Tl
r version-
Buy two KAC SR15 mod2s (16" and 11.5" when it happens) or get new uppers for existing big-pin Colts and wind up with three guns (one 16", one 11.5" unsuppressed, one 10.5" suppressed)?
I have become a fan of the 14.5" barrel with midlength gas in the M4 type platform. Velocity is good, flash and muzzle device wear are reasonable, and with a mini-suppressor, they sound good and aren't very long at all. The mini-suppressors out now days from Surefire, AAC, SiCo, and others all drop the sound levels at the shooter's ear to below that of their full-size counterparts, and bullet flight is 150dB +- no-matter what, so why NOT run a mini with less back-pressure and noise at YOUR EARS than a fullsize? Even AAC's Mini-4 is quieter at the shooter's ear than their AAC SPR-M4 (regarded by many as the quietest "reasonable size"(to some people) 5.56 can ever made. Mid-length gas systems at 14.5" barrels have long since been ironed out and run great, with reduced operating parts wear as compared to carbine length gas systems.
The following is posted somewhat for posterity (so I can refer back when I change my mind later), partly for discussion (to make me accountable for and defend my choices), and for outside input (to see if I'm missing a product or theory that I hadn't thought of).
I'm full of opinion!
First, I should say that I'm a plenty competent carbine shooter. no Daniel Horner or Osama-killer, but for a guy that is a non-professional user with a family and white-collar job, I do ok. None of the below is meant as replacing skill or training with hardware. I have a bunch of training, I'll probably go back for a little more once this is resolved, and I practice as often as I believe I need to. In a field of 15-25 shooters at our monthly matches I've shown that I can win, if not come in just behind the winner, with a gun with a stock trigger, iron sights, and a fixed stock. I'm pretty secure in the hardware:software relationship when it comes to carbines.
I brought a $4,000 rifle/optics combo to my first carbine course. It didn't do shit for me. Learning did. Huge shout-out to Kyle Lamb, his trainers, and one very patient SWAT officer with Lafayette,LA SWAT, and my friend Nate at Advantage Group for challenging a keyboard warrior gearwhore to actually show up and put lead down range and learn! It has helped me so much! You're right on about skill/hardware. Also, I'll note, my chosen hardware/gear has changed radically as a result of actual learning and experience.
It's been nearly 8 years since I wrote this
http://tacticalyellowvisor.net/8301/11801.html
During the course of those 8 years neither gun has changed substantively, and in fact some changes that were briefly made were redacted in short order. In other words, both of these guns have served me very, very well, in the configurations you see in the pictures. This, in spite of the fact that the "mission" (as I so naively called it in the article) has morphed, as have my opinions, priorities, etc. Some might say that this is an indicator that I chose good parts to begin with, but I might argue that I simply got lucky, and parts don't really matter all that much. This coming from someone that evaluated a LOT of parts, whether free, on loan, or purchased. However, it would be naively stated today if I were to say that parts do not matter at all, especially when it comes to quality, reliability, and longevity. Of all people, I know this about ARs better than most do.
For the record, the primary changes to the guns have been:
-Lights. X300s mounted at 12 o'clock on both guns.
I don't like this because those tabs can get banged around, and I am not sold on the interface method when slamming barrels through windshields. The light can take a beating. I have not personally broken an X300U, but I am leery of it. Others have. If you do this, I recommend Unity Tactical's shield for the levers. It's a cheap upgrade that if nothing else keeps them from getting flipped on in transit. Also, I'll note that I have seen people gnarl up fingers/fingernails banging those switches fast in that orientation on a long-gun.
-VFGs. stubby versions of the TD shown, moved further forward.
I love a stubby VFG for unconventional shooting positions as well as an index point. Magpul makes my favorite.
-Slings. while the BFGs shown are still useful, the forward attachment point has moved forward.
I ran a single-point on my rifle my first carbine course. My shoulder to shoulder transitions were great. Total noob-cheat. My manhood was not. Total noob penalty. I now run a VTAC sling and learned how to properly "get in/out" of it for transitions, and life is so much better. So are my juevos. I tend to stick the front of the sling as far forward as the rail allows, and the back on an endplate. YMMV, and depends on your sling and build.
-Optics. The 16" gun still carries the TA33, while the little gun now carries a 30mm Aimpoint.
I just never could get into the ACOG thing, because at night they just wash out on dark backgrounds with a WML. I have owned: TA31,TA11,TA44 red and green circle. None of them did it for me. The TA44SG was the closest, but it sucked shooting around green things. Trijicon will tell you "this green is found nowhere in nature!" Well, they might technically be correct, but when greens that ARE found in nature are enhanced with sunlight, and your fiber optic is picking up sunlight, they both glow the same radioactive green right down to the wavelength it seemed to me. The Aimpoint M4s rode on my gun the first carbine course I went to, the T1 the second. Both of them provided about the same performance for me. I did not feel faster or slower with either, really. The T1 sure made the gun more fun to lug around, though, for 3 days.
