Sionics Extreme Reduced Gas Port Barrel, Range Report

[arptsprt]

IG,

Understand. Have zero concerns that Sionics will take care of me.

Proof of this for those interested, Sionics saw my post here and reached out to me directly via email this weekend. It was quite the simple fix. The anodizing was a little thick inside the socket and a little elbow grease rotating the swivel for several minutes seemed to do the trick. Admittedly I feel stupid not figuring this out on my own, but now I know, so lessen learned. They did say this was only the second time this has happened.

To top it off, I got a follow up phone call from them today as well. Basically making sure I’m happy with the fix. I’m going to play around with it and if I have any issues again, they will exchange the rail.

As I told the Sionics representative, things happen and to me, this issue is pretty insignificant but they feel very strongly that all of their products are delivered with the highest quality and the customer is happy.

Really above and beyond service. This was my first Sionics product and I can tell you it will not be my last.

Please do contact us. It's the only way an issue can get fixed.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[0uTkAsT]

So, question for those of you with more experience than myself in this area... I'm the type of guy with few guns and no safe queens; I shoot enough to wear out parts and know how dirty my rig is just by how it feels, but don't have a collection of guns and parts to compare different setups side by side, nor have I ever really experimented with gas port sizes, buffer weights, recoil systems and so on.

I've been running an 11.5" BCM mini recce with a Sandman-K (5.56 front cap) and a Geissle Super 42 (H3 config) for the last year and a half. It has been utterly reliable and very accurate. I get little to no excess gas to the face and I'm quite happy with it overall. However, since I run suppressed full time anyways, I'm curious if you all think I might see a significant enough improvement switching from my current setup to, say, an ERGP barrel and A5H2, to justify the expense? I don't have a ton of disposable income to throw around fixing what isn't broken, but I would absolutely upgrade if the juice is worth the squeeze.

[Biggy]

{It has been utterly reliable and very accurate. I get little to no excess gas to the face }

IMHO, it might be hard to improve much over what you now have. Sure, you can reduce the recoil some, but if you shoot cheap low powered ammo it will put you closer to the edge of reliability, especially when your rifle is real dirty, or there is not much lube present or you are shooting in really cold weather.
Your call, just remember, reliability trumps all.

[0uTkAsT]

{It has been utterly reliable and very accurate. I get little to no excess gas to the face }

IMHO, it might be hard to improve much over what you now have. Sure, you can reduce the recoil some, but if you shoot cheap low powered ammo it will put you closer to the edge of reliability, especially when your rifle is real dirty, or there is not much lube present or you are shooting in really cold weather.
Your call, just remember, reliability trumps all.

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it. When I thought about it later, my question was probably pointless since I'm trying to ascertain whether or not the tangible benefits would be night-and-day difference or subtle refinement, and no one could possibly answer that with certainty because there's too many variables and subjectivity at play. Of course the idea of a smoother running, softer recoiling rifle that's gentler on components long-term is very appealing, but as it stands I will just run my BCM until I start to wear it out and start from scratch at that point.

[arptsprt]

Update - Range Report

Went out again today with the Sionics ERGP upper and for fun decided to shoot for accuracy. About 100 rounds today, zero malfunctions.

Shot several 5 and 10 shots groups

100 yds
Ammo was MagTech 62 gr FMJ, Wolf Gold 55 gr, and IMI 77 gr Razor OTM
Aimpoint Pro
ALG ACT Trigger
46 year old eyes
Temp was about 28 degrees
Also paired the H2 with a Sprinco blue spring. Would cycle without the can but not lock back. Going to keep this combo.

Best 10 shot group was with the 77 gr Razor just under 1.75 MOA (1 11/16 inch spread)
Another 5 shot group with the MagTech 62 gr just over 1.5 MOA (1 5/8 inch spread)

Very pleased. That’s with old eyes, a 1x red dot, and so so trigger...

The pics turned 90 degrees counter clockwise for some reason but the 10 shot group had 7 of the 10 in the bull or right on vertical axis a tad low - kind of hard to see.

7542E8A1-168D-4666-87E8-71C0D858EEEE.jpg
50190927-5D87-4E4D-96B0-C642EF79B705.jpg
3607D1D1-F10D-4314-8CE1-60AC5BBDF44A.jpg
80D51558-D890-49F0-9A14-FE15C961153E.jpg

[opngrnd]

Pomyc-impressive shooting! Thank you for sharing.

[Pappabear]

Update - Range Report

Went out again today with the Sionics ERGP upper and for fun decided to shoot for accuracy. About 100 rounds today, zero malfunctions.

Shot several 5 and 10 shots groups

100 yds
Ammo was MagTech 62 gr FMJ, Wolf Gold 55 gr, and IMI 77 gr Razor OTM
Aimpoint Pro
ALG ACT Trigger
46 year old eyes
Temp was about 28 degrees
Also paired the H2 with a Sprinco blue spring. Would cycle without the can but not lock back. Going to keep this combo.

Best 10 shot group was with the 77 gr Razor just under 1.75 MOA (1 11/16 inch spread)
Another 5 shot group with the MagTech 62 gr just over 1.5 MOA (1 5/8 inch spread)

Very pleased. That’s with old eyes, a 1x red dot, and so so trigger...

The pics turned 90 degrees counter clockwise for some reason but the 10 shot group had 7 of the 10 in the bull or right on vertical axis a tad low - kind of hard to see.

7542E8A1-168D-4666-87E8-71C0D858EEEE.jpg
50190927-5D87-4E4D-96B0-C642EF79B705.jpg
3607D1D1-F10D-4314-8CE1-60AC5BBDF44A.jpg
80D51558-D890-49F0-9A14-FE15C961153E.jpg

Thats pretty good for 1X, I bet with right optic this would be MOA with the good stuff all day long. well done.

PB

[opngrnd]

Thats pretty good for 1X, I bet with right optic this would be MOA with the good stuff all day long. well done.

PB

To be honest, I've not shot a Sionics barrel yet that wasn't great in the accuracy department. I've had my hand on 8 different barrels so far, and each one has done well. Five of their 18" barrels (both "Gen 1" and "Gen 2"), one Med-Con 16" mid-length, and two LW 16" mid-lengths. Really a great time to be a consumer with all the great choices we have these days.

EDIT: For clarification, I do not own all 8 previously mentioned barrels. Many of my buddies went from one factory rifle to building a couple rifles a year or so after I did, and we ended up with similar builds. Sionics, BRT, and Colt are the usual culprits among us, with Colt usually being the factory gun. There's a BCM, S&W, and DPMS in the mix somewhere...

[Pappabear]

To be honest, I've not shot a Sionics barrel yet that wasn't great in the accuracy department. I've had my hand on 8 different barrels so far, and each one has done well. Five of their 18" barrels (both "Gen 1" and "Gen 2"), one Med-Con 16" mid-length, and two LW 16" mid-lengths. Really a great time to be a consumer with all the great choices we have these days.

Man that is the truth. You can go buy a $390 bolt gun with MOA Guarntee. It’s just nuts how good mfg has gotten with firearms.

PB

[stxbordergun]

Close to 400 rounds now and gun just flat out runs. Havent cleaned it, just keep dumping Lucas gun oil in there. Have been running mostly suppressed with the heavy buffer and full mass carrier.

Ive got a carbine match later this month so today after ~100 rounds, I switched the gun to "gamer" configuration with the low mass carrier and carbine buffer.

Not big on (or that great at) shooting groups but shot the gun at 100 today with good results: