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AR15 BARRELS

Whether replacing a shot out AR15 BARREL or purchasing an AR15 BARREL for that new rifle build proper selection is important as there are several factors to consider

BARREL LENGTH
GAS SYSTEM LENGTH – Carbine, Mid Length and Rifle
BARREL MATERIAL – Stainless Steel, Chrome Moly, Chrome Lined
BARREL FINISH
CALIBER
BARREL PROFILE
BARREL WEIGHT

The list below is in no way a complete list of every AR15 BARREL manufacturer. It is more a list of what is commonly available yet coveres the full spectrum of options.

ARMALITE AR15 BARRELS

ARMALITE AR15 M-15 A4 RIFLE BARREL STAINLESS STEEL NATIONAL MATCH BARREL ASSEMBLY

ARMALITE AR15 M-15 A2 CARBINE BARREL ASSEMBLY

ARMALITE is the “AR” in AR15. It is Armalite that brought the EUGENE STONER design to the world. It’s no surprise that they offer a wide range of AR15 BARRELS to suit any shooters need whether that need is WAR or HIGH POWER COMPETITION. If standard Armalite barrels dont excite you feel free to give their Premier Services Division a call for a spare no expense AR15 COMPETITION BARREL.

CMMG AR15 BARRELS

CMMG 14.7 inch M4 5.56 Barrel Assembly with Permanent Flash Hider

CMMG offers what I would consider commercial grade Milspec AR15 BARRELS. CMMG while not a favorite of AR15 die hards, they fill the need for quality, value and top notch customer service. Also CMMG is very quick to market and good at servicing niche calibers such as .22LR, 9mm, 300 BLACKOUT, 308 AR and of course 5.56 NATO. I personally own a CMMG SIERRA .22LR UPPER RECEIVER as well as a CMMG AR15 9mm UPPER RECEIVER.

COLT AR15 BARRELS

COLT M4 AR15 BARREL

COLT with it’s AR15 production being mostly geared towards decades of military contracts leaves little AR15 BARREL inventory for civilian purchase. Those that are lucky enough to come across genuine COLT AR15 BARRELS should consider themselves lucky to get some of the finest battle tested military grade barrels available. Despite internet naysayer’s COLT AR15 PARTS are premium quality with a premium price tag.

Living in Connecticut the home state of COLTs MFG as well as other firearm manufacturers I have heard rumours that COLT AR15 BARRELS are produced by another once local firearm manufacurer as well as possibly a Connecticut based barrel manufacturer. I have not been able to verify either rumor.

DANIEL DEFENSE

Daniel Defense M4 AR15 Barrels

DANIEL DEFENSE is mostly known for their QUAD RAIL/FREE FLOAT HANDGUARDS but they also produce a wide array of COLD HAMMER FORGED BARRELS in various lengths and contours. While I have no first hand experience with DANIEL DEFENSE BARRELS I have read and a lot of discussion on the M4 variant. The most common comment is the GAS PORT needs to be drilled to 1/16″ as DANIEL DEFENSE appears to ship the barrels with a gas port about .004″ undersize at .059″ instead of the Milspec .063″.

The barrels are stated to be very accurate.

M4 Profile Specs From the Manufacturer:

These premium Daniel Defense M4 Contour AR-15 Barrels feature 4150 Chrome Moly Vandium Steel construction, precise machining and a mil-spec phosphate finish. The chrome lined chamber and bore provide easy clean-up and reduced wear, while the pre-drilled and pre-installed barrel extension with M4 feed ramps make installation a breeze. Chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO for full compatibility with both commercial and surplus mil-spec ammunition.

Technical Details:

Length: 16″
Material: 4150 Chrome Moly Vandium
Contour: M4
Chamber: 5.56x45mm NATO
Twist Rate: 1 in 7″
Chrome Lined: Yes
Finish: Mil-Spec Heavy Phosphate
M4 Feeds Ramps: Yes
Muzzle Thread Pattern: 1/2″-28
Gas Port Location: Carbine
Exterior Diameter at Gas Port: 0.750″

Cold Hammer Forging of barrels has been known for decades to produce the most accurate, longest lasting rifle barrels obtainable. The Cold Hammer Forging of barrels is accomplished through intense hydraulic pressure applied at opposing angles by carbide steel hammers. During the hammering process, a mandrel is inserted into the bore while the carbide steel hammers shape the barrel around the mandrel creating the chamber, the lands, and the grooves. In addition to the aforementioned benefits, the Cold Hammer Forging process creates a defect free bore and the most consistent chamber possible.

