Chrome lined would be my very last choice and add the 1/2” threads makes it another negative.

 

Why??? Please provide more info to be taken seriously thank you.

 

Chromelining will not help accuracy and neither will the 1/2" threads.

 

11.3" Wilson or 10.5" Yankee Hill barrel for pistol?

Chrome lined barrels generally do not have the accuracy potential as non chromed barrels especially if they aren't done right. If your not using it in a very humid/wet environment there's no point IMO when there's an alternative choice.

1/2" threads on a .277 barrel can effect accuracy as well, makes the muzzle/crown too thin.

 

I see your point about the the thread. I was thinking the same thing but wanted to hear it from others.

I like chrome lined 4150 barrels. I always had good results with them. I don't shoot well enough to appreciate the improved accuracy of certain barrels and I have had some that weren't as accurate as they were supposed to be. I have physical limitations due to medical and age issues.

I really like my 12.5 ARP barrel, the gas port seems to be sized perfectly. That's an oddity these days with barrels most all seem overgassed from a little to way too much.

The Wilson seems the way to go unless y'all can recommend another one. Bison makes a 11.5" but with a 1/7 twist which seems strange to me. My 8.5 works fine very accurate but I only run 115 grain through it.

If I had a choice it would be an ARP barrel but they do not make a 10.5 unfortunately. Any suggestions?

 

I have the Bison 11.5" with the 1/7 twist and it shoots just fine. I would have rather had the ARP 12.5" but it wasn't available when I was in the market so I got the Bison. No regrets
Good luck

 

Noveske sells a 10.5" carbine w/ gas tube and gas block for $350. Mine shoots 1
-1.5 MOA, not as accurate as my ARP SOCOM but acceptable.

They are gased to function dirty w/ H2 buffers - seems like a good fit for what you're building.

 

I would be pissed if I spent $350 on a barrel and got that accuracy.

OP,

IMO, nothing beats the 12.5" ARP for a short 6.8 and the best part it's mid length gas system. I don't even shoot any of my other 6.8's after building my SBR. Price is excellent, quality is there, accurate and H's customer service is probably one of the best I have ever seen.

 

I don't have any short barrel rifles or AR pistols so my thoughts are just that, thoughts. But I think a faster twist would be just fine with a short barrel since velocity drops. Lower velocity takes a faster twist to achieve equivalent stability. Also, if you shoot monolithic copper bullets faster twist will cause better upset of the bullets, so this might help make up a bit for the reduced velocity.

 

I have a 12.5" ARP barrel and it is awesome, love it. As I said I wish they made a 10.5" carbine one.

I think Noveske is a bit overpriced, the prices they charge are more inline with precision barrels so 1.5 MOA ain't so great. I have read over the years some people who have Noveske barrels are a little disappointed at their accuracy. I'm gonna put an A2 sight on it and a Magpul handguard so I really don't need a tack driver. I already have a 8.5" Bison with a rail, light KX3 and the 12.5 has a SLR rail.

Even though a 11.5" barrel compared to a 12.5" is only an inch it handles different, especially being a carbine gas as opposed to the midlength 12.5. Just like a true 14.5 M4 handles differently than a 16 mid.

I honestly don't want to spend a lot of money on a barrel unless it's top notch, guaranteed 1 MOA. The Wilson is on sale so that looks good right now. Although the Bison looks better, less expensive and they Cerakote it for ya.

 

Yeah that Bison looks good. I have a 8.5" and 16" all ready and they shoot great. As does the ARP 12.5. I would have gotten more stuff from them but they were always out of stock.

Since this is a pistol I still might do the 10.5 YH barrel. PRI makes a stainless steel thread adapter: http://www.precisionreflex.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=1217975

I'm not worried about accuracy that much it's a short range gun with an A2 upper from RRA and A2 front sight, a Bushmaster clamp on. No optics on this one. 10.5" barrel looks mighty good, it's the right length. Probably gonna put a BCM Gunfighter comp on it.

I really like that ARP barrel, I sure wished they made a 10.5".

 

Go with the 11.3"/11.5" length for more dwell time of bullet in bore. There seems to be a magic inch between 10.5" and 11.5". If choose short can downsize even more as going to have to overgas the gun anyway and buy some spare extractors. When I order a nice 5.56 barrel usually pay to get 5/8" threads and no way do I want 1/2" threads on a 6.8. No matter what device screw on end you didn't have much material for a proper crown and gun could suffer from a malady called "belling" not enough metal to support muzzle so as each round passes through muzzle it wants to open up from lack of support and get inconsistent results as different bullets go through muzzle. After reading tons on subject, especially from LWRC, sorting out quite a few pistols for folk, if drop below 11.5" may as well not care and get it short. On UTube there is a 2" barrel AR which would not recommend but if want to be goofy, it's out there. In real life you won't notice the extra inch of barrel on a pistol and melonite/deep salt bath/nitride finish is much better than chrome lining. Barrels and chambers have to be made slightly oversize to accommodate the thickness of chrome plating process and it's virtually impossible to get a uniform thickness of chrome from chamber to muzzle.

