Carbine length vs Mid length gas system
- Thread starter faizi
- Start date
Assuming you're thinking of rifles with similar barrel length, a mid-length gas system provides lower port pressure, increased dwell time providing smoother operation and less wear. There's a longer sight radius for iron sights if you use them. Personally, I like the look of a mid-length system, too.
mebiuspower
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Morontario
Mid-length 14.5 is hard to find...
14.5 is a predominately carbine gas systems. The dwell time or distance from the gas port to the muzzle is crucial to the operating performance and needs to be considered when choosing a gas system length. Custom barrels can be manufactured in any configuration you desire however an incorrect combination of dwell time and gas length gas be very detrimental to a successful rifle build.
I wouldn't say it is incorrect as much as some feel not as efficient to a Carbine gas system in a 14.5" barrel. Having said that more shooters are gradually moving toward 14.5 custom built middies to avoid the so called "choppy" cycling of the carbine systems which I do not consider an issue or even feel in my 14.5" carbine rifle.
With the vast selection of gas blocks on the market matched to a properly selected gas port size a builder can efficient tune any combination he wishes. Custom builders like to tweak and experiment with many configuration but, generally off the shelf Mil Spec barrels come in carbine length setups.
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In my opinion shooters who have issues are unfamiliar with AR fine tuning and begin to fault the platform and not their individual setup. If you select a mil spec carbine 14.5" rifle and use regular 5.56/223 ammo there should be no issues.
Lots of mid-length gas system 14.5 barrels out there. My local gun shot barely even stocks carbine length gas system barrels anymore. I run a 14.5 middy and love it, way smoother than a carbine length system. I highly recommend the mid length for any AR.
