knowledge of their products. Glad you got it sorted out, let us know how your Wilson barrel shoots.

[mateba]

Update: I asked them once again if they have ever used .136 chambers and they stated the following:

"All barrels were supposed to be chambered for the .136 bolt face. We discovered that our most recent shipments came in with the 1.25, so that is why we made the change on the website."

I'll keep this in mind. Why didn't they just refuse an out-of-spec order?