Barrel

[geaux87]

Im building my first 6.5G. I am looking at faxon, ballistic advantage, or atheris, which is the superior of those?

Also i cant decide 18" or 20". My plans with it are mainly predator, hog, and deer hunting. Shots up to 500 yards is 18" enough barrel or do i need 20"?


Thanks in advance for yalls help.

[A5BLASTER]

If your going to try deer at 500 yards go 20 as a min and 24 would be better. For yotes and target 18 inch will work out too 500 yards.

As to barrels I don't have personal experience with BA or faxon but here both good and bad about them.

[shreddykruger]

Im building my first 6.5G. I am looking at faxon, ballistic advantage, or atheris, which is the superior of those?

Also i cant decide 18" or 20". My plans with it are mainly predator, hog, and deer hunting. Shots up to 500 yards is 18" enough barrel or do i need 20"?


Thanks in advance for yalls help.

I just built 2 AR 6.5 grendel rifles and although I haven't tried the other 2 barrel manufacturers you asked about I really like the 20" DMR ballistic advantage barrel and have had mine out to 875 yards (as far as my range goes) with no issues.

I would go 20" probably for the additional velocity, but more important is the gas length. Between the 2 rifles I built the one with rifle gas shoots much better. If you can get an 18 with rifle gas maybe go that way if you are adding a supressor to keep overall length low, otherwise 20" all the way imo.

[js8588]

Of the ones you listed, I'd go with Atheris.

Also, few reviews on this one, but what reviews there are have been very good. https://shop.deztacticalarms.com/18-Mid-...TRO65F.htm

[wideglidejoe]

I have an AA upper with a 20" Shilen barrel, it's been great. I have a 12.5" BA barrel that came with a very small gas port; .050". I wound up drilling it from .050" to .068" (if I remember correctly?) to get it to run right.

If you are considering a BA barrel, I'd suggest calling them to see what port size they are using and if it is compatible with the length of gas system; suppressed vs non-suppressed, etc.

[VASCAR2]

A Friend and I used a magnettospeed Chronograph a few years ago to get these velocities. Your exact velocity might be different but this will give you an idea of the velocities between different barrel lengths

Here is a list of the tested ammo by average velocity for each barrel length.

120 Grain HP BT PPU

16" 2392

18" 2455

20" 2480

24" 2559

110 grain FMJ PPU

16" 2510

18" 2570

20" 2614

24" 2683

123 grain A-Max Hornady

12” 2265 (123 grain ELD-M)

16" 2419

18" 2464

20" 2505

24" 2568

123 Grain SST Hornady

12” 2277

16" 2430

18" 2493

20" 2511

24" 2583

Hand Load 123 Grain Nosler CC, 31.0 grains CFE223, CCI 450

16" 2449

18" 2471

20" 2526

24" 2619

100 Grain FMJ Wolf

12” 2364

16" 2507

18" 2571

20" 2615

24" 2695

Hand Load 107 Grain SMK 28.5 IMR8208XBR, CCI 41 Hornady cases.

20" 2658

24" 2729

Hornady 123 grain American Gunner

12” 2201

Here is the difference between the 18” barrel compared to the shorter 16” barrel which was slower with every load.

120 grain PPU HP BT

63 FPS difference

110 grain PPU FMJ

60 FPS difference

123 grain A-Max

45 FPS difference

123 grain SST

63 FPS difference

Hand load 123 grain Nosler CC

27 FPS difference

Wolf 100 grain FMJ Steel cased

64 FPS difference


Difference between 20” and 18” barrel 6.5 Grendel

120 grain PPU HP BT

25 FPS difference

110 grain PPU FMJ

44 FPS

123 grain A-Max

41 FPS difference

123 grain SST

18 FPS

Hand load 123 grain Nosler CC

55 FPS difference

Wolf 100 grain FMJ Steel Cased

44 FPS difference

[FLshooter]

If you’re hunting and varmenting out to 500 yards, you’d be better off getting the heaviest barrel but you can handle carrying in and out of the woods.Given those two choices, I go with the 20 inch barrel. I have no personal experience with the barrel brands you mentioned.But I’m thinking they’re all in the $300 range. For that price you could also take a look at criterion which has an 18 inch hybrid and a 22 inch H bar. And Wilson barrels which are 16”-24” in grendel.Both of those brands will give you great hunting accuracy.

[drewthebrave]

Great info from VASCAR above with some real world numbers. If you're serious about shots at 500 yards, my rough calculations show a 24" will juuust barely be pushing the 123gr SST at 1800 fps, which is (as I understand) the expansion threshold for that bullet. An 18" barrel should have the SST expand a little past 400 yards at sea level. Lower atmospheric pressure (higher altitude) would extend the range for both.

I'd give Criterion a good look, as they're an excellent value at around $300: https://criterionbarrels.com/products/ar...ar-barrel/

Or contact Mark at Precision Firearms and let him know exactly what you plan to do. If you don't mind waiting, he can turn the exact barrel you want into a reality: https://www.precisionfirearms.com/48m8/b...rrels.html

[Pootyng]

I have BA barrels in 16” & 20” and both are great shooters. I went with the Hanson 16” & the fluted 20”. I’ve been thinking of selling 1 but I just can’t do it.

[am4966]

Imo a 20” barrel will be fine for taking Whitetail out to 500 yards. But your platform will need to be able to hit where you want. For that reason I really think a MOA or sub capable barrel is needed.

Some barrels will get you good accuracy to a couple hundred yards then for some reason take a shit out farther.

Compass lake.com
Has 20” Grendel offerings in the 400-500.00 range. The top end is Kreiger or Bartlein barrels. The entry level is Douglas.

Mark at PF has a cut rifled barrel for 450.00 but if you’ve never wondered from him I believe it’s 10% off for first order and being a member here or it’s 5% off. Not sure on the barrel blank though and it’s a secret lol

Good luck

[Klaus Von Richter]

I have a 20” BA barrel. It is extremely accurate. Sub moa barrel. I would highly recommend them. My next build I’m going to use a faxon barrel.

[NightStalker]

I ha BA in several calibers and very happy. Length I always lean towards the short barrels but it your situation probably the 20 inch

[Mopar forever]

I just received a upper I bought from here and it has a 20 Faxon fluted match barrel. Only got to shoot 40 rounds through it this evening and the largest 5 round group was .87 and smallest was .45 with hornady 123 eldm and the 123 American gunner. Needless to say I’m very very happy