Recently found the Palmetto State upper with 16" SS barrel produce shotgun like "patterns" at 50 yards.   BUIS and EOTECH, same results.

Any of you into rolling your own have any thoughts on an accurate barrel that does not break the bank and cause marital strife?

I am tooled up for mid length gas, hand guard and .75"gas block.   Like to re-use that stuff to minimize $ layout.

Would really like an 18" barrel, but would stick with 16" if I had to.  Barrel weight not an issue, used to my .308 weight.

I've had excellent (or at least very good enough for me) accuracy with BCM midlength barrels.  I have a BCM complete upper for the AR that has the 1-8 and I am getting sub 1-MOA with match ammo (FGMM 69 and 77 gr).  I shoot 16" barrels, but I know their 18" SS barrels get good reviews.

I used to have a 18"" mid-length upper with a White Oak Armament barrel.  I ended up selling it to a buddy, but I was very impressed with that setup.  They also get very good reviews.

https://www.whiteoakarmament.com/shop/barrels.html

BCM is a bit above the $ what I can get away with.   
Whiteoak is closer.   Saw Bear Creek, but they have sketchy reviews.

Strike sounded good, but it seems they have discontinued AR barrels.

White Oak (in house Wilson blanks), Criterion

So, looks like a decent barrel that would not be a question mark will be upwards of $250, plus maybe new gas block depending on supplier.

Looking at Faxon, know nothing of them.  might have to cough up for a .625" gas block.

Ah well, at least the thing is no worse than a Mini-14, so it can be a decent plinker for short range in the mean time. 

Will bolt on the scope, stretch it to 100 yards and see how bad it really is.

https://www.ballisticadvantage.com/

I've had very good results with these guys

https://www.ballisticadvantage.com/

I've had very good results with these guys

Got it.  At least one barrel there would help me reuse gas blocks, handguard, etc.
The barrel that would work perfectly is out of stock, of course.

Assume you got good accuracy out of their barrels?

you could try scrubbing the crap out of it with some JB and a brush and/or follow up with firelapping.

White Oak (in house Wilson blanks), Criterion

Wilson has this on sale, opinions?  Ftis my criteria of mid, .75 gas block, 16-18"

https://shopwilsoncombat.com/BARREL-556-NATO-LE-16-ROUND-STAINLESS-GLASS-BEAD-1-8/productinfo/TR%2D556LEMG16RT8/

you could try scrubbing the crap out of it with some JB and a brush and/or follow up with firelapping.

Yeah, the amount of copper in the "new" barrel from (I hope) only test firing suggests a lot of roughness.  Got some JB paste used on air rifles to try.

Shipping Tubbs lapping ammo here would be $$$.   

Wilson has this on sale, opinions?  Ftis my criteria of mid, .75 gas block, 16-18"

https://shopwilsoncombat.com/BARREL-556-NATO-LE-16-ROUND-STAINLESS-GLASS-BEAD-1-8/productinfo/TR%2D556LEMG16RT8/

In case didn;t know - Wilson Combat is not the same as Wilson barrels. I don't have any experience with Wilson Combat.

In case didn;t know - Wilson Combat is not the same as Wilson barrels. I don't have any experience with Wilson Combat.

So I read.  Wilson does not sell to private buyers unless you want a bunch of them.   JSE surplus is apparently a retail outlet for Wilson Arms. 
Need to decide how accurate this rifle really needs to be considering there is nowhere on the island to let it stretch out.

After my AR 308 did around MOA or better with GI surplus in spite of all my barrel bedding efforts, I have gotten to just expect decent accuracy from the AR platform.

Edit;  Looked at my stuff bought from PSA, and saw that this upper (pinned gas block since removed0 only cost $180.  A sale, but then again, might have been trying to unload a bad batch of barrels as complete uppers.
https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-16-mid-length-5-56-nato-1-8-stainless-steel-freedom-upper-no-bcg-or-charging-handle.html

Have you borescoped the barrel in question?

