Originally Posted by
mosin46
looking at a build with one on it. have looked and asked all over,so trying here. what do people have in the way of direct knowledge or experience? i have heard everything from "MOA for sure and if not they correct it" to horrible machining and no CS. i am not asking what you think i should put on a gun or what is a better barrel. i know better barrels. i am asking specifically about experience with BA barrels. the build is mostly aero and gissele parts and a linked barrel add for $160,so at least rather suspect.
I've built a bunch of AR's with BA barrels, both for myself and for others. I've never experienced an accuracy or fit and finish issue with any of them. I've personally zeroed every rifle I've built and checked it for accuracy (along with everything else) and with good ammo, every one of those AR's accuracy-wise performed as advertised. Of that "bunch of AR's" at least 10 have been with either a 14.5 BA Hanson (5.56) or their Pencil profile, and every single one of those guns shot sub-moa. I've built 300BLK's with their 8.3 Hanson profile and 9" Performance barrels, and even with subsonic ammo, they performed exceptionally. My all-time favorite barrels is the 10.3 Hanson. I'd put that barrel up against any 10.3 made by anyone. It's the smoothest shooting, accurate short barrel rifle I've built or shot, including other folks AR's. Their 12.5 is another outstanding barrel, and I just WISH I could find one. I've also built a few AR's with their 416R SS barrels. My first 308 had an 18" rifle gassed SS barrel and even at 250-300 yards, it shot sub-moa.
I've had some experience with their customer service and it's been hit or miss. USUALLY, it's a hit. I've called them and had them pull a barrel that was boxed and ready to ship, so they could pin the GB for me. (I forgot a couple of times to add that to the cart...) I have also emailed and called them with questions, which I've usually gotten through or received an answer within a couple of days, but I've also waited 4-5 days to hear back. It wasn't urgent, but that's still a long time to wait for a question to be answered, so if there's one area I would say BA should improve in, it would be customer service. It wouldn't surprise me though that with COVID affecting so many businesses that they are slower to respond these days because I've had commo issues with several reputable businesses that have taken upwards to a week and longer to get a response from. Some companies like DSG Arms hasn't missed a beat though. But bottom line, BA could be more responsive on the CS side.
As I mentioned, I have never had an issue with a BA barrel, but I would guess that there may be some people who have had problems, but with the AR platform, there are a few factors that can affect the accuracy of a rifle, and so there's a possibility that their barrel was fine, but there were other underlying issues they either could not or did not investigate or mitigate. For context, of the close to 50 AR's I have built, I think about 80% have been with Ballistic Advantage barrels. Daniel Defense comes in second, followed by Centurion Arms, and the rest would be Noveske, Rainier. Faxon, and even BCM. I'd never pass up a good deal on a DD CHF, Noveske CHF, or a Rainier SS barrel, but pretty much, when I'm tasked to build an AR for someone, the barrel I will use will be a BA, unless they ask otherwise and they never have. I've had specific applications where I wanted another barrel like a DD CHF, but I would not hesitate for a second to buy a BA.
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