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Posted: 10/30/2008 6:27:52 PM EDT
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I sent off my Larue rail, KX3 and MEGA upper to Adco to have it all installed on a cut down barrel to 13.7" from them.
I was under the impression I was getting a 203 profiled barrel but just found out all they have are pencil barrels in stock. Is this a disadvantage? Is there any reason to not go with the pencil? I understand the obvious difference is weight but what else shold I be aware of? It's a Rock River Mid-Length chrome lined 1:9 twist. |
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Pencil barrels heat up a lot quicker but they also cool down faster as less heat is stored in the metal. They are also much lighter but flex more so there is less potential accuracy. This is why "sniper" rifles have heavier barrels.
You are also going to need a different FSB or gas block. |
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The current rage is all pencil barrel.
The reason being, AR's are generally battle rifles. The amount of accuracy you lose with a heated up pencil barrel is not enough to really matter when shooting at people. However, the weight of a rifle is a constant. Given that I'm not doing mag dumps (ever) i prefer the handling and weight of pencil barreled rifles. It's only a few ounces difference from a Gov. profile, but weight adds up very quickly on ARs. |
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There is no performance difference between a pencil barrel and an M4/Government profile barrel as far as accuracy, heat, etc.
The reason is that they are the same profile from the front sight base back to the breech. The M4/Gov profiles just have extra weight out front. With all the extra do-dads that get attached to ARs these days extra weight really isn't needed. There is no problem with the pencil barrel and more than likely it's a better choice in any event. |
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Quoted:
Damnit, you both have very good points. IMO pencil barrels are good for lightweight builds but I try to balance the rifle as well. I love SOPMOD stocks, and they balance well with a mid or gov profile barrel. A gen I or II carbine stock will balance well with a pencil or gov profile. A heavy SOB like the new Magpul UBR will balance well with a Mid or heavy barrel. All depends on what you want to do with the rifle, and your setup of choice. The other poster is correct in that any loss of accuracy from the pencil barrel doesnt mean much in a fighting gun. Even a 4 MOA gun will still score 100% hits on a human torso out to 300M as long as you do your job. People often lose sight of what a fighting gun is supposed to be. |
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Pencil barrel is the way to go. Much lighter, quicker handling.
And not to go off topic, but since you mentioned the KX3, I thought I'd ask why you're going with that muzzle device? From what I've read (internet commando) the KX3 is designed for Short Barrel Rifles and is supposed to create a tad bit more back-pressure to aide with functionality. It's loud as hell and doesn't really suppress flash, as much as it blows it all forward and away from the shooter which is good for firing out of vehicles, as some here have attested to. If you're starting out with a 16" middy, you're probably better off getting more use/performance/function out of an A2 flash-hider or a Vortex, and they'll both be less needless weight way out front. My $0.02. Have fun an enjoy your rifle. Can you post before & after pics along with the difference in weight once you get it back from ADCO? [img='middle']http://www.ar15.com/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif[/img] |
| thin barrel = more whip and bigger groups. my pencil barrel shot like a mini 14 got rid of that. M4 profile is as light as I will go. At 100 yards with a pencil barrel I was get 4" groups the rest of my rifles will shot under a 1". there nice to carry but the group sizes suck |
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I can tell that this is not true. I like phantons for night shooting but the kx3 works better than a A2 and is easy on the operator ears. Shot the kx3 on 10.5 and 7.5 barrel.
Pencil barrel is the way to go. Much lighter, quicker handling. And not to go off topic, but since you mentioned the KX3, I thought I'd ask why you're going with that muzzle device? From what I've read (internet commando) the KX3 is designed for Short Barrel Rifles and is supposed to create a tad bit more back-pressure to aide with functionality. It's loud as hell and doesn't really suppress flash, as much as it blows it all forward and away from the shooter which is good for firing out of vehicles, as some here have attested to. If you're starting out with a 16" middy, you're probably better off getting more use/performance/function out of an A2 flash-hider or a Vortex, and they'll both be less needless weight way out front. My $0.02. Have fun an enjoy your rifle. Can you post before & after pics along with the difference in weight once you get it back from ADCO?  |
If I could have any barrel it would be light, as for the 4" groups, thats just a bad barrel and/or crown. The only advantage of a m4 barrel is that you can mount an m204(nill point for me) and the 14.5" ones look badass, for some reason the 16" isnt as cool, but that what I got (stag doesnt offer pencil) so I cant bash it
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