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I have been looking about to build a little brother to the AR10 I have. This will be used a lot more than big brother.
Reading on barrels, there is this and that and those over there. ( intentionally vague ).

Using longevity then accuracy as the primary function of this modeling why would someone buy a certain type of barrel?
Sure cost will be included. I do not need a barrel that is capable of 15K rounds. ( picking a number out of the air )
I have seen SS barrels, of several different types. I know from my electrical work what SS I use is dependent on the environment.
Most all of the reading I have done boils down to a match grade barrel. Which may or may not be of a certain metal.

Comments for the complete and simple idiot would be appreciated. I want to acquire the parts and begin assembly. Then get out and have some fun.

Thanks for the opinions.
 
I've never really worried about it. I just find a barrel that I like that fits my current budget and I go with it. A good place to look is B King's Firearms. Veteran owned company and they have a decent selection. They carry name brand stuff and have their own line, too.

 
All of my AR platform rifles are 16" - 18" (the 5.56 models are 16 and my 6.5 Grendel & AR-10 are 18"). I suppose it depends on your intended purpose. If you need it for quick handling in a self defense situation, I suppose that a pistol version makes sense (but this is where I would purchase a BRN-180 or a Foxtrot Mike FM-15, as they are 16" 5.56 rifles that can shoot with the stock folded). But if you need to reach out to your target, then 16" and up is where I would be.

 
For longevity, go chrome-lined chromoly steel with a parkerized finish, or go with dipped nitride finish as I've read a nitrided bore is pretty durable and comparable to chrome-lined.

Barrels under 10.5" don't give the 5.56 round the velocity needed to be as effective on a target as it should be.

11.5" barrels (my preferred SBR option) are effectively good for CQB out to maybe 200-meters (with practice), and will give you better dwell time to reliably work the action.

16" (and up) barrels will be less "legal hassle" and give you the best longer range capability. The 5.56 really shines with a 20" barrel, and going much longer than that barrel wise has diminishing returns in increased accuracy and range.
 
For longevity, go chrome-lined chromoly steel with a parkerized finish, or go with dipped nitride finish as I've read a nitrided bore is pretty durable and comparable to chrome-lined.

Barrels under 10.5" don't give the 5.56 round the velocity needed to be as effective on a target as it should be.

11.5" barrels (my preferred SBR option) are effectively good for CQB out to maybe 200-meters (with practice), and will give you better dwell time to reliably work the action.

16" (and up) barrels will be less "legal hassle" and give you the best longer range capability. The 5.56 really shines with a 20" barrel, and going much longer than that barrel wise has diminishing returns in increased accuracy and range.
I train CQB with a 16" or 20" barrel - so when I go CQB with a SBR it's like a handgun.
 
I like "heavy" barrels-- the kind that are of larger diameter under the handguards and something like 0.863" forward of the handguards. I've had stainless and nitrided chrome-moly. I like Picatinny uppers and handguards that have a rail atop and the other three sides to fit M-Lok or the other one, the name of which escapes me at this moment.
 
Some of my adopted anti-BIDEN children............

CC235DAC-9581-4E20-B85B-52AA75496342.jpeg
 
I have a Bear Creek Arsenal .223 Wylde barrel that was a freebie giveaway, and it works just fine. Palmetto State Armory lists many different barrels in stock from 99 bucks up to over $300. It seems to me that the better the barrel, the more likely I'll never shoot it as well as it can be shot. ;) Personally I don't like the M4 profile barrels, but that's personal preference. Nowadays, it's whatever is actually IN stock.
https://palmettostatearmory.com/ar-...5-56-223.html?stock_filter=Show+Only+In+Stock
 
16" (and up) barrels will be less "legal hassle" and give you the best longer-range capability.
I'm sure most of us know this, but a barrel shorter than 16" when assembled onto the upper receiver cannot be assembled onto the lower receiver until the tax stamp is received. To do so makes the mating of the two tantamount to possessing an unlicensed Class III wheppin.

Yes, I know you did it in your garage, the door down, at night, on a moonless night with thick cloud cover. Still, just not something anyone should do. Maybe I think this way because I'm the kind who will stop at a stopsign 25 miles out in the desert, set there for several seconds, then proceed. You never know if there's a Smokey Bear half a mile up the road, watching you through field glasses. You blow through that stopsign, he hits the overheads and you've got a moving violation. My last one was February 2, 2001; not at all interested in getting another anytime soon...
 
I'm sure most of us know this, but a barrel shorter than 16" when assembled onto the upper receiver cannot be assembled onto the lower receiver until the tax stamp is received. To do so makes the mating of the two tantamount to possessing an unlicensed Class III wheppin.

