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Posted: 5/8/2014 8:50:43 PM EDT
| Plan on building an AR pistol/firearm using a BCM lightweight 11.5" barrel with fixed front sight and a slick side A1 upper. My original idea involved using a magpul carbine handguard, but now I'm curious if maybe I should free floated the barrel for better accuracy and such. Also planning on using a sig brace and suppressor. Thoughts and opinions on this, has anyone free floated a similar setup? Also, how much noise would I cut down on if I switch to a 12.5" kino? |
What kind of accuracy increase do you expect with a short barrel? Gonna be using it in a long range bulls eye competition? 
There are certainly various reasons to use a free float to get just the configuration you might like that conventional handgun setup won't allow, but the minimal possible increase in accuracy ain't one of them IMNSHO. - OS |
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Mine are free floated only because I wanted an extended quad rail on one and a slender forend on the other.
With a short sight radius and/or compact/low mag optics that most use it's not going to be a precision firearm. I'd be curious to see results with a magnified optic myself, but not enough to do any testing. I can, out to 50 yards, shoot my 10.5" as well as my 16" carbine. At 100 the rifle has a clear advantage, though the pistol is still "combat accurate" at 2-4 moa. |
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Quoted:
What kind of accuracy increase do you expect with a short barrel? Gonna be using it in a long range bulls eye competition?
There are certainly various reasons to use a free float to get just the configuration you might like that conventional handgun setup won't allow, but the minimal possible increase in accuracy ain't one of them IMNSHO. - OS Accuracy is not related to barrel length (assuming it gets enough to stabilize the bullet). Velocity is. |
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On a competition gun that is shot at long distances while all wrapped up with a sling the free float has some advantages but for anything less there is no practical advantage.
If you like the look or if a free float handguard gives you some mounting options that your normal setup doesn't go for it but any advantages in accuracy will not be there. I think that the use of free float tubes has become a selling point and a bragging point along with a confidence builder . Lots of folks going that way because all the cool guys are doing it . Even with competition guns you are looking at getting rid of a couple inches of slop at 600 yards . Trying to turn a couple of 10s into Xs if you will. Any AR shot at anything less than full competition distances by a pretty good competition shooter with very good match ammo and you are not going to see any diference |
| The only reason I free floated my pistol was because the regular hand guard was so loose. I hear its a common problem with AA pistols and their uppers. If you are satisfied with a regular hand guard and don't plan on putting many things on your gun, i.e. lazers, lights, maybe a further forward mounted optic, there really is not too much of a reason to have one. |
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