Ar 15 20" 1 in 7 twist barrel

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Marquezj16

New member
I'm looking at BCM and Palmetto State for a 20" barrel for my M16A4 clone build (so no bull barrels or stainless).

The BCM is out of stock and the Palmetto is in stock but costs more than the BCM.

Out of these two which one would you pick?

What other manufacturers make Milspec 20" barrel?
 
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CTS

New member
I can't swear to it but I have been told that Palmetto State buys their barrels from FN. Same barrels FN uses on their Military rifles. The FN plant is in Columbia as well as PSA.
I also have a pretty good idea that BCM barrels come from ER Shaw. http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=3&f=118&t=308725
I guess it just depends on what you are looking for.
 
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B. Lahey

New member
When I built my A4gery, I ended up going with a Sabre Defense 20" 1:7" 5.56 .gov-profile chrome, as they were making a lot of barrels for the military at the time. But that company exploded soon after, owner arrested for illegal arms deals, all sorts of crazy stuff. Too bad, it's a sweet barrel that has proved incredibly durable. If you can find one, go for it:
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=462100

Otherwise I would have no probelm at all with an FN or Shaw made barrel. If they had been around when I was doing my build I probably would have gone for an FN.

I was really hoping for a Colt, as the rest of my rifle is distinctly coltish, but those seem to be very hard to find. If anyone has a 20" 1:7" .gov-profile chrome Colt barrel, I have a 16" 1:7" chrome 6920 barrel I'll trade you for it. My A4 will need to be rebarreled at some point.:)
 
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Marquezj16

New member
I'm having a harder time finding the 20" in 1 in 7 twist. What's the biggest difference with it and the 1 in 9 besides stabilizing heavier bullets? Right now I only shoot 55 and 62 gr bullets. Would I be better off with a 1 in 9 twist?
 
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wnycollector

New member
Right now I only shoot 55 and 62 gr bullets
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A 1:9 barrel will work very well for you with 55-62gr ammo. My 20" barrel is 1:9 and I have no problem hitting silhouette targets out to 300 yards with quality ammo like FGMM or BH 69gr SMK's.

A 1:7 barrel will allow you to shoot heavy weight (75-77gr) OTM's.
 
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HiBC

New member
I am happy with a Daniel Defense bbl I bought a while back.Bore,throat,chamber all formed by hammer forging.That means no sideways cutter marks or burrs from a chamber reamer.It is chrome lined.
I went with an 18 in mid gas system.

I get MOAish groups with 77 gr MK's.Not a fruit fly rifle but not bad for chrome lined.

If you are planning on getting the barrel hot chrome is a good idea.

If you want more of a fruit fly rifle,White Oak might be a place to look,but I don't think you get chrome.
 
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Crow Hunter

New member
I'm having a harder time finding the 20" in 1 in 7 twist. What's the biggest difference with it and the 1 in 9 besides stabilizing heavier bullets? Right now I only shoot 55 and 62 gr bullets. Would I be better off with a 1 in 9 twist?
Click to expand...

It will depend on how close to 1/9 your barrel is. If really is a 1/8.75 and with the longer barrel you may very well be able to shoot the longer bullets. If it is a 1/9.25 you might not.

You are alot more likely to get a 5.56 chamber with a 1/7 bbl than you are with a 1/9 bbl. Alot of the 1/9 bbls are made for the "hobby" guns and many of them will have .223 or "tight 5.56" bbls. Alot of the "hobby" makers know that their customers will be more impressed with a rifle that shoots sub-MOA than one that will work with more types of ammo. The problem comes if you shoot 5.56 in these and you get on on the higher side of 5.56 pressure in a tighter chamber. You can often have the primer pop out and it can fall into the trigger group. If it gets between the wrong moving parts you can lock a gun up to the point that it will take disassembly of trigger components to get the primer out.

Decide what you want to use the gun for and pick the barrel that will most likely meet your usage criteria.

I think it may be a while before you find what you are looking for. I think the election scare is starting again. Either that or the CIA has put in an order to start supplying weapons to someone and is sucking up all the good components.:D
 
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CTS

New member
I am pretty sure they use ER Shaw barrels as well. I have a Shaw barrel in 6.8 and I have no complaints at all. It is stainless heavy barrel but they have a good reputation for what ever they make.
 
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madcratebuilder

New member
Marquezj16 said:
Found an AR Stoner at Midway. 20" 1 in 7 twist. Anybody use one or have information about it?
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It's a Shaw barrel like slappy said. A local gun shop uses Shaw for his AR builds and they are reported to shoot very well.

I recently spent a few hours shooting a 18" DPMS mini SASS barrel on a friends rifle. This thing is a tack driver. I came home and ordered one from Midway, they had a dealer sale going so it was only $201. It's a .920, stainless with black teflon coating, 1-8 twist.
 
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Marquezj16

New member
After researching the front sight base installation, I've decided to get a barrel with a FSB installed as it requires more tools and probably out of my garage level. Since this build is to mimic an M16 A4 the front sight block is not an option at this time. Same for anything that is not 20" in length. Now the problem is most 20" barrels with an FSB are 1 in 9 twist. So the 1 in 7 is not an option now. Unless I buy a whole upper from BCM.
 
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CTS

New member
You may try giving Shaw a call and see what it would take to get what you want directly from them. 412.221.3636 Not sure if they would pin the FSB for you or not. If not, any competent gunsmith should be able to drill it for you. I have an A2 style FSB you can have if it will help you out any. Just drop me a PM if you want it.
 
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Marquezj16

New member
Slappy, thanks for the info. I will check out my LGS and see if they can do the install.

I alreadyhave a BCM FSB, thanks for the offer. Much appreciated.

My original plan was to get a BCM barrel and install everything on it myself. Well the barrel is out of stock so I started looking for other barrels. And while I was looking at installation instructions for the FSB, I've come to realize, that will be pretty hard to do. So I'm forced to look at other options once more.
 
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