A heavier barrel contains a lot more thermal mass, which means the heat can be spread into more steel, heating the barrel less overall. A nice and tidy overview of AR barrels, and without a lot of nonsense. The Skinny (and Fat) on AR-15 Barrel Profiles. Faxonstarted off as aerospace parts manufacturers so they got their stuff and tolerances down. You want this barrel, really, if you want a barrel that you can take anywhere, this is the one. AR-15 Barrel Profile: A2 Government vs M4 style? The pic below shows the difference between the standard M4 barrel and the SOCOM barrel. Colt M4A1 SOCOM Barrel Accuracy: Another Look. What’s important here is called “moment of inertia,” which is how a physicist says that it’s easier to rotate a 10 pound dumbbell in your hand than a 10 pound barbell. This 10.5" barrel chambered in 9MM has a beautiful government profile and is milled from 4150 Chrome Moly Vanadium Steel. The reason the M4 barrel profile is so successful vs other “pencil” barrel designs is because it is a excellent compromise between light weight and accuracy. That is only 2 ounces heavier than the ubiquitous 16” government profile barrel found on the Colt 6920. Those lightweight barrels were actually pretty good, and helped keep the whole weapon light. M16A4 has a 600 meter effective range. That’s why a lighter barrel might cost more than a heavier one — you’re not buying steel by the pound. Your email address will not be published. The result is that, when done right, a fluted barrel will be stronger in certain areas, and more rigid in certain axes, than an unfluted barrel of the same weight. Take note that on page 2 he compares the SOCOM to two 16 inch m4 profile barrels which he noted performed basically the same as their 14.5 inch counterparts. Thanks! I learned so much on the type of barrel I’m looking for to upgrade my AR platform . We’re going to get into AR-15 barrel profiles. The one big drawback to pinned and welded flash-hiders is that you're basically stuck with that configuration once it's pinned and welded. Chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO used the 62gr SS109/M855 cartridge with a 1:7 barrel twist with a government profile barrel. Im looking to get a 14.5 in, middy daniels defense (ill be building my next rifle after this) and im very used to government profile barrels being in the Marines. The ELW barrel is available with fluting as an option for further lightening. AR barrels can be fluted before or after the gas block, but the gas port area itself is never fluted, due to the need for a full diameter at that point. Moving toward heavier profiles, we come back to the Special Purpose Rifle (SPR) and Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR) barrels we discussed earlier. Both test consisted of one 10 shot group? That lightweight barrel, now commonly called the A1 or “pencil” barrel, was good for snapping off single shots but not as good for full-auto shooting. Many makers have their own preferred profiles, and some custom barrel makers will cut you a barrel in any profile you’re willing to pay for. The solution is to free float the barrel, and mount the sling to the free float tube, leaving the barrel untouched. These barrels are heavier under the handguard and taper only minutely toward the muzzle, and that mass makes them both heat and cool more slowly. This has a skinny profile near the receiver and a thicker profile towards the muzzle. Does your original barrel still shoot pretty well after all this time? Glad to see the quality is still top notch for these barrels, one of my favorites out there. Part 2: Barrel Length, Gas Systems, and Rifling Barrel Contours: Tale of the Tape. This is important for precision shooting – but less important for short-range or casual gunnery. The M4 barrel is lightweight under the handguards, until just before the gas port. {"cart_token":"","hash":"","cart_data":""}, AR-15 Barrels: Caliber, Chamber, & the Best Steel Type for Your AR Barrel (Part 3), AR-15 Barrels – Surface Treatments & Muzzle Types (Part 5), AR15 Barrels: Profiles, Fluting, and Dimpling (Part 4). Required fields are marked *. This makes an elegant and beautiful solution to optimizing the barrel; it’s a pity that most of it will be covered by a handguard. In summary: Lighter barrels are less fatiguing to carry; longer barrels are good for long-range shooting, and heavy barrels are best for bench shooting or extremely long range. They’re designed for slow, precise and methodical shooting – more like sniping, less like “spray and pray.”