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Thread: Barrel length

  1. #16
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    I’ve stamped all my 14.5’s. Never saw the logic in ruining a $400+ barrel and muzzle device to avoid a $200 stamp.

  2. #17
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    I regularly run into guys who think the 16 inch barrel compromises the 556 in ballistics, others say the 20's are too long and heavy. To these guys maybe the 18 inch barrels seem like a good compromise.

    I own one 18 inch/rifle length gas system rifle I bought to see how the rifle length system works on such a barrel. Unfortunately I have not been able to get to the range with it but I have high hopes for it. With the government profile barrel it doesn't feel any heavier than my 16 inch HB rifles so maybe it will offer a slight ballistic advantage without much penalty.

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    Last edited by Belanc; 5 January 2019 at 05:18.

  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Belanc View Post
    I regularly run into guys who think the 16 inch barrel compromises the 556 in ballistics, others say the 20's are too long and heavy. To these guys maybe the 18 inch barrels seem like a good compromise.

    I own one 18 inch/rifle length gas system rifle I bought to see how the rifle length system works on such a barrel. Unfortunately I have not been able to get to the range with it but I have high hopes for it. With the government profile barrel it doesn't feel any heavier than my 16 inch HB rifles so maybe it will offer a slight ballistic advantage without much penalty.
    I was using 18” barrels for my “distance” rigs but got some high quality 16’s and never looked back.

    At 400 yards with a 3.5x ACOG, I was making 100% hits on an F-Type silhouette (head and shoulders profile) using 55gr FMJ, 69gr SMK through a 16” Rainier Ultramatch. Prone UNSUPPORTED. A quality barrel + quality ammo will get you the same results

  4. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Belanc View Post
    I regularly run into guys who think the 16 inch barrel compromises the 556 in ballistics, others say the 20's are too long and heavy. To these guys maybe the 18 inch barrels seem like a good compromise.

    I own one 18 inch/rifle length gas system rifle I bought to see how the rifle length system works on such a barrel. Unfortunately I have not been able to get to the range with it but I have high hopes for it. With the government profile barrel it doesn't feel any heavier than my 16 inch HB rifles so maybe it will offer a slight ballistic advantage without much penalty.
    Quote Originally Posted by Former11B View Post
    I was using 18” barrels for my “distance” rigs but got some high quality 16’s and never looked back.

    At 400 yards with a 3.5x ACOG, I was making 100% hits on an F-Type silhouette (head and shoulders profile) using 55gr FMJ, 69gr SMK through a 16” Rainier Ultramatch. Prone UNSUPPORTED. A quality barrel + quality ammo will get you the same results
    I wouldn't say 16" compromises anything. It all depends on what you are trying to do and in what conditions. If you shoot the same gun across all seasons the temperature variations alone will show a drastic difference at long ranges. The ability to engage a target within 500 yards or so in my opinion isn't compromised at all and you can shoot pretty much any factory ammo and still get hits on target.

    My experience is much like Former11B. Good barrel. Good ammo. Good bullet. Good to go. I can routinely take my 16" gun out to 800 yards with my home rolled ammo. I haven't tried to go beyond that, but I think the possibility to hit 1000 yards is there with a 223/5.56 round out of the right gun with the right ammo on the right day. A longer barrel might help in that area, but not much else.

    I am of the opinion that ammo compromises ballistics more than sheer barrel length. It just depends on the job at hand. Getting a 20+ inch barrel might allow me to hit a 1000 yards, but that is not really an effective range for that round for much of anything except saying you can do it. Engaging larger game/targets for any realistic distance isn't compromised in any appreciable way by a shorter barrel.

    To me the longer barrel and slight velocity gain doesn't bring enough to the table to warrant me wanting to carry around a telephone pole. Even with a longer barrel, without highly tuned or selected ammo- at distance it just means you will miss your target at a meagerly higher velocity.

  5. #20
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    Didn't Haley say that 300 BLK carries more energy at 500 than 5.56? Although it's just an effect of a heavier bullet, I shot a steel dumpster lid at about 330 yds the other day, and the audible feedback was impressive. The sheet metal was probably .015" or thereabouts, both rounds penetrated, but the 5.56 62 gr. bullet made a "tink", while the blackout made a hellofa racket. Not volunteering to be shot by either, but surgical findings continue to observe that non-instantly fatal shots result in remarkably less damage than ballistic gel would have us believe, especially in the category of tissue cavitation. This is true of all caliber projectiles short of the larger ones, at point blank range.
    Last edited by Joelski; 13 June 2018 at 04:41. Reason: Vaguely IT, and not fanboy shilling (maybe a little)
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  6. #21
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    Just for point of reference ... our chrono findings in 2011

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  7. #22
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    I read somewhere 16 inches is a sweet spot. The barrel is long enough to impart to the bullet most of the energy of a 20 inch, yet is is shorter and more easily swung around.

  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stickman View Post
    We should all go back to 20" AR's
    blasphemy, repent heathen and carry 10" guns!

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by porterdavid98 View Post
    Anybody have an idea how 16 inches became the most common length for AR weapons? Why not 18 inches?



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  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joelski View Post
    Didn't Haley say that 300 BLK carries more energy at 500 than 5.56? Although it's just an effect of a heavier bullet, I shot a steel dumpster lid at about 330 yds the other day, and the audible feedback was impressive. The sheet metal was probably .015" or thereabouts, both rounds penetrated, but the 5.56 62 gr. bullet made a "tink", while the blackout made a hellofa racket. Not volunteering to be shot by either, but surgical findings continue to observe that non-instantly fatal shots result in remarkably less damage than ballistic gel would have us believe, especially in the category of tissue cavitation. This is true of all caliber projectiles short of the larger ones, at point blank range.
    Depends on the bullets. A lot of what people THINK is based on data that is incorrect. I've been sending off various rounds to be doped by people with the time and money to do it, and it's shocking what their actual BC's are vs. advertised BC's. I do not double-check my contact's work, but the data he is getting me is within 1% of Bryan Litz data on the projectiles they have both doped, when I compare them.

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