I don't have any particular minimum accuracy for my AR15s, but I did do a lot of testing on what is the "inherent accuracy" of many of my ARs, including a couple of that I still own.  The basic barrels that I have from BCM, Colt, and LMT have all been excellent, plus a DD upper that I sold off.  I put them in a Lead Sled and 2-3 MOA was easy with 1x red dots, with less with a magnified optic. 

I have a PSA upper, but that is my "beater" upper that is meant to test shooting all sorts of crappy and underpowered ammo. I haven't tested it like the uppers above. 

Rule of thumb:  all AR15 barrels should be capable of sub-moa accuracy giving 3-rd groupings of 1 inch at 100 yards.  Any manufacturing or damage related problems with the barrel should only be noticed at longer distances.

Nice write-up on what to shop for, which specs to choose, and brands that are top-rated:

https://www.wingtactical.com/best-ar-15-barrels/

Have you borescoped the barrel in question?

Yes.  Immediately after getting the Teslong.  i found very noticeable copper fouling (new barrel?).  Just yesterday again after posting here.  Barrel crown looks good, had not really checked it before.

Only thing I seem to notice is the lands do not all start at the same distance in the throat.  no idea if that matters.  Go-no go gauges show acceptable head-spacing, assuming I did it right.

Yes.  Immediately after getting the Teslong.  i found very noticeable copper fouling (new barrel?).  Just yesterday again after posting here.  Barrel crown looks good, had not really checked it before.

Only thing I seem to notice is the lands do not all start at the same distance in the throat.  no idea if that matters.  Go-no go gauges show acceptable head-spacing, assuming I did it right.

Did you clean (or at least run a few patches) before shooting first time?  I recall (reading and hearing experiences) that some barrels come with copper (or at least reddish, brownish) looking coating in the barrel, which I assume is mostly corrosion inhibitor.  In one custom rifle, the patches were reddish/brown.  It went away after a few wet patches. 

I'll have to check my upper with the 1-8, but the chamber cut and transition to the lands should be uniform around the circumference. 

Damn, my AR is tangerine grouping at 50 with a red dot. No rear bag, but front supported by rice bag.  Not slow fire as I have no patience for this, so more like slower than moderate fire when zeroing.  This was years ago when I last zero'd, so probably more noob user error. S&W M&P Sport II. So as cheap as they come and does the job for skill builders. 

TBH, I never fired at paper at 100, just a 6 inch gong that is able to be hit consistently.

Did you clean (or at least run a few patches) before shooting first time?  I recall (reading and hearing experiences) that some barrels come with copper

Yes, posted of my frustration with the LGS not even carrying basic bore cleaning fluids.  Had to order Montana Xtreme copper cleaner from Amazon after I noticed the copper fouling in the first 1/4 or so of the barrel. 
had not fired it before that but had run a patch through with some Hoppes.

The unevenness of the lands had me wondering about a sloppy reaming job, but figured firing would show if it mattered..

I have bcm and spikes chf barrels. I like them.

I had great experience with faxon barrels. Moa more or less depending on what ammo I used at the time.

My friend said his BA barrel outshoots his faxon barrels tho. Might take a look at those too. Usually can find them on sale at righttobear.com. ive ordered alot through them in the past but never a BA barrel.

Yes, posted of my frustration with the LGS not even carrying basic bore cleaning fluids.  Had to order Montana Xtreme copper cleaner from Amazon after I noticed the copper fouling in the first 1/4 or so of the barrel. 
had not fired it before that but had run a patch through with some Hoppes.

The unevenness of the lands had me wondering about a sloppy reaming job, but figured firing would show if it mattered..

Note that carbon and copper gets laid down in layers.  Not sure how many rounds down the pipe, but with as little as even 200 (maybe even less), you can see carbon, then copper, then carbon.  And yeah, not unusual to see the copper and carbon in the first 1/4 of the barrel.  For my bolt actions, which is where I use the borescopes, the fouling is in the first 4-6" of 26" barrel.  I've since used the borescope for some of my ARs, but mostly to see how used and abused they look.  That and checking out the gas port erosion, which surprisingly wasn't that much in a couple of my ARs in the 4000-6000 round range.