Ive got a full length imbel barrel. What's the easiest/best way to get an 16-18" barrel. Have it cut down or replace it?

I had my Imbel barrel cut down to 18" in the process of converting my FAL to the Para configuration.

I still kinda feel bad about cutting it down.

Try to find one alrady cut.

Sometimes you can find original para barrels on the FALfiles.com marketplace page.

Save your 21" chrome lined Imbel barrel for another project later .

FWIW I have three FAL's. 16",18" and ~$20" bbl's. My 16" was build by Rich Saunders at CGW and has been 100%. The 18" seems to be my favorite and is a good balance. The ~20" Argy/Brit L1A1 is the softest shooting of the lot. I would recommend against chopping a clean surplus bbl. If you want to go short, I'd find one that's already been shortened.

I'm cutting my Inch Pattern R1A1's barrel back to 16" with an Ironwood Designs stock set as soon as I can swing it.

There's an FAL barrel genius over at FALFiles.Com who posted THIS as a general guide. Go down to post #28 for his chart.

id replace to, theres already people having accuracy and/or operating issues after cutting.

I cut down 2 Imbel barrels when doing kit builds. The first was about 16" and the second was about 18" (whatever the factory metric para lengths converted to; I was picky). I prefer the ~18" barrel because the blast is noticeably more pronounced on the shorter barrel. I would recommend that you cut down the best barrel you can get your hands on. The factory chrome-lined barrels are great. What else are you going to do with it? Save it for marriage? (If you answered "build a full-length," then that makes perfect sense. When I was in your shoes and searching for a short barrel, guys wanted way more $ for an original para barrel. Or they had a shortened barrel with possibly not concentric threads. Heck, the factory threads are not necessarily centered on the bore. I cut and threaded myself so I knew what I would end up with. It was also a great learning experience. I realize that's not feasible for everyone.

I've seen some people thread 1/2-28, but I believe that leaves too little wall thickness. May be fine for a flash suppressor, but I wouldn't trust it to hold a sound suppressor. Maybe that won't apply. I threaded mine in its original 9/16-24 LH thread and reinstalled the original muzzle device.

It is extremely likely that you'll need to enlarge the gas port after shortening, which is very easy to do.

I should have included the fact that I have access to a machine shop and the necessary skills to properly cut, crown, and thread an F A L barrel. I will not, however, cut 1/2 X 28TPI on an F A L barrel. The resulting wall is just too thin.