Sons of Liberty Gun Works Combat V2 13.7" Review: A Surprisingly Solid Budget-Friendly Performer

Bottom Line

The SOLGW Combat V2 13.7" barrel ended up being a pretty solid performer overall, especially considering the price point these were selling at before being discontinued. It’s not a precision-focused barrel, but it still produced respectable results with match ammunition and compares favorably against many other barrels in this general price range.

The barrel also has a contour that keeps more weight toward the rear, which helps keep the rifle feeling relatively maneuverable and balanced despite being more of a mid-weight profile.

Unfortunately, the button rifled Combat V2 barrels appear to have been discontinued and replaced by SOLGW’s newer Liberty Fighting Barrel lineup, although there are still a few retailers with remaining inventory available at the time of writing.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Good overall performance for the price

• Respectable precision with match ammunition

• Good dimensional consistency and fitment

• Rear-weight-biased contour keeps the rifle maneuverable

• Compares favorably against similarly priced offerings

Cons

• Discontinued by manufacturer

• Remaining inventory appears limited

• Not a true precision-oriented barrel

• Some machining marks visible under borescope inspection

Price & Availability

When these barrels were still widely available, they were priced similarly to offerings from companies like Ballistic Advantage, Faxon Firearms, and Rosco Manufacturing.

I think the Combat V2 offered pretty good value overall. The barrel isn’t trying to compete with high-end precision stainless barrels, but for a general-purpose nitride-treated 4150 CMV barrel, the performance was solid.

Who Is This Barrel For?

Best Use Cases

• General-purpose carbines

• Lightweight-to-midweight practical rifles

• Duty/training style setups

• Shooters wanting decent precision without spending premium-barrel money

• Rifles that will be shot more from unsupported positions where handling matters

The rear-biased contour helps keep the rifle feeling relatively agile compared to some front-heavy profiles, which I think makes this barrel more appealing for practical shooting applications rather than bench-focused precision shooting.

Less Ideal For

• Dedicated precision rifles

• Maximum long-range consistency

• Shooters chasing the smallest possible groups

• Heavy sustained-fire applications

Group Performance

Test Protocol

All groups were fired at 100 yards using 30-shot groups.

The rifle was stabilized with a front rest and rear bag, and the barrel was cooled between groups using a leaf blower and chamber chiller. Velocities were recorded using a Garmin chronograph, while a Mantis X and Shooter’s Global SG Pulse were used to monitor shooter-induced movement.

As always, these results reflect this specific barrel with this specific ammunition selection. Performance can vary between individual examples.

Federal Gold Medal Match 77gr SMK

Velocity

• Average Velocity: 2328 fps

• Standard Deviation: 17 fps

• Extreme Spread: 76 fps

Accuracy

• 30-Shot Group Size: 1.986 MOA

• Average 10-Shot Group Size: 1.4 MOA

• Mean Radius: 0.563 MOA

• A-ZED Score: 251 yards

This ended up being a pretty respectable group overall and was noticeably better than the 13.9" CHF Combat V2 barrel I previously tested.

The cold bore shot landed slightly high-left, but the remainder of the group clustered together fairly well overall.

Out of 42 Federal Gold Medal groups I’ve shot so far, this barrel landed roughly in the middle of the leaderboard.

Hornady 73gr ELD Match

For this portion of the testing, I shot two groups:

• One normal group

• One group where every round was manually chambered and ejected prior to firing

The purpose was to see whether repeatedly chambering rounds would measurably affect performance or seating depth consistency.

Velocity

Standard Group

• Average Velocity: 2422 fps

• Standard Deviation: 23 fps

• Extreme Spread: 87 fps

Pre-Chambered Group

• Average Velocity: 2412 fps

• Standard Deviation: 29 fps

• Extreme Spread: 121 fps

Accuracy

Standard Group

• 30-Shot Group Size: 2.091 MOA

• Average 10-Shot Group Size: 1.7 MOA

• Mean Radius: 0.557 MOA

• A-ZED Score: 253 yards

Pre-Chambered Group

• 29-Shot Group Size: 2.186 MOA

• Average 10-Shot Group Size: 1.7 MOA

• Mean Radius: 0.552 MOA

• A-ZED Score: 256 yards

Interestingly, there really wasn’t much meaningful difference between the two groups. Roughly 70% of the rounds showed no measurable change in CBTO or headspace after chambering, and most of the remaining rounds only changed by around one or two thousandths.

