AR-stoner barrels? are they worth it

[squirlz]

I want to build a new upper for hog hunting and the boogie man and do not want to spend a ton of money for an upper i will use once in a blue moon but im dead set on making a 68 so i was wondering if an AR-stoner 16" barrel would be at least at or above average for accuracy you input would be greatly appreciated.

[Equalizer_2]

Here is a thread about just one person's experience with this barrel. We actually need more reports before we can say good or bad on the barrel.

http://68forums.com/forums/showthrea...-5R-1-12-build

The reports on Midway's site sound good. Anyone can have a bad apple slip through the cracks. Check some other sites also to include here http://www.ar15performance.com/barre...__carriers?b=1

[Jamesb74]

Here is a thread about just one person's experience with this barrel. We actually need more reports before we can say good or bad on the barrel.

http://68forums.com/forums/showthrea...-5R-1-12-build

+1..................

[squirlz]

IYO are any of those barrel bolt combos better than AR-stoner. if it was your money where would you spend it cause i am relatively new to the ar world.

[68WJ]

IYO are any of those barrel bolt combos better than AR-stoner. if it was your money where would you spend it cause i am relatively new to the ar world.

AR Stoner - $279.99 and a black eye so far. Compared to:

AR Performance - 289.99 (nitro carbed)
AR Performance - 259.00 (stainless)
Bison - 260.00 (stainless w/ Stag bolt, LMT more)
There are some others too. Black Hole Weaponry comes to mind.

[ArtFWTx]

AR Stoner - $279.99 and a black eye so far. Compared to:

AR Performance - 289.99 (nitro carbed)
AR Performance - 259.00 (stainless)
Bison - 260.00 (stainless w/ Stag bolt, LMT more)
There are some others too. Black Hole Weaponry comes to mind.

I agree completely. I love Midway and order from them a few times a year. Keep in mind Midway is a catalog company not an AR custom shop or manufacturer like AR Performance, Bison Armory, White Oak Armament, Noveske, or Wilson Combat as examples.
Go with a stainless steel barrel like the 1-11 4-groove SPC II barrels from ARP, Bison, or Wilson Combat. They are proven performers
and would be a good barrel for your usage.

ARP's stainless steel Hunter uppers are priced right for your usage and offer all the 6.8 performance specs at a price that's competitive with the AR manufacturers like Stag, or RRA.

[68sniper]

AR Stoner
Bison
Wilson Combat
ARP

all use barrels made by ER Shaw so just pick the one you like as the specs are great on all of them, I will be building a plinker upper in the spring using one of the AR Stoner barrels since the 1:12 twist 5R rifling is good enough but the purpose of the upper is to keep the wear down on my $400(w/o bolt) Shilen Ratchet rifled match barrel.

[nemohunter]

i have the AR stoner and love it. that said the biggest reasons i ordered it were one it was in stock. everybody here was out at the time, and 2 it has the proper specs. mine has been MOA or better with every load tried. just order up the properly speced barrel from any one of the fine folks here and get to building. my next barrel will likely be from ARP.

[AKsarben]

I tried that AR Stoner and had to return it. Both the bolt and barrel had issues. Let's address the bolt first. For some reason the bolt would not let the firing pin go in far enough to give a decent strike on the primer. I changed out the bolt to another I had, and no issues. BTW, "matching" bolt it is not. The bolt was brand new, no wear marks off the black, and we KNOW that cannot happen if they matched the bolt to barrle in headspace. There would have been an indication that the marks from the barrel lugs met the bolt during that process. As is, it was pristine...kind of like an magic bullet from Dallas.

The barrel shot a pretty nice group, even for new. I did recover a bullet and it had mushroomed well and the rifling groves were very clean, neatly cut and free from evidence of slippage. I have seen fired bullets that had sliped in the path down the barrel and leave a telltale mark on the bullet. The chamber was what was the issue. During the chamber reaming it had incurred a grove near the start of the shoulder. That small grove didn't and wouldn't have affected single use of the brass, such as someone who just buys new bullets and fires and forgets them. But, to a reloader, that groove would spell premature doom to the brass from repeated resizing and re-grooving. If I would have had a 6.8 SPC II reamer, I might have been able to removed enough of the material in the chamber to have eliminated it, since chamber dimensions do have certain + tolerance values. But I sent it back, got full refund back into my account (to MidwayUSA's credit for good customer support), as well as initial shipping costs. I waited to get another barrel, figuing it was a fluke. Barrel was supposed to be back in stock on 11/15/2010 so on 11/15/2010 I checked the sight again, and now it showed new arrival date of 12/01/2010. Next day it changed again to 12/31/2010, so I started looking elsewhere, which led me to Harrison, AKA Constructor, of AR Performance with his barrel. His came in a timely fashion, was reasonably priced, had great specs, including the 5R rifling, and shoots under 1/2" group with the right load.. actually one group of 3 is covered by a penny.

I contacted E.R. Shaw by phone, twice, and they are insistant that they do not make a 1:12 5R barrel at all. I never did find out who the actual company is that makes these barrels, but those specs are rather unusual in the industry of barrel making for the 6.8 X 43.

[fredjones]

had the same issue with the ring just under the shoulder but also had flat primers and mis formed shoulder took the rifle apart today am sending midway back the barrel to marrow will most likely order form ar preformance as well

have received ar stoner tool mis aligned now ar stoner barrel like mid way good customer service but will no longer buy ar stoner anything