When PROOF Research joined with Lawrence Barrels in 2012 they acquired 15 years of experience in manufacturing precision steel barrels. These stainless steel barrels are made in-house with an absolute commitment to extreme accuracy and quality. They start with double stress-relieved 416R stainless steel, a pre-hardened chromium stainless steel ideally suited for use in precision, match-grade rifle barrels. 416R was specifically designed by engineers in collaboration with barrel makers and rifle manufacturers to provide the consistency, high quality and durability the firearms industry demands.
416R is our stainless steel of choice because it has the following characteristics:
- Excellent machinability for gun drilling and reaming, plus exceptional polish-ability for uniform lapping—a must for bore accuracy.
- A homogeneous microstructure which responds to heat treatment providing a uniform hardness along the length of the bar, necessary for accurate rifling to precise groove dimensions.
- An optimum combination of high tensile strength along with adequate toughness to withstand typical chamber pressures encountered during firing.
PROOF 416R arrives at our factory in long lengths and is then cut to finished barrel length. The barrels are then drilled, contoured and reamed to the bore diameter of the cartridge for which they are to be chambered. The barrels are then cut rifled, hand lapped and inspected with a bore scope.
Your AR barrel is pre-chambered in the cartridge of your choice and ready for installation by your gunsmith. All AR-15 barrels are headspaced for the JP EnhancedBolt™ part # JP223-MP.
The .223 Wylde is a proprietary rifle cartridge chamber with the external dimensions and lead angle as found in the military 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge and the 0.224 inch freebore diameter as found in the civilian SAAMI .223 Remington cartridge. Rifles with a .223 Wylde chamber will typically accept both .223 Remington and 5.56×45mm NATO ammunition. Note that while the .223 Remington and 5.56×45mm NATO chambers have slightly different dimension, the cartridges themselves are identical in dimension. The chamber dimension differences are often confused with the cartridge dimensions and so it is often erroneously thought that the cartridges have different dimensions. The cartridges are loaded to different pressure levels (with the 5.56 being greater), however. (The NATO dimensions offset the higher pressure with a longer throat - often confusing some to think the cartridge itself is longer). This chamber allows the use of both pressure levels safely while also increasing accuracy potential across the range of potential pressures.
The .223 Wylde hybrid chamber was designed by Bill Wylde to exploit the accuracy advantages of the .223 Remington chambering without pressure problems or compromising the functional reliability of semi-auto weapons like the AR-15 family when using 5.56×45mm NATO military ammunition. Coincidentally, it shoots the relatively long and heavy 80-grain bullets commonly used in the Sport Rifle Competition very well and is one of the preferred chambers for that use.
- Brand:
- Proof Research