All Daniel Defense cold hammer forged barrels are made from start to finish in our state-of-the-art facility located in Black Creek, GA. In keeping with our heritage of not cutting corners, all cold hammer forged barrels feature a forged chamber and heavy phosphate exterior coating. They are all MP tested on-site and are available in multiple configurations which includes barrel only (stripped); barrel with Front Sight Base; barrel with Low Profile Gas Block; and barrel with Front Sight Base, gas tube, and delta Ring assembly (Complete). These barrels will prove themselves to be more accurate and last longer than a barrel that has cut or button rifling.

Visit DANIEL DEFENSE

DOUBLE STAR

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DPMS

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FULTON ARMORY

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JP ENTERPRISES

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KRIEGER BARRELS

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MODEL 1 SALES

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NOVESKE ARMS

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OLYMPIC ARMS

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SHILEN

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WHITE OAK ARMAMENT

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WILSON COMBAT

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YANKEE HILL MACHINE

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Vist Brownells AR15 Builder

BUILDING AN AR15 – UNDERSTANDING PRIORITIES PART 1 – AR15 TRIGGERS

AR15 Barrels, AR15 Technical, AR15 Triggers, General No Responses »

Apr 222012

GEISSELE TRIGGER

In the half-dozen or so years I have been operating firearms oriented websites and forums I have noticed certain trends with shooters building and upgrading their AR15 and M4 platform weapons. Very often appearance is taking presidence over function in two key areas. These two areas are barrel quality choices and trigger selection. The barrel and trigger are two of the most important weapon parts that enable you to hit your target.

This page will be part 1 BUILDING AN AR15 – UNDERSTANDING PRIORITIES PART 1 – AR15 TRIGGERS of a 2 part series BUILDING AN AR15 – UNDERSTANDING PRIORITIES

AR15 TRIGGERS

Unless you spent several thousands of dollars on a custom or high-end AR15 chances are your trigger was designed by an attorney to protect a firearm manufacturer. In fact one manufacturer DPMS has publicly stated that they expect you to replace your trigger and that the included trigger is merely there so you can fire the weapon when new.

The fact is you simply can not expect to get the greatest amount of accuracy out of your weapon with a factory trigger or the trigger included in a lower parts kit.

REPLACING YOUR AR15 TRIGGER SHOULD BE YOUR FIRST AND FOREMOST PRIORITY before you spend a single penny on any other part.

Now here is the downside of aftermarket triggers. You get what you pay for. However there is a law of diminishing returns. his means a $400 trigger is not necessarily twice as good as a $200 trigger. Will the most expensive trigger be better? You bet, but not every shooter needs a trigger THAT GOOD. If you can afford the best go for it you wont be disappointed. If cant buy what you can afford. DO SOMETHING.

I break the triggers down this way.

AR15 Triggers Under $100:

BILL SPRINGFIELD – Spend $50 and send your factory trigger to Bill Springfield for a trigger job. It’s better than nothing and he turns them around very quickly.
ARMALITE TWO STAGE TACTICAL TRIGGER – At $97 it’s a good deal. Problem with the Armalite triggers is nobody bothers to learn how to adjust them so the triggers are often criticized. read the Armalite tech note here.
ALG DEFENSE – This is new and unknown to me but they are getting decent reviews and priced slightly higher that the trigger job mentioned above.

AR15 Triggers $100-$150

Got a few choices here.

JARD TRIGGERS – I have a few AR15′s with JARD TRIGGERS. I like everything about these triggers except the installation.
ROCK RIVER ARMS TWO STAGE TRIGGER – A lot of folks buy this trigger and are happy with it. There are those that claim the steel is soft and they don’t last. I have no personal experience but RRA cant keep these triggers on the shelf
ARMALITE AR15 NATIONAL MATCH SET TRIGGER – See my comments above in the sub $100 section. These are great triggers with proper installation and adjustment. Read the installation Tech Note here.

