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Posted: 4/11/2010 12:24:25 PM EDT
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I have a 10 y.o. Olympic Arms rifle with a 16" SUM heavy barrel. I'd like to have a lighter weight rifle, so I was thinking about changing to a 16" lightweight contour barrel.
What is the most efficient way to do this? 1) Where can I get a nice (but not too expensive) shrubbery lightweight contour barrel? 2) Is it cheaper to take it to a shop and have them change it (labor) or buy the upper vice block and barrel tool and do it myself? 3) Is my 16" stainless heavy SUM barrel worth anything? It has ~5,000 rounds through it, I would guess. I shot it a lot at first, then less and less over the years. 4) Is it cheaper to just buy a new upper and sell the old upper, as opposed to changing barrels? |
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You can also consider a 14.5" barrel with pinned flash hider. Not only will it save a little extra weight, it will save you a little weight at the farthest forward point of the rifle.
Quite often, it's not the sheer weight... it's how long and front-heavy the long gun is. |
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Quoted:
The most efficient way would probably be to ship the entire upper off to ADCO and ask them to turn it down for you. They've done a couple of mine over the years and I've always been happy with their work  Great alternative if you're still happy with your barrel's performance. Otherwise check PKFirearms for their Bushy superlight barrel $215. I just built my upper with that barrel this morning. It's not a bad idea to have the tools to build/repair your own guns but if you don't think you'll ever use them again, just have a smith(ADCO) build it for. |
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There is no way I would send an upper off somewhere to get just a new barrel put on it. Any gunsmith in the area that cant change an AR barrel needs to go back to school. It should only take 15 minutes start to finish. You shouldnt even be charged a half hours labor for it.
the tools will cost you roughly 50 bucks for a good wrench and upper receiver vice block, for the work involved it shouldnt cost half of that to do it. granted, i have never had a gunsmith do it so i am going off of how fast i can change one and how much I personally feel the effort is worth. |
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