My recommendation for the OP would be the 12.5" gun. I don't see much of a point in SBR'ing a lower for a 14.5" gun. If you want to build a 14.5" after you have your lower registered, then rock on. But for the first SBR, my vote goes with a 12.5" barrel.
I currently run the following set:
- 12.5" Centurion Arms CHF barrel (standard gas block)
- Surefire MB556 brake
- KAC URX4 10.75" rail
- VLTOR A5 buffer system (A5H4 buffer+BCM rifle spring)
This is, by far, the smoothest shooting rifle I own. Recoil is very mild (.22LR-like) and the muzzle stays very flat during rapid fire. I have run this gun with a Mk262 clone load out to 400 yards and have made hits on 12" plates pretty easily with a 1-7x optic (also got one lucky first-round hit on a 6" plate at the same distance). Have run it on a full-auto lower for a some mag dumps and have run it in a couple of 2-gun matches and 3 carbine courses. It's also one of the most accurate guns I own. I benched it after about 3500 rounds (not so gentle firing schedule) and it will still print just above 0.75 MOA with match ammo.
The gas port in my barrel was a little smaller than I expected (.065" when new) but it has cycled both 5.56 and .223 pressure ammo with this setup. If MN legislature changes the suppressor laws this year, I'll run either a Saker or SpecWar 556 K can on this gun pretty often. If the additional pressure becomes an issue for me, I'm conisder one of the Baby Govnah gas blocks from Micro MOA that allows you to drill your own gas port size in the gas block.
Hope that helps.


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