Criterion Barrels AR-15 HBAR Mid Length Gas System Barrel

6 reviews for Criterion Barrels AR-15 HBAR Mid Length Gas System Barrel

1. 

   Minority Report – August 2, 2020

   I have an HBAR barrel on my Spike's Tactical upper, and love it. Now that I am building my left-hand build, I was looking for a good HBAR barrel and came across Criterion. Did some research for a month and found they had a lot of positive buzz about them. I am glad I did. This barrel is quality. Exceptional quality. I plan to only buy Criterion barrels from now on.

2. 

   Minority Report – May 22, 2021

   I wanted a solid, do-everything barrel for my latest lefty AR-15 build. I shopped for a month until I came across Criterion HBAR barrels. Now, there is a bit of a weight difference between this barrel and what is normally slapped on an AR-15 from manufacturers BUT the weight has its benefits. Along with this barrel, I installed a Surefire Warcomp. The results are outstanding. There is practically no muzzle flip with the heavier barrel and the Warcomp. Many people say this about every kind of barrel/barrel attachment, but it rings true with this setup. The big reason I bought this barrel, is it uses a 1:8 twist rate – I tend to shoot 62gr which is fine with a 1:7 twist barrel, but I wanted to have stabilized 55gr rounds as well. With a 1:7 twist barrel, I noticed 55gr would tumble and yaw some while shooting at around 100 yards, or around 80 yards using boat tail ammo in 55gr. I have not had tumbling problems with 55gr using this 1:8 Criterion barrel unless I use boat tail ammo, but that is around 200 yards. Standard off the shelf 55gr shoots fine – zero tumbling, zero yaw. It also handles 62gr perfectly. This shoots SUB-MOA using match ammo!If you have very weak arms due to age/disability/profession, I can understand trying to shave weight off of your rifle and looking elsewhere, but I would suggest you give it a try if you can afford to do so.

3. 

   Dustin V – March 14, 2023

   Criterion has a reputation that is well earned. A 16” HBar, Wylde chamber that’s also chrome lined? How cool is that? I honestly can’t think of any negatives at the time of this writing. The dimple on the opposite side of the gas port is perfectly placed and not even just slightly off at all like I’ve seen before on some barrels. Accuracy is phenomenal and I’d be willing to bet that it’s on par with most of the premium stainless barrels available. I’d love to do a side by side comparison or see one done.I did not do a barrel break in procedure, for what that’s worth to some people.Highly recommended.

4. 

   Tote – March 14, 2023

   Criterion barrels have a really good reputation aside from that I was a bit doubtful about getting this one being a heavy barrel,but man this SS barrel is beautiful and it shoots darn accurately at 100 yards sub moa my build is complete with this,a bit on the heavy side but no big deal for me,highly recommended.

5. 

   The MC – May 27, 2023

   This is a duty grade barrel. Think of it as a Socom concept barrel in 223 Wylde and not 1:7 twist. It's a true heavy barrel (thiccc). It's accurate and it feels a little overgassed based on my ejection patterns. I did run it with an H2, Super 42 H2 (no noticeable difference with a standard h2), and Vltor A5. This did soften it up a bit, with the A5 doing the best job, but ejection on full powered ammo is still a 2 o clock proposition with low powered ammo  like PMC ejecting around 3:30-4. I have not run steel through it.It gives about 3 o clock ejection on PMC Bronze and 2 ish o clock on IMI 193 with a standard carbine buffer. Definitely MAO capable with the right ammo. BCM and Rosco barrels seem gassed better. In shooting a bunch of rifles I haven't ever had to consider an H2 buffer, even on some carbine length gas systems.  I'd probably actually buy a Socom barrel over this one if it were cheaper since this one seems potentially over-gassed, which defeats one benefit of the mid-length system and the Socom had a 1:7 twist. I have had no problems with headspacing this using a BCM BCM or Griffin Enhanced BCG.If you don't need a heavy barrel, I wouldn't buy this one. I haven't really had an AR barrel that can't shoot MOA (and this one is no more accurate than other heavy barrels that ive shot, in fact it showed the least amount of accuracy potential of the heavy barrels I've shot when doing accuracy testing) with 75/77 grain ammo. I'd personally go stainless or maybe the Core profile from Criterion if you're seeking consistent accuracy, but not the weight. However, if you want to  shoot quick strings, like at a competition, and not get a lot of heat from the barrel, this one will do just fine, even with a low profile handguard. It heats up far slower than the hybrid profile barrels from Criterion.Additionally, I haven't really had these 16 inch Wylde barrels be any more accurate than 1:7 twist barrels in 5.56.  I wouldn't be bending over backwards to try and find one. I will say that I am a bit of an accuracy snob and I also don't like 1:8 twist in 16 inch. I will say that every 18 inch 1:8 twist barrel I've shot has been lights out accurate and 223 Wylde, exceptionally so.  This is a good barrel, but the weight may not be worth it, if you don't need it. I'm going to shoot a ballistic advantage hbar and a stag have, they are far cheaper 1:7 twist and nitrided 4150 cmv. If they suck, I'll post a five star review. I'd post a three star review because I'm just not that impressed, but I saw someone gave this product a low rating because if OPs choice of packaging (it's standard) , so I'm giving it four stars.

6. 

   Danny H – October 24, 2024

   First time with this brand. Very happy shooting 1/2 to 1” groups at 100yrds. Definitely recommend