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View Full Version : 6.8 barrel Randall Rausch group buy


mblat
01-13-2006, 8:12 AM
Trying to organize group buy of 6.8 barrels from Randall. http://www.ar15barrels.com/
He has great reputation on a15.com and this forum.

Currently we have 2 buyers, we need 3 more to get a discount. He doesn't make chrome lined barrel - steel only.


This is continuation of the thread I started earlier, I don't know how to change the title of the thread.

xsquid
01-14-2006, 11:41 AM
Is it only mblat and myself who want a 6.8 barrel? :(

bwiese
01-14-2006, 11:48 AM
Is it only mblat and myself who want a 6.8 barrel? :(

When he has chrome-lined, I'm there.

Likely I get a Barrett... if they sell barrels separately...

mblat
01-14-2006, 5:02 PM
When he has chrome-lined, I'm there.

Likely I get a Barrett... if they sell barrels separately...

Barret upper is what? About 2-2.5 times more? Not to argue or anything but how you justify spending such money for chrome, when you can get 2 barrels?

bwiese
01-15-2006, 8:09 PM
Barret upper is what? About 2-2.5 times more? Not to argue or anything but how you justify spending such money for chrome, when you can get 2 barrels?

Didn't say I'd buy a whoe Barrett upper... I just want a the barrel + FS/GB & bolt. I'll take care of everything else myself.

Their uppers come with the whole $$ ARMS SIR or Knight's RAC stuff - stuff that I don't need, just a simple freefloat tube..

johnnyr6
01-30-2006, 6:46 PM
Thanks for the invite but i think i would like a chrome lined barrel, I will be using this long rifle for hunting and think i might be going a few days without the chance to clean it correctly, Keep me informed if you guys decide to go chrome lined then you can count me in unless i buy before.

sned45
01-30-2006, 7:26 PM
how much for the barrel? Hell I bought some ammo I better build something to fire it.

Hopi
01-30-2006, 7:47 PM
how much for the barrel? Hell I bought some ammo I better build something to fire it.

+1, what price? Pics?

xsquid
01-30-2006, 9:25 PM
how much for the barrel? Hell I bought some ammo I better build something to fire it.

The blank that I've selected is a stainless Rock Creak SuperMatch - the quote from Randall was $400 that included threading the muzzle end for a FH/Muzzlebrake. It'll also be another $75 for a bolt which he fits the barrel to - yeah it can get steep - that's why I'd like to get a group buy of at least 5 people - which would qualify for a 20% discount. It's about a 8-10 week wait - and he requires 50% up front with balance at the end of the build. I'm also probably going to have him build the upper with the parts I've already bought/collected which is going to cost another $25. You can go cheaper depending on the blank you want to use.

PRI's price is $538 (WOA blank?), Noveske is around the same price too with a 10-12 week wait. As for Barrett - no idea what a barrel from them would cost or know who even makes them for them or even if they'd sell the barrels separately. Then there's also Model1 who gets their blanks from ER Shaw.

Oh yeah, there's a product out there called a bore snake - for those times you can't do a full cleaning of your barrel.

Matt-man
01-30-2006, 10:51 PM
More fuel for the fire...

Here's why Randall doesn't offer chrome-lined barrels:
Chrome lined barrels are only available when a company mass produces them. The chrome needs to be applied after the chamber work is done. This requires special barrel blanks and chamber reamers, made larger than spec and then plated back down to spec size. It would be cost prohibitive to do custom barrels with chrome lining. Any barrel that is chrome lined is certainly not a match grade barrel. It is not possible to put the attention into the chamber details that you need for extreme accuracy when you are mass producing barrels.
If you think about his business, he's set up to make barrels essentially one at a time from customer specs. There isn't a cost-effective way for him to offer chrome lining.

Now, there are good reasons for requiring chrome lining for your barrels. They last longer. But do you need 10,000+ round life out of this barrel, especially with the cost of 6.8 ammo? They're more corrosion-resistant. But I think you'd really have to abuse a barrel for the difference between chrome-lined chrome moly and stainless to have an effect. They're easy to clean, but a hand-lapped stainless match barrel (as I would expect a Rock Creek super-match grade to be) is also very easy to clean.

