Some overlooked advantages of the Mid-Lenght gas system carbine over the carbine-length gas system AR15 for Law Enforcement Officers.

An explination of the mid-length and carbine gas systems can be found in this article:


03designgroup | Carbine vs. Mid-Length Gas System on a 16" Barrel



-Mid-Length has a longer iron sight radius, which aids in accuracy. If you have ever shot a 20" AR15 rifle with iron sights and a 16" carbine with iron sights side by side at distance you will notice that it's easier to get more accurate hits with the 20" rifle. This may not and advantage for all LEO's, but there are still many departments out there that don"t allow optics for their patrol rifles.

-Mid-Length has a slightly smoother recoil impulse than a carbine length gas system  

-The Mid-Length handguard is longer and some taller shooters will find more comfortable. Shooters who use a compention style grip will find more comfortalbe (many competition shooters hold further out on the fore end, and some use techniques like pointing their index finger in the same direction as the muzzle). Many tall shooter or shooters who use a competition type grip find the that Carbine-Length handguards are too short. Here is an example of the grip that I use:




Many guys are starting to figure out what 3 gunners and competition shooters have known for a long time. The further you can get your hand out on the fore end the easier it is to "drive" the gun. The mid-length helps you get your hand further out on the fore end.

-The longer handguard on the Mid-Length aids in resting the barricade on a piece of cover. This is often overlooked by many LEO's.


Many times in a law enforcement setting when a carbine is deployed the Patrol Officer will take up a position of cover on a perimeter or while covering a person or location (ie. barricaded gunman call, drawn out felony stop, alarm call and suspects are still inside the buisness or residence, etc)

While taking up a position of cover we often rest our carbine on a piece of cover (vehicle, fence, concrete wall, tree, post, etc.). The piece of cover often times can serve a dual purpose and can be used as a stable shooting platform.

Think about the shapes of vehicles and other objects you might use as cover as you look at the pic below. If you had a Carbine-Length handguard, would you be able to get your barrel on the piece of cover?

(Photo Credit - Zak Smith www.demigodllc.com - Pic used with permission)

This photo illistrates how a Mid-Leght handguard and a 20 round magazine can be an asset in certain situations (the shooter is using a 10.0" rail, but if he wasn't running a Magpul Ranger plate on his 20 round magazine, he could have easily gotten a 9.0 rail onto the barricade in this situation):


Even if it's a brick wall, note how much easier it is to get the Mid-Length handguard on the piece of cover:



As you can see a 2" longer handguard / gas system of the Mid-Length has a lot of advantages over the shorter Carbine-Length gas system.





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Full review with more pics can be seen here:



03designgroup | Advantages of Mid-Length Carbines for Law Enforcement Officers

There are a lot of LEO who are stuck with a 16" carbine, and the SBRs aren't an option.  In general, the midlength smooths out the recoil impulse and offers an easier effort with iron sights based on the increased sight radius. How much the difference is felt in the recoil impulse is going to vary depending on the shooter and experience.  

I'm not a fan of resting a weapon on items for LE work, nor am I a fan of flagging with the weapon, especially when most LE rifle engagements are still at very close range.  


I respond to violent calls all shift long as a city cop, and my carbine often comes out on a daily basis.  I'm currently using a 14.5" midlength upper, and I see real world differences between it and a 16" carbine.  Given the option, I would drop to a shorter barrel without hesitation.  I'm not worried about shooting at 100 yards (though we obviously still train for it), I'm worried about the buildings I'll be clearing today and my daily involvement in up close "activity".