With the LWRC cold hammer forged and NiCor treatment you get 100% more accuracy than a Mil Spec barrel, not to mention about 10 times the service life of the Legacy gas impingement.
2 MOA @ 100 meters with my 6.8 SPC LWRC with SSA Sierra 115 grain OTM. With the SSA 77 Grain 5.56 OTM is about the same at that same distance. I'd say that beats any Mil Spec barrel in service today.
I have consistently gotten 1MOA at 100 yards out of rack grade (Mil spec) 1/7 NATO barrels with MK262. The bigger issues with rack grade barrels are the protection of the crown (keeping Joe from gouging it up with a cleaning rod).
I have no experience with the 6.8 SPC, but I have heard of subMOA groups from LWRC M6, but I am not sure on the ammo that was used.
The main issue is not how it comes from the factory but how it holds up in use. The piston system is more reliable then gas impingement and I would never argue that is not. But the accuracy and accuracy longevity is not better with a piston system. The primary issue is the buildup of carbon in the business end of the barrel and the erosion of the gas porthole caused by the gas regulator.
This is an incorrect statement.
LWRCI™ rifles and carbines utilize cold hammer forged barrels made out of 41V45 steel alloy and treated with NiCorr™ surface conversion technology. Cold hammer forging takes an oversized barrel blank, and using high pressure rotary hammers, compacts the barrel blank over a mandrel. This forms perfect rifling devoid of tool marks. It also compacts the molecular structure of the metal making it denser and stronger. These barrels can take a lot more use and abuse than a standard barrel before any degradation in accuracy or loss of velocity. NiCorr™ surface conversion has proved more lubricious, harder wearing, more heat and corrosion resistant than the hard chrome normally used in the bore. Our barrels can handle 20,000 rounds before replacement, as compared to 6,000-10,000 rounds on a standard M4.
How exactly does a piston system reduce accuracy and service life then ??
You can believe what you want buba, I tested the HK416 and we had the same problem that two of my best friends M6 carbines are having now, that the accuracy is notably diminished after around 3000 rounds. This is not something new to the gas piston world; it’s been the problem with the AK series and M1/M14 series rifles.
I am sure the LWRC barrels are better then the standard Wilson rack grades and I have no doubt that the LWRC barrel will last longer. But you are comparing two different levels of accuracy and two different gas systems. Take a LWRC barrel and put gas impingement on it and you can see the difference in the accuracy levels I am talking about.
Don’t take my word for it; ask some of the trainers out there who are testing these rifles on the civilian side. Talk to the competitive side and ask them if they are noticing less accuracy in the pistons vs the impingement. I did not make it up bro, I am just passing on the experience of my self and the people I know.
All that being said, the standard for a mil issue M4 with M855 ammo is 3MOA. The 416’s we tested all stayed with in this standard and maintain better reliability then the M4’s we tested next to them. For a room broom, I would take a gas piston over impingement. But being the accuracy driven person I am, my personal money will go with gas impingment.