AR15 Triggers $150-$200

CMC AR15 TRIGGER – This is probably the ugliest modular drop in trigger of the bunch. What it lacks in looks it makes up for in performance. In fact the CMC AR15 TRIGGER is one of my favorite triggers at any price for the AR15 platform.
JP RIFLES – JP Rifles produces a very good trigger. If you order one be sure to order the speed hammer as well as they are meant to work together. JP includes a video of the installation. That is a nice touch.
GEISSELE SSA TRIGGER – The GEISSELE SSA is I believe the least expensive of the GEISSELE TRIGGERS. It’s a good trigger at a fair price.

AR15 Triggers $200 and up

TIMNEY – I like the Timney a lot problem is that unless you can find it for less than $200 the CMC in the previous section is a better choice
ATC AR GOLD – I ave no experience with the AR GOLD TRIGGER but I have a LOT of experience with the ATC SR GOLD TRIGGER for the 308 AR and AR-10 platforms. In fact the SR GOLD is my favorite trigger for the 308 platform. I would not hesitate to recommend the ATC GOLD. ATC/PACT has outstanding customer service.
GEISSELE – By most accounts the best AR Trigger
JEWELL AR15 TRIGGER – Unfortunately Jewell isn’t as good with AR15 triggers as they are with traditional rifle triggers. There are better choices.
WILSON COMBAT TACTICAL TRIGGER UNIT – I have no experience with the WILSON COMBAT TTU as they are never in stock when I am looking for a trigger.

As you see above there are options for every price point. Choose what fits your budget even if it means going without a new muzzle device, pistol grip, laser, tac light, or fancy collapsable stock or some other tactical gizmo that will do nothing to inprove the accuracy of you and your weapon..

START WITH THE TRIGGER

Stay tuned for part 2 in the series BUILDING AN AR15 – UNDERSTANDING PRIORITIES PART 2 – AR15 BARRELS

300AAC BLACKOUT AR15

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300AAC BLACKOUT AR-15

300 AAC BLACKOUT AR15

Why a 300 AAC BLACKOUT?

For starters a 220 grain subsonic 7.62 projectile. Shooters have been longing for a 7.62/.308 projectile in an AR15 platform sized weapon. There have been many attempts at this, some even remarkably similar. Unfortunately no previous attempt was commercially successful. The 300 AAC BLACKOUT on the other hand appears to be the real deal and here to stay. There is two very good reasons for this. The first is the only thing that separates a Milspec AR15 in .223/5.56 NATO and a 300AAC BLACKOUT AR15 equivalent is one part. That one part is the barrel (two if you include the muzzle device). All other parts are the same. Same AR15 Bolt Carrier Group and same AR15 Magazine.

The second reason the 300 BLACKOUT seems to be gaining steam and appears to be here to stay is the fact that caliber is a joint product of two Freedom Group companies Advanced Armament Corp (AAC) and Remington.

Hardware

CMMG MILSPEC STRIPPED UPPER RECEIVER
PWA PREBAN LOWER
WILSON COMBAT RECON 16″ MATCH GRADE 300 AAC BLACKOUT BARREL
WILSON COMBAT NP3 COATED BOLT CARRIER GROUP TR-BCA-NP3
WILSON COMBAT TR-TRIM-7 AR-15 HANDGUARD
MECHARMOR TACOPS-1 AMBIDEXTROUS CHARGING HANDLE
MAGPUL UBR BUTTSTOCK
MAGPUL MOE PISTOL GRIP
CMC AR-15 TRIGGER
JP RIFLES JPGS-2B AR-15 ADJUSTABLE GAS BLOCK
BATTLE ARMS DEVELOPMENT COMBAT AMBIDEXTROUS SAFETY SELECTOR BAD C.A.S.S
ARMALITE CARBINE BUFFER
ARMALITE CARBINE BUFFER SPRING
FRONT SIGHT
REAR SIGHT
C MORE RAILWAY SIGHT
ADVANCED ARMAMENT CO (AAC) BLACKOUT FLASH HIDER 51-Tooth M4-2000 6.8 SPC / 762-SD RATCHET SUPPRESSOR MOUNT 300 BLACKOUT 5/8″-24 THREAD STEEL MATTE 100209
SUPPRESSOR
MAGPUL PMAG

CMMG MILSPEC STRIPPED UPPER RECEIVER, PWA PREBAN LOWER

CMMG MILSPEC STRIPPED UPPER RECVER

Selected the PWA as I need to utilize a PREBAN AR15 LOWER RECEIVER to comply with my home states ASSAULT WEAPON BAN. This is necessary for the installation of a FLASH HIDER, MUZZLE BRAKE and SILENCER.

