Will be putting my SBRs together soon and was looking for recommendations on barrels. Don't want the cheapest or most expensive. I'm asking because I haven't been in the game in awhile. Is Faxon or Ballistic Advantage still considered good quality for the money, or is there other companies I need to be looking at?

Thanks in advance


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BCM, DD. Get one with a gas block already installed for peace of mind.


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BCM and DD make quality stuff. I've got a couple of DD barrels that have worked out great. I've also got some BA barrels in several different calibers that have shot great. If you're savvy with the sales you can get close to 2 BA barrels for the price of one DD/BCM. It's up to you if the price is worth the perceived increase in quality. Another forum member has been keeping track of barrel wear on various materials/coatings. His info does indicate that CHF barrels last longer but the longer life is in the single digits percentage relative to another barrel of similar material. That's by no means definitive or scientific. Just a data point. Lots of guys (me included) will pay the extra but in all likelihood, as a casual shooter you're not going to see the benefits for that price increase.

Barrels are cheap. If you build it up with a barrel you end up not liking. You're not tied to that barrel. It's an easy swap.

I have Remington, Ruger, PSA, FN, Core15, Daniel Defense, CHF, Robinson Arms, chrome lined, 4140, 41V50, & 416R SS 300 Blackout bbls. Your OP did not specify the caliber(s) you will be shooting, and since I don't have a lot of .223/5.56 bbl wear data so far, I'll post 300 Blackout bbl wear data based upon firing 5 shots and letting the bbl cool to ambient temp before firing it again. In other words, I'm taking it very easy on the bbls so I can compare one to the others.

The US Military considered a 30 caliber or smaller bbl worn out when the throat erosion (measurement of the wearing away of the rifling in front of the chamber) reached 1". I wore out 3 30 caliber bbls, and in each case when the throat wear was 1" within 250-500 more rounds the 100yd groups went from inches to feet. The military issued gauges to check throat wear.

Calculated Blackout bbl life assuming the throat continues to wear at the same slow rate it's been doing after it's broken in:

Plain 4140 (no bore treatment) 11,820 rounds of jacketed bullets (I have 2 other plain 4140 bbls, but mainly shoot cast bullets in them)
416R stainless steel: 12,540 (not enough data to present on my 2nd 416R SS Blackout bbl)
Nitrided 4140: 13,697
CVM CHF (aka 41V50 or 41V45) nitrided: 14,190 (2nd bbl of same material and treatment calculated at 14,650)
Chrome lined 4140: 16,740
CVM CHF "double chrome lined" by FN: 22,667 (I have another FN bbl of same specs, but not enough rounds fired to give a calculation on it yet)

I have 2 Ruger CHF 4140 bbls with no treatment and not a lot of data, but preliminary results shows them wearing slower than plain 4140 and faster than nitrided 4140.

Note I said "after it's broken in". The VAST majority of the bbls show rapid throat wear in the first 1-100 rounds (more typically in the first 1-50 rounds) and then go into a long period of very slow wear. I believe what's happening in those first rounds is that the bullets are wearing down/wearing off any burrs/edges left from the rifling process (I.e., the bbl is broken in). I have one plain 4140 bbl that did not demonstrate this initial rapid wear...it was sold to me as having been hand lapped for accuracy.

I realize that many post on the Internet that nitride, nitrite, WASP, salt bath nitride, whatever you want to call it, treated bbls last longer than chrome lined, but at least in the Blackout, I'm not seeing it. Perhaps it's different for 5.56 bbls...not enough data to form an opinion yet for me.

Cast bullet use in .30 caliber: The bbl lasts 3 times as long as with jacketed bullets. Maybe that less powder is used is a factor.

Maybe fast firing would produce different results. I've read that some believe in full auto fire that chrome lined will last longer than nitrided in the 5.56 cartridge. I don't know, my 2 full auto bbls are 4140 chrome lined, and I'm not using a nitrided bbl for that.

Me, I like chrome lined bbls for my SBR's...makes me feel good even though I have too many bbls to wear them out. To the OP, I've heard good things about Faxon; I'd try one of them (not the cheapest, not the most expensive).

Now - - -> what I would like to see is a: bbl cost vs honest accuracy at <300yds analysis.
IOW . . . . with the added cost of different grades of bbls,what is the gained accuracy at <300yds ??? --- SAWMAN

A problem with bbl accuracy is that two bbls from the same maker with the same steel and bore treatment can behave different. I have two Daniel Defense bbls. One is my most accurate and the other is of "average" accuracy. Not that the second one is bad, it is just not awesome like the first. Guess you would need to test several bbls from the same maker to get an average.

I re-barreled my shot out 6920 with a Faxon lightweight back in December and couldn't be happier with it. I've got just over 9000 rounds through it and it's running strong. I wouldn't have a problem using their barrels in the future. My go to barrels are usually BCM, but I wanted to try something lightweight and BCM had been sold out for a while.