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Posted: 3/6/2007 6:38:28 AM EDT
| I want to purchase a LMT rifle. Where is a place you can purchase a complete rifle? Also, which barrel would be the better choice...14.5" or 16"? I'm new to this and wanted to know which is preferred. Most of my shooting will probably be shorter distance shooting of within a 100 yards. Does the 1.5" difference in barrel length make a huge difference in accuracy? |
civilians cannot purchase complete LMT rifles. you can however purchase a complete LMT defender 2000 lower and a complete upper from most of the vendors on the site. a 14.5" barrel will require either you filling out the proper paperwork for an SBR or having a gunsmith permanently attach a flashhider (phantom, vortex, etc) to bring the barrel to the 16" BATF required length. |
The difference in accuracy of the two barrels is extremely negligable. A barrel of this length is not intended for precision shooting at distance and therefore will not affect you in a practical application deployment of the rifle. I have 3 complete LMT rifles that I put together from complete lowers and uppers, bought seperately and they are all 14.5" w/ perm. attach Phantom FH's. I chose this config becaue I think carbine-length rifles look silly with those long 16" barrels protruding out past the front sight base. |
 I went out and shot 50 Rnds through it. First 5 at 15, next 10 at 25, next ten at 50, and the rest at 100 yards. All were on target, and the last two 5 shot groups came in at just over min. angle. (not bad for a 14.5 barrel using old 55 grain ammo (rem.and fed.) on a windy day with iron sights.) It's got a 14.5" 1-in-8 twist SS barrel with perm. A2 Flash-Hider, Standard Full-Auto Bolt/carrier, Sopmod Stock, 1/2 min. A2 Detach. Carry-handle. I added a home-made sling, and two Colt Mfg. 30 Rnd Mags.  |
I bought my two LMT uppers from LMT. CQB and MRP. Two bbls in 5.56 each (16 & 18") and 1 each, 6.8mm SPC SS 18" bbl. Enhanced bolt carrier groups for each caliber. 6 Magazines also from LMT, in 6.8mm SPC. Defender lowers are available, but I use Armalite lowers, w/NM 2 Stage triggers.
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Accuracy no. Velocity yes. I doubt you will notice a loss in accuracy and the 14.5 should reliably shoot 2 moa with decent ammo and a good red dot (Amipoint 2 moa dot or EOTech 1 moa dot), and moa- with nice match ammo and good magnified optics. The 16 might do a smidge better, but will be unoticable for plinking uses. Probably loose ~2100-150 fps velocity and therfore reduce the fragmentation range of the ammo design to probably somewhere in the 100-125 yard range for 55gr ammo. When velocity drop below ~2700 fragmentation reliability is reduced, and is often absent at below ~2500. Most of the 223 power comes from fragmentation, otherwise it is strait through and the zombies keep fighting. |
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One more thing, however I am far from an expert on the matters. Barrel twist is something to consider. the 1/7 tends to be more universal as it will shoot most common ammo 55, 62, 75, 77 gr+ ammo well. It does not stabalize the lightweight "varmit" rounds in the 40 - 50 grain rainge. the 1/8 is sometimes a middle ground choice. the 1/9 is a common universal and stabilizes most bullet weights ~45-62 grains Sometimes will not stabilize the heavier bullets 75-77 gr, but many people have used the heavier bullets in 1/9 with good success. Depends upon your particular barrel and ammo, but is a pretty good bet that it will do fine. The 1/12 twists are generally used for nothing more than the the 55 grain load. the 62 gr M855 didn't work well in the older M16A1's if IIRC. Side note: .22 chamber conversions have spotty reports of not working well with the 1/7 barrels due to .22 projectile stabilization, but I have also heard good reports. I am not sure what the "ideal" .22 twist is, but you may want to look into it if you want to go that route, as many are due to ammo prices soaring. Good luck, have fun, stay safe. M |
Only dealers and industry partners who pay ar15.com can offer products for sale in the tech forums. I also am an LMT dealer and you will find my ad in the EE where I offer a substantial discount from list price. |
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