AR15 barrels.... where to buy??

SuperDave

SuperDave

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I'm looking into buying a 16'' AR15 barrel that is heavy under the handguard (preferably with mid length gas system).

I thought it would be easy but I've just phoned almost every Canadian gun shop I knew about that might have one of those but only one of them actually had AR15 barrels in stock (armseast) but unfortunately, their 16'' barrels were M4 profile (not heavy under the handguard like I want). It's like nobody wants to sell AR15 parts anymore.


Anyone can help?
 
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We currently still have a few AR-15 16" barrel in stock. Made by Armalite.

They have a mid-length picatinny gas block, and pinned on muzzle break.

For more information, please call our sales department.


Best Regards,
Bryce
Wolverine Supplies
(204) 748-2454
 
Remember with a pinned on muzzle break, you might run into problems if you want to use your own gas block, it won't fit over the pinned on break. Know what I'm saying? Same thing if you have a quad rail you want to install, these barrels come with a barrel nut already on them, meaning you might have to vut it off, since it cannot slide off, due to the picatinny gas block being in the way, and the one piece picatinny gas block cannot come off due to the pinned on flash suppressor getting in the way. You might have to find a way to remove the pinned on muzzle break my friend.

I just want to let you know of the problems I ran into with the same barrel I purchased, don't get me wrong though, it is a sweet barrel, and quite heavy I might add:)
 
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ajayofcanada said:
Remember with a pinned on muzzle break, you might run into problems if you want to use your own gas block, it won't fit over the pinned on break. Know what I'm saying? Same thing if you have a quad rail you want to install, these barrels come with a barrel nut already on them, meaning you might have to vut it off, since it cannot slide off, due to the picatinny gas block being in the way, and the one piece picatinny gas block cannot come off due to the pinned on flash suppressor getting in the way. You might have to find a way to remove the pinned on muzzle break my friend.
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Yes, but this is true of pretty much any new barrel except for maybe Sabre. That's the hand that we've been dealt by the US State Dept.

Besides, it's only pinned on, which guess what? Means that it's easily removed with a small pin punch. It's really no more difficult to work on than other barrel, while you have the break off you could have it threaded for a regular flash hider.

But thanks again for chiming in with all of your wonderful wisdom.:rolleyes:
 
Although I would have preferred a regular screwed on flash hider, the pinned flash hider shouldn't be a problem and I can live with it.

I'm planning to put it under a rifle length free float rail system I already have. If the FSB is in the way, I'll just dremel it out like many people already did. It will be under the hand guard anyway. A thick 16'' floated barrel should give me a good weight/accuracy/length ratio and will be more accurate with different loads.

Also, Mysticplayer seems to be selling barrels that are meant to have a rifle length gas system, which makes it impossible to be cut down to 16''. I'll verify anyway.
 
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I'd just go with the Armalite. It's a 16" midlength, just like you're looking for. From looking at the Armalite website it appears that they aren't heavy, but not Government profile either, more like a beefed up government.
 
Without going in details, a shorter, stiffer barrel will have less whip and therefore much wider "sweet spots" (in the load) in which it is accurate. And therefore, easier to find ammunition that the barrel "likes" and the loads the barrel "doesn't likes" won't be as bad as if it was in a longer, more flexible barrel (like a gov't profile).
 
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DangerTree:

Would love to hear what "general rules of thumb" your experience has taught you with regards to Barrel contour, length, accuracy, etc. Some do not, but some of us do know that you have vast expereince across the spectrum of AR barrel typses.

Thanks for your time, look forward to your response.

regards and all the best

AbH
 
Woah, this is quickly getting out of hand.

I don't want to be that pretentious a**hole who tries to argue with someone who knows much more about the subject than himself. My understandings of barrel harmonics still has its limits and I want to push them further. I've just explained the theory that brought me to that conclusion. If something in wrong in that theory, please point out what so I can correct myself.
 
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SuperDave said:
someone who knows much more about the subject than himself.
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I was hoping that was you ;)

I asked an honest question and you gave an honest answer, works for me.

Interesting theory. Personally I like the balance of a lighter barrel on a carbine, and find the M4 profile suits my needs. Never did a back to back with an otherwise identical barrel in a heavy profile to see if there was a wider sweet spot but it sounds interesting and I hope to hear more if you or anyone else does do such a test.

I think ABHobbyist is touching on a past thread where I may have said heavy barrels shouldn't cost more as they are otherwise cheaper to produce than profiled barrels, and advertising them as an added price option is a bit much, but I've never said anything against a heavy barrel itself, other than they're heavy. If that's not it I'm confused too.

Good luck with your build. :)
 
For an "action" rifle, I really don't see the point of heavy barrel, whether it is in fact more accurate or not.

THe more mass surrounding the bore, the more rigid the cylinder wall is- and it also takes up more heat. Thermal expansion depends on temperature. So, yeh, a heavy barrel should maintain the same bore dimension for more shots.

This harmonics stuff - I honestly do not know. I doubt anyone could come up a "theory" that relates harmonics to bullet weight - let alone proving it. This is a graduate school project so I won't take the words of some "gunsmiths" as gospel.

for all practical purposes, quality of the barrel itself is probably more important than how much metal it has for an AR.

My CLE profiled SPR barrel is what commerically sold as "medium" contour. I trust that people who developed the MK12 figured the right balance based on their experience.
 
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PS: I don't think its that no one wants to sell parts, more likely that it's tough getting them to sell at all, I imagine the DOS regs on barrels have slowed everybody down.

for all practical purposes, quality of the barrel itself is probably more important than how much metal it has for an AR.
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Agreed.
 
I guess that "heavy" is a bit a vague term for me to use. I don't want a match barrel I just want something that is stiffer than the gov't profile. Something close to the SPR diameter would be perfect (.84'' is it?). Worst case scenario, if I can't find any 16'' barrels like this, I'll take a 18'' instead.


And I also agree that quality > profile

The only problem is that I don't have many brands to choose from thanks to those xenophobic US export laws. I wish there was still someone selling LMT barrels here...
 
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I think the best way for you is to buy the Armalite 16" barrel. Send it to Armseast and have it threaded. That screwed on gas block sucks but I am sure Armseast can probably do a pin job for you.
 
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