-Stocks. Both guns have stocks that use integral rubber pads instead of having to zip-tie them on.
I don't know what you mean, but I love the B5 stocks, and Magpul MOE SL stock. I've tried other Magpuls, the BCM stock, and others, and they all suck compared to the B5, B5 sopmod, and MOE SL, in my opinion.
As my life priorities change, and my shooting activities change, and my opinions on use of, and potential use of, firearms change, I find myself looking for a change. In no small part in order to streamline, as these two are not my only ARs, but certainly could (should?) be. I fear the barrel on the big gun is beginning to induce some spread, and in looking for a new decade gun I think there may be options available now, or forthcoming, that are better now and will stay better for longer.
You wear barrels out? Legitimately? Then you are honestly a proper candidate for an FN barrel, in my opinion. FN uses a much more durable steel than anyone but HK, and I cannot quantify HK and FN's steel formulations, as I don't know a whole lot about either one, much less about HK's, but I can definitely say that an FN barrel will last longer.
I am, however, still a big believer in standardization. In other words, the contact points on the gun (grips, stock, sling, handguards), operation of the gun (trigger, safety, bolt catch, mag release), and other minutiae (caliber, multi-gun suppressor, sigh picture) should all be identical, or as practically close to identical, as possible.
There is a part of my post-fiddle-fuck self that really just wants to go buy an SR15 MOD2 change the pistol grip, add a sling and Leupold 1-6x multigun and call it good. Eventually they'll come out with an 11.5" version of the gun, I can stick the 30mm Aimpoint on it (or a Micro, if you must) and if I add the right suppressor/mount I can use a can on both/either, plus potential future AK and/or .308 hog gun. That would seem to be the "best", least-fiddle-F solution.
I've honestly come to the conclusion after trying a bunch of different optics, that the Aimpoint T2 and Eotech G33 are THE ticket for me. This is because I only shoot at distances where drop isn't a factor, though. If I did, I would urge you to select the Kahles K16i. I have yet to look through any 1-6X that doesn't make me want to vomit when compared to it. As to suppressors, I'm a Surefire guy. Period. YMMV, and I realize this is an item that has spawned lawsuits just for debating people feel so strongly about it, so...done on that topic pretty much, lol
Then there are the budget constraints (two SR15s is a serious chunk of change), the pragmatic constraints (both of the guns pictured are big-trigger-pin Colts, meaning they are likely not very desirable on the used market
Replace the triggers with Geissele SSA big pin versions, and what's it matter?), and the simple I-want-"better" constraints (I think a 10.3", dedicated suppressed gun with tuned gas system and brake mount to protect the can is better than having one SBR that the can is sometimes on, sometimes off).
I owned a 10.5" Noveske. I ended up getting a refund on it because it couldn't get right, to put it short and blunt, and was out of spec. That said, had it run well, and had it been exactly what it should have been, I honestly wouldn't have bought another 10.5". The blast is hell. The muzzle flash is insane even when suppressed with a fullsize can. The velocity sucks. It was cycling too fast to function suppressed even with an H3 and a Sprinco Blue spring (probably part of what was wrong...), and in short, I can move a 14.5" gun with a minican just as well as I can a suppressed 10.3". So why give up performance? Literally the only SBR upper I'd give the time of day is the KAC MOD2 11.5". Why? Because CDI. Otherwise, screw that. I just don't like SBR's. I also don't like muzzle brakes. That is why I run Surefire suppressors. I'll destroy barrels before I destroy blast baffles, even with my flash-hider. Ran my 556-212 on my 10.5 for a bit, and even though I was charging the gun manually to clear malfunctions several times per magazine, I still put at least a few rounds downrange before s ending it back! Also, yes, it wore the blast baffle some. So what? I don't care. It lessened performance by 0%.
Which leads me to Option B, which is to keep the two lowers pictured, plus the third 6933 lower I still have (also big-pin), buy new BCM uppers from the two pictured (16" barrel/15" KMR and 11.5" barrel/10" KMR), and assemble a third upper from like parts (9" KMR over a 10.3" DD barrel and adjustable gas block). I am not a can fan, but the release of quite a few 7" .308 Ti cans and the likelihood that we'll be able to legally hunt with them in Florida has be thinking "why not". In the case of option B I'll probably wait it out for the BFH versions of the ELW-F barrels, not because:reality but simply because:decade-gun.
I'm not a BCM or KMR fan, but you like what you like. I'll only say this. Be careful with the KMR. It's fragile. Weight was the only concern when they outsourced that thing, regardless of any other opinion to the contrary.
it should probably also be mentioned that I consider all of this to be frivolity. As many pointed out in "the one" thread, sometimes simply having or chasing a new toy is what keeps us shooting/interested. Last year, for me, that was whooping a lot of ass with an iron-sighted gun. Since the season ended, that appeal has vanished. now I'm interested in settling on a decade gun (and it's shorter companions) and focusing on the shooting again, perhaps with some amount of new-hotness thrown in.
Originally Posted by shane45
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