Info on Rainier Barrels

[daved]

I'm looking for a stainless barrel with good accuracy (not necessarily full match grade) for my 16" middie build. Rainier Arms is offering a stainless match grade barrel made from Shilen blanks. Has anyone had experience with these barrels? I'd particularly like to hear from anyone who has also used competing stainless barrels (ie, Noveske, WOA, BCM, JTAC) and can compare them with the Rainier.

Thanks for any and all input.

[Dave L.]

Most stainless barrels [I believe] are match grade. A good chrome lined barrel should hold ~1.5 moa with good ammo, so the only reason to have a stainless would be to get max accuracy.
Are you just going for looks? How good of accuracy are you hoping to get? How much money do you want to spend? What type of shooting is it for?

[Dave L.]

If you don't want to spend a ton, and this is not for 1/2 minute shooting- go with the WOA barrel.
It's got a 1:7 twist with a 5.56 NATO Chamber- should be more accurate than a chrome barrel without a tight chamber.

For the Rainier Contract barrel, you pay almost $100 more for a tighter chamber, which will give you more accuracy but it wont be much. This is more of a SPRish barrel and will require more maintenance.

If you can't shoot 1" or better groups at 100 yards you wont be able to tell the difference between the two.

[daved]

Most stainless barrels [I believe] are match grade. A good chrome lined barrel should hold ~1.5 moa with good ammo, so the only reason to have a stainless would be to get max accuracy.
Are you just going for looks? How good of accuracy are you hoping to get? How much money do you want to spend? What type of shooting is it for?

The rifle is intended to be a tactical carbine but I like accuracy, therefore my choice of stainless. I don't mind paying the extra bucks for it but I don't want to throw money away on a super accurate match barrel intended for high power competition. I'm sure there are differences in the accuracy of various brands of stainless barrels described as "match grade" and that's what I was hoping to learn.

I'm not concerned about looks - I intend to have the barrel finished in a black to match the rest of the rifle.

As far as accuracy potential, MOA or less to 300 yds and 1.5 MOA or less to 600 yds with 69-77 grain match ammo would be nice.

[SingleStacker45]

The rifle is intended to be a tactical carbine but I like accuracy, therefore my choice of stainless. I don't mind paying the extra bucks for it but I don't want to throw money away on a super accurate match barrel intended for high power competition. I'm sure there are differences in the accuracy of various brands of stainless barrels described as "match grade" and that's what I was hoping to learn.

I'm not concerned about looks - I intend to have the barrel finished in a black to match the rest of the rifle.

As far as accuracy potential, MOA or less to 300 yds and 1.5 MOA or less to 600 yds with 69-77 grain match ammo would be nice.


Did you get the ranier barrel? I got the 18" and I just started breaking it in and I'm not sure what to think. I shot some federal xm193 and it seemed to be holding 1.75" at 50 yds. I fired 1 cleaned for five rounds then fired 5 and cleaned twice. Also the shoulder of the cases looked grooved after firing. With the LMT bolt it looks like the headspave is a bit longer than my stock M&P15T chamber.

Mule