We talk the ins and outs of the AR-15 barrel next.

Hello and welcome back to the STNGR Workshop. My name is Rick Barrett and I'm your host for the series of videos where we talk about everything in the gun community from gun accessories to gun maintenance. Today we continue talking about the AR-15 platform, more specifically the barrel that is located In the AR-15 upper.

Now to most of us, the barrel on the AR-15 that you're gonna buy is gonna be fine for the uses that you're gonna be needing, whether it's self-defense, hunting, or even just plinking. But there are those who engage in things like 3-Gun competitions or other precision shooting sports. For these people, the barrel of the AR-15 is arguably the most important part of the firearm.

We're gonna be talking about the length of the barrel and how that impacts your accuracy. We're also gonna be talking about something called twist barrel rate and how that can impact your accuracy as well.

When you're looking at the AR-15 barrel itself you're gonna be looking at three overall categories. Once again we can break them down more specifically but in this overall view you can know these three types. There's the general purpose lightweight barrels. there's the general purpose mid-weight AR-15 barrel, and then there is the precision AR-15 barrel.

Now to break down the AR-15 barrels, I'm gonna break down the overall tiers of the ARs. Essentially there's different price points. I don't like using the word budget; there's entry-level, there's mid-tier, and then there's really expensive (I mean that pretty much translates universally).

So we've talked about barrel quality (for lack of a better term): You have your entry-level with your lightweight, your mid-tier with your mid-weight AR-15, and your precision tier, which is your most expensive tier. Depending on what you're doing, one of these barrels will fit your needs.

Now that you know about the lightweight barrel, mid-weight barrel, and precision barrels on the AR-15, let's talk about something called twist barrel rate. Some people call it rifling. Now they'll come in three sets, for most of us, 1:7, 1:8, and 1:9. What does all that mean? Well, the rifling or twist barrel rate is the twist rate which indicates the distance required for one groove to make a complete turn, rotating 360°.

So a 1:7 twist rate means one rotation of the bullet for every 7" on the barrel and the more spin that applies on the bullet, it gives you better accuracy coming out of the rifle.

So when you go buy your AR-15 and you look on the barrel it will say either 1:7, 1:8, or 1:9.

Are there 1:12s? Yes. Do you need it? Most likely not.

Once again, these twist rates are appropriate for our everyday needs or for what you and I are going to be using an AR-15 for. So if you get an AR barrel that's 1:7 or 1:8, don't think that it is not as good as a 1:9 because the nine is higher and that's not necessarily true. If you have an AR-15 barrel with a 1:7 twist, that's gonna do the job just as well as a 1:8 or 1:9.

Now, the last thing I want to talk about when discussing the AR-15 barrel now that we know about lightweight, mid-weight, precision barrels & the twist rate that comes in 1:7, 1:8, and 1:9. I want to talk about the muzzle devices.

Now, muzzle devices come primarily in two different forms on the civilian market. You have flash suppressors and compensators. These are the two things you're gonna see when you pick up an AR-15 at a gun show or at a sporting goods store.

And that's it for this episode from the STNGR Workshop talking about the AR-15 barrel. I'm your host, Rick Barrett. I hope you enjoyed this video. I'll talk to you soon.