McGowen barrels?

[kissmy300blkbrass]

Are McGowen barrels any good? I emailed them about a price for a 22" barrel and they quoted me $225.or should I go with a Satern or Lothar Walter?

[capt greg]

McGowen makes dang nice barrels...

[Shivesy]

I have a 20" McGowen barrel. I talked to a guy named Dan there at McGowen and he was able to build the barrel to my specs. Check out some of my past post as I have a few pics of the barrel by itself. If I remember correctly the calibur was a 6.5BPC. The only problem I had with them was that the drilled the gas port hole to small, better to small than to large. I use this AR to hunt with and it is accurate. If I had to do it again I would give McGowan a call but this time it would be a 16" bull barrel.

[kissmy300blkbrass]

What is a 6.5 BPC? And yes it was Dan I talked to. What is the ideal length?

[Bennybone]

Is the main reason you are looking at the 6.5 BPC because of the price?

A quick web search turns up alot of information about the BPC cartridge in 6.5mm , some good and some bad.

If you are looking for accurate enough for hunting performance stick with 6.5 Grendel / 264 lbc / or even consider 6.8.

I have learned my lesson on 6.5 variants, it isn't fun troubleshooting a gun if it doesn't work right out of the box... If I were you I would be sure his (McGowan's) barrels shoot the current factory ammo and ask for evidence to that effect. Better to ask before the purchase. My 2 cents.

BB

[kissmy300blkbrass]

No I want a 6.5 Grendel barrel to shoot 6.5 Grendel not variant

[Shivesy]

Is the main reason you are looking at the 6.5 BPC because of the price?

A quick web search turns up alot of information about the BPC cartridge in 6.5mm , some good and some bad.

If you are looking for accurate enough for hunting performance stick with 6.5 Grendel / 264 lbc / or even consider 6.8.

I have learned my lesson on 6.5 variants, it isn't fun troubleshooting a gun if it doesn't work right out of the box... If I were you I would be sure his (McGowan's) barrels shoot the current factory ammo and ask for evidence to that effect. Better to ask before the purchase. My 2 cents.

BB

There is no guarantee that a out of the box Grendel/ .264lbc is not going to have some type of trouble. For example this site even has a Grendel trouble shooting page. Don't think for a minute that a out of the box Grendel won't give you some trouble. Really though we are talking about a build I would imagine due to this article being about a barrel and not a complete AR. We all know that when we add a barrel to a upper receiver then we also open ourselves up to fact that trouble shooting is part of the game.
As far as the "Grendel" is concerend, technically there is only one Grendel and everything else is a variant, even the .264lbc. Alot of good shooting .264lbc out there shooting factory ammo and probably alot if them had to be tweeked a bit when the barrel was installed on a upper.
As far as shooting factory grade ammo, yep my 6.5bpc shoots factory grade Hornady 123gr ammo all day. $20 for a box of 20, thats a dollar a round and thats a good price for a good round. If you want proof, I have plenty of pictures of dead hogs and yotes here in the Grendel Hunting and Varminting forum and all shot with my do it yourself 6.5bpc build.

[Shivesy]

What is a 6.5 BPC? And yes it was Dan I talked to. What is the ideal length?

Here is article I found back when I was contiplating the purchase of my 6.5bpc.

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

There has been a lot of noise and confusion around the 6.5 Grendel® and the similar cartridges that have sprung up around it. Two have surfaced that bear a closer look. The 6.5 BPC has become “the” bolt action chambering that can safely fire Grendel ammo. The differences in the chamber dimensions are minor; the 6.5 BPC was developed by Jim Borden and Dr. Louis Palmisano, the latter of PPC fame. The newest entry into this race is the 264 LBC-AR™ from Les Bear Custom, as the name implies this

Headstamped brass by Hornady
chambering is optimized for the AR platform. The biggest difference between these variations is that fact that the latter two are open use, in other words, anyone can chamber for them, like any factory cartridge.

Some sources call the BPC and the LBC cartridges “improved”. When you compare the drawings this is improved label is pretty hard to understand. There is little difference aside from the tolerances for case expansion, and the throat design. They do have a 30 degree shoulder verses a 28 degree shoulder on the Grendel, however, this will not provide any noticeable change in ballistics as the volume of the case is virtually unchanged. In fact, 2 degrees is barely outside the tolerance limits that most tool makers offer.

[Shivesy]

What is the ideal length?

