11.5 barrel options?

Davy Crockett

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I'm starting to source parts for my first AR build and I'm trying to decide on a barrel. I'm thinking 11.5", profile isn't a huge factor but quality and availability is.

I see Wolverine has DD 11.5's in stock, how do these stack up? There aren't a whole lot of options I've found in stock other than S&J and NEA. Anything else out there worth looking at that's actually available? I'd like to keep to higher end stuff.
 
We make almost any length and contour of barrel in various calibers and with twist rates from 7,8,9 or 10 twist Lilja match grade blanks.
The hard part for you is determining what twist, contour and chambering you want, the rest is easy.
 
Are you guys able to do pinned gas blocks or do you utilize another method?

The problem with pinned gas blocks is getting them so that the site is actually straight up and down. We see virtually every manufacturers AR with taper pinned FSBs are at a slight angle 1 way or the other so we mill a flat 180 degrees opposite to the barrel extension alignment pin and employ set screws to hold the FSB in place. We have been doing this for many years and have never experienced a problem.
 
The problem with pinned gas blocks is getting them so that the site is actually straight up and down. We see virtually every manufacturers AR with taper pinned FSBs are at a slight angle 1 way or the other so we mill a flat 180 degrees opposite to the barrel extension alignment pin and employ set screws to hold the FSB in place. We have been doing this for many years and have never experienced a problem.

Thanks for the reply, does the same hold true for Low Profile gas blocks and the set screw method you employ?
 
I'm starting to source parts for my first AR build and I'm trying to decide on a barrel. I'm thinking 11.5", profile isn't a huge factor but quality and availability is.

I see Wolverine has DD 11.5's in stock, how do these stack up? There aren't a whole lot of options I've found in stock other than S&J and NEA. Anything else out there worth looking at that's actually available? I'd like to keep to higher end stuff.

PM sent. I have an 11.5" Green Mountain barrel you may be interested in.
 
An 11.5" is a great balance of compactness and long-term reliability. Something like a 40% increase in dwell time over a 10.5" ata very tiny length/weight penalty. Better velocity too. Dad, BCM, etc. all good bets.
 
You'll have to define "high end".

You're talking about an 11.5" barrel, something that I consider to be more of a fun gun. Do I need a $500, cryo treated, space program alloy, uber thick barrel with the super match chamber that will stabilize 80gr bullets? Not this guy but you may be of a different mind set. When you say quality I think of something that is well made of good materials and finish, not necessarily something that would be considered high end. Is DD high end? I wouldn't necessarily define them as such. I think that they make excellent quality rack grade rifles that will be more than able to hold their own and then some against any other service type weapon out there.

Since your asking about 11.5" barrels I'm going to make the assumption that 1/2" groups at 1500m are not your priority and that your focus is more on reliability and quality of manufacture. Aside from quality some of the more important things to consider are chamber, twist and profile.

What kind of ammo are you going to be using? Cheap bulk 55gn, surplus 62gn SS 109 5.556mm (is there such a thing?) or heavier target bullets? These days the tacticool crowd is all over "milspec" 1/7 5.56mm NATO barrels but truthfully 1/9 .223 cal will suffice for the majority of shooters who are using 55 or 62gn .223 bullets. .223 Wiley chamber works well with either .223 or 5.56mm. A lot of people will even argue that 5.56mm in a .223 chamber is fine but I prefer to err on the side of caution. The military uses 1/7 to stabilize long tracer rounds, it isn't required for most bullets unless your shooting heavy 80gn bullets all the time. If you're using the common 55-62gr bullets than anything between 1/9-1/7 will work just fine.

Ammo takes care of chamber and twist but what about profile. This is one of the most important ones for myself. I bought my first AR well over a decade ago and since it was restricted anyway I decided that I wanted a bad ass short barrel for it. Choices in those days were extremely limited and you could really only get 11.5" HBARs from Bushmaster or Armalite or if you were really lucky an 11.5" lightweight .625 FSB Colt (My holy grail, still looking). I ended up with an Armalite 11.5" HBAR and while it looks cool the thing weighs a ton. Can I shoot with it? Of course I can but in my mind a nice shorty should not weigh more than a M4 or C8. I bet it even weighs more than 16" government profile barrel. About the thickest that I would want a new barrel to be is .740" or so under the handguard, a lot of people would refer to this as a medium contour but I've also seen thicker profiles referred to in this way (ATRS for example). A government profile is nice and thin under the handguard (.625 give or take as it tapers) and thicker in front of the FSB (.740 or so). A lightweight has the same government profile under the handguard, is .625 at the FSB and roughly .610 towards the muzzle.

The lightweight would be my personal preference but they're hard to find (dealers are you listening?). Since the government profile is the same under the handguards the weight difference between the lightweight and government in an 11.5" is minimal. Likely only an ounce or two. Why most manufacturers don't list the barrel weight is beyond me.

Having said all of that, the DD you're already looking at is a great choice from a quality manufacturer. BCM and Spike's would be good choices too.

I still have that heavy ass 11.5". Someday I'll either buy myself a lightweight or have someone turn down my barrel on a lathe.

ETA: The best deal in Canada has got to be the SJ 11.5" barrels, under $200 at OneShot. I can't speak to the quality but I've always wanted to try one.
 
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