Odin Works 18 inch DMR barrel.
ODIN works has been around the AR community for some time now, and they have been making some very innovative products for the industry. Recently I got to test the 18 inch DMR 223 wylde barrel, and all I can say is wow……this barrel is amazing.
I used this barrel for a MK12 clone platform, with the 2A Armament Balios lite receivers, and the 12 inch Balios Lite keymod rail. This set up, was something I didnt expect to work as good as it did, and when it needed to perform it did and it ran a marathon in the Olympics at that. I was initially worried about this barrel being undergassed, as I have read a few reviews about the reviewer having that same issue, so I used some of the best and some of the cheapest crapiest ammo on the shelf of Wal-Mart.
When I received the barrel, it was very well packaged to protect the barrel, and well, it took more than I expected to suit up and fight my way through the protective wrappings that was used to ship the barrel. Then, my jaw hit the floor when I finally conquered the wrappings, and pulled out the barrel. Sheer perfection is what ran through my head. I then really started taking a closer look at the barrel, the threading, the crown, rifling, etc, and I was blown away. The quality that went into this barrel is something I would expect from buying a custom match grade barrel that would cost easily 4 times as much as the ODIN works barrel.
Installing the barrel on the 2A Armament upper receiver gave me a ray of hope from the very beginning. The fit was perfection in all ways possible. The barrel extension and the receiver were very tight, yet they weren’t so tight that you had to go get a can of Popeye the Sailors approved spinach, and pump some Iron. Just a bit of extra force and the barrel slid perfectly into the receiver, and then came the rest of the build which was a breeze in all ways you would want a build to be. Now, a MK12 clone isn’t a MK12 clone without a quality scope, and this is where SWFA comes into play. I topped the build with a SWFA SS (super sniper) 3-15×42 First focal plane scope, and the SWFA branded BoBro mount.
When I took the rifle to the range, it was like that token smoking hot blonde at the range that cannot shoot, and every man in there, even the married ones, wanted to get some trigger time with. It took me about an hour to finally get some free time to actually put rounds down range. So, I broke out my favorite ammo (Federal XM193) and started to break in the barrel slowly, and even during this break in period, shot groups were out of this world. Once I broke in the barrel, and got it sighted in, I took a trip out west to Osceola National Forrest where there is a 200 yard line, and sadly, that is the longest range without a reasonable drive, where I do not need some special invite. To compete with longer ranges, I used smaller targets, mainly the 36/300 meter USMC targets. These targets are set at 36 meters, and replicate a human sized torso at 300 meters. I ran this all the way out to the 200 yard line, and started to live the PEW PEW life.
My initial shots were more or less getting sighted in at that distance, and then, I started for shot groups sizes, and this is where the targets helped me. I was aiming small and missing small. Once the line went cold, I walked all the way down to the target, and from this moment, I knew I fell in love with a barrel. I was shooting just under 1 inch at 200 yards, granted this grouping opened up with a bigger target. I then let my neighbor shoot the rifle, and him being a Vietnam era Marine, he doesn’t like the AR15 of any kind due to the issues experienced in the early years. His first 5 shots blew him away, and he really started to dial in the rifle and was starting to overlap holes on the target. It was at this point, he felt the need to tell me he was a sniper in the Marines, something he doesn’t tell many people, but explains his massive collection of bolt guns, and a few M24 clones. We even used the cheap steel cased Tulammo, with the same results as the XM193 ammo, which was amazing, and not one hiccup was experienced at all. I will say, it was nearly impossible to pry this rifle out of his hands, and I may or may not have had to bribe him with a cold case of beer, and take the rifle while he was distracted with the free beer.
Now, the biggest surprise of them all came a couple weeks ago, when the rifle was being used by a friend who did time as a contractor in Iraq. The barrel itself is stainless steel, which means, under the right conditions, it will rust. Well, we put the rifle in a secured back porch in the near the swamps here in North Florida. This was a humidity test that would make some skinny people flinch. We left it on the porch for 2 weeks, day and night, no cleaning, nothing. We also prepped the barrel with some scotch bright pads to pull off any protective finish that could have been on the barrel. 2 weeks later, the barrel was flawless, not even a spec of rust anywhere on the barrel. So we left it there for 2 more weeks, with the same results. It should be noted that even in December, we can still get into the high 80s, with 110% humidity, and trust me, it is pretty awesome to be able to go to the beach on Christmas, but this isn’t so great with firearms, or anything metal, and it is even worse in August, where I have literally fried an egg on my driveway. To my amazement, the barrel was still flawless inside and out.
After all said and done, this barrel should cost easily double what it does, but that is what I have come to love about ODIN works, they make top notch items at a working mans price. I will say, I was sad to see this barrel go away, as it was involved in a car fire with my contractor friend. The intense fire and large amounts of water used to put out the fire destroyed the entire rifle, (I pulled the scope off before letting him borrow the rifle). With a bit of elbow grease we were able to get part of the stainless barrel to shimmer to its prior glory, but sadly that was all that was left of the gun, memories. I will be buying another one of these barrels when tax season comes around.
Shooting under 1 inch group at 200 yds with XM193 & TulAmmo??? What a HOG WASH, If it is TRUE I would like to see that, If it is really TRUE why not take a video and post it on Youtube? It’s kind of insulting to post such a BS…
Hate to burst your bubble but I’ve done sub 1/2 moa with AE.223 55gr fmj bunch of time with same barrel. And my buddy as well. I’ve shot 1/4 moa with handloads. 4 barrels between 3 of us and will definitely only use ODIN I was completely shocked when I got my first barrel because I was going to get a kriegger or white oak but buddy talked me into it and 9,000rds later still shoot 1/2moa.