BA Hanson barrel

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William Suter

Well-known member
I bought a ZRO Delta a few months ago and have been fighting accuracy issues ever since. Its a nice "looking" rifle but I just can't get it to group good enough that I trust it for a hunting rifle. I swapped the trigger for a CMC and that was a great improvement but didn't make it shoot any better. Yesterday I went internet barrel shopping and settled on a Ballistic Advantage 16", 1-8 twist, stainless Hanson barrel. I don't know much about AR barrels so I go on reviews to make my choice. I hope I made the right one on this barrel. It has to be a better barrel than what I have now or did I just waste my money??
 
I'm running a BA 14.5" Govt Profile barrel on the M4 clone.
It shoots, very well IMO, actually better than I expected when I ordered it.
 
I've returned three Ballistic Advantage barrels over the years, they are a budget barrel company period... and a roll of the dice. You might get one that shoots, you might not. Seems reviews are either complete garbage (no shortage of bad reviews on AR15.com over the years) or great performance, not a lot in the middle.

Some years ago I did a VERY DETAILED review of a BA barrel I had to return as it shot 12" groups at 100 yards AND damaged my AEM5 suppressor. The replacement barrel was just as bad and I included it in the review as well with LOTS of pictures. BA had no problem taking the barrels back and replacing them but refused to answer my questions as to what they found wrong with the barrels. The third was a different material (bead blasted SS) and it shoots right at MOA.

I have multiple BA barrels in other calibers such as .308, 22ARC, 6mmARC, and 6.5 Grendel and they all shoot great. I do have a couple BA barrels in .223 that are "ok". I won't buy anything .223 from BA but have no problem with other calibers.

Good luck on your build, all in all, you SHOULD be ok and satisfied.
 
Bowhntr6pt said:
I've returned three Ballistic Advantage barrels over the years, they are a budget barrel company period... and a roll of the dice.
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Very Very True, my expectation of the one I'm running right now was the bullet would pass out past the crown of the barrel.
Now where would it hit??? .. and groupings I had no clue, nor expectations.
I didn't expect much in the terms of accuracy. The Nitrated process they use, could be either a blessing or curse, which I'm sure they are outsourcing that aspect on the barrels they offer with that option. Mine was one of them using that as well as a mid length gas system.
I'm guessing I got lucky with mine. But yeah BA is not known as a match barrel, if that is one's desire, then seek out a match quality barrel.
Do I have better barrels on other AR's yes, do they shoot better ? Oh yes they do, like night and day difference.
Is the BA I have on the M4 clone acceptable ? yes, for the price point, and the expected usage. do I expect the same performance as the match barrels .. NO, but held to the same expectations of a issue M4 barrel which is minute of man out to 400 meters (less than 1-2 MOA depending on group shot size 5 vs 20 rounds).
For the OP yes YMWV, hopefully it will perform to your expectations.
Mine I'm happy with so there is that.
 
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William Suter said:
Sure hope I have better luck than you did. I don't need another POS barrel. I already have one of those.
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BA has a MOA guarantee... I assume that applies to the Hanson series as well... if it shoots bad, use their ON LINE RMA system and return it for a replacement, rinse and repeat as necessary until you get one that shoots.

I still think the odds are you will be ok with the barrel.

BA is just down the road from me. When they first started up, their barrels were no doubt pretty damn good. They have since been acquired (majority) by Aero Precision back in 2014. Well... we all know what problems Aero has had in the last couple years. I personally think something changed in the barrel making chain resulting in some really bad barrels being produced. I mean when places blow BA barrels out on sale at less than $100... that's a clue.

Keep us posted on your barrel swap.
 
I've never had a BA barrel that didn't shoot. I have a 20" 6 arc, 12.5" 6.5 Grendel, 3-4 5.56 barrels. They all shot great. I read a bunch of bad reviews on the 6 Arc BA barrels but I decided to try to myself as most of them were shooting Hornady factory ammo. I have been able to get it to shoot 1/2 groups with 87g and 105g HPBT.
 
Well, I got notified that my barrel has shipped with a tracking number. But.... I don't know who the shipper is and when I try to look up the number it says page not found. I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope it gets here.

Turns out the carrier is UPS and the barrel should be here Thursday.
 
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Received my barrel this morning. Took it to the shop and got it put on. No bore scope so just the naked eye and it looked pretty good. Got it on the cleaning table and ran 2 wet patchs of Butchs through the bore. Only discoloration was from the cleaner. Let it set for a few then ran a brush through the bore about 10 strokes and then more patchs that came out pretty much just the color of the Butchs. Patchs ran smooth down the bore and its nice and bright. Hoping for the best!!
 
I put about 15 rounds through the new barrel today. I have some 55 grain mystery bullets, just a FBSP of unknown maker and some BLc-2 powder. Shot a couple at 50yds to find my zero then to 100yds. First 5 shots were cutting the top of a 1" red spot, definitely sub 1". I should have let the barrel cool a little more than I did but put another 5 rounds down range. Group opened up to just over an inch. Still much better than the old barrel and with no load work at all. Brought it home and ran a few wet patch's of Butch's through the barrel and it clean up really quick. Not bad for a $140 barrel.
 
Plan to run a few different bullets and powders through it and see if it likes one combination better than another. I have several bullet and powders compatible for the 223.
 
I'm beginning to think I'm the weak link in the chain. I shot the AR with the BA Hanson barrel again today. Lots of wind so that didn't help much. Ten rounds with my 55 grain mystery bullets (FBSP) and BLc-2 and 15 rounds of 55 grain V-Max and 8208. Both groups hovered around 1 1/4-1 1/2" at 100yds. My scope is a 1-8 Cabelas and a 16" barrel. My scope ha a horizontal line with a dot in the center and the dot completely covers a 1" dot at 100yd. Shooting off a rest and a rear bag it fights me to stay on target. Today it was only slightly better than when I was using the old barrel so now I'm wondering if its the loads, the optic being low powered or the short barrel? Or heaven forbid....me? Also wondering if the barrel is still going through break in. Its only got 40 rounds threw it as of today. Its still minute of coyote so I guess I'll keep working on the ammo.
 
I use larger powered scopes on almost all my rifles. Going from a 20x to an 8x leaves a lot. I'm sure trying to keep that dot on another dot the same size isn't helping much.
 
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