For the guy with a 10.5" Noveske barrel thats not sub MOA at 100 yards you have a build or load issue. Even a 10.5" barrel from those guys will shoot great. Have personally fired 10.5" Noveske's that grouped 3/4" with good ammo but not match ammo. With top grade ammo could ring 400 yard gong every round and 500 yard silhouette targets should take every round. When those guys slip into the Pac-Nor plant they do not play and everything have ever shot from them was sub MOA by significant amount.

 

Even a 10.5" barrel from those guys will shoot great. Have personally fired 10.5" Noveske's that grouped 3/4" with good ammo but not match ammo. With top grade ammo could ring 400 yard gong every round and 500 yard silhouette targets should take every round.

Can you recommend accurate factory ammo? I miss the old SSA 85gr.

 

Well the day I wanted to by the Wilson it is not on sale, it's not even there anymore on the Wilson site. The lighter weight 11.3 I cannot use due to the barrel not being correct for the FSB. The area for the gas block is for a micro gas blocks for under a rail. I found one on sale but they are no longer on Google search for some reason.

The Wilson is $275 at all the vendors that sell them. The Bison is much less and like I said I can get it cerakoted. I scored a RRA 6.8 A2 upper, I have the Bushmaster A2 clamp on and when I looked the place I get the LWRC BCGs are out of stock.......errrrrrr. I did find another vendor though with the lowest price. I still might go with the Yankee Hill barrel. I should be getting everything together in a week or so.

Here's the thing I am no expert and do not pretend to be but I do know a lot from my experiences and spending a lot of money experimenting with many things mostly AR15. Here's the thing, everybody said a 12.5" 308 AR/LR308 is a terrible idea...blah blah blah. Well I did it anyway and it not only is accurate but controllable and not any louder than any other SBR with a KX3 on it. The weight is manageable and the firepower is much more than any other AR SBR/pistol combination that gives you 20-25 rounds in a mag.

 

Since you seem to be pretty set on wanting the shorter 10.5" length, I'm going to buck the crowd.

While I understand what everyone is saying about the chrome lined barrel being less accurate, you are talking about a 10.5" barrel and iron sights. Plenty of soldiers qualify out to 300 yards with worn out chrome lined barrels every day using standard military FMJ ammo (AKA crap), you'll be using a better cartridge, better quality, and probably shorter ranges. My dad's 6.8 hunting rifle happens to be a 16" chrome lined YHM 6.8 SPC upper, and I guarantee that it's better than minute of deer accuracy. He's at least as good with that YHM barrel and handloads, as I am with the 16" ARP barrel and Federal Fusion.

I don't know the science of muzzle thread sizes, I have heard what's being mentioned here before. Dad's YHM has that same funky 1/2-36 thread and haven't noticed any issues caused by it. That said he doesn't go out and waste ammo or do a lot of target shooting. His rifle is primarily a hunting rifle, it's mostly shot to develop loads, sight in, and kill animals. I bought that PRI thread adapter for him last year when we started playing with silencers. Can't recall if they have a shouldered version, but we got the shoulderless and installed with loctite, it's worked perfectly since.

You've already got a good variety of practical (and impractical 8.5"?) barrel lengths. Seems that you've already got most needs covered. If minute of deer is good enough and you aren't going to be overheating the barrel the stated detriments of the YHM barrel may not apply. If that's the case, why not go with what you want?

I know that given the choice between a Bison 11.5 and a YHM 10.5, I'd take the Bison any day solely due to the 1/2-36 threads on the YHM. Not because of any belling or swelling of the muzzle, simply due to the odd ball thread size. In the end I decided on ARP, got a 12.5" sitting on the shelf waiting to be built.

 

Since you seem to be pretty set on wanting the shorter 10.5" length, I'm going to buck the crowd.

While I understand what everyone is saying about the chrome lined barrel being less accurate, you are talking about a 10.5" barrel and iron sights. Plenty of soldiers qualify out to 300 yards with worn out chrome lined barrels every day using standard military FMJ ammo (AKA crap), you'll be using a better cartridge, better quality, and probably shorter ranges. My dad's 6.8 hunting rifle happens to be a 16" chrome lined YHM 6.8 SPC upper, and I guarantee that it's better than minute of deer accuracy. He's at least as good with that YHM barrel and handloads, as I am with the 16" ARP barrel and Federal Fusion.

I don't know the science of muzzle thread sizes, I have heard what's being mentioned here before. Dad's YHM has that same funky 1/2-36 thread and haven't noticed any issues caused by it. That said he doesn't go out and waste ammo or do a lot of target shooting. His rifle is primarily a hunting rifle, it's mostly shot to develop loads, sight in, and kill animals. I bought that PRI thread adapter for him last year when we started playing with silencers. Can't recall if they have a shouldered version, but we got the shoulderless and installed with loctite, it's worked perfectly since.

