10.5" vs. 14.5" barrel

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CDCarts

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I am in the market for an AR. One of my biggest last questions is, how big of a difference will I see at the range in term in accuracy between a 10.5" and a 14.5" barrel?

I'm pretty sure under a 100 yards it prob wont make a difference, but I'm asking more in terms of like 200.. 300

And at what distance does the 14.5" really start to make the difference?

Thanks,
 
There is going to be about 200 fps difference between a 10.5 and a 14.5 inch barrel. As to what range that will make a difference at 300 yards and a 10 mph wind it will add about 2 inches more of drift.
 
Awesome feedback.

Thank you for the great points

It looks like im going to go for a 10.5 and build something to play around under 300 yards with .223


I guess Ill do another (when my wallet heals) in a .308 with a longer barrel.

:D gonna need a bigger safe :D
 
http://counterstrikefox.freeservers.com/mv.htm

Decent little chart for you.

mvvsbbllengthtom327hu.png


That's with a 55 Gr round that I assume you would be firing.
I've found the 16" is a nice medium for myself, as someone else may like the 10", so the only solution really is to own one of everything with one or 2 quality lowers, by default.

The flex of the barrel would depend more on the thickness of it I think.
 
pobcat said:
The word on the street :p is a shorter barrel is more rigid (less barrel "whip"/flex.) I believe it adds to the repeatability (precision) of the groups and not the actual accuracy.....But hey, whatever works for you :D
Click to expand...

You're right. Shorter barrels being more rigid produce more consistent harmonics. The downside is that the shorter barrel means lower initial velocities which translate into poor down range performance both terminally and with regards to bucking the wind. So the benefits of a shorter barrel are wasted as the velocity limits its range severely.

In my experience, the shorter barrel guns shoot just as well as the long ones, even out to 300 yards or more. I've blasted balloons at 300 with an Eotech with magnifier on a 10."5 gun unsupported. I also know a guy who dropped a coyote at over 400 with 7.5" AR.

TDC
 
The actual characteristics of the barrel you buy will make the difference. Barrel stiffness arguments about accuracy (actually precision) are correct, but you likely won't see any difference in practice, especially with thicker barrels.

Buy a quality barrel and free float it if you care about precision. And remember ammo is the other half (or more than half) of the mechanical precision equation.
 
I know a guy that dropped a haji at over 300 with a 10.5" gun.

Guess no one told him that shorter barrels were more accurate at closer distances.

Or he doesn't watch sesame street.


Seriously? If your opinion is that shorter barrels are more accurate at closer distances, you are borderline retarded, and should not be let out of the house without a helmet, drool bucket, and chaperon.

The idiocy on this site surprises me every day.

If it's not a guy that wants a 'non nylon non plastic' holster, just like the one worn by Costa in the Magpul videos, that will hold 6 different types of guns, then it's a guy that's starting up a firearms business/range that thinks a shorter barrel is more accurate at closer ranges, and celebrates a gun purchase with a 15-pack of beer.


The other surprise (that is no less shocking to me than anyone....) is that TDC's posts in the pistol and black rifle threads are some of the more reasonable one out there.
 
No attacks made. I don't know anyone well enough to make attacks. Just making observations on posts. Besides, I was being sarcastic/funny/joking/attempting humor (take your pic). You know how things get misinterpreted when they're typed and not spoken. :p
 
why not the 7.5? or even better, why not the ar10 leonidas with a 12 inch flame thrower.

the reality is that you will notice little of the trade off with the varying lengths of barrels available. if you are match/bench shooting, whole new game.

i believe the shorter barrels are nothing more than velocity robbers, that is it. if a couple of hundred feet in lost velocity are not a concern, happy shopping, but man, those 7.5's are pure awesome.

of the two you are browsing, look long and hard at the two, and ask yourself why you are looking at sbr's. shorter the better i reckon.
 
Kevin M. said:
I'd still like a vietnam style AR-15, the way that the .223 was designed for maximum performance and velocity with the longer barrel.
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actually, it wouldn't be all that difficult - the hard part would be getting the proper upper or a reasonable sub - it depends on how early you want to go; the forward assist models were pretty common by the end, and the triangle handguards aren't all that hard to come by-what i would do is build it using early style parts, but slip a BETTER BARREL ( anything but the 1/12-1/14) in there and not many people would be the wiser- if we were stateside, building one would be a walk in the park
i have the a2 style with the more advanced rear sight and the 1/7 nato twist, and the bump for lefties
 
pobcat said:
The word on the street :p is a shorter barrel is more rigid (less barrel "whip"/flex.) I believe it adds to the repeatability (precision) of the groups and not the actual accuracy.....But hey, whatever works for you :D
Click to expand...
All those partially burnt gases blowing past the bullet in the transitional ballistic phase can have zero effect on the bullets stability when using a flame throwing stupid short barrel.
However in my world that is not the case.

There is a happy medium between to long and stupid. I think it is about 16".
 
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