I have a BCM 16" SS410 barrel. The best 5 shot group with 9 different kinds of factory ammo was 3/4 MOA (Hornady Match 75gr BTHP). This was in an actual 100 yd underground tunnel with the rifle in a rest with no human contact. I swapped it with a White Oaks SAM-R 20" and now 1/2 MOA with 5 different kinds of factory ammo. I do not own a SS Noveske barrel, but I do own Noveske chrome lined barrels (3), and they are always about an inch with good factory ammo.
i wouldnt want either in a precision rig personally. BCM, like you said, have questionable accuracy reports and Noveske, I wouldnt want a light weight barrel in something I wanted “consistent accuracy” with.
Consistent 1 MOA gun, yea I am sure both are capable.
Consistent 1/2 MOA gun, better choices out there.
The two barrels you are looking at are 300+ dollars. You can get CLE turned Douglass blanks for 350 or so depending on options. If I didnt want to get into Krieger or Bartlein territory(450+ dollars), I would probably do a CLE turned Douglass blank with the CLE Match chamber and a matched bolt. My CLE spun Krieger is a consistent 1/2 MOA gun with my hand loads.
I’d be happy with sub MOA. Im not really planning on putting super high mag optics on it and shooting for groups. I want to shoot the shit out of it. Just not as hard as my CHF barrels.
It’s hard to explain but I want to run it like a gamer gun without being a gamer. That’s kind of why I was looking at the lightweight profile Noveske barrel.
If I can run drills with it and then hit 4 inch plates at 400 yards and the thing not be 11 pounds I’d be happy as hell with it.
I agree that either of your listed choices should meet your accuracy requirements.
The functional difference between 1:7 and 1:8 twist is basically inconsequential in your situation.
Noveske’s specs state a 5.56 Noveske Match chamber. I could be wrong, but I presume their Match chamber is tighter than a standard 5.56 NATO chamber, which isn’t going to improve its reliability. It’s also unlikely to negatively affect it much, since it’s still based on a 5.56 chamber, not .223 Remington.
I have been evaluating a straight jacket. I noticed a poster noted that when a barrel is warm, it may not group as well. I also noted the op wanted consistent accuracy.
This group was shot with a hot bore and was round 41-50 through a criterion wrapped in Teludyne Tech’s Straight Jacket.
I have two loads which I found which deliver ten round sub-moa groups. One group, 25 grains varget over vmax, delivered 8/10 rounds into a .52 moa group as analyzed in on target. With all ten rounds it was still sub-moa. I imagine it would do better in a machine rest as I am doing my best but I cant be rulled out as the source of the flyers.
The barrel seems immune to groups opening up due to heat. If their advertisments are to be beleived… It will also offer tripple the life of a standard barrel. Thats not possible for me to evaluate unless a ammo fairy helps me.
