View Poll Results: What is your preferred barrel length for precision ARs?

Voters
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  • 14.5"

    4 2.47%
  • 16"

    35 21.60%
  • 18"

    72 44.44%
  • 20"

    45 27.78%
  • other

    6 3.70%
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Thread: Preferred barrel length for precision AR?

  1. #21
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    I am going to go with a 20" barrel on the "build" I have just started.

    Why?

    The Military uses 18", but they are stepping up from 14.5" for a gain of 3.5". I already have a 16" Midlength Carbine, so for me to get at least as much of a gain in velocity as they do, I need to go to 20".

    Besides, when I was in the Army, I had an M16A1 with a 20" barrel, so I'm used to it. The only AR15 I ever owned before my 16" Carbine, was also a 20" DCM gun for Highpower competition.

    Hey MOLON, how long is the barrel of the gun in your post??? You only said "Other".

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by DTHN2LGS View Post

    Hey MOLON, how long is the barrel of the gun in your post??? You only said "Other".
    24" Krieger.
    All that is necessary for trolls to flourish, is for good men to do nothing.

  3. #23
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    Benchrest guys years ago went from long barrels to shorter, stiffer barrels. I think 20 inch is about the norm for that game. Assuming that "precision" means "not CQB" and a long gun is not a problem then 20 inches. Might as well try to get some velocity out of it.

  4. #24
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    I voted "other" also as I have a rifle I built many years ago very similar to the one MOLON pictured. Extremely accurate but I rarely shoot it as much as I once did. I guess older age and not wanting to lug it much farther than the shooting bench lets it gather dust.
    WW

  5. #25
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    My "precision" rig at work is a 16" but "precision" is relative. It will only shoot 4-5" groups at 300 yards with our duty ammo. Having said that, for urban Police work a 100 yard shot is unusual and 200 would be nearly unthinkable. It is also not a "sniper" rifle, it is just a patrol rifle. I have an 11.5" with Eotech in a rack up front for quick deployment, high risk vehicle stops, and building entries and I have the 16" with 1.25-4x Trijicon Accupoint in the trunk for perimeters. I like the 16" for that role because it is still short and light enough to use if I need to go from being on perimeter to being on the stack to enter a structure.

    If I were building a rifle solely for sniping or bench shooting I would probably go 20" with a much more powerful optic.
    Last edited by Altair; 11-30-10 at 21:20.
    Advanced techniques are the basics mastered.

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  6. #26
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    18" LaRue Stealth upper on a LaRue billet lower.

    "Keep your teeth sharp Wolverines."
    - Whiskey2

  7. #27
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    Generally 18" but right now I have a 16" BCM SS410.

  8. #28
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    Barrel quality, trigger quality and optic quality all play a more important role in the overall precision potential of a rig, than does barrel length.

    That being said, In the last year I have built more 18" precision uppers for friends who work overseas than all other lengths combined.

    In fact, I just mounted some glass on my own 18" precision rig this last week. My personal preference is for 18" to 20" rigs for punching tiny groups in paper, shooting ground squirrels, etc.

  9. #29
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    Lost River,
    Could we please see some of the rigs you have built? Would you be willing to post some pics?
    I am always looking for new ideas. I am of the KISS principle and like a more streamlined rifle with a decent optic. Having carried one for years in the military I like to "lighten my load" and have gotten away from all the rails and stuff that accompanies them. But still appreciate others builds and ideas.
    WW

  10. #30
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    I will snap some pics of the latest 18" build after a bit. I have some people I need to get to the airport in a bit.

    BTW, in rereading my own post, I could see where someone could misinterpret what I wrote. That was my own poor wordsmithing.

    I was not saying the precision uppers I have built for coworkers are being used overseas. I was saying that friends whom I worked with overseas have asked me to build them some rigs that they use recreationally in the states.

    Here are a couple of pics of a lightweight hunting rig I did for myself:

    16" WOA turned down to a pencil profile
    Carbon fiber tube
    LW gas block
    2 stage RRA trigger
    yada yada yada.

    Here is a relative using it last week:





    The upper being used on a different lower:




    Very light

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