ULUL Stainless/Portless 6x45 16" AR15 Barrel Group Buy NOW CLOSED

[Taudisio]

I already had them loaded from when I was trying different things to get the first barrel to shoot. I windowed a duramag and grooved the lower to get to 2.400” max. I fully understand that different jumps won’t make massive differences, that is what has me a little worried about this second barrel. I have never had a rifle shoot 4” groups, not even during break in. If I can not get below 1.5moa, this thing is useless to me. The Shaw 223 barrel was easily 1moa with the 77 tmk, out of the box.

I understand now. Yea, if a barrel doesn’t shoot, it doesn’t shoot. 4” groups though….. have you checked the assembly and re-checked it?

 

[Jesseb]

With the last barrel, yes. Swapped to a known good scope and mount straight off my 6 arc (Trijicon accupoint) that shoots consistently 1moa. Same assembly with the Shaw 223 barrel shoots consistently 1moa. I will try a few more loads to see if I can get this thing to shoot then swap the Shaw back in there and see if it repeats.

 

[Thegman]

The Shaw 223 barrel was easily 1moa with the 77 tmk, out of the box.

That at least rules out your ability to shoot the rifle. Thanks for laying some groundwork. Like @Taudisio said, if you find a load that works well in your barrel there's a good chance it will work in others.

OTOH, the last batch seemed to be all over the place. Mine didn't shoot nearly as bad as others, but the chamber was -way- oversized.

 

[KyleR1985]

. New barrel was hitting about 18” higher than the original.

I’ve had 4 different barrels on the same upper/optic, 3 different calibers. All had point of impact within an inch or so of the first.

Is it normal to spin on a new AR barrel to an existing upper/optic and have the POI shift that much?

Still haven’t shot my barrel and it may be shit. But That’s the first place I’m looking.

 

[Thegman]

I’ve had 4 different barrels on the same upper/optic, 3 different calibers. All had point of impact within an inch or so of the first.

Is it normal to spin on a new AR barrel to an existing upper/optic and have the POI shift that much?

Still haven’t shot my barrel and it may be shit. But That’s the first place I’m looking.

18" seems to be a lot, definitely on the high end, but 4 all within an inch is probably just as unusual.

 

[KyleR1985]

18" seems to be a lot, definitely on the high end, but 4 all within an inch is probably just as unusual.

Inch or two* sorry typed fast.

None over 2” off in any direction for sure.

 

[passinggas33]

Just reporting back on my first 20ish rounds out of the new barrel. I was shooting the Druid Hill Armory 85gr HP ammo that you can order off their website. Decent ammo with decent ES/SD.

Overall tough shooting conditions tonight where I live especially with it being on an ULUL. Overall though with all of this it was right at 2MOA. Which FOR ME, with that ultralight gun and the SWFA 2.5-10 on it, is about as good as I can shoot. So, long story short, for me, it is an improvement over the original better. Hoping to get more time behind it on a better night that tonight.

 

[The Guide]

Just reporting back on my first 20ish rounds out of the new barrel. I was shooting the Druid Hill Armory 85gr HP ammo that you can order off their website. Decent ammo with decent ES/SD.

Overall tough shooting conditions tonight where I live especially with it being on an ULUL. Overall though with all of this it was right at 2MOA. Which FOR ME, with that ultralight gun and the SWFA 2.5-10 on it, is about as good as I can shoot. So, long story short, for me, it is an improvement over the original better. Hoping to get more time behind it on a better night that tonight.

I Have the 85 Sierra Gameking HPBT and the 75 VMAX coming from them to try. Hopefully they will be accurate enough for this project.

Jay

 

[Jesseb]

Anyone do anymore testing? I noticed my new barrel, like the first one was copper fouling pretty bad so I have some Iosso on the way to try to clean up the bore. Kind of at the point where I am only interested in the 95 tmk for this thing so probably stick there for next tests later this week.

