Criterion vs FN CHF Barrels

[elephantrider]

Pretty much all of the 16" FN middy's are what some would be considered "overgassed" or at the top end of the desirable gas port size. My old Mountain barrel was a gas ring eatin' MFer. Probably changed those out 2x more than other guns.

Again...it's a $275ish (give or take depending on who's name is on it) barrel. Some people can't accept it for what it is.

The Centurion 16" barrels (and pretty sure the 14.5s did as well) come with 0.080" ports, which is a tad too large IMO. Did you happen to check the port size on that Mountain barrel? If it isn't related to excess gas drive from the barrel, I'd assume gas ring issues are due to the bolt carrier inside diameter.

[elephantrider]

Looking for Opinions on Both:
Criterion Barrels vs FN CHF ( taking the profile differences out). Which would be preferable?

That all depends on what your performance, and purchase priorities are. What do you want out of the barrel? There have been a ton of responses on this topic, but little info on what the OP actually wants/needs.

I have been told by gunsmiths and barrel makers CHF is only a cheap way to pump out barrels. ( The Criterion does have an advantage with the Wylde chamber)

That's not true, and not even remotely the whole story on one barrel mfg method vs another, and really has little bearing on an AR15 barrel purchase choice anyway. If it were true the market would be flooded with CHF barrels for under $100. However, that is not what we see. We see lots of bargain bin barrels that are typically button rifled. The CHF barrels are usually the most expensive, and make up a minority of barrels on the market. AGAIN, what matters is what you want/need out of a barrel.

[pointblank4445]

No idea. The story was told to me by a student who was with me in a Blowers class, who had witnessed this issue at a Defoor class he had attended a just a few weeks prior.

I also had a friend that was averaging 4 MOA out of his new SR-15 Mod 2, using various factory match ammo; using his handloads, he was able to get down to 2 MOA on occasion. He had to send that back to KAC, who said it was due to a burr at the gas port. I believe after coming back from KAC he was getting around an MOA with factory match ammo.

Here's one of the Hodge barrels earlier today. I call it the Au Mock 1.75 since I pieced it together and it's somewhere between a Mod 1.5 and 2. I swapped out the scopes and did a 12-round confirmation after resetting my elevation (the windage was frozen) at the end. BHA red box 77gr.

Given the cold/wind, 4x scope, off the pack, and circumventing a 4' snow drift on my half-dozen trips down range during the zero process (because I didn't bring my spotting scope or binos)...it wasn't bad

I called shot #2 was called wide right, shot #5 was called wide left.

[pointblank4445]

The Centurion 16" barrels (and pretty sure the 14.5s did as well) come with 0.080" ports, which is a tad too large IMO. Did you happen to check the port size on that Mountain barrel? If it isn't related to excess gas drive from the barrel, I'd assume gas ring issues are due to the bolt carrier inside diameter.

I never checked that barrel; I wasn't in tune enough to gas port sizes at that point. That was back when people were still debating on whether 14.5 middy's were GTG or not if that tells you how long ago that was. I also used a lighter buffer and spring than I would now and the carrier in that gun was from a vendor I don't normally use. Probably all that and a diet of full-strength loads could've added up, but it never skipped a beat.

[calvin118]

I have owned several 16 inch Centurion barrels and the ports were all smaller than . 080, .078-9 as best I could measure. That said I think too much is made of relatively small differences in gas port size. I used a .073 insert to reduce one of the uppers to an equivalent of .075 gas port. I shot it side-by-side with an identically configured upper and lower combination without the gas port modification. I could definitely tell the difference in perceived bolt momentum in recoil but there was absolutely no difference in speed or accuracy on a timer in any drill that I tried, and I burned through a whole lot of factory m193 ammo trying to find a difference.

[sentinel77]

What are your goals?

CHF was indeed originally created to efficiently and economically produce barrels. It is not necessarily “cheap” as far as low quality goes however. My Noveske 12.5” will put ten rounds of my 77 grain match ammo into ~1.25” at 100 yards. I expect my 16” Centurion medium-profile to do the same based on what I’ve read about this particular barrel (both the Noveske and Centurion are FN-made).

In contrast, my 16” Criterion will put the same ten rounds into 0.6 MOA. Unless extreme accuracy is the concern, I’d say either will work for you. If that level of precision is what you’re after, I’d say skip both and get a Bartlein or Krieger from Compass Lake.

Which Criterion barrel did you get (hybrid or pencil contour)? And did you need their bcm headspaced bolt to achieve their advertised accuracy claims?