Primary Arms was running a barrel sale over the last week and I saw the precision defense 16" mid length barrels on sale for $60. For that price I figured why not, I have a bunch of extra parts laying to build another upper I bought one. Did some research online and seeing basically nothing about them I figured I'd post some basic info and an initial impression. I'll continue to update this post as I progress on the build, and provide whatever data and testing I have. Pictures are attached in the imgur album here. https://imgur.com/a/6xqJkZA Now on to the details.
The Barrel is a 16" mid length gas, medium profile, pretty much a .750 diameter the entirety of the length, .750 gas journal with a standard shoulder. The journal is long enough to take either low profile gas blocks or a standard FSB. One siginificant note is the barrel is not dimpled, not a deal breaker for me as I have an SLR Dimple jig which I'll be using, and for $60 I really can't bitch too much. The gas port pin gauges out at .078. I did notice a small shoulder inside the gas port which measured out at .080, then the port continues down into the lands and grooves at .078. The gas port lines up perfevtly with the pin on the barrel extension so no alignment issues there.
The threading on the muzzle is decent, accepted a variety of random 1/2x28 flash hiders I had laying around with zero issues. One thing of note is the space between the threading and the shoulder is definitely larger than what I have seen on other barrels. With a crush washer its a non issue, but shim's you could possible need more than average to properly time the muzzle device properly.
The crown is ok, not the best but not the worst I've seen. You can visibly see where the lands and grooves extend out to the crown, when I get everything together and shoot it we'll see what the results are.
Barrel extension has some minor dings/handling marks but nothing that would affect the capability to install inside the upper. I tested it in an Aero M4E1, Expo Arms forged. And BCM Forged upper, in the Aero and Expo uppers it was pretty much a drop in fit with proper alignment. On the BCM it was a little tighter, but still not a thermal fit. The extension headspaced properly with a Toolcraft Nitride bolt that was brand new. I did not check headspace with any other bolts.
Overall, theres minor fit and finish issues, but nothing right of the bat that makes it a complete dud. Once the gas block and a couple other small parts come in, I'll get everything put together and get some range result. I'll be running it on an LMT Defender lower with a standard carbine spring and H buffer. Check back in a little bit and I'll have some updates for ya
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Originally Posted by georgeib
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