Classic Firearms barrels

[85_Ranger4x4]

Yes, I'm convinced Midway dropped Satern's Liberty brand of barrels in favor of BCA for their AR Stoner's to get that price point.

They seem to have really good performance reports too, may not have been too bad of a move.

Midway has about the highest pricing on them as anybody though...

[kevperro]

They seem to have really good performance reports too, may not have been too bad of a move.

...

I bought mine bracing to be disappointed because of the price and no history from others using them. At this point, I'm pretty happy with it but it has yet to be fully tested. I need to run a few different rounds through it before I declare it a success.

[ah1whiskey]

BCA/ moor machine.

moor at one time put out junk. however they have supposedly re-tooled and are making better stuff now.

i have one of their nitride 7.62x39 BCGs and it seems OK

i suspect they are about as good as other $99 barrels--

i have threatened to buy one myself --

[DTitus]

I have a BCA 18" straight fluted 6.5G bbl on the way right now. i bought it just to finish my build and get it to the range, and possibly give me some time to save up for a better barrel if it doesn't shoot well. I am looking forward to my results now though, based on jbrew's experience!

[kiloechoxray]

BCA makes them, I ordered one

How does BCA compare with Faxon, Satern, AA, ETC?

Are they as high quality?

I don't want to get another Stoner barrel. I don't have much faith in their accuracy. I'm not yet a barrel connoisseur so I could use the advise.

[Steamburn]

Recently I put together an upper with a light contour 16" barrel from Classic Firearms in 5.56.
Best groups using M855 ammo at 100 yrds average 2.5 inches, but.....the barrel was only $75.00.
I think that for that amount of money, it is OK, but now, looking back, I should have spent $100 more ($175 total) for a 16" Faxon Gunner barrel which is reported in the AR15 forums, to be a <1 MOA shooter.

On the other hand, I have another upper with a 16" Precision Firearms barrel in 6.5 Grendel that consistently gives me <0.75 MOA using Hornady Amax..........that barrel was $650.00.

I'm considering building another upper in 6.5 Grendel with a light barrel (<2 lbs) in the $200 category, maybe Faxon, Alexander Arms or Odin, hoping to get <1"MOA performance at a reasonable price. I'll report on this thread if I do.

[VASCAR2]

How does BCA compare with Faxon, Satern, AA, ETC?

Are they as high quality?

I don't want to get another Stoner barrel. I don't have much faith in their accuracy. I'm not yet a barrel connoisseur so I could use the advise.

Everyone has their own opinion but I'll chime in. The Bear Creek Arsenal 6.5 Grendel barrels have not been on the market very long so there are limited numbers to draw conclusions. For the price BCA 6.5 Grendel barrels would have to be considered as rack grade button rifled barrels. Mass produced barrels can vary in quality and the Customer Service is important to me. Some rack grade barrels are very accurate, some are average and some are medicore or poor. This is where customer service comes into play, if the barrel shoots patterns and not groups the vendor or manufacture should offer a replacement or refund. To the degree the manufacture determines acceptable accuracy can vary from the consumer.


Many companies try to have a minimum accuracy statement but these barrels generally cost more than bottom tier rack grade barrels.

I see the BCA, Classic Firearms, Midway AR Stoner barrels in direct competition with Anderson 6.5 Grendel 1, Satern Liberty Grendel II, Wolf Performance Arms upper, Radical Firearms and other unnamed branded barrels as sold by vendors like JSE Surplus.

Manufactures like Alexander Arms, J&T Distributing/Double Star, Sabre Defense, Black Hole Weaponry/Columbia River Arms and maybe Faxon or Ballistic Advantage sell rack grade barrels but have been on the market many years and have been well tested.

The higher upgraded barrels as Sold by Alexander Arms, Odin Works, Rainier, Shilen, Lilja, Satern Cut rifled barrels, JP, Les Baer, PF are expensive because of the quality of the steel and care of manufacture. I would classify these as top tier competition ready barrels and generally produce very good consistent accuracy.

