Intermediate length gas system

**Voodoochild** · 07-30-08, 06:59

Out of curiosity what exactly is intermediate? Is that another term for Mid-length? Was looking at Noveske 18" Barrel for a MK12ish build. And was curious as to the exact meaning of intermediate.

**rob_s** · 07-30-08, 07:01

AFAIK just another term for "midlength". It's probably actually a better term.

**Failure2Stop** · 07-30-08, 07:20

Just going off of the Noveske web-site here, but the 14.5 and 16.1 are listed as mid-length, whereas the 18 is listed as intermediate, which seems to indicate that the two are different. The pics also seem to indicate that the gas block position on the intermediate maintains about 6" of barrel forward of the block.

This is pure speculation on my part though.

ETA- From Noveske's web-site:

Since the development of the 18" SPR barrel, there has not been a proper gas port placement to work with the desirable barrel length. Now there is a perfect combination, introducing the "Intermediate Length" gas system. Developed by Vltor Weapon Systems, and perfected by Noveske Rifleworks, the intermediate length gas system offers the ideal gas port placement, providing maximum accuracy and reliability. Overall, the intermediate length gas system (1.5" shorter then a rifle length) was developed from feedback from end users and industry professionals. Accuracy and reliability are the best characteristics of the intermediate length gas system.

**Voodoochild** · 07-30-08, 07:31

So it's not a middy and not a rifle length. That is interesting to say the least now I wonder would a DD 9 lite rail or a DD 12 lite rail do the trick?

**Bob Reed** · 07-30-08, 07:38

Hello,

The intermediate is a gas system of it's own, and it's listed in the 5 different lengths of replacement gas tubes that he sells. http://noveskerifleworks.com/cgi-bin...play.cgi?cat=9

**Robb Jensen** · 07-30-08, 07:40

It's gas system length between midlength and rifle length, ideal for 18" barrels. IIRC it was designed by VLTOR.

**militarymoron** · 07-30-08, 10:17

gotm4 is correct - the intermediate length system is longer than a midlength, and shorter than a rifle length system. It's actually 1.5" shorter than a rifle length system and utilizes an intermediate length gas tube. This enables the gas block to be protected just inside a rifle-length rail.

eric at vltor thought it up, and had a two vltor-marked sample barrels made up with the intermediate system. i have one of them and featured it as part of my DD lite 12.0 build writeup back in october of '06 (it's the bottom paragraph):
http://www.militarymorons.com/weapons/ar.uppers.html#dd

vltor was planning on offering it last year, but got too busy. i'm not sure where the project stands - i had forgotten about it.

updated to add:
just spoke to eric at vltor - the project continued/materialized as the noveske SPR barrel. from noveske's website:
"Since the development of the 18" SPR barrel, there has not been a proper gas port placement to work with the desirable barrel length. Now there is a perfect combination, introducing the "Intermediate Length" gas system. Developed by Vltor Weapon Systems, and perfected by Noveske Rifleworks, the intermediate length gas system offers the ideal gas port placement, providing maximum accuracy and reliability. Overall, the intermediate length gas system (1.5" shorter then a rifle length) was developed from feedback from end users and industry professionals. Accuracy and reliability are the best characteristics of the intermediate length gas system."