In praise of the Sionics LW middy barrel

[rockapede]

I assembled the bottom rifle in the pic above a while back and, after a few hundred rounds for an initial function check, haven’t been able to shoot it due to a motorcycle wreck/broken radius. It’s essentially all Sionics with the exception of a slick side, no FA upper receiver. That’s a personal preference of mine because I shoot rifles left-handed (I’m cross dominant in the extreme). The trigger is Sionics’s enhanced milspec trigger. Quality overall is predictably good; however, I’m most impressed by the barrel both in how it’s gassed and its accuracy.

Today, I finally said screw it and went to the range, cast and all. Shooting from a bench wasn’t much of a hindrance (right arm injury). I took several springs and buffers for experimentation. My duty rifles have to be able to function with relatively low powered .223 due to my agency’s asinine purchasing decisions so I was curious to see if I could find a failure point. That point appears to be Sprinco blue/H2 buffer for our training load; I was getting intermittent failure to lock back and FTF issues. Duty load (Federal T223A...also stupid) was 100% reliable with this setup and smoooth. Dropping back to an H buffer with the blue spring got me 95% of the way there and swapping to a BCM carbine spring brought it to 100% reliability, even dirty and dry-ish. IMO, this barrel is ported just about perfectly for reliable function without having to deal with over-gassing issues across the ammunition spectrum.

The accuracy of this lightweight, chrome lined barrel is impressive as well. I shot groups at the beginning of the day with Speer 75 grain Gold Dot, which has been accurate in the past. Position was benched off of sandbags. Light rain but no wind. I was getting consistent, repeatable 1.25 to 1.5 MOA 5 shot groups at 100m, even as the barrel warmed up some. I know every other rifle on the internet is “sub 1/2 MOA” but I’ll take my results all day long and twice on Sunday, especially with a good-but-milspec-style trigger and 6x magnification.

Sorry for the book. Short version: do recommend.

[monty_d_33]

I have two, and love em’ both


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[titsonritz]

I like mine. Plan to buy more.

[26 Inf]

Mine is also a keeper, it doesn't get used much because it is on my wife's rifle, but I shoot it now and again.

Would not hesitate to buy another.

[ssc]

Interesting timing for this post. I was shooting groups two days ago. I am planning on shooting some competitions which will be going out to 400 yards. I took out 3 guns including a sionics with a LW mid barrel. In shooting 5-10 round groups with both factory and my reloads, the sionics consistently shot under 2MOA. I was using a 1-4 scope. Shooting groups is not my favorite thing to do. On another rifle with a lightweight barrel, (that I have been using in short range competition) no matter what I feed it, it shoots 4MOA. I was using a 1-6. The third rifle has always been a sub MOA rifle. It was built years ago by Wes Grant and has a medium weight Noveske barrel. I was using a nightforce scope and it shot sub MOA. In conclusion, I will be ordering another sionics for competition. Both of my sionics rifles continue to impress and they are my dedicated house/SHTF guns, so I now have an excuse to buy another one.

[Disciple]

Have these been discontinued? I can't find them.

[titsonritz]

Have these been discontinued? I can't find them.

That sucks. It looks like only their medium contour is available, on the uppers and rifles as well. That is a shame, I'm glad I bought an extra one. I'd call Josh and crew to make sure.

[markm]

They lost me when they quit doing FSBs pinned.

[titsonritz]

They lost me when they quit doing FSBs pinned.

My daughter scored a 16" LW FSB mid that was a used as a demo for dirt cheap. I've already told her she better never sell it unless it is to me.

[Disciple]

That sucks. It looks like only their medium contour is available, on the uppers and rifles as well. That is a shame, I'm glad I bought an extra one. I'd call Josh and crew to make sure.

Are your barrels hard chrome or nitride? Is this out-of-stock listing a different barrel? https://www.primaryarms.com/sionics-...l-nitride-16in