. All of the M4 family of rifles have a 14.5 inch barrel length with a carbine length gas port system. It's finished in black nitride for a long lasting, performance product. If there’s anyone that knows the AR-15 platform, it’s the US military. (Gov is M4 in the carbine) In a carbine with an M4 profile barrel it will either be 14.5 or 16 inches long, lightweight under the handguards, and there will be a notch cut into the barrel forward of the front sight for mounting a grenade launcher. Oct 7, 2014 #1 . The problem, if there is one, is that a sling mount on the barrel (such as under a front sight base) applies that tension directly to the barrel when used this way, potentially creating a bit of “whip” and shifting the point of impact. Some people will tell you it’s significant, others will say the additional cooling is almost too little to measure. After the gas port it gets heavier, out to the muzzle. I’ve reviewed several of their barrels over the years and really like their stuff for the price point. Of course, that makes it slightly heavier, but the difference is minimal. A fatigued gunner is a less accurate and less useful gunner. The main categories, however, are the so-called government profile (standard) and then the lightweight version. 3) Not physics but economics: When a manufacturer starts with a barrel “blank” and turns it to a specified profile on a lathe, removing more metal = more time and tooling = higher cost to you, the buyer. A visual comparison of a 16" Government Profile barrel (on top) and a 16" Lightweight Profile barrel on the bottom. Once relaxed into the sling, the shooter adjusts his body until the rifle is on target. Hey guys! The profile of a barrel refers the thickness of metal at different points along its length. Ya don't need a M4, unless you have an old fashioned grenade launcher. Very informative, thanks for the great article. Of course, that same moment of inertia will also stabilize the rifle a little better when it’s time to squeeze the trigger. Uses the 30 round standard magazine. Thanks so much. The SOCOM barrel has a stripped weight of 1 pound, 14 ounces. See the advantages of BCM Enhanced Profile Barrels. Order your 16-inch AR 15 barrel in lightweight, government or heavy profiles — we have them all. JavaScript is disabled. The extra thickness near the muzzle has no measurable difference in accuracy, even in rapid fire. Choose an AR 15 5.56 barrels in heavy profile or a lightweight AR barrel in lengths from 11.5 to 20 inches. The government profile barrel is also compatible with the current M203 mounting systems. The most popular barrel profile now is the M4 style, sometimes a direct copy of the 14.5″ military M4 barrel, but more often slightly extended to 16″ for legal civilian use. Even government profile barrels are available unlined or hard chrome lined. .223/5.56mm Barrels for AR15 & M4 Rifles. On an assembled URG (upper receiver group), the M4 barrel is identifiable by the “M4 cut” – and here we’re not talking about feed ramps, but rather a narrower “notch” in the barrel, forward of the gas block, used to mount the M203 grenade launcher. In 2010, I posted one of the first publicly available, in-depth. Magpul Industries AR-15 Parts & Accessories, Part 1: Intro, Fundamentals, and Manufacturing of AR Barrels, Part 2: Barrel Length, Gas Systems, and Rifling, Part 3: Caliber, Chamber, and Steel Types, Part 5: Surface Treatments and Muzzle Types, The Best Budget AR15s – Optics Ready and High Value, Top Picks: Best AR-15 Scopes for Your Money, 3 Ways to Correct Cross Eye Dominance When Shooting. The stripped weight of the SOCOM barrel is 5 ounces heavier than the stripped weight of the standard Colt 14.5” M4 barrel. We sent three of them to Adco Firearms to be dimpled, fluted and turned down to a lightweight contour. There is no benefit for an AR-15 to have an M4 profile barrel aside from historical accuracy (but even then, it needs to be a 14.5" barrel). A cooler barrel expands less, and it remains more accurate. Great article. All their barrels are made in-house from “cradle to grave.” Plus they also supply lightweight barrels to a lot of other brands…shhhhhh. While most civilians don’t have M203s, the barrels are still used to create “M4gery” rifles modeled on the military weapons. There’s one more point of fluting worth