[kevperro]

Everyone has their own opinion but I'll chime in. The Bear Creek Arsenal 6.5 Grendel barrels have not been on the market very long so there are limited numbers to draw conclusions. For the price BCA 6.5 Grendel barrels would have to be considered as rack grade button rifled barrels. Mass produced barrels can vary in quality and the Customer Service is important to me. Some rack grade barrels are very accurate, some are average and some are medicore or poor. This is where customer service comes into play, if the barrel shoots patterns and not groups the vendor or manufacture should offer a replacement or refund. To the degree the manufacture determines acceptable accuracy can vary from the consumer.


Many companies try to have a minimum accuracy statement but these barrels generally cost more than bottom tier rack grade barrels.

I see the BCA, Classic Firearms, Midway AR Stoner barrels in direct competition with Anderson 6.5 Grendel 1, Satern Liberty Grendel II, Wolf Performance Arms upper, Radical Firearms and other unnamed branded barrels as sold by vendors like JSE Surplus.

Manufactures like Alexander Arms, J&T Distributing/Double Star, Sabre Defense, Black Hole Weaponry/Columbia River Arms and maybe Faxon or Ballistic Advantage sell rack grade barrels but have been on the market many years and have been well tested.

The higher upgraded barrels as Sold by Alexander Arms, Odin Works, Rainier, Shilen, Lilja, Satern Cut rifled barrels, JP, Les Baer, PF are expensive because of the quality of the steel and care of manufacture. I would classify these as top tier competition ready barrels and generally produce very good consistent accuracy.

Good overview.... I consider the cheaper barrels to be "hit or miss". You might get a good barrel and those are the ones people post about. Or you might get a dog and spray bullets all over the paper. The difficulty is knowing when it is the barrel or something else.

[ah1whiskey]

the catch is that for a few more dollars you can get a very good barrel for what a decent rack grade barrel costs.

PA just recently had some 16" 5.56 barrels from radical on sale for $49!!

M855 is a very batchy type of ammo i would try some other loads for accuracy testing.



still i would not expect match accuracy out of a $99 retail barrel. i would expect 1"- 2" groups with good ammo , most of them provided there is not some goof up do slightly under 2" very few will do 1" and under.

a small number turn out to be real turkeys 3" and up , these usually have some flaw-- like a bad crown or a poorly finished bore.

[kevperro]

the catch is that for a few more dollars you can get a very good barrel for what a decent rack grade barrel costs.

PA just recently had some 16" 5.56 barrels from radical on sale for $49!!

M855 is a very batchy type of ammo i would try some other loads for accuracy testing.



still i would not expect match accuracy out of a $99 retail barrel. i would expect 1"- 2" groups with good ammo , most of them provided there is not some goof up do slightly under 2" very few will do 1" and under.

a small number turn out to be real turkeys 3" and up , these usually have some flaw-- like a bad crown or a poorly finished bore.

I'm under 2 MOA with cheap steel cased Wolf on the Classic 16" stainless M4 profile. I have five boxes of ELD-M that I'll try next but I'm waiting for a new scope, trigger and lower before I'll get it back to the range.

[ah1whiskey]

anything under 2" is good for a steel jacketed bullet.

the quality of ammo is all ways a major factor in accuracy.

[mholmes]

Bear Creek Arsenal has the BCG back in stock for $84.99. https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/bca...ndel-bcg65-15a

[kevperro]

Bear Creek Arsenal has the BCG back in stock for $84.99. https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/bca...ndel-bcg65-15a

I have a cheap parkerized BCG for my 5.56 and I bought the nicer Odin Nitride finished BCG for my Grendel. It was like an extra $25 for the Odin and I feel that was money well-spent.

[85_Ranger4x4]

AA has seemed to have a lot of QC problems lately.

Faxon is dragging their feet terribly on bringing their barrels to market, I have been waiting since late last year and "coming soon" is getting old.

BA is probably more than I should spend on a BB this year.

BCA/Classic/Stoner barrels from what I have found have pretty good reviews. For what little a "guarantee" is worth BCA states they expect them to shoot an inch or under at 100yds. They have pretty good reviews, for $95 they seemed like a pretty good gamble.

[ah1whiskey]

my next grendel barrel with either be a faxon or i'll likely roll my own. i have a few nice blanks to work with.