Who makes a good mid-gas, 16" AR barrel? I want longevity... FN?

I just built two AR's during the "lockdown", both using Ballistic Advantage barrels - a mid gas 16" and a carbine gas 10.3" pistol.

Both have the Hanson profile, and are from the premium black nitrided stainless series with 1:8 twist and Wylde chambers. Both also came with gas blocks pre-drilled for coil pinning.

Also just built a "simple" upper with a fixed front sight base mid gas gov't 16" barrel from Aero Precision, which is made by Ballistic Advantage. This one is 5.56 NATO 1:7 4150 CMV nitrided.

Now that things are opening up I can test them...

Faxon gets good marks for quality and value - the gunner line is similar to the B.A. Hanson - both are a medium taper that is heavier than a pencil barrel but lighter than gov't barrel but better balanced and designed to reduce barrel whip.

Criterion's hybrid and new CORE line are highly regarded and they can do chrome lining well enough not to affect accuracy compared to non-lined barrels.

For Cold Hammer Forged gov't barrels, Daniel Defense is best, FN less so.

For a precision build - Krieger.

Edited to add - adjustable gas blocks are good for race guns where you have to find the ideal balance between reliability and minimizing recoil for followup shots with a specific load. For general purpose or fighting guns, they are another potential failure mode. Just about everything in the gas block of a DI AR will get frozen up with carbon. My first AR had a clamp on aluminum railed gas block that loosened up early on. I replaced it with something better and could not get the gas tube out of the block due to carbon "glue". Adjustable gas blocks, if not regularly adjusted through their range, and cleaned will likely freeze up too.

What is the answer? Get a barrel with the gas port drilled to the correct size for real ammo (not over gassed to run weak crap), align the gas block properly and have it pinned to prevent any chance of set screws backing off. This makes it still easy to remove to change barrel nuts for different handguards, instead of using rocket on the set screw (loctite will loosen up when the gas block gets hot). Then adjust the buffer weight between H1, H2, and H3 for your preferred load(s). H1 should be fine for a mid-length.

quote:

Originally posted by Scooter123:
I have used the linked adjustable on all 3 of my AR builds. Because I learned that if you tune the gas supply to the minimum required to cycle reliably you'll spend a lot less time cleaning the rifle than you would with a standard Mil Spec gas block. In addition it also softens the recoil impulse and reduces muzzle flip. The Syrac unit is detented with many small stages so it's great for fine tuning the gas supply.

https://www.brownells.com/rifl...block-prod67679.aspx

All the adjustible gas blocks listed on the page have been discontinued.

quote:

Originally posted by ShneaSIG:
Who makes a good mid-gas, 16" AR barrel? I want longevity... FN?

BCM BFH
Centurion
FN
Criterion
DD
Sionics
I'm sure there are others, or capable OEMs making private label barrels of high quality that fly under the radar.


BA is decent but doesn't have the best track record. Inconsistent port sizes, misaligned gas blocks from the factory, poor gas seals on their gas blocks, misaligned extension/gas port.

Not that every manufacturer isn't capable of making bad parts, but my opinion of BA has gone downhill in a hurry. My 8.3" 300 Hanson premium is a trash barrel, it's getting ejected as soon as I care to tear that gun apart.

Nitride or chrome lined?

Nitride. Better accuracy, no noticeable difference in durability for most folks.

I still like the idea of 416R stainless 1:8 Wylde and Nitrided to get the hardness and longevity up.

quote:

Originally posted by Chowser:
Aero just released their version

http://enews.aeroprecisionusa....af5fLB8toE-aJT539VxA

I just ordered 2 of these Aero Precision Adjustable Gas Blocks from Arm or Ally.

https://www.armorally.com/shop...select-diameter=.750

Eager to see how they perform.