WK180C Shorter barrel options?

[Bratwurst]

It doesn't say how many. I do a bunch of CQC LARPing at the range I'm at as I'm lucky have an action range that actually allows responsible fun. There's a huge difference between the handling characteristics of a 10.5" barrel over an 18.7" (WS-MCR with full length handguard and medium profile barrel), especially once you factor in weight, where the weight is and all that. I don't use brakes on SBRs and use a flash hider instead so there's actually not much difference in noise. Accuracy wise, it doesn't matter to me as the action range is 20 yards at most.

I don't do much lane shooting unless it's for zeroing of for bolt gun stuff. So I got a lot of use and play out of an SBR

That's fair enough, my range allows for fire and manouevre but it doesn't typically have the enclosed spaves where 20cm less bbarrel makes a difference

 

[noodlenottacop]

That's fair enough, my range allows for fire and manouevre but it doesn't typically have the enclosed spaves where 20cm less bbarrel makes a difference

18.7" to 10" is not 20cm... I mean I have a 7.5" VZ I can't shoot anymore either. Also this is an outdoor range and the ranges are built for CQC stuff.

 

[noodlenottacop]

Basically, the difference between a sub-13" barrel with a light handguard and pencil barrel vs a full length 18.7" medium weight barrel with full length handguard is astronomical in terms of handling and fun for CQC

 

[Virtual.Chris]

Basically, the difference between a sub-13" barrel with a light handguard and pencil barrel vs a full length 18.7" medium weight barrel with full length handguard is astronomical in terms of handling and fun for CQC

Yeah. 18” is what you’d find on a DMR build.

 

[noodlenottacop]

Bump! Has anyone successfully built one yet? I'm gonna take the plunge and looking for info on what else needs to be changed apart from barrel. I'm ready to start shopping for 11.5 to 12.5" barrels now.

Looking for info in gas ports on barrel and extractor parts that need to be swapped for reliability/correct function.


And before anyone jumps down my throat for registering a WK, if you look up the FRT in armalytics, others have already built and registered SBRs including a 7.62 one.

Thanks!

 

[dacron]

Cool. What barrel are you planning to go with? Ballistic Advantage are the most affordable I’ve found ($200), Maple Ridge Armory are also a choice at $300. Availability is spotty as with everything else.

Tiger has a 11.5" faxon, light at 1lb, and faxon makes great barrels. Don't expect to use anything other than a a2 flash hider or a linear compensator on them, my 10.5 AR-15 is loud with a linear comp on it, was unbearable (ear muffs + plugs) with a brake.

 

[noodlenottacop]

Tiger has a 11.5" faxon, light at 1lb, and faxon makes great barrels. Don't expect to use anything other than a a2 flash hider or a linear compensator on them, my 10.5 AR-15 is loud with a linear comp on it, was unbearable (ear muffs + plugs) with a brake.

Yup! i have a couple of now-prohib SBRs and I don't run brakes on them for that reason. I use A2 flash hiders. Thanks for the lead on the barrel. Perfect.

Gotta figure out of those gas ports will work.

 

[Virtual.Chris]

Bump! Has anyone successfully built one yet? I'm gonna take the plunge and looking for info on what else needs to be changed apart from barrel. I'm ready to start shopping for 11.5 to 12.5" barrels now.

Looking for info in gas ports on barrel and extractor parts that need to be swapped for reliability/correct function.


And before anyone jumps down my throat for registering a WK, if you look up the FRT in armalytics, others have already built and registered SBRs including a 7.62 one.

Thanks!

I bought a 12.5” Maple Ridge Armory fluted barrel for mine as it was the only one I could find in stock last fall. I would have bought a Ballistics Advantage barrel if anyone had one in stock as they are cheaper, but these days, availability trumps price. It came without dimples for the gas block (which I guess is not surprising) and I talked to Owen at Kodiak and ended up paying them a nominal fee to dimple the barrel and mount the gas block and test it. It’s not hard to swap barrels on this yourself. I could do everything myself except dimple the barrel. The gas system alignment on these rifles is fussy and it needs to be super precise and rock solid or you will break piston rods. It’s taken a month with Christmas to get it done. I should have it back in a week depending on Canada Post.

Kodiak registered it for me as well. I gather they can’t ship it unless it’s registered - I’m not sure, but I thought that could only help if they did it.

