Colt SOCOM vs Daniel Defense Barrels?

[1986s4]

Here are the photos I promised

The factory built Colt M4A1 SOCOM with KAC quad rail


Colt 6920 with a pinned Colt 14.5" SOCOM barrel and MagPul Slimline handguards


Both naked

They look great MistWolf. I would like to ask how they handle. That is before the light and optics were installed how were they in terms of transition from target to target, ease of coming up to target etc.? I am much considering a build with the SOCOM barrel but I'm going to keep the carbine rather light with exception of the SOCOM barrel i.e., plastic handguard, no light, minimal optic or even irons.
Thanks

[Iron-E]

I'd snag a Triarc, Lothar Walther, or BRT before either of them by a wide margin.

Why don't you just buy a length/profile barrel you want that is gassed the way you want?? Most barrels are over gassed for a reason...

Apples vs oranges - heavy vs gov profile, carbine vs mid gas, CHF vs not. Both are great barrels but after the recent Crane testing I would lean towards the DD for a 14.5. However with your stated intent to have it "chopped just a bit and they can resize the gas port" you are asking for an uninformed opinion, not enough information for any kind of valid recommendation.

Really funny to see someone call Lothar Walther "unknown." They OEM Accuracy International, DTA, and many more (including formerly Larue) and have been around forever.

Anyways, the Triarc and LW both have nicer rifling and will on average be significantly more accurate with equal or greater barrel life. I don't have a BRT but I've heard good things. Listen to flannel daddy.

I also forgot to mention Criterion/ADM who are also significantly nicer than DD/Colt and sit in the same range as the other aforementioned barrels.

I'm not sure what you are looking to spend, but really the best option is just to have Craddock Precision cut you exactly what you are looking for from the start. They can nitride any barrel as well. Other posters indicated, there is no point in buying a 14.5in to cut it down. There are more than enough good options on the market (including custom cut like Craddock and CLE) to not need to do that. Everyone listed above does a 10.5 or 11.5 or 12.in if you wanted it.

I checked out Triarc and they got a 13.9", which is close enough to length I was going for. But I have a hard time finding any info/reviews on them. Do you have any links to the info you stated about their barrels? Thanks!