Shortening a BCM 16" LIGHTWEIGHT barrel?
I actually have 2 :D
Sounds like the general consensus is to keep the 16 LW middy as-is. I think I'll just trade one off for a 14.5" when the opportunity presents itself.
I'm actually trying to unload one of them locally.
Shortening a BCM 16" LIGHTWEIGHT barrel?
I always thought that the mid length gas system's purpose was to make a "softer" shooting gun. Plus, frankly, I like the way the middys look with less barrel past the FSB.
Thanks for the education, ra2bach.
To further the technical part of this discussion, can not the barrel length be compensated for by adjusting the gas port's size?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ra2bach
a lot of problems crept up in a reliable system when we shortened a 20" barrel with a rifle lower, to 14" with collapsible carbine stock. the gas system was shortened to 7" to keep dwell time app. the same as a 20" rifle.
there is a sweet spot for dwell time. overgassing decreases durability. undergassing decreases reliability as the gun gets dirty or less powerful ammo is used.
midlength is the solution to the problem of overgassing a carbine gas system when .gov arbitrarily required all barrels to be 16" min. cutting a midlength back to 14.5 reduces dwell and sways it over to undergassed.
it's true, many people have used 14.5 midlength with good reliability but not with all ammo/buffer/spring combinations. there is also variability in gas port sizes among different manufacturers and some vary according to barrel/gas length involved.
the 14.5 midlength was born from the idea of looking for a "soft shooting" gun. that's nice and if I set up a gun just for competition or paper shooting I might look at that. but that's not the primary purpose of my guns...
Shortening a BCM 16" LIGHTWEIGHT barrel?
Thanks again r2a, I'll read up on that link you posted.
Slapped my bfh lw middy upper on a lower I've had stashed for a while tonight.
Loving this lightweight profile.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x...2/IMG_2775.JPG
Going to keep this rifle lightweight and KISS.