Want opinions: 14.5 BCM vs 13.9 Criterion

[Mercs]

Mercs, no need to apologize, I am not that sensitive. I appreciate and respect free speech but was simply clarifying an insinuation you made about Criterion sourcing materials from anywhere other than American sources which is simply inaccurate. We only use American steel from American mills and our barrels are made in America by American craftsmen who have spent their entire lives refining the art of barrel making. You are on the right track to question where materials are sourced from. Some manufacturers might compromise their reputations by using materials form questionable sources. We do not. Our quality is our reputation and we would rather not produce any barrels than send something out with our name on it that isn't to our standards. We take a great deal of pride in our craft as it is our life's work. If you have any questions about our products or our materials feel free to give us a call or shoot us an email at contact@criterionbarrels.com.

Thanks again for taking the time to publicly state the principles you operate under, that we should ALL value. I mentioned Criterion because I was searching for an example to give him of a big American outfit which actually sources its own blanks, and then makes the barrels for a lot of other companies in the US. We know you’re not the only one, just one that I thought was perhaps more well-known and a good starting point. That is why I told him to ask “someone like Criterion”. Reading comprehension these days is lacking tremendously, though, and I do oftentimes forget that things needs to be dumbed down many times in order to not enrage people who may get confused.

I think someone got overly emotional at the mention of your company, and tremendously excaserbated the question I posed. Once again though thanks for publicly avowing that NOT to be the case, even though you had no obligation to do so


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[CriterionBarrels]

Mercs, my pleasure. No harm no foul... water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned. I believe any misconceptions or issues have been clarified and if not I would be happy to provide a better more thorough response. I think most guys on this forum value our American way of life, freedom, firearms, values, quality, principles, etc... We do too. Despite arguments and disagreements, I would imagine that you would probably find more allies on this forum than you would find in many other areas in this world. Let us know if there is ever anything we could assist you with.

[timewaster1700]

@CriterionBarrels thanks for posting this information. As the OP I’ve never had any doubt in the quality of your barrels. Your reputation precedes you.

[ColtSeavers]

Looking to build/buy a high dependable AR I plan to put a lot of rounds down and run pretty hard. I currently own a Colt LE6920 I’ve had for years and has served me well. Looking for something wirh a more modern barrel profile and longer handguard for more modern style shooting stance.

I honestly think a 13.9” barrel with pinned and welded Dead Air flash hider would be the best length for me as it’s just past 16” and avoids the SBR restrictions but keeps most of the velocity of the cartridge and keeps a little weight off the end of the gun.

I’ve built (assembled) an AR before and feel confident in that however I have been listening to some YouTube videos with guys from Primary & Secondary including Mike from SOLGW and others that talk about how a bunch of guns out there aren’t gasses probably or are not built well and if you don’t know what you’re looking for then putting a bunch of random components together may not yield the best result. Reliability is my highest criteria for this build. So I’d like some opinions on which route to go.
For an upper:
1. Get criterion’s 13.9” CORE barrel which is a very similar profile to BCM’s medium weight enhanced profile. The criterion is chrome lined and is the perfect length and profile. I’ve spoke several times with criterion and they claim they did extensive testing with a variety of ammo to properly size the gas port. If I went this route I will pair it with a BCM stripped upper and BCM BCG and either a BCM MCMR handguard that I slightly trim the wings off the front and paint to clear a suppressor or another 13” rail like SLR, geissele, etc. the potential downside to this is if the build doesn’t work properly I assembled it so it could be very hard to determine which component(s) are at fault and I’m a little curious if the .223 wylde chamber will reliability chamber ammo when dirty compared to a standard 5.56 chamber. Criterion claims it does but I couldn’t find much info on the internet comparing its reliability to 5.56. Most people buying .223 wylde barrels are doing so for accuracy.
2. Buy BCM’s assembled 14.5 MCMR Enhanced Medium Weight Fluted and get a local shop to pin and weld a Dead Air Flash Hider. Downside of this is the extra 0.6” that is unnecessary to the 16” OAL which frankly doesn’t look as good in my eyes as having the handguard go right to the muzzle device. Upside is the BCM MCMR rail (13.4”) fits and is good to go and I really like this lightweight rail. Also if something goes wrong it’s backed by BCM.
3. Buy a 14.5” or 16” BCM upper and have it chopped to 13.9/14” and pinned and welded by Adco or similar shop. This kind of feels like #1 but I just have a BCM barrel with 5.56 chamber. Upside of this is the perfect length with all BCM components. Downside is potentially messing up with gassing of the system by shortening the barrel where BCM’s gas port was likely sized for that barrel specifically. I also am unsure if cutting a 14.5 down to 13.9/14 if there is enough material to cut off the old threads and add new threads. Does anyone know if you can do this? Seems the 14.5 would have the better gas hole size for 13.9 than 16 even though 16 gives the gunsmith more material to work with.

Finally I was planning to pair this upper with a lower I build. I already ordered an Aero M4E1 stripped receiver. I want a high quality dependable lower parts kit. I’d rather spend a little more for piece of mind than cheap out. I’m considering these:
-SOLGW
-Sionics
-ALG
-BCM

Pros of solgw, sionics, and ALG is when in stock they have kits without the FCG which would let me pair it with like a geissele SSA, etc.
should I be adding or subtracting from the above list?

Other questions:
-Would you trust a geissele SSA or SD-C in a duty gun or is a milspec trigger a better way to go?
-stocks are so hard because unless you handle them all it’s tough to know which one feels best. I own a magpul CTR and ACL-S. Thinking about either the BCM stock or B5 systems stock or maybe something similar. Anyone used multiple and have opinions on this?

Option 1 gives you exactly what you want, go with it.