WILSON COMBAT RECON 16″ MATCH GRADE 300 AAC BLACKOUT BARREL

For some time I had wanted the opportunity to test a WILSON COMBAT AR15 BARREL. I was lucky enough that WILSON COMBAT had the RECON 16″ MATCH GRADE 300AAC BLACKOUT BARREL in stock when the little woman was Christmas shopping for me. The RECON 16″ MATCH GRADE 300AAC BLACKOUT BARREL appears to be machined beautifully.

Side note on the barrel when used with an AAC FLASH HIDER with regard to the fit of the FLASH HIDER to the barrel. To avoid having a gap between the barrel shoulder and the AAC FLASH HIDER one of the new style AAC FLASH HIDERS with recessed threads should be utilized.

WILSON COMBAT NP3 COATED BOLT CARRIER GROUP TR-BCA-NP3

WILSON COMBAT TR-TRIM-7 AR-15 HANDGUARD

MECHARMOR TACOPS-1 AMBIDEXTROUS CHARGING HANDLE

MAGPUL UBR BUTTSTOCK

MAGPUL UBR BUTTSTOCK CLOSED

MAGPUL UBR BUTTSTOCK EXTENDED

MAGPUL MOE PISTOL GRIP

Magpul MOE Pistol Grip

CMC AR-15 TACTICAL TRIGGER

CMC AR15 Tactical Trigger

While the CMC TACTICAL TRIGGER for AR15/AR10 rifles may not be the absolute best available trigger for the AR15 platform. It is in my opinion the best value in quality AR15 TRIGGERS and is able to go toe to toe with triggers costing $100 more. The CMC TACTICAL TRIGGER will exceed the expectations of all but the most discriminating AR15/AR10 shooters.

JP RIFLES JPGS-2B AR-15 ADJUSTABLE GAS BLOCK

BATTLE ARMS DEVELOPMENT COMBAT AMBIDEXTROUS SAFETY SELECTOR BAD C.A.S.S

BATTLE ARMS DEVELOPMENT AMBIDEXTROUS SAFETY SELECTOR BAD A.S.S

BATTLE ARMS DEVELOPMENT COMBAT AMBIDEXTROUS SAFETY SELECTOR BAD C.A.S.S

ARMALITE CARBINE BUFFER SPRING

Armalite AR15 Carbine Buffer Spring

ARMALITE CARBINE BUFFER

Armalite AR15 Carbine Buffer

C MORE RAILWAY SIGHT

C-MORE TRW Railway Sight – Standard Tactical Railway

I selected the C-MORE TRW Railway Sight in large part because I had it laying around and it’s a great Red Dot Sight. It was a factory incentive from FN when I purchased my FS2000.

ADVANCED ARMAMENT CO (AAC) BLACKOUT FLASH HIDER 51-Tooth M4-2000 6.8 SPC / 762-SD RATCHET SUPPRESSOR MOUNT 300 BLACKOUT 5/8″-24 THREAD STEEL MATTE 100209

This is the new version that utilizes a deeper socket for a better fit on most barrels. Some barrels are threaded too long exposing a cap when utilizing the original flash hider. See below.

AAC Flash Hider 100209 Socket Comparison M4-2000

ADVANCED ARMAMENT AAC 762-SDN-6 SUPPRESSOR

ADVANCED ARMAMENT AAC 762-SDN-6 SILENCER SOUND SUPPRESSOR

The 762-SDN-6

MAGPUL 30 ROUND PMAG

MAGPUL 30 Round PMAG

The Magpul PMAG has gained a near cult like status known for it’s reliability, durability and plain good looks. All AR15 owners should own a few dozen. There are several variations. I purchase the black, 30 round no window to save a few bucks.

no windowAR-15 TOOLS

Below is a list of required tools and their respective source links.