Well to be honest, what I think is ideal might not be ideal for you. It really boils down to personal preference. Now if that question was directed to me and you want to know what I prefer, then a 16" fluted bull barrel with a carbine lenght gas port is what I would like to have next. I built a AR in 5.56 a year ago and that was the barrel that I put on it. For my preference I like that rifle, I like that its accurate, short, and I like the simple lines of the rifle. I put on a free floating midlength handguard that goes over top of the gas block. The 20" 6.5 barrel that I hunt with is nice but when I was in my ground blind during deer season the 20" barrel was longer than I was comfortable with. Thats why I think the 16" would work better for me. I'm not really a target shooter, don't get me wrong, I enjoy time at the range alot. But when I build a rifle, I build that rifle to carry in the woods and to kill wild game with. So really its totally up to you and what you want to do with the rifle.

[bwaites]

Shivesy,

Where is your info from? There is no shoulder difference in the Grendel and the LBC. The only difference is in the throating, they are otherwise identical, including the brass. The 6.5 BPC is simply a variation initially designed for bolt guns with a very minimal throating change. Some versions have a shoulder variation but others are the same as the Grendel.

The Grendel is now SAAMI, thus eligible to be chambered by anyone, with all rights relinquished.

[kissmy300blkbrass]

I'm wanting something I can reach out to 800-1000 yards with I have a 300 BLK suppressed sbr with a 6" barrel I'll carry out in the woods to deer or hog hunt with but I want something I can reach out with also. That's why I was thinking a 20"-22" barrel I will also be using my suppressor on it also.

[LRRPF52]

800-1000yds is asking for a lot. I would go 22" or 24", Rifle-Length Gas System for that. A nice bull barrel with at least a 1.100" diameter under the handguards, maybe fluted, with a .936" gas block journal, and a .875"-.920" diameter barrel to the muzzle.

It would have a JP adjustable gas block, the AA hard use bolt, a Magpul PRS, and a heavy M16 carrier. If you work up a load with the 129gr Hornady SST's, or 130gr Bergers and Norma's, that would be a suitable 800yd load if you get over 2600fps. Use the PRI 6.8 5rd or 10rd mags, so you can load out to 2.300"+ COAL, and check out Bwild97's load data using CFE223 powder.

[Shivesy]

Shivesy,

Where is your info from? There is no shoulder difference in the Grendel and the LBC. The only difference is in the throating, they are otherwise identical, including the brass. The 6.5 BPC is simply a variation initially designed for bolt guns with a very minimal throating change. Some versions have a shoulder variation but others are the same as the Grendel.
The Grendel is now SAAMI, thus eligible to be chambered by anyone, with all rights relinquished.

I guess your asking about the article that was written back in March 2010. The website was http://wildcatintel.com/blog/?m=201003 which now at this date will not open up. If the info I passed on was incorrect then my appoligies. I am not here to
argue the specifics of what some folks will say are the same, but yet some folks will say are different, when talking specs of these rounds. That horse has been beat to death in my book. The point I was really trying to get across was that the 6.5bpc chambered barrel purchased by McGowen shoots factory Hornady ammo just fine for what I do. Again my apologies.

[Shivesy]

Shivesy,

Where is your info from? There is no shoulder difference in the Grendel and the LBC. The only difference is in the throating, they are otherwise identical, including the brass. The 6.5 BPC is simply a variation initially designed for bolt guns with a very minimal throating change. Some versions have a shoulder variation but others are the same as the Grendel.

The Grendel is now SAAMI, thus eligible to be chambered by anyone, with all rights relinquished.

I am guessing that you are asking about the article that I pasted above. The date that article was written was March 2010 and the site was http://wildcatintel.com/blog/?m=201003. As of todays date that site is no longer available. My apologies if the info was incorrect. I'm not here to argue what some would say is the exact and some would say are slightly different when it comes to the specs of these same but yet different rounds. That horse has been beat to death as far as I am concerned. The point I was trying to make was that the barrel that I ordered from Dan there at McGowen, chambered in the 6.5bpc, shoots factory Hornady ammo just fine in my AR once I opened up the gas port. Again my apologies.

[bwaites]

No apologies necessary, I was trying to see if there was some new information out there. I try to keep up with what the market is doing, and keep track of the variations so I can at least discuss them almost intelligently!

The BPC has been talked about since at least 2006, which is about the time that Lapua brass was coming available, and so many different specs posted that I only recently was able to some information that seemed consistent.

[kissmy300blkbrass]

It probably won't ever reach out to 800-1000 yards but id like it to be able to if the opportunity arose

[10at6]

Are McGowen barrels any good? I emailed them about a price for a 22" barrel and they quoted me $225.or should I go with a Satern or Lothar Walter?

I would stay away from Mcgowen barrels at all cost. Very bad experience here
Junk in my experience