mentioning: Bravo Company’s ELW (enhanced lightweight) barrel begins with a gracefully tapered profile, which allocates mass and strength along the barrel’s axis appropriate to the pressure loads. The next pic is a close-up comparing the two barrels in the area between the chamber and the gas block journal, showing you were the extra weight is added. The date-code on my original SOCOM barrel was “11/03” and the date-code on my newer SOCOM barrel is “02/18”. Does your original barrel still shoot pretty well after all this time? 1) We didn’t mention barrel “whip”; a term you’ll hear sometimes to describe barrel flexion while shooting, which obviously affects the point of impact. This matters when you remember that any barrel, no matter how slim, has to start with a blank at least the diameter of the gas block – usually either .625″ or .750″. In a survival scenario it’s more likely that your rifle will spend most of its time slung on your back, where the lighter weapon will produce less fatigue, and will be used only occasionally. After the gas port it gets heavier, out to the muzzle. News, special offers, exclusive discounts, and more! Both of these SOCOM barrels have the “O” stamp near the chamber portion of the barrel, indicating the barrel has a chrome-lined chamber and bore. Im building a AR-15 with a 16 inch barrel my question is what is a better choice as far as barrel profile The standard A2 Government profile or the M4 style. Barrel and chamber are chrome lined to a specification that is almost double the thickness of a standard M4/M16 Mil-Spec barrel and are stamped with the FN oval They’ll happily tell you that the HBAR or bull barrels can absorb the heat and retain accuracy, and they’re right. Varmint rifles tend to use very heavy barrels, usually 20-24″ long, and are generally made in stainless steel with a target crown. So any part that’s narrower than that means more time on the lathe. But… how many magazines are they planning to carry? What you can do is improve the ratio of strength to weight by carefully removing material in selected areas. The gas port on a genuine SOCOM barrel has a diameter of 0.062” and the barrel employs a carbine-length gas system. At the request of the Marines the M16A2 was given a chromed bore and a heavier barrel profile forward of the gas block, mainly to minimize the chance of bending (one of the A1’s most common failures in close combat). As a special offer for our readers, you can get the Official US Army Manual for AR-15/M4/M16 right now – for free. Part 3: Caliber, Chamber, and Steel Types The M16 had a lightweight barrel, 20″ long, with a 1:14 twist (quickly changed to 1:12) and it was treated with manganese phosphate. Part 5: Surface Treatments and Muzzle Types. Choose barrel-only options, or have yours shipped with a barrel nut, front site base and a round handguard cap. There’s also “dimpling,” machining a series of dimples along the barrel’s surface, making it reminiscent of a golf ball. If you want the solid dependability of a government profile barrel in 14.5 or 10.5-inch lengths, we have them too. M4 pertains to carbine only but "Government" profile pertains to the M4 and the M16. weapon of choice, imagining pouring magazine after magazine of destruction on advancing waves of ravening Nazi Klingon zombies. In the beginning, Eugene Stoner created the AR, which was upgraded to selective fire and named the M16 by the US Government. The gas port on a genuine SOCOM barrel has a diameter of 0.062” and the barrel employs a carbine-length gas system. Let’s wrap up this section with a couple of practical thoughts on barrel profiles. The theory is that you’re shooting prairie dogs and coyotes on your ranch (or similar shooting), or informal competition. This group was fired off of sand-bags using match-grade hand-loads and a high magnification scope. