Anybody buy an NEA barrel recently?

J

Jayph

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I know there AR's have gotten some bad press when they came out, but that has seemed to died down with newer generations. I have been grabbing parts as they have been on sale at different vendors and Iam pretty much down to needing a barrel. I decided I wanted to do an 18" rifle but I have scoured the sponsors and nobody seems to have a barrel in stock. Then I seen SFRC has the NEA barrels in stock and at a good price compared to some out of stock ones I came across. NEA says Sub MOA on there 18" DMR so they obviously have confidence in there barrel.

Has anybody bought a recent 18" barrel from NEA that can comment on quality and accuracy? (I realize there are many other factors that affect this)
 
I will be able to comment very soon, just finished an 18" build with the NEA barrle, bought used on the EE.
Plans to go to the range for the first time with it in the next week or so if I can find time...



Shameless flaunting of rifle...sorry! ;)
 
I thought NEA actually had a good reputation with respect to their barrels.

I have the 14.5 inch version and it's been great.

Almost my entire build is NEA. The only part I can tell you is complete garbage is the BCG. I don't believe it's actually made by NEA but I've had to send the first one I bought back twice now. Had numerous feeding/cycling issues that at first I thought had something to do with a weak charge (was trying to develop loads for it). Bolt rarely locked open on the last shot. Oh...and the first time I got the rifle to the range, the BCG lasted maybe 10 shots before the firing pin channel in the bolt blew out. This was a known issue in a certain batch of BCG's that I was fortunate enough to recieve.

I finally had enough when I discovered one of the bolts that holds the gas key in place had broken mid stem. Spent the whopping extra $50 or so and bought a DD BCG. Not a single problem since, even when shooting weaker charged handloads that had given the previous BCG fits.
 
The 14.5" I have is very accurate. I'd have zero hesitation in getting an 18" NEA barrel if that's the length and contour that you want.
 
I have a DMR built with an NEA barrel... I consider it a budget build, and it's been super accurate with el cheapo Norinco, Remington and Winchester 55gr ammo. Well at 200 yards at least, (don't have any farther to shoot yet). Been able to shoot playing cards at 200 yards.
 
I have a 12.5" NEA barrel I got from SFRC. It shoots fine, but the finish on it is absolute garbage. It's super uneven and has a big splotch right in front of where my hand guard ends :p

On that note, anyone know anything about refinishing barrels? :p
 
SpicyRichter said:
I have a 12.5" NEA barrel I got from SFRC. It shoots fine, but the finish on it is absolute garbage. It's super uneven and has a big splotch right in front of where my hand guard ends :p

On that note, anyone know anything about refinishing barrels? :p
Click to expand...

Yeah, wasn't crazy about the finish. You can get it cerakoted or parkerized but then you could put that towards another barrel. How about some high-heat spray paint?
 
SpicyRichter said:
I have a 12.5" NEA barrel I got from SFRC. It shoots fine, but the finish on it is absolute garbage. It's super uneven and has a big splotch right in front of where my hand guard ends :p

On that note, anyone know anything about refinishing barrels? :p
Click to expand...

How recently did you purchase it from SFRC? The reason I ask is the OP asked if anyone bought an "NEA barrel recently" and I thought NEA changed their finish so that they all come uniformly black now. The finish on the 7.5 I got recently was uniform and black. I was under the impression that it was the older ones that had the splotchy appearance.
 
Well, I recently built a platform, finishing it off with an 18" from NEA.

