I am interested in these barrels but have not been able to find any info aside from marketing material and specs. The “Reviews” I have seen online are more like product intros which more than less paraphrase the description on the BAD website, about as useful as a YouTube unboxing video. I am yet to read a review from someone who has actually used the product.
If anyone can point me to a useful review it will be much appreciated.
-Furthermore can anyone tell me who makes the barrel blanks for these? Does BAD finish the blanks or are the made elsewhere and stamped “BAD”?
The LIGHTRIGID ™ Barrels are made “in-house” as an exclusive collaboration between Northtech Defense and Battle Arms Development. We do not use barrel blanks from 3rd parties.
The barrels are gun drilled from certified gun barrel grade 416R stainless steel bars under extreme high pressure with specially made tooling (over 1000 psi of pressure that would blow up many traditional tools) that reduced the re-cuts to almost none. The fluid flow rate or GPM is also much higher to flush out the re-cuts and to cool the barrel so not to damage the barrel. All BAD INC LIGHTRIGID ™ barrels are made with our own buttons, reamers, ultra tight tolerance specifications, proprietary barrel contour, etc. Each barrel is cryogenically treated and double heat treat / stress relieved for extended barrel life, cold bore shot consistency, minimal thermal drift and ultimate accuracy. Part of the secret is the proprietary method of button rifling that provides ultra tight concentricity and consistent bore diameter.
We are relatively new to the high-end barrel market so it will take some time for reviews and feedback. All we can say is we never made a single product that isn’t meant to be best in its category or set a new class of its own. If you’re not happy with our barrels, we would take it back for full refund. If you’re not happy, we’re not happy.
Here is a quick test we did recently with a randomly pulled 16" LIGHTRIGID ™ 416R SS Barrel, 1:8 Twist, .223 Wylde at 100yrds. We didn’t even put a handguard on it. Suppressed.
I’d also be interested to see 10-shot groups from the barrels. Any of those, George? I’m super interested in these if they’re sub-MOA with something like the new BH TMKs with 10 shots!
Photos of additional shot groups will be taken when we can. Things are extremely busy here and we are usually backed ordered and out of stock of product. Will make it out there when we have a break and products in hand. I may have to bribe my guys to go out in the 115deg F Vegas heat for the 100yrd shoot. lol
Hey George,
I think your barrels look like a great product and I am hoping to get one in the next few months. I dont know much about the barrel business or the process of making barrels. With that being said, you mentioned that BAD and North Tech Defense are working together on these barrels. So what is the difference between the BAD barrels and those made by North Tech? I noticed that the BAD barrels take a .625 gas block while NTD use .750, and that the BAD barrels are lighter. So do the NTD and BAD barrels use different contours? Are they manufactured in same place using the same processes?
I realize some of this info maybe proprietary but anything you can tell me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Just wanted to let you guys know about my results this year running this barrel. Out of the box it was easily sub moa with my hand loads producing around 1/2", not to mention it’s literally the most beautiful barrel I’ve seen in an AR-15! My friend and I shot them all year in 3-Gun matches and after approximately 15,000 rounds I decided to shoot groups with them again. I was amazed to see that I still got .507" groups (center to center) with hand loads, .860 groups with Lake City green tip, and around .5 to .75 with Federal 55g and Federal Duty ammo!!! I highly recommend them! By the way my hand load was 23.1 grains of A2230 behind a 69g Nosler Custom Comp and a CCI Rifle primer and Lake City brass and a 2.235 OAL. Reload at your own risk if you try my load. Always do your own research if your producing a hand load. I sent pictures over to Battle Arms and I can’t figure our how to upload them here, so maybe they can post them to this thread. I’ve been very impressed with Battle Arms Development! The crew over there has been raising the bar again and again!
-Ryan Fraker
-Team 144
Thank you for sharing your results here. We are a relatively newcomer to the Barrel Manufacturing Industry and the more real-world results we can see here from independent third parties the better. Our products are the best kept secret in the industry, for now.
Here are some photos that Ryan sent me. Please note these are not shot with new barrels, these results are after a season of match shooting with about 15,000 rounds through the barrels already!
Hand Load 69gr Nosler CC @ 100yrds - .507"
62gr Lake City Green tip @ 100yrds - .860"
55gr Federal Premium LE Duty Ammo @ 100yrds - .799"
69gr Nosler CC @ 100yrds - .751"
55gr Federal Premium Sierra Game King LE @ 100yrds - .622"