I’m putting a linear comp on mine to reduce obnoxiousness as much as possible.

I considered 10.5, 11.5, and 12.5 and decided that shorter than 12.5 might be more problems than it’s worth.

As you say, there are several owners that have registered WK180s so don’t worry about that. You can see the list of registrations in the FRT for the WK. Every new barrel length that gets registered gets a new entry in the FRT for the WK. you can see all the registrations here (each one has a -X in the FRN table)... https://www.armalytics.ca/?q=WK180C&size=n_10_n

 

[noodlenottacop]

I bought a 12.5” Maple Ridge Armory fluted barrel for mine as it was the only one I could find in stock last fall. I would have bought a Ballistics Advantage barrel if anyone had one in stock as they are cheaper, but these days, availability trumps price. It came without dimples for the gas block (which I guess is not surprising) and I talked to Owen at Kodiak and ended up paying them a nominal fee to dimple the barrel and mount the gas block and test it. It’s not hard to swap barrels on this yourself. I could do everything myself except dimple the barrel. The gas system alignment on these rifles is fussy and it needs to be super precise and rock solid or you will break piston rods. It’s taken a month with Christmas to get it done. I should have it back in a week depending on Canada Post.

Kodiak registered it for me as well. I gather they can’t ship it unless it’s registered - I’m not sure, but I thought that could only help if they did it.

I’m putting a linear comp on mine to reduce obnoxiousness as much as possible.

I considered 10.5, 11.5, and 12.5 and decided that shorter than 12.5 might be more problems than it’s worth.

As you say, there are several owners that have registered WK180s so don’t worry about that. You can see the list of registrations in the FRT for the WK. Every new barrel length that gets registered gets a new entry in the FRT for the WK. you can see all the registrations here (each one has a -X in the FRN table)... https://www.armalytics.ca/?q=WK180C&size=n_10_n

thanks for this info! I'm going to do the same if I can't find the right barrel and I appreciate the lead. Do you think any barrel will work with .750 gas block? Otherwise, I'll call Kodiak up and see if they're willing to help enlarge or modify another barrel. Please post reviews if you're comfy when you get it!

 

[Virtual.Chris]

thanks for this info! I'm going to do the same if I can't find the right barrel and I appreciate the lead. Do you think any barrel will work with .750 gas block? Otherwise, I'll call Kodiak up and see if they're willing to help enlarge or modify another barrel. Please post reviews if you're comfy when you get it!

Any AR15 barrel with carbine length gas system and .750 gas block diameter should work (ensure you don't confuse gas port diameter and gas block diameter). Owen at Kodiak mentioned they have some 14" barrels on hand if you want to go that length.

 

[Virtual.Chris]

Got my WK180C back from Kodiak today with the new 12.5" MRA barrel installed. I'm super pleased with how it looks. I can't wait to get it out to the range. (Full story a couple of posts up).



Stock is Core-GL S CP, Slingster by Farro Concepts, foregrip from Magpul, charging handle by Spectre, trigger from Geissele, and optics by Eotech.

I'm going to try the stock birdcage and also have a TNA reverse fake can with linear comp I will try on the end.

I have to say that working with Kodiak is a pleasure... they have been so helpful and their work is great and affordable. I would highly recommend them. In a foggy sea of crappy customer service, they are a lighthouse beacon.

 

[Sqr]

Yes with the exception of gas port sizing. I did a MRA barrel with the RWA mid length op rod and the gas port in the barrel needed enlarged. It's been a while since I did it so I can't remember what size I ended up enlarging it to but there was a big difference.

The gas port on a shorter AR barrel will already be larger than the port on the 18.6" that I used so it may not need opened up at all. It's kinda just trial and error. Install the new barrel and test fire before enlarging the gas port. If it doesn't function increase port size a little bit at a time until you have proper function.

Did you require dimpling of the barrel for the gas block set screws to keep it from walking forward? I found that a 12.5" barrel would only last 5 rounds before short stroking due to the moving of the gas block. I noticed that the OEM barrel is dimpled as a precautionary measure.

 

[Sqr]

Got my WK180C back from Kodiak today with the new 12.5" MRA barrel installed. I'm super pleased with how it looks. I can't wait to get it out to the range. (Full story a couple of posts up).