You've already got a good variety of practical (and impractical 8.5"?) barrel lengths. Seems that you've already got most needs covered. If minute of deer is good enough and you aren't going to be overheating the barrel the stated detriments of the YHM barrel may not apply. If that's the case, why not go with what you want?

I know that given the choice between a Bison 11.5 and a YHM 10.5, I'd take the Bison any day solely due to the 1/2-36 threads on the YHM. Not because of any belling or swelling of the muzzle, simply due to the odd ball thread size. In the end I decided on ARP, got a 12.5" sitting on the shelf waiting to be built.

I see all sides of the discussion. There's good and bad. I have been working on my carbine techniques, barrel length and weight make a huge difference. It's a completely different concept in shooting than longer range like I was taught in the Army in the 1980s. CQB is different and that's more what I train for. So it's double taps and your heating the barrel up pretty good. In my experience the heavy 4150 chrome lined barrels work best for that, like the M4A1 and the 1.5" Colt FBI barrel I have. But nobody makes any in 6.8 though!!!

So what do I do? Believe or not the 8.5" retains much more energy than the 5.56mm and 7.62x39 and it seems good enough for the Jordanian royal troops.

I'll wait a while and pick one of the three next month some time. Either the YH 10.5, Bison 11.5 or Wilson 11.3.........Does anybody make a 6.8mm SPCII 16" M4 chrome lined I can cut down to 10.5"? Maybe Green Mountain does.

 

Isn't nitride or whatever each applicator decides to call it harder than chrome? Could pick the barrel you want and have it done.

 

I ordered the Bison 11.5" barrel. It just seemed the best option out there. I do like heavier barrels especially on short carbines/pistols/SBRs. And despite what everyone seems to think chrome lined barrels hold up very well, true it may not be as accurate but for shorter barrels it does what it's supposed to do and that is handle the heat of high volume fire. I would have prefered a 4150 of some kind and chrome lined about 10.5" but NOBODY made one. The closest thing would have been to get a Green Mountain 16" M4 barrel and cut it down, since it's the same as the Yankee Hill 10.5" why bother other than to get the better thread pattern. And I wanted a heavier profile.

So I got the Bison. I like the 1:7 twist it means I can use heavier weight bullets and be stabilized from the shorter barrel. So far both Bison barrels I have shoot great, I have a 8.5" and 16".

 

I get a little under 1 MOA @ 100 yards with this scope/reticle and the 110 gr S&B PTS
Please report back about how the "heavies" shoot. I haven't shot anything heavier than 120 gr.
Thanks Joe

 

I got to get to the range and shoot them to 100 yards. That's the longest they go around here. The longer range places are a little far for me.

I don't think I'll be shooting anything heavier than 115 grain. I think 100-115 is the spot for this round.

The guns are varied, a 16 bison, 16" mid RRA A2, 12" ARP, 11.5 Bison and a 8.5" Bison. They are all around 1MOA but I never did anything really to prove it with specific ammo. I think the ARP barrel might be the most accurate. I didn't put the 11.5 together yet but unless it's a dog I'm sure it's as good as the others. Like I said gotta get to the range with a few hundred rounds and all the guns and have a day of it.

At 60 years old it's hard to do that though without some help. Hopefully when the weather permits I'll get out there maybe take some pics of the groups.

 

I got to get to the range and shoot them to 100 yards. That's the longest they go around here. The longer range places are a little far for me.

I don't think I'll be shooting anything heavier than 115 grain. I think 100-115 is the spot for this round.

The guns are varied, a 16 bison, 16" mid RRA A2, 12" ARP, 11.5 Bison and a 8.5" Bison. They are all around 1MOA but I never did anything really to prove it with specific ammo. I think the ARP barrel might be the most accurate. I didn't put the 11.5 together yet but unless it's a dog I'm sure it's as good as the others. Like I said gotta get to the range with a few hundred rounds and all the guns and have a day of it.

At 60 years old it's hard to do that though without some help. Hopefully when the weather permits I'll get out there maybe take some pics of the groups.

Good luck with your project, I'm sure it will be just fine.
Thanks Joe

 

Thank you.

I have a lot of ARs and 6.8mm is my favorite. I live for experimenting with and building them, learning what works and what doesn't. I try to use the KISS principle. I like that sight, I do have a few Primary Arms sights that are similar. I can't use red dots due to astigmatisms.

 

I've been following this and other threads as I'm looking to pick up a 6.8 pistol as well. My question is, when it comes to pistol length barrels do certain lengths prefer a specific bullet weight? I shoot 90 grain gold dot out of my carbine and I'd like to use the same load in a pistol.

 

I've never shot the 90 grain gold dot for accuracy out of my pistol, but here are the speeds I got from the 11.5" barrel last January, temp was 13*
90 grain Federal XM68GD: 2569, 2604, 2619
This was a Bison 1:7 twist
Thanks Joe

 

I received the 11.5" Bison and it's great, waiting to put the upper together, I have all the parts.

So of course Yankee Hill has the 10.5" barrel on sale for $147 so i ordered that too. Ya only live once!!!