Advice on S&J hardware barrel and Daniel Defence gas system removal from stock barrel

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pavmentsurfer

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Advice on S&J hardware barrel and Daniel Defence gas system removal from stock barrel

I just bought my first nice AR. A DDM4V5... I'm pretty excited about it. But what I really want is a 10-11inch barrel, a short gun. Finding a reasonably priced barrel is proving difficult though. Im not opposed to a used one or something from the EE but I havent come across anything yet.

Im looking at an S&J Hardware barrel... reasonably priced and I know their other parts are great quality but a barrel is a whole different deal. Can anyone give me any advice or opinions on them? Is it a quality barrel? Should i buy one or should I go someplace else. I may just end up buying straight from DD and getting their 11.5 inch barrel but its going to require some organization to get it home. The S&J is in canada and ready to ship.

Also, in reading the specs on the DDM4V5 they list the gas block as being "pinned" and it sounds like it may be more of a permanent pin job than a typical one. Can anyone give me any insight into weather or not the factory gas block on this gun can be removed and installed on another barrel, and if it can, how hard is it to do. Ive done a bunch of full tear downs on all different guns so I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, but if its going to require drilling or special tools i don't want to risk it.

Thanks for the help.
 
I would stick with a DD barrel. Known quality, reasonable price and available at Wolverine.

Is the ddm4v5 a midength gas system?
You would need a carbine length gas tube along with the barrel, and heavier (spikes t2) buffer is usually a good idea in short barreled ar's.

I haven't taken a DD gas block apart, but doubt it would be any harder than any other pinned gas block...
 
I believe the pin is tapered. Similar to standard ar-15 fsb. Just knock them from the small side to the larger one. Shouldn't be hard to do with a hammer and punch.
 
metcalfe said:
I would stick with a DD barrel. Known quality, reasonable price and available at Wolverine.

Is the ddm4v5 a midength gas system?
You would need a carbine length gas tube along with the barrel, and heavier (spikes t2) buffer is usually a good idea in short barreled ar's.
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Yup, the v5 is a mid-length gas system. OP's gonna have to get a new rail or unless he's getting a linear style break to fit into his rail. Not sure how much wiggle room there is in that new DD lite rail they're using on the v5 now.
 
I have a Troy Claymore that is known to fit quite well.

Wasn't aware of the buffer requirement. Ill look into that. Sounds like the gas block wont be too hard to get off so I wont buy one of those, just a barrel and gas tube and the buffer.
 
I had an 11.5" S&J, it's not match grade, but for the price, can't go wrong.
Mine runs a bit gassy and likes a heavy buffer. I run 6oz HSS.

A carbine system is going to cycle faster and feel more aggressive then a mid system, for what it's worth.

You should be able to unpin the gas block no problem. But as I understand it, the pin jobs are fitted, and you may not be able to reuse that block on another barrel unless you modify it. You'd probably have to drill and tap it on the bottom to use set screws or something.
A smith could probably fit it to another barrel, but for the price of labour you may as well just get a new gas block.

You're better off leaving the gas block on that barrel, and getting a new one for the new barrel.
You're also going to need a new gas tube, as mentioned, the DD is a different length.

If you go S&J, you could likely get set up with the barrel, the gas block, the tube, and one of their linear comps, for less then the price of just the barrel if you go DD.

Shoot it till it smokes, have fun.
And you can always just swap your DD barrel back on later jsut to switch things up.
That's what I do.
I got 3 uppers, and 5 barrels. I just lego parts around whenever I'm feeling board.
Some guys at the range laugh about it. It's like I have a different gun everytime they see me.
 
You can remove the pins ( they are generally 2/0 taper pins so make sure you are driving it out the right direction ) but why would you

Just leave the gas block on the barrel and get a new one for your new barrel. The drill and taper reaming process is done when they are assembled as one at the factory. Trying to take a already drilled gas block and re pinning is a bit ghetto, as is drilling / reaming new hole in gas block . I certainly wouldn't do it without a milling machine .