Yes, I know you did it in your garage, the door down, at night, on a moonless night with thick cloud cover. Still, just not something anyone should do. Maybe I think this way because I'm the kind who will stop at a stopsign 25 miles out in the desert, set there for several seconds, then proceed. You never know if there's a Smokey Bear half a mile up the road, watching you through field glasses. You blow through that stopsign, he hits the overheads and you've got a moving violation. My last one was February 2, 2001; not at all interested in getting another anytime soon...
A slight addition, as it were - you CAN mate a pistol length upper to an AR PISTOL lower, that has never been assembled into a rifle. The Short Barreled Rifle is a product of NFA '34, and was only added by an addled Congresscritter who didn't know what he was saying...
Oh, my last, and first moving violation was in an armored truck...literally 30 years ago. People say I drive like Granny, and I say, (to them), you wish your insurance was as low as mine. ;)
 
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I am a babe in the woods when it comes to the assembly of parts to make a AR anything. I got interested in the concept when a buddy claimed to have wholesale access to all the parts. Then came the his concept of machining parts using a drill press. I am a specs kind of guy and a drill press is not a tool I want to use for machining fire arm parts for assembly. Might be fine in the hands of a person who knows what they are doing. I do not, in this area.
I do appreciate all of the replies, information is a tool one can use for his benefit.
 
I'm sure most of us know this, but a barrel shorter than 16" when assembled onto the upper receiver cannot be assembled onto the lower receiver until the tax stamp is received. To do so makes the mating of the two tantamount to possessing an unlicensed Class III wheppin.

Yes, I know you did it in your garage, the door down, at night, on a moonless night with thick cloud cover. Still, just not something anyone should do. Maybe I think this way because I'm the kind who will stop at a stopsign 25 miles out in the desert, set there for several seconds, then proceed. You never know if there's a Smokey Bear half a mile up the road, watching you through field glasses. You blow through that stopsign, he hits the overheads and you've got a moving violation. My last one was February 2, 2001; not at all interested in getting another anytime soon...


I was actually inferring not having to hassle with obtaining "AFT" permission slips to travel outside your state of residence with an SBR… not getting caught illegally assembling an SBR.
 
A slight addition, as it were - you CAN mate a pistol length upper to an AR PISTOL lower, that has never been assembled into a rifle.
True. You'd have to start with a stripped lower that was never before transferred to you as a long gun. If a man actually does assemble a pistol upper onto a lower that was earlier transferred as a long gun, he has assembled an SBR sans the completion, application and approval of the Form 1. Felony. Ten years in prison. $250,000 fine. Loss of voting rights.
Oh, my last, and first moving violation was in an armored truck...literally 30 years ago. People say I drive like Granny, and I say, (to them), you wish your insurance was as low as mine. ;)
I have very inexpensive auto insurance, too. I had 21st Century, which was then converted to Bristol West. These are internet companies and as such, operate at much less money than do brick & mortar agencies. I think both aforementioned companies are part of the Farmers Group. My insurance is around $1.10 per day on one vehicle.
 
All of the posters have opened my eyes to a lot of things I was not aware of. I still am of the mind set that I do not need to learn navigate the mine field. Nor do I need to acquire a 3d metal printer. Only have one left on the bucket list one which is completely unreasonable. A Browning BAR the M1918. Way to heavy and I do not own a 3006 set of dies. Who knows I could change my mind
 
I have bought no name barrels, Carbon and Stainless Steel. On the other hand, I also have a 18" Noveske barrel and several Faxon barrels. I like sweet Sixteen inch mostly. I do have a Aero Precision and a PSA 10.5" on AR-15 Pistols. Barrels all seem to work for me.
 
All of my ARs' are billet uppers and lowers sets are made from the same machine shop with the exception of my .556 which is built on Arms Tech lower with a Mega one piece upper/handguard. I do have different companies sets though. The AR 15 are all 16" be it the .556, 6.8 SPCII or the 300BO. The AR10 (which is technically a SR25) in 7.62X51 has a 18" barrel. The .556 and the 7.62X51 have folding stocks with collapsible buttstocks. All of them have Velocity Triggers in them and all of of the controls are the same on each gun, so learn/train with one, that way they are all alike. I like to buy middle of the road barrels from lightweight to heavy weights as most guns will shoot well and barrels are cheap enough to throw away if there is a problem with them. On the other hand I have access to high quality bolt and carriers from local vendors that I get for what a cheap bolt and carrier are.
 

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