Tactical Kinetics is an aftermarket or OEM barrel manufacturer. I had not heard of them until I talked with them at Triggrcon. They produce all of their barrels, in house, from start to finish, in Tennessee. Currently they are offering AR15, AR10, and Glock style barrels. I was sent a 7.5” AR15 barrel for review, partly because that was the length I was looking for.

What drew me to Tactical Kinetics was the all in house manufacturing. In my opinion, other barrel manufacturers buy barrel blanks, and then machine them for the intended purpose. Tactical Kinetics starts with a bar of raw steel, either 4150V grade Mil-spec B-11595E Chrome Moly Vanadium (CrMoV) or 416R stainless steel. They precision air-gauge and button rifle the barrels for accuracy. Drill appropriate size gas holes in them, if needed. Then thread, profile and heat treat them as needed. All in the USA.

As mentioned, I received a 7.5” barrel from Tactical Kinetics. It is beautiful, to say the least. Superbly machined and Black Nitride coated. It came in a medium profile and chambered in .223 Wylde, with a 1:7 twist. It is made from 4150 CrMoV steel. Because it is a 7.5” AR barrel, it has the gas port drilled for a pistol length gas system and uses a 0.750 diameter gas block. The barrel is not dimpled or drilled at the gas block. The barrel extension is also installed, as it should be. The barrel extension is the M4 style. Being a .223 barrel, the muzzle is threaded ½-28. There is not a recessed, or target crown on the muzzle, most likely because the intended use is to screw a muzzle device on it anyhow.

I installed the Tactical Kinetics barrel in an AR15 pistol. Installation was easy, as expected. I did use a Velocity Precision adjustable gas block. Mainly because this pistol may get suppressed. I first ran the gas block wide open, just to see how the pistol worked. Because Tactical Kinetics drills the proper gas port size, the pistol ran flawlessly with a standard buffer weight and BCG. I then adjusted down the gas block. I was pretty happy with the way the barrel helped make the pistol function.

I may have been made fun of, but I did check barrel accuracy at 100 yards. So I mounted up a 3x9x40 scope and headed out to the range. Yes, it looked like a sci-fi weapon, but what else was I suppose to do to check the accuracy. Well, as expected, the barrel shoots. I was consistently getting 1.5” to 2.5” groups, off of a rest, with cheap plinking ammo. I did also shoot some 75 grain reloads I had, they shot a ¾” 3 round group, and then the flyer opened it up to 1.6” 5 round group. For a 7.5” 223 barrel, I couldn’t be happier with the accuracy. What am I really going to shoot at 100yds with a super short barrel anyhow? I even ran some 50 grain loads through the barrel to see if maybe they wouldn’t stabilize, but they shot fine.

The short barrel makes for a real nice maneuverable rifle. I also put this barrelled upper on my SBR. Wow, what a dream this thing is to move from target to target. Then, I shot a steel plate match with a .22lr conversion kit in the Tactical Kinetics barrel. It also shot great with the slightly smaller .22lr bullets. What can I say, I like this barrel.

Just because this is a short AR barrel, don’t rule out Tactical Kinetics for your next barrel purchase. They machine them from start to finish and even have reasonable prices. I’m happy with the performance of this barrel. Go give them a look at https://www.tacticalkinetics.com/