AR-15 Barrel?

lawndoctor1 · November 10, 2016, 02:28 PM

Do you prefer the look of a shiny stainless steel barrel,or a all black barrel?

rickyrick · November 10, 2016, 03:20 PM

Depends on the rifle..

marine6680 · November 10, 2016, 04:04 PM

My preference is the black look. Even on rifles that are not an AR.

So I would go with melonite treated if I was to get a stainless barrel.

Adamantium · November 12, 2016, 05:26 PM

Is your primary concern looks, price, accuracy or longevity?

Duzell · November 12, 2016, 06:21 PM

id say its relative to the function of the rifle and type if rifle you have

some guns with stainless look fine all raw metal and polished

some look perfectly fine camo, or solid color

its up to its owner to make its beauty shine in its function

stagpanther · November 12, 2016, 07:45 PM

416 for me most of the time--don't care much how the outside is finished.

rickyrick · November 12, 2016, 08:47 PM

You can have it both ways, stainless and black.
This is a phosphated 416r barrel

HughScot · November 12, 2016, 09:19 PM

I got a shiny stainless by mistake and when I saw it I sent to right back. IMHO it looked terrible.

stagpanther · November 12, 2016, 11:30 PM

you can take some abrasive cloth (forget what the stuff is called) and just a few minutes of buffing will take that shiny out.

Ibmikey · November 13, 2016, 11:06 AM

I have a large number of AR's with a variety of barrel profiles and steel including several that are bright stainless. One of my SS barrels (Rainier) has a dark coating over the stainless, one has a 15" rail and another a 13" rail, in any event very little shiny metal is exposed. I do not use those rifles for hunting so the shine is a moot issue with me. The bright barrels have a Wylde chamber and have proven themselves quite accurate so in my experience a good barrel is a good barrel whether 4150 steel or stainless if set up correctly, fed good ammo and the shooter does his part.

rightside · November 13, 2016, 12:24 PM

I like shiny or matte. If I use it for hunting , I just wrap it with camo tape.

Gunslick · November 13, 2016, 07:03 PM

I go with a hammer forged barrel from BCM which is FN made I am pretty sure. My friends 416 Stainless BCM barreled upper up against my 14.5 BFH (hammer forged) barreld BCM upper are pretty close in accuracy even with my extremely high round count. about .75-1 moa difference favor to the Stainless barrel at 200 yards using 77 SMK rounds. I always go hammer forged with a barrel. But then again I always go BCM. Don't cheap out when buying your parts or uppers, IMHO, when building a fighting rifle/defensive rifle go high quality or go home. No, a DPMS is not going to stand up to a BCM. Check out how companies like Bravo Co. high pressure test and mag. particle inspect their bolts and barrels. Brands such as DPMS, or Ruger (IIRC) and even Smith and Wesson do not HP or MP test their bolts and barrels...unless they just started doing so.

rickyrick · November 13, 2016, 07:14 PM

I went the route of using a different type for each AR.

I got a CHF chrome lined FN barrel.
I got a plain 4150 moly
416r stainless
Got an aero QPQ barrel, is sort of a dark gunmetal grey color.
A Balistic Advantage Nitrided(QPQ) barrel and it is shiny black.

Appearance wise, I like the AeroPrecision the best.

The plain moly barrel, it "seems" more accurate than the others. I have no evidence, however. It was also the cheapest @ $80.00 from Anderson... I will revisit doing some real testing later on...

Ibmikey · November 13, 2016, 11:23 PM

Ricky, Funny the colors on Aero and Ballistic Advantage differ as Ballistic makes both, my Aero barrels are deep gray I have not bought from Ballistic as the same barrel is a few bucks more than Aero and Aero is here in Wash state.

Mobuck · November 14, 2016, 06:46 AM

My new "duty AR" has a SS barrel. Only advantage I see is it's easy to pick out of the rack. I can't say it's an improvement over any other material/'finish--just different.

November 10, 2016, 02:28 PM	#1
lawndoctor1 Member Join Date: October 29, 2016 Posts: 76	AR-15 Barrel? Do you prefer the look of a shiny stainless steel barrel,or a all black barrel?

November 12, 2016, 05:26 PM	#4
Adamantium Senior Member Join Date: June 6, 1999 Location: El Paso, TX Posts: 1,021	Is your primary concern looks, price, accuracy or longevity? __________________ New gun, same ol' shot.

November 12, 2016, 06:21 PM	#5
Duzell Senior Member Join Date: October 30, 2011 Location: Monterey Posts: 803	id say its relative to the function of the rifle and type if rifle you have some guns with stainless look fine all raw metal and polished some look perfectly fine camo, or solid color its up to its owner to make its beauty shine in its function __________________ Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism. -GW Last edited by Duzell; November 14, 2016 at 04:27 PM.

