Need help choosing quality barrel for first build.

[dragonbat13]

I need some help with barrel selection. This is my first AR build, although not my first experience with rifles.

Here is what I have or am planning to use.

Franklin Arms billet lower (have)
Vltor MUR-1A upper (Have)
Magpul UBR Stock (Have)
Magpul MOE hand guard (want and havent looked into length, but I want the weight savings).
Geissele SSA-E (Want, not sure yet)
Bravo Company Man. BCG Full Auto (Want, but not sure about the full auto thing).
LPK from PSA

So The rifle is just going to be an all around shooter. The UBR isnt really the best for this due to the slightly heavier weight, but I have it and I like it so far as quality of construction and the solid feel.

I want to install a 16 inch, CHF barrel that already has the front sight installed (no rail, I want a pinned on solid front sight), with a Mid Length gas system.

I wanted to use a Noveske barrel, but I havent found what I want with the FSB installed. I also dont know exactly which weight to look for. I want the rifle as balanced as possible, not so much super light weight. I dont want it to be stock heavy or barrel heavy. I figure since the UBR is somewhat heavy, I can balance out a Mid Length 16" barrel rather well. Am I correct about that?

The barrel needs to be of a decent quality with a budget of 500, although it doesnt have to be the most expensive option. I just dont really want to put a cheap barrel on all the rest of these nice parts.

Thanks for any help.

EDIT: Being new here, I didnt see that I was posting this in the "project section, show your build" section. If needed, mods please move this to the correct place. Sorry.

[Col_Crocs]

You definitely want a full auto BCG.
As for your barrel, try Centurion Arms. If you purchase from them directly, they have an option for a pinned FSB. DD does too... Or, you could just get a stripped one from BCM, get an FSB, and send it to adco for pinning. Idk how much that will cost though.

[Shoulderthinggoesup]

Do you want a CL barrel or SS? If you want a CL, I would personally suggest the 16 inch Noveske n4 Light barrel if you can find one floating about. I have never had a more accurate, reliable, and well balanced rifle. They pop up occasionally on GB. I got mine for about 480 and it included a FSB and Blackout flash suppressor.

[SilverBullet432]

Daniel Defense CHF BARREL, problem solved!

https://danieldefense.com/cold-hammer-forged-barrels.html

[Wake27]

i have a few del ton barrels.. they shoot very well.
and the price is good.

OP, don't do that.

BCM or DD will work well, but I'd personally get a Noveske or Centurion Arms if I could find one.

[pinzgauer]

DD CHF with pre-drilled forged FSB. Pick your length & profile and be done.

---sent from my PRC-104 using phonetics

[Hmac]

BCM or Centurion would be my choice. DD would likely be good too. DelTon wouldn't even make the list. Noveske would be a great choice if you were looking for stainless steel but it's pretty hard to come by their chrome lined barrels.

[AKDoug]

In today's market you might have to buy assembled parts and disassemble them to get what you want.

http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-BFH-16-Mid-Length-Upper-Receiver-Group-p/bcm-urg-mid-16%20bfh.htm Order it with the BCG. Gets you a BFH barrel and an FSB installed, plus the small parts you need for your project. Remove the assembly from the upper and install your MUR. Sell the BCM stripped upper. Done. Order a midlength MOE handguard while you are at it.

[dragonbat13]

In today's market you might have to buy assembled parts and disassemble them to get what you want.

http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-BFH-16-Mid-Length-Upper-Receiver-Group-p/bcm-urg-mid-16%20bfh.htm Order it with the BCG. Gets you a BFH barrel and an FSB installed, plus the small parts you need for your project. Remove the assembly from the upper and install your MUR. Sell the BCM stripped upper. Done. Order a midlength MOE handguard while you are at it.

You know, that does seem like a darn good route. I wanted to use their charging handle anyways. Except I wouldnt sell the upper, I would keep that for the next build. :D

[peabody]

OP, don't do that.

BCM or DD will work well, but I'd personally get a Noveske or Centurion Arms if I could find one.


why would you say that ?

[Tzed250]

I like my DD barrel backed with the BCM FA BCG. The DD barrel is available with the FSB ready to roll. Or you could get the BCM URG ready to roll.

[Wake27]

why would you say that ?

Its a waste of money compared to other options out there.

[muldoon]

I would get a 16" SS lightweight Noveske. Actually I did :D

[VIP3R 237]

Centurion Arms is tough to beat. Your usual suspects such as DD, BCM, LMT, etc are great choices as well.


why would you say that ?

Delton fights with olympic and dpms for the bottom dweller spot. Poor materials and manufacturing processes coupled with poor qc = much better options.

[smac61]

I've had good luck with White Oak barrels. Very good prices as well.

[SWThomas]

BCM BFH.

[SteveS]

You want a full auto bolt carrier and a carpener 158 bolt that has been hp tested particle tested and shot peened. The bolt and carrier is the heart of an AR . IMHO would buy a complete upper from DD or BCM or a premium PSA .

[Tzook]

I've had good luck with White Oak barrels. Very good prices as well.

I'll second this all day, if you're looking for something SS flavored and want top notch accuracy at a phenomenal price, look no further than WOA.

[thehun]

DD, BCM, Noveske, Rainier actually makes good barrels too.


But I have a DD so I will say DD first

[jaxman7]

All around barrel as you stated does not require $500. BCM/DD CHF or non CHF (good bit cheaper) and thats it. Now if you stated more of a precision rig then that slightly changes things.

