Talk to me about the differences. I am waiting on an AR15 Performance .223 Wylde barrel to come back in stock. I really like their barrels, but I can buy a ballistic advantage stainless steel barrel right now for $20 more.

Stainless. More accurate.

Melonite. More long term reliability (higher round counts)

That's what I've read at least, from a high level. I've not witnessed those observations first hand.

I would suspect that stainless is more durable than Melonite (or any coating other than nickel, which is actually a plating?).

How does WOA's barrel stackup against AR performance?
White Oak

Im sure pretty favorably. I've had great results with ARP's 6.8 barrels. They're just usually out of stock

Everyone on Sniper's Hide is usually very complimentary of White Oak.

The larue barrel I have is some version of qpq or melonite I believe. Larue keeps their finish top secret.

LaRue barrels are outstanding values.

Stainless machines better. It's softer and doesn't have hard spots, pine knots if you will, like carbon steel barrels do. These hard spots in carbon steel create tight spots in the barrel and otherwise mess with the cutters as they pass by.

So stainless is softer and more easily and precisely cut...but that softness also means it wears faster. And is more easily damaged by heat.

This is where the coatings come into play. Coating a stainless barrel gives it the hardness and durability of a carbon barrel, but the finely machined tolerances of stainless.

Thoughts on Ballistic Advantage and White Oak barrels?

If I go stainless, those will probably be my choices.

This rifle won't see a ton of rounds at 3 Gun comps, rapid fire, etc. This will be a bench rest and occasional varmint gun

Paging Eyeguy?

I hae take a shine to stainelss. I have a 10-1/2" Radical, 10-1/2" and 18" Rainier. All three shoot MOA with M193 out to 100 yards.

The Rainiers areon my 3 gun rifles, The Radical is on a truck gun, which does not see much use.

I cant compare the two but I can tell you that BA makes one of the best barrels for the money. I have several of them on my AR's

Isn't BA making the barrels for Aero Precision?

BA is owned by Aero. I use the hell out of their stuff and love it. Is it the absolute best? No, but it is by far the best value for the price.

Melonite is supposedly tougher than stainless. It's a coating on the stainless barrel. Reduces friction and increases corrosion resistance. ARP is worth waiting on IMO.

I have a 16" 223 Wylde Melonite coated Lothar Walther on my go to gun and it is by far the most accurate 223 I've ever shot, including over my LaRue barrel. It literally shoots less than 1/2 MOA at 100 yds with 77 grain Sierra Match King HP's. So I'm a little biased towards Melonite and will argue all day that Melonite is not as accurate as Stainless.....

I like my 300 blk BA barrel on my grab bag gun. She's a shooter.

Here's an interesting link about barrels.

http://www.thenewrifleman.com/hard-steel-the-ar15-barrel-buyers-guide-turbo-edition/

I have one of White Oak's 16" .223 Wylde barrels on my AR, and I couldn't be happier with its performance. I've gotten 1/2 MOA out of it at 200 yds with 75 gr Hornady match ammo. White Oak's customer service is awesom, too. They're happy to speak with you about available options and about their barrels. I had them flute and bead blast my barrel, then re-polish the outside diameter so the flutes are bead blasted and the rest of the barrel is brushed stainless. Looks awesome, and their pricing for what you get is really respectable.

I'm starting to put together another build from the lower up. I really want a Grendel, but I keep going back to 6.8 spc, just because I can get a White Oak barrel for that cartridge.

In general, SS barrels will be better than melonite which are better than chrome lined, in regards to accuracy. Now, that's not to say that a top grade melonite barrel will not be better than a mediocre stainless. Melonite lasts longer and is better for maintenance. Melonite is generally used on chrome moly barrels vs stainless steel so it's a different all around metal/property anyways.

I have two WOA's one is a 18" 5.56 ad the other is a 20" 6.8spc. Both shoot less than 1" groups with factory ammo. With hand loads the 5.56 shoot well under .5" groups with a few groups being at and under .25" basically one small hole. I finally got my powder for my 6.8spc and loaded some rounds up for it I'm ready to run some hand loads and see how it does with them. I have nothing but great things to say about WOA.

What powder are you running for the 6.8? I'm using AA2200

Im using AA2200 as well, pushing a 95gr TTSX.

I like the 100gr Accubonds