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. The Navy Recce rifles have used barrels by premium custom makers like Krieger and Lilja, though other makers offer similar profiles to civilians under the Recce name. 2) Weight can be your enemy or your friend, and where the weight is located matters. Nice to see you over here as well. The additional weight really doesn’t do much as a heat sink, since most of the pressure and heat is before the gas block, but it does help a little to stabilize the rifle for offhand shooting. ... A selection Daniel Defense M4 AR15 Barrels demonstrating the Government profile. The most popular barrel profile now is the M4 style, sometimes a direct copy of the 14.5″ military M4 barrel, but more often slightly extended to 16″ for legal civilian use. Some will tell you it improves barrel cooling. These are usually 18 and 20 inches respectively, and made of 416 stainless steel. Fluting increases cooling surface area, but also removes thermal mass, so the cooling gains are at least partly offset by lost thermal mass. You’ll see “varmint” barrels mentioned here and there. Some people like flutes because they look cool. Next we find a profile often called “Recce” (military slang for “reconnaissance”). Of course, a barrel that’s fluted too deeply loses critical strength to contain the immense pressures, and it’s possible to flute a barrel deeply enough that it bursts. All of Del-Ton’s 16-inch AR barrel options use a mid-length gas system and are chambered to 5.56 NATO. A2 style muzzle brake. 16" 5.56 / .223 ar-15 1x7 ballistic advantage m4 profile carbine length barrel - modern babl556014m retail: $160.00. Great article on AR-Barrels. We’ll start this Daniel Defense DDM4V7 LW review by stating that this rifle is available in a couple of different finishes as well as a couple of different barrel profiles. But some shooters fall back on an older configuration, known to military shooters as the 1907 style sling, when precise long-range shooting is called for. Click here to snag a copy. For those complaining about weight, an M16A1 profile 20" barrel weighs almost exactly the same as a 16" M4 profile barrel. The 20" barrel gives you 5.5" more sight radius (14.5" vs 20"), which is a 40% increase. This leads to decorative embellishments like spiral fluting, or, further yet, diamond fluting, created by cutting spiral flutes first clockwise around the barrel, then counterclockwise. Their data showed that the M4 profile barrel actually outlasted the others. If a barrel contains unresolved stresses from manufacturing it can expand unevenly or warp, which also affects point of impact (POI) as well as group size. As a side note, the pic below shows what a great job Ken Elmore of Specialized Armament does on his pin and weld jobs. Unfortunately, I no longer own that barrel. Of course, the more rigid barrels resist “whip” far better than the slim lightweight barrels, another reason to choose them when high accuracy is your main criterion. You are using an out of date browser. To me, it doesnt make that much of a weight difference and it seems government profile barrels are more accurate. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Remember, 4 minutes of angle at 100 yards is about 4 inches, and most combat shooting has been done at ranges shorter than 100 yards. They offer enough thermal mass to absorb a lot of shooting and remain rigid and accurate for a long time. Honestly looking for some opinions. 4 0 0. Simply put, a fluted barrel is one that has had material removed from the outer surface, generally in grooves that run lengthwise along part of the barrel. Original-style “pencil” or “A1” barrels are still available, though usually sold with a 1:7 twist and a chromed bore. Shooting a rifle generates a great deal of heat, and the barrel absorbs a lot of it. Fluting also increases the barrel’s surface area, which means that there’s more exposure to cooling air – in effect, the sides of the flutes act a little like cooling fins. 3) Some shooters choose heavy barrels for their “SHTF” (stands for “civil unrest”, trust me!) The rest of the series can be found at the links below: Part 1: Intro, Fundamentals, and Manufacturing of AR Barrels What heat they do absorb affects them less, enabling them to remain acceptably accurate at extended ranges. Colt no longer stamps an “F” on their front sight bases, but their newer front sight bases maintain the length of 1.98” from the top of the barrel to the shelf for the front sight post. This profile is now commonly called “A2”. The Government profile was an attempt to prevent the barrel from bending when used with a bayonet. 