4150 Steel or 416R SS

[Zforzachariah14]

I'm new to the AR building and have got my lower built and everything ready for my upper. I've read where 4150 chromelined last longer than Stainless 416R but SS tends to be more accurate. I really don't think I will burn out a barrel for I plan to coyote and hog hunt mostly with my AR and plink every now and then as well. Would I be better off with the Radical 4150 Chrome lined or the PSA Midlenth Stainless 416R.. I have read good things about Radical but I know PSA makes good uppers as well.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

 

[Radar363]

How accurate do you need it to be? Most chrome lined barrels should be good enough for hunting in GA unless you're taking some really long shots.
I've never used Radicals products but have several PSA barreled uppers, including one of their early 16 inch SS midlength uppers, but I also built a couple of very accurate uppers using White Oak Armament SS barrels, a 16" midlength & an 18" rifle length.
A little more money but definitely worth it.

 

[wsbrown]

I am currently using a PSA CHF/CL and a MAS Defense stainless barrel in 300 BO, both are equally accurate using 150 gr. FMJBT handloads. Both produces a group that a quarter will cover at 50 yards. All things considered, both are just as durable as the other for semi auto civillian use and you will probably never wear either one out. Even if you do, thats the beauty of the AR, for ~$150 and 30 minutes of your time you can have a new barrel installed.

 

[SOLGardener]

This is anecdotal, but I type it to show that there is no "one answer". I recently bought a cheap 4150 non-chromelined barrel at a gun shop to finish off an upper I've had looming. The barrel was $90. It's a midlength gas, "govt" profile made by Anderson using a Green Mountain blank. It looks decent, but it's cheap. After getting it, I decided I wanted a bit better barrel and upper, so I ordered a Ballistic Advantage 16" midlength, 416R gov't profile. I found it on sale for $150, normal price $198, with a 1MOA guarantee. The cheap barrel is on a BCM upper and Fortis rail. The Ballistic Advantage barrel is in a BCM KMR rail on a Spikes upper. I took both to my secret range, lasered to 80 yards (100 would put me in the weeds), using a Bushnell Tactical 1-6.5x24 scope in a Larue mount. Using the same bolt group, firing from a bipod and rear rest, using 77gr Nosler reloads at 2,700 fps, the $90 barrel produced a .982" 5 shot group with 4 of the shots in .526". I won't call the 5th shot a flier. It just is what it is. The Ballistic advantage upper produced two groups, one measuring 2.96" and the other at 2.89".

Ballistic Advantage is replacing the barrel for free since it's outside of their guarantee. I sent them the group sizes and conditions I was shooting in and they sent me a return postage to send it back. I can't say that Anderson would do as much, but I'm not needing to.

Point is, paying more for a 416R doesn't ensure tight groups. a chrome lined 4150 isn't automatically going to be inferior.

We'll see what the replacement barrel does.

I've since taken the $90 upper (what I'm calling it- actually have about $3fitty in it) back out and shot 5 back to back 5 shot groups and one 15 shot group that all measure under 1" at 100 yards.

 

[Zforzachariah14]

I can shoot as far as I'm comfortable in areas, but most shots will be 1-200 yards. I didn't think me, personally, would shoot either enough to wear neither of the 2 barrels out. I saw where Primary Arms has the Radical Firearms 5.56 16" 1:9 Upper Receiver - 12" FGS Handguard for $199 and PSA has the 16" Midlength Stainless 5.56 NATO 1:7 15" Keymod Freedom Upper for $269. Being my first build, I wanted to more less get the experience of building the lower, play around with it, and then build one from scratch and spend a little more on it. So I guess in a nutshell, I'm asking which of the 2 would be better for me? In all honesty, I don't think there is really a clear answer at which would be better as just pick one and don't like, get the other.

 

[Radar363]

Well some will disagree with me but if you're serious about hunting I'd go with a 1/7 rifled barrel to use heavier bullets. My SS barrels all have 1/8 rifling and the chrome lined barrels are 1/7. 1/9 will stabilize 55 grain bullets all day and may work with heavier bullets but some don't.

 

[Zforzachariah14]

Well some will disagree with me but if you're serious about hunting I'd go with a 1/7 rifled barrel to use heavier bullets. My SS barrels all have 1/8 rifling and the chrome lined barrels are 1/7. 1/9 will stabilize 55 grain bullets all day and may work with heavier bullets but some don't.

You are right. I think 1/7 twist would fit my needs a lot better. I want to shoot at least 62 grain and I think 75 grain would be better for hogs anyways. As far as SS vs chrome lined, I think I have a better chance at just flipping a coin and just trying one out than one being superior to the other

 

[SOLGardener]

Yep, I agree with the twist rate point. The $90 is 1:7 and the 416R is 1:8. I don't think twist rate plays any role whatsoever in the accuracy variation I saw, but I don't care for 1:9.

BTW, both barrels chronoed consistently averaging 2710fps. My Noveske 18" was running the same ammo at 2740, so not much is lost for the 2" less barrel.

Also, the $90 barrel is a 5.56 chamber and the Ballistic Advantage is a .223 Wylde chamber. It recoils noticeably more, so likely just more pressure due to the tighter chamber, but the chamber did nothing for accuracy, maybe even negatively influenced it?

 

[Twitch2120]

1 in 8 is enough to stabilize 77 gr bullets. Pretty much the limit in 224 bullet weights. 7 twist is needed if you want to shoot the 85/90 gr class