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

[Jesseb]

Shot mine a little more today but the session was cut short by a combo of high winds and another piece of brass split in half radially. I think the chamber of the first barrel was so over sized that it over worked the brass. I need to start over with fresh brass I think. I only managed 1 5 shot group. Took too long to find zero with a new scope (3-9x40 Accupoint) 25gr of Tac under 87 vmax @ 2.365” was right around 2” for 5 shots @ 2661 which is about 90fps faster than what you are seeing there rob. 25.5gr was in the 2700 range and the 2nd shot split the brass so I called it quits. I think this barrel just wants to be run a little slower. Thinking 2600 may be max for the 87 and 2500 and under for the 95’s. Tac and lever just do not seem to want to work for me so I will try h335, benchmark and maybe some 8208xbr. 2” is not terrible for a ulul but I would be much happier with 1.5” 5 shot groups.

Kinda wonder if the weight of a suppressor helps control barrel whip and that is why ezwy is getting better groups than the rest of us.

 

[ezwy]

Shot mine a little more today but the session was cut short by a combo of high winds and another piece of brass split in half radially. I think the chamber of the first barrel was so over sized that it over worked the brass. I need to start over with fresh brass I think. I only managed 1 5 shot group. Took too long to find zero with a new scope (3-9x40 Accupoint) 25gr of Tac under 87 vmax @ 2.365” was right around 2” for 5 shots @ 2661 which is about 90fps faster than what you are seeing there rob. 25.5gr was in the 2700 range and the 2nd shot split the brass so I called it quits. I think this barrel just wants to be run a little slower. Thinking 2600 may be max for the 87 and 2500 and under for the 95’s. Tac and lever just do not seem to want to work for me so I will try h335, benchmark and maybe some 8208xbr. 2” is not terrible for a ulul but I would be much happier with 1.5” 5 shot groups.

Kinda wonder if the weight of a suppressor helps control barrel whip and that is why ezwy is getting better groups than the rest of us.

Maybe I’ll try a few groups without suppressor, and then with 2 different suppressors…..

I do think that the weight and form factor of these rifles make it difficult to shoot better than 1.5 moa (probably not a big deal for professionals). I might also drop the upper in a heavy lower just for fun to see if that tightens things up.

 

[Jesseb]

I tried mine in a standard lower with the first barrel to no avail. I can get this exact rifle setup to group just fine with the Shaw 223 barrel. 1 moa 5 shot groups were pretty easy and repeatable. I did notice that it shot a little bit better groups with a magnetospeed hanging off the front of it. That’s kinda what has me thinking a suppressor might help. I am using the Athlon radar unit for speed these days.

I did clean up the crown on this barrel and ran a mop with Iosso paste to clean up the bore. I am starting to think the quality of SS is just not as good as what Shaw is using. Tempted to carbon wrap the first barrel to see if that tights the groups up.

 

[robtattoo]

I'm going to post today's results in a wee while. I still need to shoot the Druid Hill 65gr SGKs to see what's what with those.
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But it's not encouraging so far 🫩

 

[robtattoo]

Lots of pics......

Please discuss*




*because I'm about ready to throw this effing thing into the trash

 

[Jesseb]

So your Druid Hill group still looks to be over 2” correct? The 85 grain game king is .106” shorter than the 87 vmax so that would open up quite a bit of case capacity. I have had the 87 vmax up into that realm of velocity but accuracy was shit. I too am getting the case splitting but I am still using the cases that I fired in the original barrel. Turns out more than just the necks were oversized. I couldn’t even come close to getting a piece of fired brass from the original barrel to fit the chamber of the new one. Even the main body was growing a ton. It took quite a bit of force in the resizing die. I am thinking of trying again with fresh brass that has never been fired in the original 6x45 barrel. Are you by chance using brass fired in the original barrel? My cases were only splitting with Tac and once with 8208xbr. Lever got me higher velocity and no cracked cases. I need to try cfe223 as well. That’s the only powder I have that I have not tried yet. I am only bumping shoulders back about .003-.004 using the Redding comp shell holders as well.

I think I will tape a heavy piece of steel flat bar to the handgaurd next time to take the weight aspect out of the equation.

 

[Jesseb]

Never mind. Re read my notes and I only ran lever with the 95 tmk and 95 NBT with lackluster velocity. It was Tac and 8208xbr that got me into the 2700’s with 87 vmax with xbr cracking cases at 2756fps.

 

[robtattoo]

So your Druid Hill group still looks to be over 2” correct? The 85 grain game king is .106” shorter than the 87 vmax so that would open up quite a bit of case capacity. I have had the 87 vmax up into that realm of velocity but accuracy was shit. I too am getting the case splitting but I am still using the cases that I fired in the original barrel. Turns out more than just the necks were oversized. I couldn’t even come close to getting a piece of fired brass from the original barrel to fit the chamber of the new one. Even the main body was growing a ton. It took quite a bit of force in the resizing die. I am thinking of trying again with fresh brass that has never been fired in the original 6x45 barrel. Are you by chance using brass fired in the original barrel? My cases were only splitting with Tac and once with 8208xbr. Lever got me higher velocity and no cracked cases. I need to try cfe223 as well. That’s the only powder I have that I have not tried yet. I am only bumping shoulders back about .003-.004 using the Redding comp shell holders as well.

I think I will tape a heavy piece of steel flat bar to the handgaurd next time to take the weight aspect out of the equation.

You know, I did use this brass in the last barrel. That would explain that then.

I actually spent a good 30 minutes on the phone with the gent from Druid Hill (absolutely great guy to talk to!) & explained the ongoing issue to him. I actually called to see if he'd tell me what powder he used in the 85gr load & he was happy to do so. He was also happy to tell me that it's not commercially available either
When I mentioned that all this hoo-ha was with a Satern barrel, I thought he was going to come unglued! All his ammo testing & load workups are done with 18 & 20" Satern Liberty barrels & he tells me that they've been universally fantastic (although they're a much heavier profile) he offered to install one of his barrels to my action for AND figure out a load it likes for $250, which I thought was very decent of him. I'd take him up on the offer, but the standard Liberty barrels are much heavier & that sorta defeats the purpose.

As of now, I'm really not sure where to go. Obviously, I'm going to try virgin brass (like, brand new Starline or....... something) & see if that makes a difference. I'm DEFINITELY not buying any more freaking powder. If it won't shoot with X-Term, H335, TAC, CFE223 or the 8208XBR I'm picking up on Sunday, in some combination with Sierra 80gr SST Blitz, Nosler 80gr BTs, Speer 85gr BTs, Sierra 85gr HPGKs or 87gr V-Maxs, it ain't gonna shoot.

If, by next week I can't get 5 of some combo of that lot into 1½", both barrels are going back & I'm going to demand a refund. The other, heavier barrel I tried (Tactical Ordinance) can go back on & I'll see if that does any better this time around. It wasn't great, but it was, at least, consistent. Best group was nearer 1½", but the absolute worst was only about 3½ (unlike this......shotgun of a thing)

 

[robtattoo]

Fyi: My usual load test sequence pretty much mirrors Form's. Pick the bullet I want, pick the powder with the velocity I'm aiming for, load up 5 a grain under max to get on paper, and 5 at max (hottest published load I can find) & see what it does on target & on the chrono.
99% of the time, I'm happy with that at 100yds. I'll load up another 25 or so, 5 to get my zero bang on where I want, then I'll check the rest out at 200, 300, 400 & 500 to make sure I've got the ballistics right in the calculator.
Then I'll load up somewhere between 100 & 1000 & that'll do for a few years.

Literally 35 shots, start to finish.

It's very rare that I've had to do more than this.