AR Barrel Quesion

[cbzdel]

Building my first AR upper right now, and my buddy has this barrel he is offering me:
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He bought it a month or two ago and decided he changed his build idea, so he never even installed it. He said I could have it for $80. Seems like a good savings but this barrel has no reviews, though it claims to be their number one seller.

Two quesions:
Is this a decent "general use" barrel. I am not building a sniper rifler, or a combat rifle. Just a general use higher end plinker for the most part.

Second, it is listed as being a "carbine length gas system" So that means if I run a A2 front sight/gas block I can only have a carbine length hang guard at the most. But if I ran a low profile gas block I could run any length free floating hand guard??

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[Mr Smith]

barrel should be fine.

depending on the hand guard style you want you have many options.

my rifle build will also have a carbine length gas system which is more reliable anyway so don't think of it as a bad thing...

you can have a longer quad rail hand guard with a front sight/gas block if you wanted. daniel defense for example makes hand guards with an open slot for the front sight in the top but the guard extends out past the front sight.

I believe it is the "omega X" line that has the open slot for the gas block front sight.


(not my gun, just a google image search)

and yes you can run a free floating guard on a low pro block. just make sure to check with the manufacture to be sure the gas block you go with will clear the handguard. some lo-pro blocks are bigger than others.

Daniel defense lite-rail hand guards will clear most low profile gas blocks.

my build will have a syrac ordinance adjustable block under a DD lite-rail 12.0 with a carbine gas system stainless black M4 barrel.

 

[cbzdel]

after making this post I searched on google for reviews on this barrel and could not find much.. I really found two different views.. There are those who have not tired it, but expect at its price point it must be garbage, and there are those who have tried it and are happy with it, on the flip side of that those who have tried it seem to be making their first gun, so they admit they are unfamiliar with the results of a cheap vs quality barrel.

So its tough to say, I was unable to find any veteran AR user comments for this specific barrel.

The one comment I read that suck out was this: The barrel in question is made from "4140 Chromoly", if you are building a gun to sell its great, but if you are building a gun to last a lifetime, you need something better. Now I am building this gun to last a lifetime, or that is my intention at least, but it will not be heavily used or in competitions or anything. I am just looking for a basic rife with average quality parts. So would I be ok with the "4140 Chromoly" or should I step up to "Chrome Lined"??

Again just a fun little evil plinker, well it can be a SHTF rifle as well haha

 

[Mr Smith]

truth be told: even a high quality barrel won't last forever if you put a lot of lead down range. All barrels will eventually wear out and need replaced. Some just resist the elements much better than others...

I am going with a stainless steel barrel for that reason. I don't want it to rust.

However rifling style and barrel material/lining do play their parts in wear resistance/accuracy.

 

[John H]

So its tough to say, I was unable to find any veteran AR user comments for this specific barrel.

There is a reason for that.

So would I be ok with the "4140 Chromoly" or should I step up to "Chrome Lined"??

Again just a fun little evil plinker, well it can be a SHTF rifle as well haha

It might be a OK starter barrel. Bet I would plan on adding a 4150 barrel in a 1/7 later on.