Do any RIFLEMEN Does anyone out there still prefer 20" barrels? (pics)



Edited to appease Paladin

I have this Colt M16A2 clone which I built the lower myself. The upper is a real Colt M16A2 and the rest of it are all Colt.

The only parts that I changed were the Les Baer grip and the IDF sling.

I also have a M4gery and working on my mid-length recon carbine project.

Here's an old thread with a lot of 20" pics.

20" ARs Pics thread link

Another "anyone" here.  I prefer the term "rifleman" myself.  20's ROCK!  This R6500 clone is all Colt, and she gets frequent 200 yard sessions.  If I had to choose ONE model of AR to own, this would be it.

Paladin

Colt MT6601

I love shooting my A4gery with irons.  Sometimes my M4gery just seems to busy with the grip and ACOG.

My other 2 are 16", but my next one will be an M16A2 clone.

WIZZO

Tagged

I just couldn’t resist.
I my self would take a 20 inch barrel of any other length any day.

Ive heard that the 20 inch barrel gives the bullet a little more accuracy and punch, brings the effective(fragmentation range out to 150yrds or so, is that true?

Quoted: Ive heard that the 20 inch barrel gives the bullet a little more accuracy and punch, brings the effective(fragmentation range out to 150yrds or so, is that true?

Absolutely, with regards to the effective fragmentation range of the 5.56mm.

The 20" barrel has greater accuracy potential, but it eventually comes down
to the man behind the trigger.

Yes.




Yes.




And yes.





I am giving serious thought to parting out my carbine except for the lower assy and building another 20" A2.

Those are my 2 and only Ar's. a Bushmaster 1/9 and Colt sporter target. Both with A2 barrels. That's the way I like them. Both LE marked.

I dont know if I prefer  a 20", but they will always hold a special place in my heart and my safe.

me

Quoted: Does anyone out there still prefer 20" barrels? (pics)

Out of all the weapons I own, My Colt 6551 (20"/ A2) is my "go to" rifle.

Simplicity has a beauty all it's own.

Had an M4gery for about 2 years I decided that I prefer the 20" so I sold the M4gery and bought a Bushy 20" A3.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/sentinel208/DSC01475.jpg

The upper is a 20 inch BM A3 govt. profile 1/9 with vented FF tube and Phantom 5C1.  
The lower is a Lauer with Vltor stock and Houge grip.  
RRA scope mount.  
All it lacks is a Harris bipod and sling.  

Quoted: Does anyone out there still prefer 20" barrels? (pics)

Sure.

Sure, I have a total of three rifles with 20 inch barrels.  All rifles are built on STAG lowers.  1st has a 20 inch Colt A2 upper with a .gov profile barrel, 1/7 twist, etc.  The 2nd is an A2 J&T HBAR.  The Third has a Stainless 20 HBAR, freefloated with an RBPrecision Tube, and a gasblock front sight on a flat top upper receiver and a Colt Bolt group.  

My next upper will be a free floated government profile 1/7 chrome lined 20".
It's already on order and the lower, ACOG, LT mount, Troy sights, BCG, CH, FH, all await it's arrival.

It seems the current craze is to 16" Recce or even shorter sub machine gun style barrels.

What happened to muzzle velocity and the resulting frag range?  At least the 18"s weren't too bad in this respect.

My 16"SS MRP barrel is deadly accurate at 200 yards, but what's the chance of 75 grain OTM ammo fragmenting at that range from a 16"?

If we were in a real combat situation, and face it, ARs are combat weapons, I mean that's what most of us are building  isn't it, wouldn't you rather have improved terminal performance over all else assuming adequate accuracy.

That's my argument for a 20" weapon, especially since anything longer gives diminishing returns.


The 20" will maintain fragmentation out to just over 200 yards with 75 grain OTM ammo, which seems to be a good 50 yards more than the now popular 16" barrels.

It'll be light weight with the government profile, have great wear characteristics with the chrome lining, and most importantly will extract 95% of what the caliber will do.

Now I'm not deceiving myself in the least, the chances of me engaging enemy terrorists or foreign invading troops or anyone else for that matter at 200 yards are a hell of a lot less than I've got in the next Powerball drawing, even though I haven't even bought a ticket!  But my choice in the upper is as a combat weapon, not a target gun.  A high muzzle velocity blaster, period.

Will it be accurate enough, say compared to all these SS match barrels, especially since all I do is punch little holes in paper?  Well, we'll see when it gets here, I'm cautiously optimistic.

But, this is going to be great fun!

I like 20" barrels with a collapsable stock.  The A2 is to long, especially with a vest on.  Makes it impossible to put your nose to the charging handle.