Why is it?????

[imarangemaster]

Why does everyone love 11.5" barreled ARs WITH A 5.5" flash hider attached? I understand loving them when they are SBRs with a birdcage or a 4" sound/flash moderator. Quite sexy and they make an effective close up SMG.

BUT with a permanently attached flash hider to make it 16", you are robbing yourself or performance. 11.5 inch ARs do maybe 2700 fps with M193 and 2600 fps with M855 ball. Problem is that fragmentation is not assured until 2700 fps, and rarely at 2600 fps. My M1 carbine with SP ammo duplicates that kind of performance easily.

MY XM clone with a 16" pencil barrel and the birdcage is only 1.25 inches longer and gives about 3100 to 3150 FPS. That is reliable fragmentation from 175 to 200 yards. If you have to have the XM177 look, use a slip over like I did and get that extra 400-450 fps!

Enquiring minds just want to know. I see tons of them for sale on GB. Mine is a house/farm gun. I know it will work out to 200. Yes, if you use EXPENSIVE 75 grain TAP it may work, but mine works great with M193!

Information

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[browningautorifle]

I'm with you brother...I have an 11" bbl and I'm DYING to replace it with a good(inexpensive) M4 bbl. It just promises more overall.

[imarangemaster]

Midway USA has ER Shaw barrels marked Model 1 Sales. I gave $145 for my 16 inch, 1/9, chrome moly pencil barrel. I think the M4 is only $35 more!
Model 1 Barrel AR-15 223 Remington M4 Contour 1 in 9" Twist 16" Chrome Moly Matte with Front Sight Pre-Ban - MidwayUSA

[browningautorifle]

That's exactly what I want but since I'm in Canada, I can't import it. If I go through the broker, it costs nearly $500 CDN after. I weep.

[Bill Hollinger]

I think you will find that 11 1/2" was dropped for the 14 1/2" because the short barrel and the .223 round do not get along and are very picky on what they shoot with well. The 14 1/2" is supposedly as good as the 16" and I don't believe there is enough difference between the two to argue about. Our tactical team did a study on the differences and the only one we could see was the 14 1/2" was worth a whole lot of time for non authorized law enforcement personnel.

Hey, the 11 1/2" throws one hell of a flame out the muzzle though!

[jmoore]

Why does everyone love 11.5" barreled ARs WITH A 5.5" flash hider attached? I understand loving them when they are SBRs with a birdcage or a 4" sound/flash moderator. Quite sexy and they make an effective close up SMG.

BUT with a permanently attached flash hider to make it 16", you are robbing yourself or performance. 11.5 inch ARs do maybe 2700 fps with M193 and 2600 fps with M855 ball. Problem is that fragmentation is not assured until 2700 fps, and rarely at 2600 fps. My M1 carbine with SP ammo duplicates that kind of performance easily.

MY XM clone with a 16" pencil barrel and the birdcage is only 1.25 inches longer and gives about 3100 to 3150 FPS. That is reliable fragmentation from 175 to 200 yards. If you have to have the XM177 look, use a slip over like I did and get that extra 400-450 fps!

Enquiring minds just want to know. I see tons of them for sale on GB. Mine is a house/farm gun. I know it will work out to 200. Yes, if you use EXPENSIVE 75 grain TAP it may work, but mine works great with M193!

Because they LOOK cool. Most folk that go this route don't shoot anything but paper or steel, generally under 100yds, many never past 25-50yds. Toys. Dangerous toys...

[campperrykid]

I never liked the old shorties . The folklore was that they were unreliable , wore out very fast , and the short barrel cost too much bullet speed . The first time I ever fired a Colt shorty ( semi and then in couple of short bursts ) it launched the muzzle device downrange around half way through the first magazine. That made a lasting first impression.

[jmoore]

Along the same lines, what's with all the heavy barreled carbines? Can't see an upside to 'em.

[browningautorifle]

The story with heavies is two fold. Like the heavy barrel MGs, the heavy bbl gives more surface to disperse heat. The heavy bbl gives weight to help steady the weapon during auto fire. Those must have proven bullsh#t because the M4 bbl is apparently becoming the standard bbl for all.

[jmoore]

So heavy barrels on semi-auto carbines were chosen because the owner was worried about heat dissipation? mmm, OK then...