I'm starting to piece together what will be my first SBR. It is going to start out life as a pistol until I get the stamp. I know I want a 556. I know what I want for parts except for barrel length. It is going to be suppressed. But I am going back and forth on barrel length. 10.5, 11.5, 12.5? Part of me is saying if I'm going to go SBR and I know its going to always be suppressed, go 10.5, I already have a 16" AR. What say you guys for a HD, range toy, SHTF piece?
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5.56 is pretty velocity dependent for performance. I have an LMT 10.5 which I am very happy with and has been flawless. If I had to do it over again, I believe I'd go with a BCM 11.5 (which wasn't available when I built mine). I don't think the inch barrel length would be noticed and the ballistic advantages out weight any additional length/weight.
In general, an 11.5' or 12.5" will run better / more reliably. There is a slight ballistic advantage, but for myself, the big advantage is reliability and durability.Originally Posted by Jay23
The .MIL runs 10.3' barrels in the Mk18 but at the cost of requiring more PM and much shorter bolt life etc. Plus they are running 5.56 ammo.
There is a reason Colt and BCM don't make AR's shorter than 11.5" unless a government customer demands it.
I've had a personal colt 6933 for 8 years and it runs with everything. We are also in the of re-building our 14.5" work guns to 11.5". Our national firearms unit looked at 10.5'/10.3" for suppressed use by our SRT guys and found the juice wasn't worth the squeeze.
An 11 will do everything you need and want.
A 10 will as well with the rights specs but it costs more.
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So 11.5 is the way to go. Are the BCM enhanced barrels worth spending the extra coin?
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HCM summarized it well. I went with a BCM 11.5" and have been pleased with its performance. I run it suppressed 100% of the time and only shoot factory brass cased M193. Early on, I did have a few failures to lock back on last round so I went with an H2 buffer and all is well.
Thanks for the info.
Rather than buy the complete upper I want to build it from scratch so I was wondering if I should still get the BCM hammer forged or enhanced barrels or just get the standard.
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I'm building an 11.5" suppressed SBR in 5.56 with this barrel:
http://sionicsweaponsystems.com/stor...-stripped.html
One of the people that helped develop this barrel is a member on this board.
I also have a 11.5" BCM that is not suppressed, and it gobbles down ammo like a fat kid eats cake.
Based on feedback from people I trust, I'm going to use this Sionics barrel. I'm just waiting on the can to get out of NFA jail now.
Interesting, however I want to be able to shoot the gun if it's not suppressed also. I think I'm just going to go with the standard BCM lightweight 11.5" and their BCG.
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I have one of those. It works very well.
I am thinking about snagging one of the BCM 12.5" stainless steel barrels, and putting a Bushnell Elite low power variable optic on it.
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