Ok-after eight months of deliberatrion and saving, I have finally decided to go with a midlength AR. I have been really sold on midlenghts recently, due largely to posts on this forum. So, thanks for the help guys. Unless I have a sudden change of heart, I will likely be going with an RRA Elite CAR A4.
So one last thing to nail down: should I go with a 14.5" barrel or a 16" barrel? RRAs come with 16" barrels, but I could have ADCO chop it down for me, and then perm. attach a Phantom. I like to keep my carbines as short as possible (but no SBR here in Michigan), but I worry that using a 14.5" barrel may mess with the gas system. As the improved gas system is one of the main reasons I decided to go with a middy, and not an M4gery, I really don't want to mess anything up.
In the end I will likely go with the 16", if for no other reason than that the extra velocity provided by the longer barrel is nice......but I will admit that I find the 14.5" mids to be pretty sexy, so opinions on them will be welcome. Thanks again for the help.
MCO