I'm not saying that chrome lining is worthless. On the contrary, I think it's a great thing to have. When you can get it for a $30 to $50 premium over standard chrome moly, that's great and totally worth it. But if you are looking at a match-grade 6.8 SPC barrel, do you really need it? I guess what I am trying to say is that this is an opportunity to get a pretty good deal on a quality custom 6.8 barrel, and I think you should consider what your requirements really are before letting it go by.

sned45
01-31-2006, 12:45 PM
I'm in. come on guys this is a good price for a very nice barrel.

xsquid
02-01-2006, 3:23 PM
I'm in. come on guys this is a good price for a very nice barrel.

That makes 3 - just two more to go....

bwiese
02-01-2006, 3:58 PM
Now, there are good reasons for requiring chrome lining for your barrels. They last longer. But do you need 10,000+ round life out of this barrel, especially with the cost of 6.8 ammo? They're more corrosion-resistant. But I think you'd really have to abuse a barrel for the difference between chrome-lined chrome moly and stainless to have an effect. They're easy to clean, but a hand-lapped stainless match barrel (as I would expect a Rock Creek super-match grade to be) is also very easy to clean.

It's less corrosion that I'm worried about than operational ease. Extraction + chambering are aided by chrome lining due to lubricity. Chamber erosion is far less, too. Tolerance for ammo variations is nice as well.

Given I have a Dillon 650 reloader I expect that ammo pricing not that bad once brass is acquired. Probably makes sense to get 1K rounds just to have on hand and cycle thru.

I'd rather buy something once and do it right and pay a few $$ extra. Plus

Everytime I've seen a misbehaving AR it usually is a non-chrome-lined chamber (plus poor lubrication). The latter is fixable, the former usu requires tight spec ammo.



I'm not saying that chrome lining is worthless. On the contrary, I think it's a great thing to have. When you can get it for a $30 to $50 premium over standard chrome moly, that's great and totally worth it.

Yup. 'Go chrome or go home'. I see Model1 is selling Shaw 6.8bbls for reasonable prices, w/chrome lining. While I am not a big fan of Model1, I'd bet this bbl with a custom-fitted matching bolt, a non-wobbly carrier, and loading rounds to its chamber specs will likely make this a tack driver.

But if you are looking at a match-grade 6.8 SPC barrel, do you really need it?

Chrome-lining of accurate rifle bbls is entirely possible. The FN Police bolt guns in 308 are tack drivers with Fed Gold Medal and Black Hills ammo. Hell, my non-free-floated stock Armalite AR10-A2 is sub-MOA with Fed GMM; free floating, a better trigger and a match bolt should bring this WAY down.

I guess what I am trying to say is that this is an opportunity to get a pretty good deal on a quality custom 6.8 barrel, and I think you should consider what your requirements really are before letting it go by.

If it's semiauto, I'm taking the chrome. From what I've heard of the Barrett 6.8 it's a knockout.

Matt-man
02-01-2006, 10:45 PM
It's less corrosion that I'm worried about than operational ease. Extraction + chambering are aided by chrome lining due to lubricity. Chamber erosion is far less, too. Tolerance for ammo variations is nice as well.
...
Everytime I've seen a misbehaving AR it usually is a non-chrome-lined chamber (plus poor lubrication). The latter is fixable, the former usu requires tight spec ammo.

Okay, but the flip side to that is that there are tons of rifles out there without chrome-lined chambers that function flawlessly. The Navy Mk12s are a testament to that - they use heavy stainless barrels and some of them were built on M16A1 receivers so they would have full auto capability. I don't think they'd do that if they had any reservations about function. The Marine Corps' SAM-R and the Army's SDM-R also have stainless barrels on them. These are all rifles meant to go into battle and function under the worst conditions.

Chrome-lining of accurate rifle bbls is entirely possible. The FN Police bolt guns in 308 are tack drivers with Fed Gold Medal and Black Hills ammo.

I'm not saying that chrome-lined barrels can't be accurate. It's just awfully difficult to make them that way, and I still don't think you're going to get the surface as uniform as Krieger, Pac-nor, and the rest do with their match barrels. Those guys will all tell you what tolerances they hold for their bores & rifling. What vendor can tell you that for their chrome-lined barrels?