Overall, the results ended up being remarkably similar.

IMI Razor Core 77gr HPBT

I also shot IMI Razor Core 77gr through this barrel, which actually ended up producing some fairly respectable results. This group ended up placing 15th out of 31 groups on the leaderboard for IMI Razor Core

• Average Velocity: 2583 fps

• Standard Deviation: 24 fps

• 30-Shot Group Size: 2.467 MOA

• Average 10-Shot Group Size: 1.7 MOA

• A-ZED Score: 230 yards

Winchester M193 55gr FMJ

Velocity

• Average Velocity: 2973 fps

• Standard Deviation: 24 fps

• Extreme Spread: 102 fps

Accuracy

• 30-Shot Group Size: 6.087 MOA

• Average 10-Shot Group Size: 4.6 MOA

• Mean Radius: 1.308 MOA

• A-ZED Score: 108 yards

This group was… not great. To be fair, this is also fairly consistent with my broader experience with Winchester M193 across multiple barrels.

Core Specs

Specifications

• Length: 13.7"

• Chamber: 5.56 NATO

• Twist Rate: 1:7

• Gas System: Mid-Length

• Material: 4150 CMV Steel

• Bore Treatment: QPQ Nitride

• Exterior Finish: QPQ Nitride

• Rifling Method: Button Rifled

• Muzzle Threads: 1/2x28

• Gas Block Dimple: Yes

The overall configuration is pretty conventional aside from the somewhat less common 13.7" length. Other than that, this is essentially a modern general-purpose AR-15 barrel configuration geared toward practical use, reliability, and decent all-around performance rather than absolute precision.

Inspection & Measurements

Dimensional Measurements

• Weight: 1.63 pounds

• Gas Port Diameter: 0.078"

• Gas Block Journal Diameter: 0.7498"

• Barrel Extension Diameter: 0.9998"

• Throat Erosion Gauge: 1

• Chamber Dimensions: Passed

• Headspace: Less than 0.002" over minimum spec

One thing that stood out during inspection was that both the barrel extension diameter and gas block journal diameter measured slightly larger than average. In practice, that resulted in a tighter-than-average fit with both the upper receiver and gas block.

The headspace also ended up being fairly tight compared to many production AR-15 barrels, which I generally like to see on a new barrel.

The 0.078" gas port also felt pretty reasonable for a 13.7" mid-length setup. During live fire, recoil impulse and ejection behavior felt pretty normal overall.

Borescope Inspection

Chamber

The chamber looked generally fine overall. There were a few light scratches visible, but nothing that concerned me.

The neck area also had a bit of visible texture, although it didn’t appear to leave any meaningful impressions on the fired brass.

Throat

The throat area showed a noticeable amount of machining marks once the barrel had been fired and cleaned. The start of the rifling itself looked fairly even, which was good to see, but there were still visible tool marks in the freebore and lead area.

The machining marks weren’t catastrophic by any means, but they also weren’t particularly impressive.

That said, the barrel still shot reasonably well despite them.

Rifling

The rifling also showed some visible tooling marks after firing and cleaning, although nothing especially unusual for a nitrided AR-15 barrel in this price range.

Gas Port

The gas port had a small burr visible around the edge before firing, but again, nothing outside of what I would consider pretty normal for a production AR barrel.

Crown

The crown looked good overall. The leading edge appeared clean without any obvious rough spots or damage.

Overall, the borescope findings looked appropriate for the price point. Not perfect, but also not concerning.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I think the SOLGW Combat V2 13.7" button rifled barrel performed pretty well for what it is.

It’s not a precision barrel, and the borescope certainly showed some compromises in machining quality compared to higher-end options. But at roughly a $200 price point, the actual on-target performance ended up being pretty respectable.

The dimensional consistency and fitment also ended up being better than I expected for a barrel in this category.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive general-purpose barrel that still delivers decent practical precision, I think the Combat V2 compares fairly well against many of its peers.

Disclosure

• This barrel was donated to the channel in brand new condition by a subscriber.

• I paid for all ammunition used in testing.

• Some links in this article may be affiliate links from which I earn a commission.