You can get gas blocks for less than $50
 
I have removed about 9 or 0 pined gas block on DD guns, its not an issue and they can be reused it the pin does not get smashed in.
but worst case you have to buy another gas block, we have lots of them.
As stated on most DD guns they have mid length gas system, so a carbine gas tube is needed.
Myself id build another upper and keep the dd the way it is.
most of our dealers have our barrels in stock, lanz, one shot tactical, brant shooting supplies , Calgary shooting supplies, RDSC and a bunch of others.
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the other thing to remember for some of us that do shoot a lot, AR15,s are high volume shooting guns, so depending on what you plan to do In the next few years, may want to just shoot that barrel then swap it out. after 10,15k
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Those rainier arms barrels at OSTS say they are a mid length... would that be a better choice VS going with a Carbine length? Could I then get away with just swapping the barrel and gas block and not worry about the buffer? I don't want to mess up the function or smoothness of the gun, but Im going for an SBR style.

I do agree that building a new upper is a good choice, however, its not financially feasible right now. I had to save my nickels and dimes just to buy this gun. I can't afford to re-build an upper. Maybe at some point down the road. Ill probably keep the DD barrel so when i do have the money I can re-build the DD upper and build another SBR upper... for now, its just a barrel swap.
 
fenceline said:
Buy/build another upper. Don't mess with that DD build. It's a solid gun. Way better off building an upper.
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^^^ This! You already have a new rail and going to buy a new barrel, barrel nut and muzzle break. Might as well buy an upper, gas block and tube and you can use your charging handle and BCG from your current setup. :)
 
save a little longer and build a second upper. If you mess with the DD you will eventually regret it, along with killing its resale value.
 
pavmentsurfer said:
Those rainier arms barrels at OSTS say they are a mid length... would that be a better choice VS going with a Carbine length? Could I then get away with just swapping the barrel and gas block and not worry about the buffer? I don't want to mess up the function or smoothness of the gun, but Im going for an SBR style.

I do agree that building a new upper is a good choice, however, its not financially feasible right now. I had to save my nickels and dimes just to buy this gun. I can't afford to re-build an upper. Maybe at some point down the road. Ill probably keep the DD barrel so when i do have the money I can re-build the DD upper and build another SBR upper... for now, its just a barrel swap.
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I would double check with one shot or ranier on that.
It might be a typo as a mid length port lands right near the end of a 10.5" barrel.

fwiw my 10.5 build worked just fine with a h1 buffer, but some 10.5's suffer from over gassing which can cause cycling issues. I bought a t2 just to be safe.
I didn't really notice a difference between a fa bcg, sa bcg, h1 buffer, t2 buffer, or t3 buffer. Mine works with all of those setups, but 10.5's don't always.


If budget is your #1 priority, get the s&j barrel and a carbine length gas tube. Swap over your gas block, and see how it works.
As you said, you can always keep all of the parts and build a second upper later.

In the future, it would be easier to sell a complete ddm4v5 as opposed to a frankenbuild.
 
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pavmentsurfer said:
Those rainier arms barrels at OSTS say they are a mid length... would that be a better choice VS going with a Carbine length? Could I then get away with just swapping the barrel and gas block and not worry about the buffer? I don't want to mess up the function or smoothness of the gun, but Im going for an SBR style.

I do agree that building a new upper is a good choice, however, its not financially feasible right now. I had to save my nickels and dimes just to buy this gun. I can't afford to re-build an upper. Maybe at some point down the road. Ill probably keep the DD barrel so when i do have the money I can re-build the DD upper and build another SBR upper... for now, its just a barrel swap.
Click to expand...

The 10.5 is carbine length. Never seen a midlength 10.5...which would leave an inch and a half from muzzle to gas port.
 
http://www.oneshottactical.com/Merc...reen=CTGY&Store_Code=oneshot&Category_Code=BP
You could always just order a DD barrel and wait for it. It's not like you can't shoot your rifle the way it is until you find the barrel you're looking for.

As mentioned a few times I would build a whole new upper. If you swap BCG back and forth it will save you some money and tearing apart a DD and turning it into a franken-upper just seems wrong. A new upper receiver is only a couple hundred dollars plus forend, muzzle device, and gas block, you'll be into it for around $700 depending which parts you go with and then you can always swap uppers depending what you are in the mood for that day.
I'm not a huge fan of S&J barrels, I had a 16 inch on one of my uppers and the gas port was way too big causing the rifle to cycle very hard, it didn't affect reliability but it made it uncomfortable to shoot. They may have corrected the issue by now though as I've read a lot of people had the same complaints with them.
 
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