 

[ezwy]

Started today at 24 grains of leverRevolution behind a 95 tmk. Accuracy started good at 2363fps.


24.5, 25, and 25.5 gr opened up a little. Tightened up again for 26grains at 2564 fps 20something SD

These are loaded around 2.375” COAL (someone borrowed my caliper)
Going to work up some loads between 25.8 and 26.4 and try to dial it in. Looking promising. Groups are somewhat limited by me. Light gun in some wind is noticeable.

 

[Jesseb]

Ok, that’s a bit more promising. I tried lever around the 26 mark with 95 NBT’s with the original barrel with poor results but never tried it with the tmk. 2500 or more with the 95 tmk should work. Under 2500 and I might as well stick with 223 and the 77 tmk. TAC, XBR and H335 all gave me best velocity with the 95 tmk, but accuracy was not there….with the original barrel. Looks like I may need to start with lever loaded long and then maybe revisit some of those faster powders. Thanks for your insight, looks pretty good so far!

 

[Jesseb]

Also, what scope, what has been your barrel break in/cleaning procedure, and time between shots? I do notice the barrel heats up pretty quickly. In my mind I am only concerned with accuracy when fired relatively quickly since this is a hunting barrel. Cold bore shot accuracy and maybe shots 2 and 3 fired relatively quickly are about all that matters to me.

 

[ezwy]

Also, what scope, what has been your barrel break in/cleaning procedure, and time between shots? I do notice the barrel heats up pretty quickly. In my mind I am only concerned with accuracy when fired relatively quickly since this is a hunting barrel. Cold bore shot accuracy and maybe shots 2 and 3 fired relatively quickly are about all that matters to me.

This has the swfa 2.5-10 in the aero ultralight mount. These shots were like shots 20-40 on the barrel. No specific break in. The old barrel was very finicky for getting hot. These shots were five shot groups with 10-30 seconds between shots and then between groups I would write down velocity info and reload a mag. Not any real cooling time. Was getting some mirage off the suppressor at the end.
Apparently I need a new picture of this rifle. Will add one later.

 

[Thegman]

I haven't had the chance to test my new barrel yet, but from the little loading I did for the last one, I'm thinking LVR and CFE 223 are good bets to produce some of the highest velocities at lowest pressure with 87+ grain bullets.

They're both on the real slow end for 6x45, but are dense enough to fit a lot in the case. I didn’t try LVR in my last one, but CFE produced good velocities and grouped reasonably well (was hard to tell with that barrel).

TAC seems to get a lot of good press from the 6x45 veterans as well and did produce good velocity in mine as well.

 

[Jesseb]

Well, got mine out today and loaded 5 ea @ 25.8, 26, and 26.2 grains of lever under 95 tmk’s @ 2.390” lit by cci 450’s. Velocity from 2502-2590. Had 2 extras @ 26 as foulers for the fresh cleaned bore (Iosso hasn’t arrived yet, so regular cleaning) using a Japan weaver 2-7x32. Groups ranged from 3-4”! I can’t get this thing to shoot for the life of me! I shot my daughters 6mm arc for a quick load development with the 107 tmk’s today as well and had no problem shooting under 3/4” with the worst @ 1” so I know I can shoot ok. I did try the Accupoint and mount off this rifle on the 6x45 on the old barrel to verify the Weaver is good with the same results so pretty sure the scope/mount is good to go. Might have to swap the Shaw 223 barrel back on just to re test the rifle setup. May try a different scope again next time too. My foulers were a 1” 2 shot group about 1” left of POA. I adjusted 3 clicks right and the rest of the groups were about 2” right of POA but hard to tell because the groups were so big. The 3 groups were consistent with each other in terms of position relative to target and all had at least one shot close to POA.

