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Posted: 4/8/2006 12:54:44 PM EDT
[#1]
The M16A2, M16A4, and M4 use government profile barrels. That's why it's called "government profile".
The M4A1 uses a "heavy" (actually a mid-weight as it's much lighter than any HBAR) barrel. |
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Posted: 4/8/2006 12:55:26 PM EDT
[#2]
That's what I thought. Thanks. |
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Posted: 4/8/2006 2:33:27 PM EDT
[#3]
My M4A1 came with a "government profile" barrel. I bought a separate heavy barrel upper so it could handle full-auto fire. My RRA HBAR is in fact heavier/larger than the Colt heavy barrel. I remember reading in Black Rifle II that the heavy barrel was part of an add on "reliability kit" for M4A1. |
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Posted: 4/8/2006 2:35:28 PM EDT
[#4]
what does "government profile" barrel mean?
I have a Colt (LE marked) full size, which says that it is a HBAR with a 1/7 twist. Is this not the same rifle (except the trigger) that most any solder has? |
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Posted: 4/8/2006 4:37:39 PM EDT
[#5]
This is a govt profile
 Here is an HBAR 
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Posted: 4/8/2006 4:51:40 PM EDT
[#6]
My M16A4 had an HBAR on it. |
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Posted: 4/8/2006 4:52:05 PM EDT
[#7]
thanks col sanders, I am really learning alot the more I hang out here. Now I have to ask, why the difference?
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Posted: 4/8/2006 5:21:51 PM EDT
[#8]
Was your M16A4 a SAM-R? |
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Posted: 4/8/2006 5:24:56 PM EDT
[#9]
No clue what that means, FN made it, if that helps. |
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Posted: 4/8/2006 6:35:26 PM EDT
[#10]
We called M16A2's HBAR's when I was in, but they were actually gov't profile.
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Posted: 4/8/2006 6:50:12 PM EDT
[#11]
You bought a hbar barrel so you could fire full auto, and got rid of a gvt profile. Hmmm......doesn't the government's rifles fire full auto, and probably many many more rounds per year than you do?.....Hmmm (not trying to be a smartass, just thinking).
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Posted: 4/8/2006 8:04:02 PM EDT
[#12]
A lot of guys who were in the service and have no knowledge of civilian arms think that the A2 has an HBAR profile because it is heavier than what the A1 used. IOW, you guys were both saying the same thing but were saying it in different languages.
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Posted: 4/9/2006 4:26:05 AM EDT
[#13]
why does the gov't have different barrels than a civilian HBAR? What is the difference because to a newbie from the front sight on they look identical and underneath the handguards you can't tell anyway. just learning.....
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Posted: 4/9/2006 4:59:57 AM EDT
[#14]
Standard gov't issue M16A2 profile is the same under the handguards as the M16A1. This was to save weight and allow the standard M203 grenade laucher to mount. From the the front sight base forward they are heavier for better muzzle control. .750" under the front sight and . 740 to the muzzle. Barrel threads are standard M16 1.5X28. Limited H-Bars have been issued for special purpose. Denny |
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Posted: 4/9/2006 6:00:35 AM EDT
[#15]
All the M16A4's we have in our armsroom are gov. profile. |
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Posted: 4/9/2006 7:36:53 AM EDT
[#16]
When the M16A2 came out the barrel (govt. profile) was called the "heavy in the wrong place" barrel, since it was felt that increasing the heaviness under the handguard was more important that making it heavier at the muzzle end. It was kept thin under the handguard so the grenade launcher would fit. The Colt HBAR is a marketing gimmick to make the barrel look like the M16A2 barrel but not go to the expense of turning it down so much. My guess is that the optimum diameter is somewere between the two.....
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Posted: 4/9/2006 8:39:55 AM EDT
[#17]
did you ever take the handguards off? 
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Posted: 4/9/2006 10:28:26 AM EDT
[#18]
Just to clear things up a bit, this has already been alluded to by others but hasn't really been explained in "noob" language;
M16 & M16A1 =Government profile under handguards, .625 under FSB M16A2 & M4 =Government profile under handguards, .750 under FSB AR15 HBAR =ridiculously thick under the handguards, .750 under FSB -It is this increase in thickness under the FSB to the muzzle that some people are reffering to when they call an A2 a heavy barrel. -When most people are talking about HBAR's they are referring to the thickness of the barrel under the handguards. |
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Posted: 4/9/2006 11:15:04 AM EDT
[#19]
You have *GOT* to be kidding me! I bought a M4A1 barrel by mistake (I thought it was a regular M4) and it has me soured on the whole 14.5" barrel scene completely. Right now i'm thinking that if my rifle is going to be that heavy anyways, I might as well get a 16" mid. Experience prior to buying my AR was 6 years of M4s and A2s. |
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Posted: 4/9/2006 1:40:59 PM EDT
[#20]
Oh gee, that must have been the problem. The barrel on my M16A4 might not have technically been an HBAR, but I dont know what else it could have been. Unlike the A2's that I've had issued, the barrel on my A4 didnt get thinner under the handguards but instead got thicker. Exactly like the bushmaster HBAR that I have. |
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Posted: 4/9/2006 1:49:24 PM EDT
[#21]
sounds like a screw up on colts part or a shifty armorer swapping out his old AR15 barrel for a brand new colt government profile. |
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Posted: 4/9/2006 1:56:49 PM EDT
[#22]
Well, since they were brand new from FN I kinda doubt that... Are we talking about the same rifle here? M16A4? From FN? Not A2? Which does indeed have the gov. profile barrel. I know what that is and all I can say is our M16A4's do not have them. One of the biggest complaints when we got them was how much heavier they are. |
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Posted: 4/9/2006 8:53:00 PM EDT
[#23]
All of the A4's I've seen, to include my assigned ones had the govt. profile, as in thinner under the handguards. All FN as well.
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Posted: 4/9/2006 9:39:28 PM EDT
[#24]
Is it a Colt M4A1 barrel? If it is, it's not THAT heavy. It only weighs 4oz more than the standard M4 barrel. RRA (and others) make "M4" heavy barrels that are just stupidly heavy. |
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Posted: 4/9/2006 9:40:47 PM EDT
[#25]
I was issued an FN M16A4. It had a government profile barrel, just like all of them do. The extra weight compared to the A2 is because of the rail system and the detachable carry handle. The barrel is the same. |
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Posted: 4/9/2006 10:17:05 PM EDT
[#26]
You would have to be a little girl to be able to feel the difference between the weight of the M4 and a M4A1. And NO, M16A4's are not HBAR's, FN or Colt. And yes the World is not actually flat.
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Posted: 4/9/2006 11:58:54 PM EDT
[#27]
I find it annoying that RRA makes a M203 notched 14.5/16" barrel that is actually a "HBAR" under the handguards. The notch is usually the way you can tell a "M4 profile/gov't profile" barrel from a HBAR. But NOT with RRA... Annoying. HBAR was indeed a marketing trick that was played on us, to convince us that a cheaper-to-manufacture barrel was better. Sly dogs... I have a gov't profile barrel on my Bushy 20" A2, but I had to special order it. HBARs are good for high-power competition shooters, that's it. |
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The barrel on my M16A4 might not have technically been an HBAR, but I dont know what else it could have been. Unlike the A2's that I've had issued, the barrel on my A4 didnt get thinner under the handguards but instead got thicker. Exactly like the bushmaster HBAR that I have.