Rusty Odom

January 11, 2025

Review, Gear

Tactical Kinetics 300 blackout Barrel

Rusty Odom

January 11, 2025

Review, Gear

Tactical Kinetics 300 blackout

Barrel Review

Have you ever had something so long that you end up going down a deep hole of what you want to do with it? Well I did with this barrel. I had it on the shelf, looked at it, and wanted to do so many things with it that it soon became a thorn in my side. Now this thorn is me, not the barrel. The Tactical Kinetics 300 blackout barrel is fantastic. It is well machined and looks better than some of the big name rifle makers barrels. Tactical Kinetics sent me this barrel for review almost a year ago. No excuses but life happened and that's why it has taken so long to do this review.

I mounted the barrel in a no name, unbranded, upper and put it on a PSA lower that has a Sylvan folding adapter. Fitment of the Tactical Kinetics barrel was plain and simple: great machining, the coating in the barrel looked good, and the threads for the barrel nut were properly machined. I ended up taking it apart three times, changing out gas tubes, gas block, and finally going with an adjustable gas block from Velocity Precision.

After completing the first build, it ate everything I fed into it when I was firing for reliability. Except for the subsonic 220 grain ammo I had for testing. I knew this was either a gas issue or a buffer weight issue. So back to the drawing board. Build two was now completed and the Tactical Kinetics barrelled upper was placed on a SBR lower. In a bout of frustration, it still would not run my subsonic ammo. So for the third and final time, I reassembled all the same parts. The rifle worked with all my ammo now. What a relief. Then I realized everything I had done, when I put all the parts together, was my fault. We won't go into that now.

At the range, I took the little 8.5” barrel out and sighted it in at 25 yards. It fired all different weights of ammo. The barrel grouped best with 204 grain subsonics with a suppressor attached to it. I only had a red dot on top and was shooting from a rolled up jacket. Then I went to dumping magazine after magazine through it to see what it would do when it was hot. Well there was not a lot of shift in impact, maybe 1” and that was probably me. The accuracy was far better than a Bear Creek upper that I have with the same length barrel. Groups off the rolled up jacket were about 2.5 inches. For me and my intended use of this rifle, I thought it was great.

This is my first barrel review and it has been hard to do. What I can say about the Tactical Kinetics barrel is that the machining is quality, the rifling was good, and it grouped well. I know comparing it to a BCA upper is not fair, but that is all I had.

Would I recommend this company to buy from? Damn skippy I do. I already have a wish list going for a few 6.5 Grendel barrels they offer. Tactical Kinetics is one of the company’s you want to do business with. Quality parts, great customer service, and patience for not sending headhunters out for the review.

Firearms Insider Reviews - Key Points

Claim to Fame:

The Tactical Kinetics 300 Blackout Barrel is recognized for its accuracy, reliability, and is compatible with various 300 Blackout rifle builds.

Target Market:

This barrel is ideal for shooters looking to upgrade or build a 300 Blackout AR platform. It’s particularly well-suited for home defense, tactical shooting, and hunting enthusiasts who value subsonic and supersonic versatility.

Features, Benefits, and Specifications of this product:

Material: Made from 4150 CMV steel
Medium profile
0.750 Gas journal
Twist Rate: 1:8 twist rate, optimized for stabilizing both supersonic and subsonic loads.
Length: 85” also available in 5”, 7.5”, 10.5”, and 16” length
Gas System: Pistol-length gas system
Finish: Nitride coated
Threading: 5/8x24
Chambering: 300 Blackout

What other aesthetic options or finishes are available?

Different barrel length and twist rates are available

What others are saying?:

Nothing found as of publishing

Link to other reviews:

Nothing worthwhile found as of publishing

Price point:

MSRP = $110.00

Retail = Depends on barrel length

I need it now! Availability:

Tactical Kinetics

Our Rating:

Pros:

Reliable cycling with subsonic loads.
Durable nitride finish.
Accurate 1:8 twist rate.
Good price point for quality.

Cons:

Limited to one finish option.
May require fine-tuning with certain subsonic ammo and gas blocks.

Score: 8.50 Great

Favorite Link: Tactical Kinetics Official Product Page

Chad Wallace

November 16, 2019

Review

Tactical Kinetics AR15 Barrel

Chad Wallace

November 16, 2019

Review

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/