Barrels

Occasionally I will get an e-mail from someone asking about the barrels I use and how long I go before putting on a new one. I really don't have the answer most people expect since I change barrels based more on time of year rather than how many shots I have through it. Here is my methodology for barrel replacement.

I have two upper receivers. During any given year one upper, which has been re-barreled over the winter, will be the one I use to shoot across the course in that year. Once the shooting season is over I will send the other upper to White Oak Precision for a new barrel. Once that upper comes back with a new barrel, I will shoot that re-barreled upper across the course for the next season. The upper that I used for across the course from the previous year will be used either as my Infantry Trophy or backup upper for this year. Then, when the season is over, the IT upper will be re-barreled to become my across the course upper. The across the course upper will then revert to become my IT upper.

An example is this: the upper that I shot across the course in 2005 will become my Infantry Trophy upper for 2006. My IT upper from 2005 (and across the course upper from 2004) was re-barreled over the winter and will become my course upper for 2006. Each upper will follow a year to year sequence of re-barrel, across the course shooting one year, IT shooting one year, and then re-barrel.

So I have a new barrel put on my uppers every two years. This re-barrel process has nothing to do with how many rounds are on the barrel. I could probably shoot each barrel more than I do but I like changing barrels during the winter. This allows me to concentrate on shooting rather than wondering if my barrel is shot out. I try not to get hung up on something as simple as a barrel.

For those that are curious about brands, when I went to the AR in 2001 I started with a Shilen 1:8 twist barrel. I stuck with this for the next couple of years and it shot just fine. Around 2003 I had heard that some very good shooters were happy with the way the 1:6.5 twist barrels were shooting the 77 grain Sierras. There really didn't seem to be any down sides so I changed over to a Pac-Nor to see how these would shoot. It seemed to work OK too.

Nowadays I just send my upper to White Oak each year with the instructions to replace the barrel. John will put on whatever he wants and that is what I use.

If you want to let me know what's on your mind, e-mail me here