Much like you I bought from a variety of vendors and manufacturers and was left with the barrel last, for which I went with the NEA; it's pretty hard to argue with the price, which I thought would be well worth the experiment.
I'd like to preface the next part by saying though I am fairly experienced with the AR-15 as a whole, this is the first non-Diemaco platform I've used. (and the first that hasn't seen 20-60 k rounds)
As far as the quality/accuracy, there are a few things I've noticed:

-Rough finish: As mentioned by EVERYONE... it's not as pretty as most barrels out there. (non-issue)
-Metal shavings left over from manufacture (non-issue after a quick clean)
-Edges of gas port visible from inside of the bore
-This is something that I was very surprised to see, so much so that I had no idea what I was seeing at first. I took my chances and took it to the range anyway, allowing that this may be on par with the less-than-polished nature of the manufacture and would be corrected with use. No issues yet.
-Loose groupings so far (Initial groups for new barrel)

I've only had it out for it's initial break-in (modified break-in), So I expect that it will tighten up, but I have yet to see even 2" at 100 (2 MOA).


I completely admit that my so-so groupings may be the result of me sitting behind an unfamiliar rifle/optic.
That being said, I will re-post after the next trip provided this thread is still open and you're still looking for answers.

Hope some of this was useful to you....

Nerf
 
there was a fairly recent thread of some dude that bought a brand new NEA DMR.....posted a bunch of pics and praised how awesome the rifle was, at 50m all the bullets were keyholing so the barrel was ####ed from the factory. If you buy from SFRC at least Ryan will make it right if there is something wrong. Still taking your chances that it's subpar.
 
Hitzy said:
there was a fairly recent thread of some dude that bought a brand new NEA DMR.....posted a bunch of pics and praised how awesome the rifle was, at 50m all the bullets were keyholing so the barrel was ####ed from the factory. If you buy from SFRC at least Ryan will make it right if there is something wrong. Still taking your chances that it's subpar.
Click to expand...

I thought it turned out that it was the flashhider that was the problem not the barrel.
 
Hitzy said:
there was a fairly recent thread of some dude that bought a brand new NEA DMR.....posted a bunch of pics and praised how awesome the rifle was, at 50m all the bullets were keyholing so the barrel was ####ed from the factory. If you buy from SFRC at least Ryan will make it right if there is something wrong. Still taking your chances that it's subpar.
Click to expand...

You meant the guy who cranked his brake on with a screwdriver, bending it and causing bullet strikes?

Sounds like NEA's fault.:rolleyes:
 
I dunno, I didn't revisit the thread after it got locked! If that's what happened that dude should not own an AR LOL
 
Hitzy said:
there was a fairly recent thread of some dude that bought a brand new NEA DMR.....posted a bunch of pics and praised how awesome the rifle was, at 50m all the bullets were keyholing so the barrel was ####ed from the factory. If you buy from SFRC at least Ryan will make it right if there is something wrong. Still taking your chances that it's subpar.
Click to expand...


The barrel was fine as was the whole rifle platform. The end user installed a muzzle device improperly causing the bullets to strike the device when fired.

It was also a 7.5" PDW.

I have an NEA barrel and it shoots 100%. Way better than I can shoot.

The NEA DMR barrel is nice because it is Mid Length, so there is no need for a rifle length buffer system. No big deal even if it did.

I like the NEA DMR because it is similar to the Daniel Defense 18.5" barrel which is also a mid length S2W.
 
It was an issue with the muzzle device that caused the issue, not the barrel.

Ryan

Hitzy said:
there was a fairly recent thread of some dude that bought a brand new NEA DMR.....posted a bunch of pics and praised how awesome the rifle was, at 50m all the bullets were keyholing so the barrel was ####ed from the factory. If you buy from SFRC at least Ryan will make it right if there is something wrong. Still taking your chances that it's subpar.
Click to expand...
 
Runningfool said:
How recently did you purchase it from SFRC? The reason I ask is the OP asked if anyone bought an "NEA barrel recently" and I thought NEA changed their finish so that they all come uniformly black now. The finish on the 7.5 I got recently was uniform and black. I was under the impression that it was the older ones that had the splotchy appearance.
Click to expand...

I bought it about a month ago
 
I got a 14 1/2 mid length. Very accurate. The only thing I don't like is that the .750 gas block surface is to short to install a regular front sight post. It baffles me why they didn't give it more length.Had to use a low pro.
 
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