Adams Arms Voodoo Ultra Lite Barrels

[FortTom]

Heard of these? Adams Arms Evo Ultra Light Voodoo barrels?

I just bought one of these (going in blind). But it's for a project I'm working on, a light weight AR. These barrels are stainless, melonited and weigh less than 1.5 pounds for a 16" barrel. I have a MI SSK hand guard to wrap around it.

Just curious, has anyone heard of these? I can't find much about them, except for the company claims. I bought it for it's light weight.

Here it is: http://www.adamsarms.net/products/barrels

FT

[GOST]

That thing is skinny like Kate Moss.

[FortTom]

That thing is skinny like Kate Moss.

Must be, Gost. I got a phone call from the company that I bought it from, to tell me that I should receive it by next week. So, I haven't seen it yet, myself. I'm looking forward to seeing it. They (Adams Arms) claim that they get 20" barell velocities out of a 16" mid length.

FT

[DMViergever]

Short write up: http://www.gunsandtactics.com/more-barrel-for-your-buck

I have had it maybe 3 months or 4? Anyways I have shot ~1500 rounds through it and dig it a lot. 1 pound 3 ounces on my scale. Who did you order from?

[FortTom]

Short write up: http://www.gunsandtactics.com/more-barrel-for-your-buck

I have had it maybe 3 months or 4? Anyways I have shot ~1500 rounds through it and dig it a lot. 1 pound 3 ounces on my scale. Who did you order from?

Valhalla Tactical Supply

FT

[DMViergever]

Gotcha. I usually just deal with AA/Voodoo direct so I was curious. I am digging the barrel, it.is actually the one that is in the review I did.for the SSK.

[FortTom]

Gotcha. I usually just deal with AA/Voodoo direct so I was curious. I am digging the barrel, it.is actually the one that is in the review I did.for the SSK.

I'm wondering about the weight. You stated 1lb. 3oz. on your scales. The website (Valhalla) says 1lb. 7.8 oz. for the 16" which is what I ordered. Just curious, it caught my eye and I wondered why the difference. I'm trying to keep this one as skinny as possible. I will be adding an Epsilon muzzle brake, so I'll be hanging a little more weight back on. Adams Arms says 1lb. 5.8oz., so I guess Valhalla just has a typo.

FT

[GOST]

Must be, Gost. I got a phone call from the company that I bought it from, to tell me that I should receive it by next week. So, I haven't seen it yet, myself. I'm looking forward to seeing it. They (Adams Arms) claim that they get 20" barell velocities out of a 16" mid length.

FT

I wonder what they are getting out of a 10.5" then?

[DMViergever]

Mine is a 16 inch as well. I am sure VDI probably got their number as an average or went on the heavy side. Lord knows if they list it as 1.3 and someone got one that was 1.58 all hell would break loose. I use a digital Taylor brand, not high dollar but there are cheaper. I will see if I have some pics of the barrel on the scale.

[RiverRat]

I have a pinned 14.5" Adams EVO Ultralight from before they started the VooDoo marketing. I've mentioned it here previously, but haven't gotten around to a post in the "layout" thread yet. FT - the barrels aren't stainless, they're 4150 Chromoly

I wanted something super-agile and this was the most interesting skinny barrel I could find. I mated mostly melonite-treated upper parts as an experiment and have been happy with the results. No chrono data, that wasn't my justification for the treatment.

Since I've run mostly general-use ammo though it so far, I would prefer to not comment on accuracy beyond "seems fine so far" At some point, I'll compare a few of the heavier match loads I have lying around and see what this can do.

One of the VooDoo reps mentioned that he sees POI shift after a couple of mag dumps with these barrels. I think it was about 1 MOA downward deflection after 2-3 mags rapid-fire. Just something to keep in mind.

I also chose to go for a 3-prong flash hider (Wilson Accutac) on the barrel instead of a compensator. I was concerned that downward forces on the end of the barrel might exacerbate the POI shift mentioned above. Assemble your the rest of your upper before you pick a muzzle device, apply a little pressure to the muzzle and you'll probably observe some deflection - make your own decision from there.

I expect you're going to enjoy the end result of this build - it's just plain fun to shoot light carbines like these.

[FortTom]

Yes, RiverRat, I knew it was CM and not stainless. I've looked at so many options for building this rifle that my head's spinning and I don't know what I'm thinking, half the time.
I had already assumed, based on experience with light weight barrels on hunting rifles, that the thin profiles will heat up quicker and lose accuracy faster than a heavy or heavier barreled rifle. Minute of man is all that I expect to get out of this one.

I bought a 16" because I don't want to be married to my muzzle device. I've got 2 of the Epsilon V6G muzzle brakes/comp/flash hiders, and will use one, mostly to help keep on target with a lightweight rifle, which is getting tougher as I'm getting older and my rifles are getting lighter.

I'm still trying to get all of the bits and pieces together, which will go out for cerekote and camo dip, to complete it all in one shot. I'm curious about how this will turn out also, my last two rifles have been getting lighter and lighter, and this one should be noticeably lighter. We'll see. Hope it's not just an expensive disaster.

FT

[FortTom]

I wonder what they are getting out of a 10.5" then?

They don't show approximated velocities for all of their barrels. The 20" velocities came out of one of their own reviews/advertisements. They sell an 11.5 ", but not a 10.5". Voodoo claims this is due to the melonited interior of their barrels vs. chrome. The melonite is an ion bonding agent that gets into the metal a little, rather than a chrome lined barrel, which is basically just a coating, and less even than direct rifiling of the CM barrel. That's their claim, not mine. So, I'll just have to wait and see. On their website they have a spreadsheet you can click on and look at their values, if you want too.

FT

[Deckard]

Sorry for the bump but any updates on these barrels? Thinking about picking one up.

[FortTom]

A. When I got mine, it was lighter than advertised 1lb. 3oz. I did a short review on here somewhere, but my concerns were immediately put to rest. It's actually one of my most accurate AR's, and likes just about everything I feed it. Dumping 30 round mags, rapid fire will heat any barrel, and your groups will open up, but this pencil thin barrel isn't any worse than most other profile barrels. The gun is freakin light, as far as you're careful with everything else. I have a VG6 Epsilon combo brake/comp/flash hider on it, and use an Aimpoint H1 on that gun. The dot just stays right on the mark. One of my favorite AR's, and I don't mind grabbing it out of the safe ahead of other AR's. The light weight took me a bit to get used to. Nothing unusual noticed when I clean the gun. Use a NiB BCG and frog lube, so clean up is a breeze. The barrel is melonited, so not too much to worry about there, as far as weather, etc.

I'm totally pleased with the whole project, and how sweet the thing handles.

FT

[Deckard]

Thanks for the response FT, I must have missed it. I'll get one and try it out.