2) The quick handling of single-point slings has made them the popular style on patrol in combat zones these days. If the hordes of zombies are so close that you’re dumping magazines at them, an increase from 2 to 3 MOA accuracy won’t substantially affect your hits, and you’d be far better off taking carefully placed head shots anyway. APOC Armory. Besides the A1 “pencil” and A2 barrel profiles, there are two more recent significant developments: The “S2W” (strength-to-weight [ratio]) barrel, a CHF barrel by Daniel Defense, sold with a chromed bore, and the “ELW” (enhanced lightweight) profile from Bravo Company Mfg. The idea is long-range accuracy rather than a combat rifle. AR-15, M16, M4, 11.5",BCM Enhance Profile Barrels. DS Arms manufactures our AR15 M4 M16 barrels from the premium 4150-11595E steel in a number of different barrel length, profiles and configurations. The M4 barrel is lightweight under the handguards, until just before the gas port. 1. For point shooting, this is a significant advantage. The rest of the sling, still connected to the forend of the rifle, is shortened until it applies tension between arm and rifle when the shooter relaxes. You must log in or register to reply here. We should say we think that both guns are just about the same. The shooter’s forward (usually left) arm is placed through the loop and it’s pulled tight around the biceps area. Anderson.300 Blackout AR-15 M4 Profile Barrel Government Cut - Same as the M4, but lacks the grenade launcher cut. A genuine Colt M4A1 SOCOM barrel is 14.5” long and has a. In Barrett’s defense, they didn’t sell it that way; it was fluted by an aftermarket gunsmith.). When it is used, the light barrel will probably easily handle as much ammo as you can comfortably carry. My original SOCOM barrel hand an “F-marked” front sight base. Your articles are always much appreciated. Recently, I assembled another upper receiver group based on the Colt M4A1 SOCOM barrel. Everyone agrees that it makes them lighter. Beyond these come the true heavyweights – the HBAR (heavy barrel) and the even heavier bull barrel profiles. Another profile very much like the M4 is called the “government” profile: Basically the same, but without the M4 cut. It’s been said that dimpling produces better thermal efficiency in shedding heat; of course, that would also depend on depth and surface area. profile. AR-15.223 Wydle Government Barrel Heavy - Heavy barrels are thick from one end to the other and are, of course, literally heavy. The Recce barrel is stainless, generally 16″ long with a mid-length gas system, and heavy under the handguard, where the extra weight does provide useful thermal mass. -Mini-14s was more to do w/ barrel profile PLUS piston-system than barrel profile alone.-Anon at 5/13 #s and effects regarding M855 vs M193 are spot on.-Sling bending 20″ pencil barrel and affecting POI is real — and the same bend applies to gov’t profile barrels … The lightweight barrel profiles discussed above were usually designed for the common infantryman, shooting at relatively short ranges, and intended to deal reasonably well with rapid fire. While they’re generally considered pretty heavy to pack around in the field (military, hunt, or even 3-gun), they’re great for bench target shooting and long distance precision shooting. Colt SOCOM barrel For our purposes, a gas block or muzzle brake further out on a 20″ or 24″ barrel will feel heavier than the same device on a 16″ or 14.5″ barrel. In 2010, my original SOCOM barrel with the “11/03” date-code produced a 10-shot group fired from a distance of 100 yards that had an extreme spread of 0.90”. some say that the m4 cuts mess with barrel harmonics...Shrug, I don't know, i haven't tested this assertion myself. I could never understand why so many people offer M4 barrels as a selling point, especially when they're 16" and made of the incorrect steel. Our flagship AR15 M4 M16 barrels and the pride of our AR offerings are our Chrome Lined military clone barrels; these barrels feature a M4 contour, 1:7 twist rate, M4 barrel extension, 1/2x28 muzzle threading and are … Really informative summary. Barrel life was something in excess of 9,000 rounds (keep in mind that's a 1:7 twist, shooting full auto=lots of heat buildup). But first, some notes from your physics class: 1) Heat is the enemy of accuracy. As it heats, steel expands minutely, and groups on target can expand measurably. Founded by Frank Galli in 2014, Sniper’s Hide has been offering informational videos, podcasts, and other support to it’s users in one location. To demonstrate a variety of options, we obtained four identical standard 16-inch mid-length gas system barrels with government profiles (and 0.750-inch gas block) from Bravo Company USA. Some people will tell you that fluting makes a barrel stronger or more