see post #12 in this thread.
eta - doh, post #12 referenced a 24" Krieger, not 16"...
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My 16" Krieger barrel has a 5.56mm Match chamber. This barrel is more accurate than my stainless steel Noveske barrel. Unfortunatley, I can't find my 10-shot group data for my 16" Krieger barrel for a proper comparison, so for what it's worth (which isn't much), I can only report that it has turned in sub 1/2 MOA 5-shot groups at 100 yards.
http://www.box.net/shared/static/bjhmg4qn2g.jpg
(I really shouldn't have mentioned the 5-shot groups, as we all know that 5-shot groups are not valid indicators of rifle/ammo/shooter accuracty due to their lack of statistical significance. I only did so because you asked about the 16" Krieger barrel accuracy and I couldn't find the 10-shot group data.http://www.box.net/shared/static/ig2mmpy7g3.gif)
http://www.box.net/shared/static/gdm96w1c0o.jpg
my stainless Noveske barrel is also sub MOA. i get about 2.5 inch groups with 77SMK at 300 yards. i have three N4 barrels and they hover right around MOA performance.
i am aware my Noveske barrels cannot do what a Lija or Krieger barrel can do.
the reason why the Styer process comes in useful is that you can have a mass produced barrel that can hold its own with precision cut custom barrels with less expense and hassle.
i am not a good enough to squeeze that extra .25 MOA bit of potential accuracy out of custom bbl.
i think the OP is getting too wrapped up in the minutia of velocity and wear. assess your needs and skills and go from there. if you need and can make use of the extra bit of accuracy go for a custom bbl.
wear is especially hard to quantify. what is considered "shot out" for a bench rest shooter is probably more than serviceable for most people around here.
Excellent info, but have you compared a Lothar Walther in the mix-- ala Larue Stealth? I am interested in whether the LW will shoot with either the Noveske or Krieger.
Where did you get your 16" krieger bull barrel? I'm thinking of using one for a test rig. Does the barrel extension have M4 feed ramps? since I have a larue receiver lying around without ramps
Noveskes are flat with ramped sides as someone above said, The Lothar is a male polygonal where the lands are actually arcs extending into the bore.
HKs are female polygonal.
The Lothars do have less fouling partially because there are no sharp edges to collect copper and carbon and also distort the bullet less.
The Lothars are lapped just like the Pac Nors that Noveske uses. The Lothar
LW50 will out last any other stainless 416R barrels which includes PacNor/Noveske.
Both will produce sub moa if chambered correctly and the ammo is loaded corrrectly.
Conversely, Noveske barrels can do what Krieger barrels cannot. Krieger recommends that you not fire NATO pressure loads in their 5.56mm match chambered barrels. They have said that this chamber is "a little too tight" for that. While I realize that some individuals like to push their luck firing high pressure loads from Krieger barrels, I for one will not be inviting Murphy to my ballistic party.
On the other hand, Noveske barrels with the Novekse Match Mod 0 chamber were made for safely firing NATO pressure, heavy OTM loads. The following is a quote form Novekse's website:
"The Noveske Match Mod 0 chamber is designed to offer 100% reliability while retaining maximum possible accuracy. The chamber body is slightly larger than the 5.56mm NATO minimum, but within the 5.56 NATO tolerance. The throat is redesigned for proper bullet alignment with the axis of the bore. This chamber was developed to fire MK262 Mod 1 on AUTO in hot environments."