Brownells now selling their own AR-15 barrel
Brownells are now selling their own branded M4 style barrel.
The AR-15/M16/M4 Carbine Barrel (#080-000-681) is made of 4140 chrome moly steel, hardened to Rc 26-33 and stress relieved. It’s 16″ long with a 1 in 7 twist and ½”-28 threads for a flash hider. M4 feed ramps provide reliable feeding into the 5.56 NATO chamber. A dark gray, Parkerized finish helps prevent rust.
They are selling it for $219.99. I wonder how long before they start selling a Brownells branded upper receiver.
No Hard Chrome? When will people learn?
They lost me at 4140 barrel steel. Also I’m a little weary of all these barrels using the “M4″ profile, when 99.99% of them will NEVER have a M203 mounted to them. There are much better barrel profiles out there.
At least it’s 5.56 and 1/7.
It’s truly mind boggling to see AR and component manufacturing proliferate to the level it has in the last 10-15 years. I remember when there were really only a few companies making complete rifles, let alone components, and that was THAT long ago.
M4 profile save you few pounds of weight. That’s why people prefer it to HBAR or pencil barrel. It is a good compromise between the two.
4140 < 4150 < CMV (Chrome Moly Vanadium), but for all intended purpose no one will notice the difference. So don't sweat if you have a 4140 barrel.
With that said, you can get a better deal then what Brownells is offering. Shop around it's only a click away.
A better profile compromise would be a smooth taper, without all the skinny under the handguards, fat in front of the FSB, M203 notch nonsense. Something like Noveske’s N4 profile.