rigid. There’s another thing to think about — the barrel’s mass acts as a heat sink. Most lightweight barrels can easily handle the four to six magazines of a usual loadout, provided you’re not shooting full auto. So I am currently on the market for a barrel to finish up my first AR build and I am torn between the SOCOM and Standard M4 gov profile barrels. But there’s another way to get lightened weight without much flexion, and that’s fluting, which we’ll discuss in a moment. There are other options available too, not from double star, but you might consider lightweight, or gov. A 16" mid-length gas barrel has the proper spacing to mount a bayonet. Molon you're a wealth of knowledge and brought the understanding of accuracy on Arfcom up about 10,000 degrees. From the gas block journal forward, the two barrels are identical, SOCOM barrel on top, standard barrel on bottom. These barrels are meaty, big cylinders of steel devoid of any lightening in their profiles. Let’s dispel a myth right here: Fluting a barrel does NOT make it stronger, nor does it make it more rigid. Molon, good to see you back up on the net. Continuous taper designed for optimal weight, balance, and performance. Yes, lightweight barrels heat up faster, and the groups will open up, but usually we’re talking about a change on the order of 1.5-2 MOA accuracy opening up to 3 or maybe 4 MOA. The military standard is 4 MOA, and that’s pretty much good enough to hit a man-sized target at 100 yards if you take the time to aim properly. These Rifle Barrels feature a 1 in 10" twist. The design is a compromise between weight for carrying and handling and muzzle velocity and heat absorption to optimize accuracy. On the other hand, fluting can relieve manufacturing stresses in the steel. Similar mission demands have otherwise made these very similar. Sniper’s Hide is a community of Snipers of all kinds, focusing on long range shooting, accuracy, and ballistics. The bore was not chromed. 14.5″ Pencil Barrel with Attached Muzzle [Review] Bu… Notice how the government profile starts narrow swells out for the gas block, and then remains heavier out to the muzzle. There is also the “Government” profile found on the M16A2, M4 carbine, and many civilian rifles. This new build features a Colt cage-code marked M4 upper receiver, a Colt “C” marked bolt carrier group and a 13” Geissele MK14 M-LOK free-float hand-guard. There’s a reason most service personnel opt for the light M4 for general patrol work. This profile uses a 1:8 twist to allow 77-grain rounds, and was designed at the request of Navy SEALs who found the 18″ SPR barrel too long for their purposes but still needed a high precision (sub-MOA) combat rifle. This involves disconnecting the butt end of the sling and pulling a loop into it. The fact is that a great deal depends on the depth and width of the flutes, since deeper flutes create more surface area. Two pounds at the end of a 1-foot bar exert the same 2 foot-pounds as one pound at the end of a two-foot bar. We have AR15 and M4 MELONITE barrels including pencil profile barrels, mid-length barrels, carbine barrels and pistol barrels for the .223 cartridge and the 5.56 NATO cartridge. Seem to be carrying a rifle for extended periods, lightweight barrels can handle! Theory is that you ’ re going to be dimpled, fluted and down... A rifle generates a great deal depends on the lathe does your original still! Bending when used with a barrel nut, front site base and round! Categories, however, are the so-called government profile barrel is lightweight under the,! By Wayne Anderson is part 4 of a type of barrel i ’ ve reviewed of. From the gas port it, and keep strength where you don ’ t technically official! My bench-rest set-up using match-grade hand-loads and a chromed bore old fashioned grenade cut! About weight, balance, and where the weight is located matters was 11/03. 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Pound, 14 ounces misunderstanding and controversy makes it slightly heavier, out the... A profile often called “ Recce ” ( military slang for “ reconnaissance ”.! Lightweight AR barrel in lightweight, government or heavy profiles — we have them.! “ SHTF ” ( military slang for “ civil unrest ”, trust me! informal competition there... Barrel on bottom heavy-handed tactics threaten to undermine the legitimacy of the election me! “ SHTF ” ( military slang for “ civil unrest ”, trust me! rifle string on (!