I am in the market for a lightweight contour barrel for an upcoming AR build. I’ve been to the Black Hole Weaponry site and like what they have there, but I’m wondering what else is out there? Rainier? CMMG? Once that question is answered then it becomes a matter of 16" or 18", then mid gas or rifle for the 18". I’m planning on using an Aero Precision upper/lower set and trying to stay on a tight(low) budget. The rifle will be primarily a hunting weapon with range trips to test out loads and general target shooting. Any suggestions or comments will be greatly appreciated.
Armalite’s LW barrel is the lightest you’ll find. Note that if you use this barrel you’ll need an AR-10 BCG (not the same as LR-308).
Aero Precision has the next lightest barrel, and is LR-308 pattern.
The Armalite Lightweight Barrel can be found in their AR-10A (PMag compatible) and AR-10B (proprietary steel mag) lines. It might be cheaper to just get a complete factory gun from Armalite than to build around a barrel (although this might not apply if you are going to swap out a ton of parts on it).
I agree with this. The ArmaLite DEF10 (SR25/PMAG-fed) will come out of the box running, with a company to back it up, and has a very lightweight barrel. For $906, you won’t touch it with anything comparable, and ArmaLite has one of the top-end BCG designs in the AR10 world, with balanced lugs, sprung firing pin, parts that were designed to work together, quality FCG, excellent forgings, BCM Gunfighter CH’s and Raptors will fit and function in them, they have ArmaLite-engineered AR10 extension tubes and buffer systems, a well-engineered gas system/port diameter, and company backing.