I paid $293 for my DD CHF FSP barrel which IS part of my 'all around' rifle.

Done

-Jax

[TehLlama]

You want a full auto bolt carrier and a carpener 158 bolt that has been hp tested particle tested and shot peened. The bolt and carrier is the heart of an AR . IMHO would buy a complete upper from DD or BCM.

This. Exactly this - I'd just get:
the BCM Complete upper, and leave it as-is,
or get a Centurion complete upper and leave it mostly is (but a BCM GF charging handle in it);
or get a complete DD Upper (and put a BCM GF in it);
or get a Colt complete upper, put a Centurion handguard on it, and put a BCM GF on it.

I absolutely ADORE my VLTOR MUR uppers, but frankly I've got three really nice barrels, two of them on boring forged uppers, and they all shoot equally well. Save the MUR until you're looking to put together a really focused precision rig, or just an all-out beauty contest winner. I have three of the things, and am really only truly happy with the extra expenditure on my two precision oriented rigs with them.

Finally, if you haven't decided on handguards, and are looking to spend a touch more, realize that good 9" handguards (DD Lite, Centurion C4, Noveske NSR 9.0, TROY/VTAC 9.0, DD OmegaX 9", and others) will actually weight LESS than the MOE and handguard nut. Getting a complete upper with that alleviates a lot of the cost, and you end up with a much nicer unit.

Also, you'll probably end up doing what I did, and building out an awesome but heavy lower with the UBR, GSSA-E, and mating that with a very precision oriented heavy 16" upper. Which means you can then run a lighter upper on a lower with a GSSA and probably a SOPMOD/IMOD/STR/ACS stock that is a lighter overall package. If you see yourself considering two rifles (One precision rig with that sublime GSSA-E, the UBR to counterweight a really precise barrel) then save your MUR-1A upper for THAT build. Just get a good, light, complete upper with good handguard to use for all the other stuff - run that UBR lower on it until you can build up the parts to make those two distinct rifles, and you'll be really happy overall.

FWIW, my pair of those is a DD V5LW upper on a BCM Blem lower (GSSA, ACS Stock) that runs an Aimpoint T-1 and M300 Scout light.
The precision one is an HCS Recce with URX3.1 13.5" on a UBR/GSSA-E Noveske Gen2 lower, which runs an Leupold Mk6 and M300 scout light.

[morpheus6d9]

I just bought a DD stripped barrel

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[midSCarolina]

My personal favorites are Noveske SS barrels. They will give you about .6moa accuracy and will give you 15k rounds+ of life. I have also had good success with my BCM barrels.

Noveske, Rainier, BCM BHF, and DD CHF would be my suggestions. I think Noveske CL pull about 1moa. WOA barrels have a good reputation for accuracy but I don't know if I would choose them on a GP build.

Somewhat off topic but do the MUR uppers still not accept rails with anti-rotation tabs?

[jaxman7]

Somewhat off topic but do the MUR uppers still not accept rails with anti-rotation tabs?

Noveske's don't and Vltor's do accept them.

-Jax

[jo-mach]

Unless you are doing competition match shooting , I have found that almost any good quality barrel will suffice and don'y really have to spend a ton of money on the super best

[UM-Iceman]

Just a quick comment about the "weight savings" of the MOE handguard. The numbers I found are:

Mid-length MOE handguard (w/delta ring, stock barrel nut, etc) weighs approx. 11.5oz. The FSB weighs about 5oz for a total of 16.5oz.

A 13.5" Noveske NSR weighs 11oz + 1.5oz for a gas block, so 12.5oz total. A KAC URX 3.1 13.5" weighs approx. 14oz + gas block (15.5oz total).

Get the MOE if that is what you want, just be aware is isn't really a weight saver relative to some of the modern FF rail options.

[TehLlama]

Just a quick comment about the "weight savings" of the MOE handguard. The numbers I found are:

Mid-length MOE handguard (w/delta ring, stock barrel nut, etc) weighs approx. 11.5oz. The FSB weighs about 5oz for a total of 16.5oz.

A 13.5" Noveske NSR weighs 11oz + 1.5oz for a gas block, so 13.5oz total. A KAC URX 3.1 13.5" weighs approx. 14oz + gas block (15.5oz total).

Get the MOE if that is what you want, just be aware is isn't really a weight saver relative to some of the modern FF rail options.

Thanks for the exact figures on that - definitely doesn't feel that intuitive that a longer handguard will weigh less, but they do. Even the 11" NSR is close to the MOE Middy setup, while offering a lot more flexibility.

[Gatorshark]

I bought a BCM barrel for my last build. Pound per pound, I don't think you can get a better barrel for the money. Better barrels yes, but they'll cost you from I've found.

[Agnostic]

I bought a BCM barrel for my last build. Pound per pound, I don't think you can get a better barrel for the money. Better barrels yes, but they'll cost you from I've found.

I bought a 16" BCM SS410 upper and love it. It seems like the BCM stainless barrels get a lot less mention in the forums than Noveske, White Oak, Larue, etc. (which are great barrels, definitely not trying to trash talk). But I have read a lot of reviews of the BCM offerings that praise the barrels. My personal experience is that the barrel is much more accurate than me and that I have a long ways to go to shoot my AR to its potential (bolt guns seem easier to "drive").

I am (hopefully) going to start to put a carbine together for my wife and am looking at Centurion, BCM, Noveske, DD for the barrel (14.5" lightweight CL midlength). I know any of these choices will be great, so it is cost and barrel specifics that will end up dictating the purchase.