08-12-2013, 09:26 PM
LRRPF52 Wrote:Velocity will vary from barrel to barrel, even from consecutive barrels from the same manufacturer machined on the same tooling. Midway usually expects a 50% margin on their products, so do the math based on their pricing and you can get an idea of where they might be sourcing the "AR-Stoner" pipes from.
When I see a lot of their 5.56 barrels for $159.99, $119.99, or even $104.99, then figure-in even a 30% margin, there's no way those barrels are made in the US or Western/Central/Northern Europe. We're either looking at Central America or Asia is my best guess. Try to market a product to any of the big online distributors with 30% margins and see where that gets you, then ask yourself what margins they are going for on their own product line (at least 50%).
The next question I have for myself is, if they are willing to source barrels from Asia for 5.56, are they doing the same thing for the "6.5 Grendel" AR-Stoner barrels, and just upping the margins to 300% since they know they will fly off the shelf before they can even get them in, regardless if the leade in the chamber is short and definitely not a Grendel chamber?
Does that mean they are automatically crappy barrels? Not at all. Elisco Tool Manufacturing Company of the Philippines has been making M16 barrels and components for decades, originally under license contract from US State Dept./Colt. I'm the type of consumer who likes to know these things, but there is no way Midway is going to unzip the lip about where their AR-Stoner brand barrels and other parts are sourced from.
If anyone doubts that Asian barrels and AR15 parts are in the market, I've seen Dirtier than Cheap openly advertise $99 "M4" barrels in their catalog, and have seen distributor online catalog pages for AR15 parts, including sub-standard uppers, BCG's, LPK's, fasteners, etc. from Taiwan. If you go crack open your upper and look at your BCG, most of your carrier key fasteners will say "YFS" on them, which means the fasteners were manufactured in Taiwan, and are not anywhere near spec for USGI domestic mfg Grade 8 fasteners. With the right assembly procedures and tools, you can still achieve a long-lasting and reliable gas key seal with them, but the threads vary more in dia. towards the smaller side than USGI domestic mfg Grade 8 fasteners.
Same goes for carrier keys and every other part in the AR15. There are precious few AR15's on the market that have anything close to what's in a true Mil-Spec gun as far as materials selection, manufacturing processes, QC'ing and inspecting, and proofing goes.
I guess the thing that bothers me about the AR-Stoner barrels is that they are clearly not using a Grendel reamers based on the measurements several forum members have posted with regard to maximum COL (the leade is shorter), but they still feel that it's ok to advertise them as such, when the Grendel chamber is a SAAMI spec and any huge outfit like Midway can invest in Grendel reamers like the next guy.
The main thing is to be aware of your variant chamber's limitations, and load your COL and charges based on that. I still wish they would just have whatever sweat shop that is cranking these out at least use a Grendel reamer.
Most of the AR Stoner barrels I have seen of late are engraved 5R which is 5R rifling and Bartlein Barrels use 5R rifling and competitors have won many competitions in Europe using 5R barrels. Liberty sells a 300 blackout barrel all be it for just over $200 which again is a 5R barrel and the font and size of font they use looks suspiciously like the font used on the Stoner barrels. Now you say a .556 barrel for $99 cannot passably be made in the USA so therefore in your opinion they are made either in Central America or Asia. Now thats the answer its your opinion and you would be so wrong as you cannot or will back up that statement with facts just an opinion and we all know about opinions. May I suggest that you and everybody look at this site http://esssolution.com/gun_and_rifle_parts you wont see distributor pricing but I can tell you from experience that a stripped .556 barrel or a 7.62x39 barrel is a lot less than $99 if you buy more than 10 and those that want the price just call them and they will give you the details on how to get there pricing.
Now to say parts are coming from abroad I will have to admit that I have been approached by part makers from Taiwan but have not and will not take them up on their offer and I doubt that any reputable company would use parts from these sources to save a few cents.(but I may be wrong when well known companies sell injection molded plastic guns and call them carbon fiber) But many after market products like scopes etc come from abroad even your Nightforces are made in Japan now. So because a company sells a product cheaper than another we cannot assume that they are coming from a place other than the USA. Some people and companies believe in S.P.Q.R which translates to small profit quick return. So please if you have information on what distributors are selling these inferior products please enlighten us all so that we may share your experience with others.