November 12, 2016, 07:45 PM	#6
stagpanther Senior Member Join Date: March 2, 2014 Posts: 11,787	416 for me most of the time--don't care much how the outside is finished. __________________ "Everyone speaks gun."--Robert O'Neill *I am NOT an expert--I do not have any formal experience or certification in firearms use or testing; use any information I post at your own risk!*

November 12, 2016, 11:30 PM	#9
stagpanther Senior Member Join Date: March 2, 2014 Posts: 11,787	you can take some abrasive cloth (forget what the stuff is called) and just a few minutes of buffing will take that shiny out. __________________ "Everyone speaks gun."--Robert O'Neill *I am NOT an expert--I do not have any formal experience or certification in firearms use or testing; use any information I post at your own risk!*

November 10, 2016, 03:20 PM	#2
rickyrick Senior Member Join Date: March 15, 2010 Posts: 8,237	Depends on the rifle..

November 10, 2016, 04:04 PM	#3
marine6680 Senior Member Join Date: July 24, 2012 Location: Parker, CO Posts: 4,594	My preference is the black look. Even on rifles that are not an AR. So I would go with melonite treated if I was to get a stainless barrel.

November 12, 2016, 08:47 PM	#7
rickyrick Senior Member Join Date: March 15, 2010 Posts: 8,237	You can have it both ways, stainless and black. This is a phosphated 416r barrel

November 12, 2016, 09:19 PM	#8
HughScot Senior Member Join Date: July 4, 2016 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 166	I got a shiny stainless by mistake and when I saw it I sent to right back. IMHO it looked terrible.

November 13, 2016, 11:06 AM	#10
Ibmikey Senior Member Join Date: June 1, 2013 Location: Now relocated to Texas Posts: 2,943	I have a large number of AR's with a variety of barrel profiles and steel including several that are bright stainless. One of my SS barrels (Rainier) has a dark coating over the stainless, one has a 15" rail and another a 13" rail, in any event very little shiny metal is exposed. I do not use those rifles for hunting so the shine is a moot issue with me. The bright barrels have a Wylde chamber and have proven themselves quite accurate so in my experience a good barrel is a good barrel whether 4150 steel or stainless if set up correctly, fed good ammo and the shooter does his part.

November 13, 2016, 12:24 PM	#11
rightside Senior Member Join Date: February 4, 2012 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 419	I like shiny or matte. If I use it for hunting , I just wrap it with camo tape.

November 13, 2016, 07:03 PM	#12
Gunslick Senior Member Join Date: July 3, 2016 Posts: 321	I go with a hammer forged barrel from BCM which is FN made I am pretty sure. My friends 416 Stainless BCM barreled upper up against my 14.5 BFH (hammer forged) barreld BCM upper are pretty close in accuracy even with my extremely high round count. about .75-1 moa difference favor to the Stainless barrel at 200 yards using 77 SMK rounds. I always go hammer forged with a barrel. But then again I always go BCM. Don't cheap out when buying your parts or uppers, IMHO, when building a fighting rifle/defensive rifle go high quality or go home. No, a DPMS is not going to stand up to a BCM. Check out how companies like Bravo Co. high pressure test and mag. particle inspect their bolts and barrels. Brands such as DPMS, or Ruger (IIRC) and even Smith and Wesson do not HP or MP test their bolts and barrels...unless they just started doing so.

November 13, 2016, 07:14 PM	#13
rickyrick Senior Member Join Date: March 15, 2010 Posts: 8,237	I went the route of using a different type for each AR. I got a CHF chrome lined FN barrel. I got a plain 4150 moly 416r stainless Got an aero QPQ barrel, is sort of a dark gunmetal grey color. A Balistic Advantage Nitrided(QPQ) barrel and it is shiny black. Appearance wise, I like the AeroPrecision the best. The plain moly barrel, it "seems" more accurate than the others. I have no evidence, however. It was also the cheapest @ $80.00 from Anderson... I will revisit doing some real testing later on...

November 13, 2016, 11:23 PM	#14
Ibmikey Senior Member Join Date: June 1, 2013 Location: Now relocated to Texas Posts: 2,943	Ricky, Funny the colors on Aero and Ballistic Advantage differ as Ballistic makes both, my Aero barrels are deep gray I have not bought from Ballistic as the same barrel is a few bucks more than Aero and Aero is here in Wash state.

November 14, 2016, 06:46 AM	#15
Mobuck Junior member Join Date: February 2, 2010 Posts: 6,846	My new "duty AR" has a SS barrel. Only advantage I see is it's easy to pick out of the rack. I can't say it's an improvement over any other material/'finish--just different.