I have an extra lower sitting around and I’m thinking about building a RECCE type rifle using a BCM SS410 upper. My goal is to have another general purpose rifle but with more ability to play around with long range shooting.
I don’t really plan to run this thing super hot (I have a BCM BFH lw for that) but I’ll probably want to do more than just bench the rifle 100% of the time. Maybe some drills and what not.
Real question is would using bulk m193 and m885 time to time damage the barrel and compromise the potential accuracy of it?
I know BCM says you can run it hard but they never got back to me on the ammo thing.
Silly question knowing those rounds aren’t very accurate but would a better barrel make those rounds a bit more accurate than a standard chrome lined barrel? Match grade ammo isn’t cheap and I don’t want to lock myself into a set up that can only run the premium stuff.
Well, you can buy CBC/Magtech Mk262 which is 1/2 MOA capable for .58 a round.
A SS isn’t going to have problems with drills and the like. I wouldn’t do select fire mag dumps. Look at 3-gun shooting. Lots of stainless barrels, and some of the shots are very accuracy dependent. But, competitors will also find themselves firing rapidly at close targets as well.
Stainless Barrels are Fully Capable of doing and handling Full Auto Mag Dumps. (Obviously in the context of High Quality, in-spec Stainless Barrels w/ Chambers that are meant to be fully reliable… not some Benchrest type Barrel) *Noveske and BCM SS410
I’ve shot PMC Bronze/M193/M855/Mk262 thru several stainless Barrels, getting them HOT, and they don’t even flinch. They do everything these Chrome Lined 4150 Barrels do, except for one thing… greater Precision and Consistency, with less POI Shift… especially when things get Toasty.
I’ve had many 5shot Bughole Groups @50m via T1/T2 Micro w/ all the above mentioned Loads and Stainless Bbls.
Worry not, run your SS410 Upper and beat on it… it will just laugh at you and ask for more.
I actually see no legitimate reason to even run Chrome Lined 4150 Barrels anymore, IMHO. I like the added Precision the Stainless Pipes bring to the table, while being Fully Reliable and not picky about what Ammo they shoot well. And they are also normally much more Rigid Contours that can actually stay more Precise, for a longer period. You may shoot one out at 15k to 20k Rounds… so what, buy another $300-$400 Barrel at that point.
Yea I figure if I’m able to shoot out a barrel I can buy a new one and throw the old one up on the trophy case. I just don’t want to screw it up being ignorant.
The BCM uppers are an excellent price but I’m not a fan of the shiny finish. I’ve read you can have it bead blasted, who does work like that and would known what they’re doing?
Where can I find that? Ive been seeing that stuff for about $50 a box.
Thats a lot cheaper than I was thinking high quality ammo would be!
Can you use the Birchwood Casey gun blue on the Stainless barrels instead of paint it? I’ve never seen anything mentioned about that.
I may just cerakote the whole thing but I doubt ill go that far with it.
For a .338 bolt gun, completely worth it. For a .223 gas gun? I did it for a while, but I’d rather just cough up the dough and save tons of hours of my life.
Yea man. My gun time is rare now days with a 4 year old and a 2 month old. It’s not going to be spent reloading. I wish I had the set up for it but realistically I’d prefer to cough up the money like a chump for good ammo at this pount.
I think the only ammo that might “damage” the barrel might be the cheap Russian steel case stuff. In that case it may not even be damage so much as just accelerated wear from the jacket material and powders that they use. Some really cheap copper bullet jackets can leave behind excess copper fouling that negatively effect accuracy until it is cleaned or shot out.
The most likely culprit for damaging a barrel would be improper cleaning technique, or tools, or cleaning to frequently. Probably more barrels damaged or worn out this way than being shot out.
Bead blasting can be used on a barrel to take the polished SS finish down to satin, or even dull grey depending on the grit of bead media used. Aluminum Oxide can also be used to make very dull finish that is also the perfect prep for paint. Bead blasting is simple for anyone with a blast cabinet, air compressor, and some sense. It gets a bit more complicated if this is an assembled upper that needs to be disassembled and reassembled. A stripped barrel is super easy to do. I could easily do it for you.
Cold blues, or any type of blueing, would not work on a stainless barrel. There are some “black” treatments out there but they either aren’t for the DIY type projects, or just don’t work very well. Personally I think a $200 Cerakote job is a little silly on an AR. I like to strip my guns down and do a DIY job with Aervoe rattle can if I want something other than black or stainless. If I want the gray stainless look, I’ll just bead/media blast.
My Colt M4 Lower with a Geissele SSA-E trigger and a WOA 18" Varmint Fluted upper with a 1 in 7" twist consistently groups much smaller than a dime with 69 grain Match Kings at 100 yds. which I reload with my XL-650. Even with factory ammo it will group 1/2" or less. It is a real good shooter. I have a Bushnell AR/.223 Tactical scope with 4.5-18x40mm zoom and at 18 power I can see my bullet holes at 100 yds. I do not know what the velocity is, but I use CCI BR4s with a maximum load of Varget.
OOPS, I do prep all my cases and have never had a hiccup.I put the cases in my Dillon vibrator with the cleaning media and run them through their spinning strainer and then spray them with Dillons paraffin lube and then after they are dry I dump them into the case feeder. For me the case prep is the easiest.
Don’t get me wrong, I had a load using LC 09 brass bump sized for my rifle that with 55 gr Hornady FMJ-BT bullets, IMR 8208XBR powder and Tula primers would hover just under 1 moa. It was ridiculous how much precision you could squeeze from even low cost bulk bullets. Everything had to be pretty meticulous to pull it off. I liked having absolute QC over my ammunition. But, in the end I’d rather pay more and enjoy my other hobbies.
