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Posted: 11/7/2011 4:27:13 AM EDT
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A friend of mine bought a Bushmaster AR-15 from an individual. His first AR. He decided he wanted to change the handguard so he measures the barrel the way they show on Youtube. Close the bolt, remove the flash suppressor, and run a dowel down the barrel until it touches the bolt face. His barrel is 15.5" long.
Is that the correct way to measure a barrel? Problem is, I was going to give him a barrel I recently bought cheap ($100) from Sportsmans Guide for a SHTF replacement. Overall length of that barrel is 16.5", which means when the bolt closes it will be about 15.5". What are we doing wrong? |
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Quoted:
A friend of mine bought a Bushmaster AR-15 from an individual. His first AR. He decided he wanted to change the handguard so he measures the barrel the way they show on Youtube. Close the bolt, remove the flash suppressor, and run a dowel down the barrel until it touches the bolt face. His barrel is 15.5" long. Is that the correct way to measure a barrel? Problem is, I was going to give him a barrel I recently bought cheap ($100) from Sportsmans Guide for a SHTF replacement. Overall length of that barrel is 16.5", which means when the bolt closes it will be about 15.5". What are we doing wrong? Yes you have the idea right. Pulled from the atf: The ATF procedure for measuring barrel length is to measure from the closed bolt (or breech-face) to the furthermost end of the barrel or permanently attached muzzle device. Permanent methods of attachment include full-fusion gas or electric steel-seam welding, high-temperature (1100°F) silver soldering, or blind pinning with the pin head welded over. Barrels are measured by inserting a dowel rod into the barrel until the rod stops against the bolt or breech-face. The rod is then marked at the furthermost end of the barrel or permanently attached muzzle device, withdrawn from the barrel, and measured. http://www.atf.gov/publications/download/p/atf-p-5320-8/atf-p-5320-8-chapter-2.pdf how wide is the dowel you are using? it needs to touch the bolt face, not the ejector or the raised area surrounding the bolt face, if the dowel is nearly teh size of your barrel, thats your problem. go to a hobby store and buy the skinniest dowel you can get. it sounds like you know this already but incase you dont under 16 inches is a short barreled rifle and a felony to posess without ATF registration. |
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Quoted:
Close the bolt, remove the flash suppressor, and run a dowel down the barrel until it touches the bolt face. His barrel is 15.5" long. 15.5" is a SBR barrel by law. Is that the correct way to measure a barrel? Yes. What are we doing wrong? Nothing by your description. |
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Just checked again, someone evidently cut and re-threaded his barrel. It looks like his best option is to permantly mount a flash supressor to this one while he orders another barrel to be able to use a can.
The barrel I got from Sportsmans guide is a full 16". Still good for a back up. Thanks for the help. |
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