Stock is Core-GL S CP, Slingster by Farro Concepts, foregrip from Magpul, charging handle by Spectre, trigger from Geissele, and optics by Eotech.

I'm going to try the stock birdcage and also have a TNA reverse fake can with linear comp I will try on the end.

I have to say that working with Kodiak is a pleasure... they have been so helpful and their work is great and affordable. I would highly recommend them. In a foggy sea of crappy customer service, they are a lighthouse beacon.

I also like their service and this Kodiak rifle.

 

[jiffx2781]

Did you require dimpling of the barrel for the gas block set screws to keep it from walking forward? I found that a 12.5" barrel would only last 5 rounds before short stroking due to the moving of the gas block. I noticed that the OEM barrel is dimpled as a precautionary measure.

Mine was an early WK rifle with the gas block that had only 1 set screw plus a cross pin so I had to line up the gas block perfect and then drill through the block and barrel so I could reuse the cross pin. It worked great and never moved anywhere. Not sure why they dropped using the gas block with the cross pin as I think it's better than 2 set screws.

If your gas block only has set screws I would reccomend dimpling the barrel.

 

[Sqr]

Mine was an early WK rifle with the gas block that had only 1 set screw plus a cross pin so I had to line up the gas block perfect and then drill through the block and barrel so I could reuse the cross pin. It worked great and never moved anywhere. Not sure why they dropped using the gas block with the cross pin as I think it's better than 2 set screws.

If your gas block only has set screws I would recommend dimpling the barrel.

Kodiak dimples their SBR builds so that is the next course of action. I cannot find a mid length rod like yours so I am going to use an expensive AR piston system on another 16" build because of two issues. One the mid length rod and two do the clearance issues the Kodiak gas block interferes with a number of hand guards..

 

[Sqr]

Yep, there are also Restricted-SBR TAVOR, B&T, ACR, KRISS, G36.....and a bunch of other semi shotguns.......etc etc The people who are telling others not to SBR the NR because they think it will screw the NR status have no basis at all. If they want to ban it, they will ban it like they did to Mini14 and M14. No one SBR those things.

Correct and if you so chose you can always get the paperwork to legally return it back to NR status .

 

[Innavedaw]

Correct and if you so chose you can always get the paperwork to legally return it back to NR status .

The problem with going from NR to R for me is now they know I have it...Even if I put it back to NR, they still know where to look for it if they want to take it.

After May 1, I am skittish about ever registering another gun.

 

[Bratwurst]

The problem with going from NR to R for me is now they know I have it...Even if I put it back to NR, they still know where to look for it if they want to take it.

After May 1, I am skittish about ever registering another gun.

Registration leads to confiscation. This has been proven over and over and over again. Australia, the UK (in 2020 and twice before that), Canada (Pistol bans in cities, AR15s, etc), the European Union, the list goes on. At every opportunity where a anti-gun government can do so it will force registration and then use that to confiscate. It's not an if but a when.

The more NR black rifles out there the better.

We need to be pushing semi-auto rifles as the primary hunting, target shooting and competition rifle of choice.

 

[Virtual.Chris]

Registration leads to confiscation. This has been proven over and over and over again. Australia, the UK (in 2020 and twice before that), Canada (Pistol bans in cities, AR15s, etc), the European Union, the list goes on. At every opportunity where a anti-gun government can do so it will force registration and then use that to confiscate. It's not an if but a when.

The more NR black rifles out there the better.

We need to be pushing semi-auto rifles as the primary hunting, target shooting and competition rifle of choice.

As you know from your list of .308 semi auto rifles on the other forum, the choices are pretty sparse. We really need Kodiak or Wolverine to produce a NR semi-auto .308 version of the WK or MCR. I would buy a Kodiak .308 semi auto in a heart beat.

 

[Bratwurst]

As you know from your list of .308 semi auto rifles on the other forum, the choices are pretty sparse. We really need Kodiak or Wolverine to produce a NR semi-auto .308 version of the WK or MCS. I would buy a Kodiak .308 semi auto in a heart beat.

I entirely agree

Honestly when keltec released their most recent pistol I was pissed off. They make great affordable products but they're never in stock, and yet they find the time to set up another production line for another entirely new gun.

When RFBs and RDBs are in stock more than once every year I'll be a little more forgiving