I am sure a lot of people will consider this is a no-brainer, but I thought I might ask the question anyway. I am soon to complete a lightweight 20" build, and my criteria (no pun intended) for the barrel are that it is 20", is of a lightweight profile, has a twist rate that can stabilize bullets up to about 65gr (the Sierra Gameking softpoints in that weight are the heaviest bullet I intend to shoot) and is chrome-lined. There are currently 2 barrels I have been able to find that meet these requirements. The first is the relatively high-end Criterion 20" pencil-contour barrel with a 1:8" twist and .223 Wylde Chamber. The other is Del Ton’s lightweight 20" A1 profile barrel, with a 1:9" twist, 5.56 NATO chamber, and A2 FSB already installed. I intend to use an A2 front sight setup with a 12" ultralight free float Midwest Industries handguard, so that is a bonus for the Del Ton.
As money is not an issue and I am hoping to squeeze as much accuracy as possible while staying within my parameters of a chrome-lined, lightweight barrel, I am leaning towards the Criterion option. However, the Del-Ton looks nice as well, and I would appreciate not having to send the barrel off to have the FSB installed. I see Del Ton disparaged quite a bit, and with reference to them in general, the word that most comes up is “hobby grade.” I know this place is the most unforgiving of less high-end stuff, and I am sure that will apply to Del Ton as well, but I am hoping someone can articulate what exactly makes the Del Ton barrel inferior (I am fine with the 1:9" twist, so that is not a concern for me). My only experience with Del Ton is from a set of A2 handguards of theirs, which although they may not make them themselves, were top-notch. Their barrels may be 4140 instead of 4150 like the Criterion (the dealer from whom I will be buying is a friend and he can guarantee to get me one of the 4150 Criterions), but a well-made 4140 is excellent; my 2009-made ArmaLite AR-10 has a 4140, chrome-lined barrel, and even after 30,000 rounds, sometimes up to 2,500 between cleanings, it still shoots well sub-MOA with standard M80 ball ammo, and a cloverleaf at 100 yards with match stuff.
If anybody has experience with the Del Ton barrel in particular, I’d love to hear it, that is if you will admit here to having anything below top-tier ARs
That looks awesome!! How did I never track that one down? It is weird that it says it has a .650" diameter under the gas block, but I guess they mean .625", given the stated compatibility with 601s, and the fact that the complete upper they sell with it states that it is .625". If it is well-made, and hopefully out of 4150, you have just introduced me to my barrel!
I thought about this route at once point, particularly having BCM’s A2 barrel turned down, but I am very skeptical of the process, particularly when it is done on barrels with finished and chrome-lined bores and chambers. As the author of the Collector Grade book on the AR-10, I spent quite a while poring over the original files of ArmaLite-Fairchild and Artillerie Inrichtingen, and a big topic of communication during the late-'57 ramp-up to production in Holland of the first AR-10s for the West Germans and Cubans was the scramble to figure out what was killing the accuracy of the first barrels A-I produced in-house. They finally figured out that the recontouring that was being done (fluting, in the case of the early AR-10s) on the barrels was imparting huge amounts of stress. The solution was to stress-relieve the barrels after fluting, and then cut the chamber and lap the bore a few times. Since these barrels were simply unlined CMV, this was easy to do. With getting a finished barrel like an A2 turned down to a thinner profile, it would be impossible to do any of the stress-relieving, rechambering, or lapping.
Well, Del Ton, PSA, Ruger, Bushmaster, etc etc etc…these all may be “hobby grade” to some people here OP, but mine runs just fine. I guess you have to ask yourself what your asking of the rifle. I have a “hobby grade” rifle to some, but I have a “hobby grade” life where not all or most of my spending cash goes into an AR or two either.
If your expecting to go through the rigors of combat, then you better buy the best…just make sure you can handle what your expecting of your rifle. No use buying more than what you need, or that what you could realistically handle anyways. JMHO
If money is no object, then buying a budget barrel would be a mistake. There are a few exceptional Delton barrels, a few poor barrels and a bunch of average barrels. You dont want to be at the mercy of a bathtub curve.
The more money you spend, the better your odds are of getting a perfect barrel.
A sub-moa 4140 barrel shooting mil spec ball means you got lucky and ended up with the exceptional barrel out of the bunch.
Yep. I bought one a while back (maybe a year or two ago). It has Colt markings if you look at the other pics in the ad…C MP B. Rumor has it that they were IDF contract overruns. Who knows. I bought a .625" FSB and sent both to ADCO and had them drill for taper pins. I built a rifle with a PRI FF tube and an A5 buffer system. Shoots sweet. Not a sniper weapon but more than adequate. Gives you the advantage of light weight like an A1, the twist rate to shoot modern heavy bullets, a 20" tube for full ballistic advantage from the ammo you’re using, and it’s chrome lined.
Buy it. You won’t regret it. [this assumes they are the same barrels I got a year or two ago; those went out of stock but looks like they’re back in]
Here’s a link to my thread on it. It was over two years ago:
