Best inner barrels

[Solly4568]

Ok, so i have been looking around the forum and there does not appear to be anything on the best inner barrels that was written recently so which inner barrels would you guys recommend and why 

Much thanks

Solly

[L3wisD]

Depends really on your budget.

 

Prometheus EG barrels are popular, and good, but at (approx) £56 a pop for a 275mm, they are quite a chunk to spend on a barrel.

The ZCI barrels at AK2M4 are great, with very similar performance for a fraction of the price - coming in at £17 for a 275mm.

 

[Solly4568]

yeah but they are always out of stock ?

[AshOnSnow]

I’ve got a ZCI barrel in my VSR. It’s good.

[Arwen]

19 hours ago, L3wisD said:

Depends really on your budget.

 

Prometheus EG barrels are popular, and good, but at (approx) £56 a pop for a 275mm, they are quite a chunk to spend on a barrel.

The ZCI barrels at AK2M4 are great, with very similar performance for a fraction of the price - coming in at £17 for a 275mm.

 

 

Handy to know others opinions on the ZCI barrels... I've been looking at maybe getting a replacement for my Recce (430mm) £84 for a custom EdGI barrel, or £23 (+P&P) for the ZCi, If I can ever find them in stock 

Although I am rather hoping I don't need a new barrel at all and that a new hop unit will sort it out! 

[MisterG]

I have a few, barrels seems ok, but not done any scientific tests of them vs other brands.  Was about to suggest ak2m4, but he is out of stock, he does have a 450 if you wanted to extend into the suppressor.

[snuff]

Should we be discussing barrel material?I've had better results from brass over stainless.I've tried Prometheus,Madbull,Tomtac..amongst others,always sized at 6.03.

[Asomodai]

PDI are the creme de la creme, but I think best price over performance ratio is from the Laylax/Prometheus types. Every RIF of mine has them. 

[apexpredator]

I have an EdGI barrel in my RIF and cannot fault it. The machining of the hop window and the finish on the barrel are superb. Expensive though.

 

[Arwen]

4 hours ago, MisterG said:

he does have a 450 if you wanted to extend into the suppressor.

It's long enough as it is currently, It already takes abuse from me hitting it on door ways and such 

 

3 hours ago, snuff said:

Should we be discussing barrel material?

I was wondering this too... For my example above, the £84 is for Brass. The SS version is £172.20 

[Lozart]

As long as the surface finish is good then the actual material doesn't make all that much difference. The wear rate of different materials will impact though so softer metals like aluminium and brass will wear quicker than something like stainless steel which in turn will eventually lead to inaccuracies. Softer materials are easier to polish but harder ones can achieve a higher polish so there's that to consider too.

 

In terms of coated barrels anodising, paint, powder coat etc will all wear off over time (apart from hard anodising but I doubt any airsoft barrels are hard anodised).

 

More important in all of this is how straight a barrel is and the tolerances of its bore. The better barrels tend to be made in higher quality materials anyway.

[proffrink]

Always has and still is PDI. The proper steel ones (not the coated brass 'Raven' ones).

 

EdGI are a close second.

[Tiercel]

Bit of a plot twist suggestion, but if money is an issue Id strongly recommend giving JBU barrels a try. 

 

I'd never heard of them before and only seen them stocked on Z1, they were the only brand I could find a barrel the right size for my 416c in 6.03 flavour. I gave them a ring and spoke to them about it, apparently thats the brand they use for all their in-house DMR builds, so for £25 I thought Id give it a try. Its actually really bloody good. Combined with a JBU hop rubber Im getting some pretty excellent results from my 416.

 

The barrel feels solidly made,  whilst I dont have the kit to do a full scientific investigation of how straight and well finished the internal side of it is, it looks good to me. I normally use Madbull Black Python V2s in my builds and this JBU barrel feels heavier, more solid, and not as thin walled as the Black Pythons, it sits better inside the outer barrel of my gun with a more snug fit so hopefully less vibration per shot. (because Im too lazy to PTFE tape stabilise the whole barrel).