14.5 Pinned and welded vs 16

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I am looking at Bravo Co RECCE rifles and they have 14.5 pinned and welded vs 16”. Looking around at different websites it seems like its a current fad but it looks like the overall difference is very small like 3/4” aprox.
I dont remember this being discussed here but I dont really follow the Rifles thread too closely. Is there some advantage I am missing here?

[Darth_Uno]

I am looking at Bravo Co RECCE rifles and they have 14.5 pinned and welded vs 16”. Looking around at different websites it seems like its a current fad but it looks like the overall difference is very small like 3/4” aprox.
I dont remember this being discussed here but I dont really follow the Rifles thread too closely. Is there some advantage I am missing here?

It gets you a slightly lighter, handier barrel, if that’s a concern. You’re stuck with whatever’s pinned on the end though. I could probably argue academically that 14.5 is not nearly as appealing lately since you can just build a pistol with an even shorter, lighter barrel. But it’s also the sweet spot for me personally. I just like mine.

[StraitR]

If the NFA didn't exist, all my AR's would be 12.5". But, that's not current reality, so I stick with 16". Shorter would be cool, sure, but I've never been interested enough based on my needs to actually bother SBRing one.

I myself do not like being stuck with something I can't work on. A pinned and welded 14.5 is exactly that, something I can't work on. Barrels, rails, gas blocks, muzzle devices, all things you could not easily change yourself if you were so inclined. It also cost money to have it removed and reinstalled. I've changed rails and muzzle devices more times than I can count, so pinned and welded is a hard pass for me.

[Wake27]

Pinned is semi-permanently affixed to the barrel. Many gunsmiths will remove a pinned muzzle device for an extra fee if that's what you want, but its not always possible to save that MD. That's the downside of the 14.5 - its harder to swap MDs if you choose to do so, but far from impossible. The upside is that its about as short as you can get without going pistol/SBR. I think you lose maybe 100-200 FPS on average between 14.5 and 16, but the trade off is worth it to me because every bit of length helps. Consider that 14.5s typicallly come with 13-13.5" rails while 16s come with 15" rails. That two inches of extra handguard length felt massive to me, so I sold my only serious 16" upper.

[HeavyDuty]

I can easily tell the difference in balance between my 14.5” pinned carbine gas and 16” unpinned midlength gas carbines, both with pencil barrels, the same general MD and similar handguards. 16” carbine gas, not so much - but I don’t own any of those these days because I believe 16” carbine isn’t optimal.

This is a tangent but the handiest carbine I own by far is a 14.5” pinned midlength A1 with a round handguard and CAR stock. It’s like a toy, and runs great. Plus, it confuses people because it has the same general proportions as a 12.5” - the longer HG isn’t obvious at first. I must have lucked out with the gas port size.

[Cory]

Mine is pinned because I lived in a state where detachable muzzle was a no-no when I got it. If you're never changing the muzzle device might as well go 14.5" length.

If I was doing it today, I'd go 16" or go pistol. I wouldn't do a 14.5" pinned rifle. There are alot of other options that give you more choices. 14.5" pin rifles aren't bad, but they were a solution at a time when there was only one way to do it.

-Cory

[cornstalker]

My BCM Recce 14 handles so well that I don't see a reason not to go with a pinned 14.5" unless the carbine is eventually to be suppressed.

[UNK]

Pinned is semi-permanently affixed to the barrel. Many gunsmiths will remove a pinned muzzle device for an extra fee if that's what you want, but its not always possible to save that MD. That's the downside of the 14.5 - its harder to swap MDs if you choose to do so, but far from impossible. The upside is that its about as short as you can get without going pistol/SBR. I think you lose maybe 100-200 FPS on average between 14.5 and 16, but the trade off is worth it to me because every bit of length helps. Consider that 14.5s typicallly come with 13-13.5" rails while 16s come with 15" rails. That two inches of extra handguard length felt massive to me, so I sold my only serious 16" upper.

Im 6’3”. I wonder if the shorter rails would be a disadvantage.

[Wake27]

Im 6’3”. I wonder if the shorter rails would be a disadvantage.

Maybe, but I'm 6' and think my arms are slightly longer than average for my height (just because long sleeves are always short) so we may not be super different. Might also just be that I have or have had like six or seven dufferent 14.5s including my first AR.

[Wondering Beard]

Im 6’3”. I wonder if the shorter rails would be a disadvantage.

I'm the same height as you and I actually prefer the 13" length rails.

Now, I'm no real rifleman but, in handling, the 15" rails, for me, weigh the muzzle end of the rifle down (especially if you're going to add lights and other stuff), while the 13" do just fine and keep the carbine light, balanced and maneuverable up front.

If we're talking about going down to an M4 length (7" inches I think?) hand guard, things start feeling cramped but still perfectly useable.

13" rail on a 14.5" to 16" barrel is, for me, near perfect balance.

ETA: that rail length is great when we're talking about MLOk or KEYMOD rails, the older quad rails get heavy for that length and with those I prefer to keep the rail length to 10-11".