I guess I'm just a little autistic on length lol. But yeah, m855 is a bit finicky. The longer barrel will give better pen but less fragmentation. Possibly a slightly slower twist rate could help, like 1 in 9, but that might lead to delays
M16s can be a pain in the ass. I cleared houses with them. I ended up with my platoon sergeants M4 at CAX when my rifle shit the bed and it was fucking awesome. Those 6 inches made a huge difference in handling. Short stocking your 16 by laying it on top of your should wasn't terrible uncommon in country. Doorways, hallways, rooms, etc were all small. I wouldn't want a 20" barrel in a trench. I'm sure guys in Afghan liked them before the Corps made the switched to M4s because I know those engagements could get long. These aren't your average guys going to man a trench in Eastern Europe. The sec ops guys are probably going to end up with full kits and they'll get longer barrels if they want them.
The brits worrying about a war in Europe makes enough sense. They aren't shooting far, if they are, they got FN MAG's and M2's to give support, true enough.
well, maybe i'm misunderstanding you, but generally longer barrels provide more velocity, true, and fragmentation is generally velocity dependent, but it's also angle dependent, and the bullet construction itself should also encourage fragmentation. M855 is a poor fragmenter in general, even at 3000+ fps you're usually getting 3-5 chunks rather than tiny razor sharp fragments. penetration is almost unrelated. true, you if you drive an object fast enough, you can penetrate nearly anything, however that's not really a function of barrel length as much as the bullet mass and propellant load being optimized for the barrel so that your spitzer tip is actually striking the target at an appropriate angle to penetrate it - if it's off, it'll tend to snap off, tumble, and smash into the target. if the target is hardened in some way (armor, bricks, et c) then you'll get very little penetration. you can over penetrate as well, where you just ice pick targets and make neat little holes which often aren't immediately fatal/arresting.
You pretty much got it. Yeah I know it corkscrews if it doesn't have the right twist, that's why they switched to 1 in 7m I just read 1/9 was pretty good as well with 62 and 55 grain.
It's easy to care too much about numbers with shooting. It's not going to matter unless you're shooting ultra-long ranges or benchrest railguns or whatever. You'll be able to measure the practical effect of those numbers if you're someone who needs to care. I didn't buy a shorty AR for like a year because I kept dancing between a 11.5" or 12.5". It was retarded. Both would offer more than adequate expansion velocity for the rounds at realistic ranges I face whether it's hunting or self-defense. "Just shoot the fucking gun" is a lesson pretty much everyone can stand to relearn regularly. That's what's important, not 50fps here or OMG, will that 1" make me into a CQB ninja?! I got the 12.5" because a company I liked had one in stock and I love it. Put a short can on it and it's money.
1/9 will do 55gr kinda, 62gr ideal, 69gr pretty good for longer ranges for energy retention, up through 77gr barely at the top end where it's getting too low velocity at long range to be really useful out of a 20" without some home brew nasty load in the case. a good pet load is 77gr SMK with 22.7gr Varget max 23.5gr, or if you prefer, 23gr of H335, but be aware that H335 will only get around 2350 fps so it's a varminter, really while Varget can take coyotes. man stoppers might be something like an old school 69gr SMK on top of 22gr (or so, tune it) of N140. these are 18" + loads only, and you usually aren't getting enough velocity on shorter barrels.
You're right in the end, and really that's most the guns I own, being used. It's just fun to think about sometimes lol.
Alright, alright. Seems pretty multipurpose until 77 grain. Maybe one day I'll just have a 1/7, 1/9, and a classic 1/12 in a retro AR in M16A1 configuration so I can have a gun for every job lol, with multiple barrel lengths. A 11.5 or a 12.5 like mentioned above sounds like a fun buzz gun tbh, a beefy SMG in a way.
That's because the feds are either outright selling them or at the very least turning a blind eye so they can push the argument for more gun control. I know he is higher profile and was already on their radar, but there's no way you can convince me that the feds could monitor and track a sale that FPSRussia made for a few grams of hash oil, but they are completely incompetent and clueless when it comes to a sear that Keyshaawn in Philly can find through a quick search and purchase online. We know the feds are going hardcore against "machine guns" by going after forced reset triggers and cards with a printout on them, so the only explanation is that the lack of major action on sears is intentional.
Damn. That's even more of an abomination than me putting a Magpul SGA stock on mine.
Ruger PC9? Not as Gucci as the APC but works well. Or the Henry Homesteader if you're into wood.
Are you going to sbr it? Otherwise what's the point of going to a pistol caliber if you still have a 16" barrel. Everything penetrates drywall and plywood more than you want it to. Everything in loud indoors too, granted I've only ever fired an M16 and an AK in a room with no ear pro.
i guess with my own personal experiences, i would probably prefer something like 6.8 SPC for special infantry in 12.5 through 13.7 moderated/suppressed packages and 16" with moderator and QD option for general infantry, although i would retain something equivalent to 300 win mag for long range precision and a modified 6.8 SPC (ballistic 6.5 swede clone in a 7.62 NATO sized package) for a GPMG type weapon that would be a modernized ultimax 100.
WIth modern powders the 6x45, there are multiples names and very slight variations, gives higher velocity with the same weight 5.56 equivalent and better ballistic performance at range. You can also go with higher, say 62gr vs 55gr, and maintain 5.56 velocity. It's counterinutive, but the larger pushing surface on 6mm bullets is a sweet spot and takes advantage of modern powders that didn't exist in the 60s. I think it even has lower operating pressures. 5.56 porridge is too hot, 7.62 is too cold, 6mm is just right.
