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3/29/2026 5:05:10 PM EDT
Going to be assembling a near twin to my GPR with a 16" barrel and was thinking about going with a 14.5" on this one. The more I think about it the more it seems like a waste to spend the money to have it P/W just to drop maybe 2"total off the length of the completed rifle. If I was buying a complete upper it would be a no brainer to go 14.5 since it could be had from the factory already with the P/W but assembling one from scratch would require sending it off and spending extra money for which seems like not much return.

What do you guys think?
3/29/2026 5:36:53 PM EDT
[#1]
Why not Form 1 it at no fee?
3/29/2026 6:14:52 PM EDT
[Last Edit: mike_nds][Edited] [#2]
I always thought that p/w to 16” was silly unless you are trying to be close to clone correct on an M4, 723, or 653
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3/29/2026 8:30:20 PM EDT
[Last Edit: gunner76][Edited] [#3]
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Originally Posted By TGWLDR:
Why not Form 1 it at no fee?
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I want a rifle that I can take across state lines without having to let big brother know. If I went the SBR route it would be for something like a MK18 or CAR 15 clone.
3/29/2026 8:35:58 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote History
Originally Posted By gunner76:

I want a rifle that I can take across state lines without having to let big brother know. If I went the SBR route it would be for something like a MK18 or CAR 15 clone.
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Quote History
Originally Posted By gunner76:
Originally Posted By TGWLDR:
Why not Form 1 it at no fee?

I want a rifle that I can take across state lines without having to let big brother know. If I went the SBR route it would be for something like a MK18 or CAR 15 clone.

Fair enough.
3/29/2026 9:19:14 PM EDT
[#5]
I like the 14.5 length, I’ve got two. Are you planning to suppress it? With a short can it definitely feels better than a 16” with the same. Unsuppressed I think there’s less of a difference. You could always go the silver solder route and do it yourself.
3/29/2026 9:50:33 PM EDT
[Last Edit: gunner76][Edited] [#6]
Quote History
Originally Posted By bluedog82:
I like the 14.5 length, I’ve got two. Are you planning to suppress it? With a short can it definitely feels better than a 16” with the same. Unsuppressed I think there’s less of a difference. You could always go the silver solder route and do it yourself.
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It will be suppressed but I'm not sure which one yet. Right now the 16" that I will be sort of copying has a Hux 556K, it's long but not clumsy for what I'm doing with it. This next rifle will have a low back pressure K can of some sort.

If I could snag a factory built 14.5 P/W URGI upper for a great price I'll go that route and get an RC4 or B&T can to finish it, otherwise I'm building.

ETA. The ATF accepts a silver solder method? That's pretty easily reversible.
3/29/2026 10:05:45 PM EDT
[#7]
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Originally Posted By gunner76:

ETA. The ATF accepts a silver solder method? That's pretty easily reversible.
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29 Appendix B (ATF Rulings 2003-1, 2003-2, 2003-3, 2003-4)

3/30/2026 2:35:42 PM EDT
[#8]
It's worth it to me.  I prefer shorter barrels, and I have more SBRs than anything.  I keep 3 P/W rifles to take into Idaho to shoot w/friends there.  They are great, I love that length.  I have convinced at least a dozen shooters to make the change after shooting mine


In my ARs, I don't have any 16" or longer barrels in 5.56 any more, only the 7.62s
16 inches be damned...
3/31/2026 10:19:05 AM EDT
[#9]
1-1/2" doesn't sound like much but it pretty noticeable to me when swinging the barrel arounnd.
3/31/2026 1:54:06 PM EDT
[#10]
If its going to be an m4ish build with fsb then yes. If its a longer ff rail then no.
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3/31/2026 4:51:30 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote History
Originally Posted By mirion:
1-1/2" doesn't sound like much but it pretty noticeable to me when swinging the barrel arounnd.
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I think it’s worth it. Feels like more of a difference than it should.
3/31/2026 5:25:21 PM EDT
[#12]
For me personally, I really like my 14.5 pw.

For whatever reason it feels quite a bit lighter in my hands at least.
4/1/2026 2:49:46 AM EDT
[#13]
I have a couple of pinned barrels, wish they had suppressor mounts instead of flash hiders...that's the way to go if you do going forward since the NFA tax on suppressors is gone.
Left-handed and right-minded!
4/1/2026 10:43:16 AM EDT
[#14]
Quote History
Originally Posted By WrenchGuy:
I have a couple of pinned barrels, wish they had suppressor mounts instead of flash hiders...that's the way to go if you do going forward since the NFA tax on suppressors is gone.
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Not terribly difficult to remove yourself, especially if you don’t care about saving the flash hider.
4/2/2026 9:25:58 PM EDT
[#15]
If you took a 16" rifle and laid it on top of the 14.5" p&w rifle, they will nearly be identical in length (perhaps off by 1 inche to maybe a half a inch).

Point is the difference on paper doesn't seem like a lot but in my opinion the 14.5 does make a huge difference in look and feel of the rifle. For me I noticed it with this 16 inch rifle I had that I got p&w to 14.5 back then. I noticed a difference right away in terms of look and feel of the rifle and things felt "better" to me even though it didn't appear to have much of a difference.

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