Thoughts on the 11.5" Carbine vs 12.5" Mid-Length?
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Thoughts on the 11.5" Carbine vs 12.5" Mid-Length?
With a brake, 12.5. Flash hider or a can, 11.5.
I like to keep loud noises as far away from me as possible.
Is the blow gas in the face any different between the two?Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoser
"Loud" is directly proportional to age. But ya, I vote for 12.5"Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoser
I?ve been through several barrels in both lengths. Gas in face is mostly port size, charging handle, suppressor, and timing. I prefer 12.5 with carbine gas. The difference with the other variables optimized is small. Now 10.5 starts to get sporty as you start to get noticeably less flexibility in tuning.Quote:
Originally Posted by electronman1729
12.5 is the shortest I will go with a K type suppressor. 11.5 gets a full size. Something to consider. For reference, I don?t do brakes on barrels under 14.5 without a suppressor.
What about shorter barrels. 7.5 or 8.5 - opinions? Saw a great deal on a 7.5, but no experience with shorter uppers.
7.5 and 8.2 inch 556 without a suppressor is kinda like a mini flash bang in front of your face every round. The fun value goes away quickly.
I had difficulty sufficiently suppressing one even with a full size suppressor (M4-2K 8th).
I used to say ballistics were heavily impacted, but I think a 7.5 is more viable now with some of the hotter soft point 64gr bonded loads, ex. RA556B. So with a suppressor, maybe worth it.
I still have an 8.5 inch gun for compact shooting, but it is 300blk.
No. not with the ones i run, even with spartan / gibbs style side charging uppers. I went from brakes, to hiders, which lessens that small blowback. The only way i noticed to reduce, to almost zero blowback. Was running a piston system.Quote:
Originally Posted by electronman1729
Linear comp on a 10.5 is actually not bad. Before the comp with a plain FH it was really bad.
My newest love is the 13.9" pinned a Dead Air Flash hider exactly 16.1" not too short, not too long (avoid the pistol or the SBR route)..........and with a can perfecto!
I know you asked about 11.5 or 12.5, I have had both, (though Carbine gas) flash hider, I could not tell the difference between either in sound or shooting it.................. but either is better than a 10.5". ...................both sizes are great with a can.
Faxon makes a 11.5 mid length, but recommends an adjustable gas block. Never shot one though but I see 50/50 of people loving or hating it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skully
My buddy has the 11.5 mid length and a sup arms bleed off block. I went with him to help him tune it and we ran into a problem while also running a surefire 3 prong muzzle device. When you back the screw out of the block to tune or lessen the gas going into the system, the actual adjustment screw ends up hitting the muzzle device shoulder like halfway thru its travel. So that limited the amount of gas we could bleed from the system, so just a heads up on that. The screw does have a deep engagement for the allen key so you might be able to shave off like a 1/8" or 1/16" of an inch to be able to back it out more to bleed off more gas OR run a entirely different gas block. However imo the sup arms bleed off block is the best block on the market so.....
Also a note, if running that setup with an RC2 can, you run into clearance issues with that same screw and trying to seat the can on the muzzle device....
I prefer a 12.5 mid length, either a triarc 2.0 barrel or the faxon 12.5 mid length gunner barrel, better dwell time AND no clearance issues. Also with the 11.5 faxon mid, it had a surprisingly large gas port....which kinda sucks to begin with, esp when running with a can.
Been playing with this as my newest toy;
Foxtrot Mike FM-15 11.5" Buffer-less upper.
Very unique, like an unholy offspring of a BRN180 and a normal AR. It is not Piston, still Direct impingement but side charging and buffer-less. I picked up the new generation with the 3 position Adjustable Gas block.
For the total price of $530 plus Foxtrot Mike includes the rear 1913 buffer tube adapter in the kit. A killer price given other Mfg. versions of a buffer-less upper is in the 800-1000 range.
Haven't played with it enough yet to have a verdict.
If you decide you're not liking this unit. I'll be happy to take it off your hands.Quote:
Originally Posted by Skully
Dont know, really liking this one........... [Coffee]Quote:
Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo
If I do trade out they have a 13.9" w/ pinned Keymo mount at PA, but that version does not have an adjustable gas block, but if they do I may have to move to it and you will get first dibs Jim.
With the Faxon 11.5 middy, it?s so overgassed that best results won?t be achieved with vent mode, and you probably won?t be able to get it to fail-to-hold-back while tuning. Do restriction mode and it?s the smoothest shooting rig available.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mountain_Goat_Actual
I?ve had a couple custom 11.5 middies cut from DD lightweight barrels, and they are able to achieve a decent tune on vent mode - you can use pliers to manually turn the screw at the end, or just chop with an angle grinder if you have brake interference.