 

[KyleR1985]

Well, got mine out today and loaded 5 ea @ 25.8, 26, and 26.2 grains of lever under 95 tmk’s @ 2.390” lit by cci 450’s. Velocity from 2502-2590. Had 2 extras @ 26 as foulers for the fresh cleaned bore (Iosso hasn’t arrived yet, so regular cleaning) using a Japan weaver 2-7x32. Groups ranged from 3-4”! I can’t get this thing to shoot for the life of me! I shot my daughters 6mm arc for a quick load development with the 107 tmk’s today as well and had no problem shooting under 3/4” with the worst @ 1” so I know I can shoot ok. I did try the Accupoint and mount off this rifle on the 6x45 on the old barrel to verify the Weaver is good with the same results so pretty sure the scope/mount is good to go. Might have to swap the Shaw 223 barrel back on just to re test the rifle setup. May try a different scope again next time too. My foulers were a 1” 2 shot group about 1” left of POA. I adjusted 3 clicks right and the rest of the groups were about 2” right of POA but hard to tell because the groups were so big. The 3 groups were consistent with each other in terms of position relative to target and all had at least one shot close to POA.

You feel confident redoing the crown of your barrel?

I noticed mine didn’t look top notch.

I’m starting there if mine doesn’t shoot.

 

[Jesseb]

You feel confident redoing the crown of your barrel?

I noticed mine didn’t look top notch.

I’m starting there if mine doesn’t shoot.

Mine looks ok but I have heard of guys having good success after a re crown. I own a full cnc machine shop and have a gun smith lathe so I am comfortable with it. I shorten and thread barrels form time to time. The last savage 6.5 creed I shortened to 18” holds under 3/4” with very little load development.

Really wish we could have gotten Shaw to do these. Loads of success with the 223 ulul barrel they did and my daughters 18” 6 arc that I was shooting today shoots lights out with factory 108’s and had zero trouble coming up with a load for the 107 tmk’s today, also a Shaw. And it’s fast too. 107’s @ 2708fps with 30 grains of lever. Book max of 29.7gr gave 2690fps and book says 2575 for the 108 eldm and 110 a-tip

I have 1 6.5 Grendel plus another I did for a friend, both barrels the same from Grendel Hunter which is Satern. Both shoot pretty solid but were definitely finicky to get loads for. I can get both right around 1 moa 5 shot groups.

 

[robtattoo]

Here's a swift range update from yesterday. Once again, the barrel seems slow compared to 'book' velocities. It seems to not like speed much either.
It seems to be consistently 100fps slower than my 16" Tactical Ordinance barrel. The loads I tried here were the best combos from that barrel (other than the TAC tests) The 80gr Blitz/26gr H335 & X-Term were almost 100fps slower, although they showed similar (2½"ish) groups.

My cold bore shots were consistently 4-7" low......

I fired 20 light loads to help break in the barrel, although I know it won't really smooth out until it's got a couple of hundred on it.

Nothing I tried was particularly inspiring, other than the 24gr TAC/87gr V-max. First shot (after 40 minutes inactivity) was 4½" low, the other 4 printed inside an inch. However, average velocity was lacklustre at 2461fps. I was expecting at least 100fps more & would be a LOT happier if I can get 2600 from it. Still though, 2461 still keeps my impact velocity at over 1600fps beyond 400yds, which for this rifle & it's level of accuracy might as well be the horizon.

I cleaned up when I got home & didn't notice any copper fouling, although the crown does look pretty sharp & rough. I've cleaned it up with a brass cone & valve lapping compound & I'm hoping that might help.

I've got some 8208XBR coming in this weekend that I'm going to try with the 87s (which, quite frankly, is the only bullet I'm really interested in)

As with the last barrel(s) none of the 'usual' powders; H335, X-Terminator, Tac, CFE223 seem to want to play well. I've been up & down the burn chart & tried everything in the area that I have on hand. My powder collection is bloody ridiculous & nothing I have is producing the results I'd expect.

 

[robtattoo]

And to prove to myself, as well as everyone else, that I'm not just shit at this, this is 20 rounds from my Tikka .223