Unmarked AR BARREL ISSUES

[Spikes1540]

I got two new16in m4 profile barrels from a local retiree who goes to gun shows all over the east coast the barrels were bubble wrapped with a sticker on the outside saying 1:9. The barrels themselves have absolutely no markings what so ever.So the only thing I know is rate of twist, gas tube length, barrel length. How would I determine CL or no CL and 556 or 223. The gentleman I purchased them from picked the up outta state and has no other information about them. I figured I'd gamble on them at $100 each.

[Eric D.]

Are they stripped barrels? Do they have a gas block pinned on? If they're stripped measure the diameter of the gas port. That will tell you a lot about who made them and if they knew what they were doing. I'm going to wager that being 1:9 the chamber is more likely to be closer to .223. There is a gage you can buy to tell for sure.

[Spikes1540]

They are stripped barrels. I don't have a micrometer to measure the gas port itself, it is a carbine length gas port though. I've had issues with one of the barrels already. The chamber on one of the barrels looks like it is threaded it was definitely a manufacturer mistake. The other barrel looks fine. The only other thing that is on the barrels is both have a 9 marked on the barrel ext with a sharpie. Which I'm guessing is another mark for 1:9 twist

[polymorpheous]

Chrome lined barrels have a dull grey ring around the chamber and muzzle.

[Spikes1540]

I didn't know that. Any idea what to do with the damaged barrel? I have no way of finding out who manufactured it to send it back, my local gunsmith has already looked at it and said he really didn't wanna tackle trying to ream the chamber and even if he did ream it it probly wouldn't be worth putting the money into an unmarked barrel that we know nothing about.

[GH41]

Not trying to be an ass but it looks like you got what you paid for. GH

[Spikes1540]

GH thanks for clearing that up for me. As I said above I knew it was a gamble. I was in the process of building an upper for a friend who wanted an upper built for under $300 to put on his $180 poly Plum crazy lower he wanted to have an AR built for $500 there was no way for me to get him in one @ that without going dirt cheap on everything. I personally would never put one of these barrels on my guns. But if I can figure out how to fix this I may find someone interested in the barrel for a cheap penny pinching build like my friend had to have.

[deanq]

I can't imagine anyone chambering an M4gery for anything other than 5.56. Now days, It's odd to see a 223 or anything else for the AR platform unless it's a custom replacement barrel.
YMMV

[Spikes1540]

That was my thoughts on the barrels. he has just been staying away from 556 rounds to be on the safe side. Another thing I thought about was maybe taking the barrel to someone who would chamber it to accept 223 wylde. I'm not sure if this would help clean the chamber up on the defective barrel or not? The places that are cut in the chamber are very tiny barely visible to the naked eye. The way I understand if chambered for wylde it will accept all three rounds?

[BUBBAGUNS]

Tell your body shoot some 5.56 through it and look for signs of overpressure.

[Eric D.]

The problem is that some manufacturers think they're making 5.56 chambers when they're actually making chambers closer to .223 dimensions. Probably because of incorrect or worn tooling or just general incompetence. Bushmasters are marked 5.56 but its not uncommon for their barrels to be closer to .223.


I can't imagine anyone chambering an M4gery for anything other than 5.56. Now days, It's odd to see a 223 or anything else for the AR platform unless it's a custom replacement barrel.
YMMV

OP, if you have a variety of small fractional drill bits you can try using them to estimate your gas port size.

[Iraqgunz]

+1000


The problem is that some manufacturers think they're making 5.56 chambers when they're actually making chambers closer to .223 dimensions. Probably because of incorrect or worn tooling or just general incompetence. Bushmasters are marked 5.56 but its not uncommon for their barrels to be closer to .223.



OP, if you have a variety of small fractional drill bits you can try using them to estimate your gas port size.

[polymorpheous]

Get the rough chamber reamed and move on.
It's a cheap plinker build.